The new African nation of South Sudan is in need of Bibles.
Christianity Today reported that just before Christmas the world’s newest Bible Society chapter opened in its newest country, and its allotment of God’s Word already has been distributed.
The Bible Society in South Sudan registered in January 2012 and officially launched a week before Christmas.
According to the United Bible Societies web site, the 6,000 Bibles available from the outset quickly were distributed to people throughout the country, including all the newly translated Dinka Padang Bibles.
South Sudan broke away from Sudan and became an independent state July 9, 2011. Primarily an English-speaking nation with regional languages, it is bordered by Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Uganda in the south, Democratic Republic of Congo to the southwest, the Central African Republic in the west and Sudan to the north.
The nation of 239,285 square miles has a population of more than 10.6 million people but only 17 percent of the population is considered literate.
United Bible Societies is comprised of 146 national Bible Society chapters working in more than 200 countries and territories. It is considered to be the world’s largest translator, publisher and distributor of the Bible.
Steven Schmidt, director and founder of Butler, Ill.-based Love Packages, which collects used Bibles and other used Christian literature such as devotion books and Sunday school quarterlies for distribution to countries around the world, said God’s Word is in need on a global scale.
“We have people all over the world, even pastors, who do not have a copy of the Bible,” said Schmidt, who started Love Packages 38 years ago in the basement of his home. “It’s hard for us to grasp that because we have such an abundance of resources. They have nothing so these are very valuable materials for them.”
Schmidt said his organization distributes 20 tons of literature each week around the world, sending Bibles and other materials to countries on the continents of Africa and Asia to name just a couple.
Donations of Bibles or financial contributions to assist with the purchase of them would be welcomed by United Bible Societies, and Schmidt indicated his organization would be willing to work with such agencies to disseminate Bibles and other Christian literature.
“People’s lives are changed by reading these materials,” Schmidt said.
For more information about assisting with the distribution of Bibles in South Sudan, or donating other Christian literature or funding, visit www.unitedbiblesocieties.org, www.worldbiblesociety.org or www.lovepackages.org.