Praise God with us as your support has made the Mozambique Bible project a reality!
Frustrated by the unavailability of enough economy Bibles in Mozambique to meet the need, CLC Mozambique started conversations with the Bible Society of Portugal (SBP) in 2016 to find a solution to the problem. Commissioning a print run of 10,000 economy Bibles and using the proceeds of the sale towards new print runs seemed to be the way forward. In faith that enough funds for the first print run would be raised, a contract with SBP was signed in June 2017 that would allow CLC to use their ‘Biblia Para Todos’ (Bible for Everyone) translation—an everyday Portuguese translation that would resonate with the Mozambican people and give them a better understanding of the Scriptures.
While fundraising in Europe began, the local CLC team started to make people in Mozambique aware that these Bibles were expected to arrive before the end of the year. Flyers were printed to explain what this Bible translation is all about and why the local CLC team is convinced it will help the church reach more people for Christ. A simple booklet with the book of Proverbs was also printed in this translation so that the team could give them away, explaining the benefits of the soon-to-arrive Bible. In the shop in Maputo as well as in Beira, posters were put up in anticipation of the arrival of the Bibles with texts that we hoped would catch people’s attention.
Although the paperwork for the importation of the anticipated Bibles arrived in early November, saying the Bibles were expected to arrive at Maputo harbour around the November 20—in reality, they arrived two weeks later!
This meant that the Bibles arrived only a week prior to the Maputo Bible launch and Thanksgiving service, scheduled for Saturday, 9 December. On top of this, the customs clearance took longer than expected, and the Bibles would not be available for pickup from the harbour until the day before the event!
By this time, the local CLC team were really asking for prayer from everyone they knew that the Bibles would arrive on time. Added to this chaos, the truck driver had underestimated the size of the load and arrived in the harbour with a truck that was far too small for all the boxes. He rushed back to the depot of the truck company to get a larger truck and returned immediately to the harbour, but, by then, the harbour had already closed!
Thankfully, he did not give up! He arrived at the harbour at 8am Saturday morning the day of the launch, assuring the team that he would deliver the Bibles to the shop a few hours later. So the team once again sent out an urgent request for prayer.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of trucks having to sign off their goods that morning, so everything took far longer than anticipated. Eventually, he arrived in Maputo—only to get lost! The boxes were mistakenly marked with the address of the Bible Society in Maputo instead of CLC’s!
Praise God, the truck arrived a little after 2pm, exactly the time when our service was about to start. In Europe or the US, project managers would be very upset about such timing, but here, people are much calmer about schedules. Some guests even said that it was exciting to see the Bibles being delivered during the event; they thought we had arranged it like that on purpose! What an amazing God we have.
Translation of some of the posters made by the CLC Mozambique:
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After 20 years of Bible translating, you will only need 20 seconds to understand it...
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In the beginning was the Word and the Word was not complicated...
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I bring you good news and the great joy is not only for the Wise Men from the East...
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...because the Bible is for Everyone!
Beira Bible Launch: An answer to prayer
In February, CLC Mozambique planned to have a second Bible launch in Beira for the new Portuguese ‘Bible for Everyone’ translation. Just days before the event, however, an urgent prayer request was made as they were having flash floods in the area. Praise God that those who follow us on Facebook were able to join in as we made pleas to our Heavenly Father that these torrential rains would quickly end. As there had been serious flooding in the area in January, flash floods were a great concern. The Lord is always faithful, and He was especially gracious to our team as the sun was out that Saturday, February 17, and the Bible launch was well attended. Please continue to join us in prayer that these new Bibles will bring an abundance of opportunities to share God’s love with Mozambicans all over the country.
CLC World Magazine