Thank you for standing with Bible mission teams hit hard by the pandemic this Giving Tuesday

You have made a real difference to Bible Societies which would otherwise be in danger of closure, enabling them to keep reaching people with Scripture 

Giving Tuesday 2020 

Supporters of Bible mission came together in force on 1 December 2020 for Giving Tuesday and we are so grateful. Bible Societies in places like Mozambique and Costa Rica asked people like you, who know the power of God’s word to change lives, to help them continue their impactful work despite the pandemic.  

We set an ambitious target to raise £10,000 in a day to meet urgent mission needs and ensure continued Bible distribution in communities desperate for its message of hope. 

Over £12,000 has been raised by Bible Society supporters for mission teams in urgent need, including £9,570 given by 261 donors on the day. Thank you! 

Bible mission in the pandemic 

In Costa Rica this spring, tens of thousands of jobs were lost as tourism, the main industry for this small country, vanished with the global spread of the coronavirus. And Mozambique, the country most affected by Cyclone Idai in 2019 as well as suffering due to ongoing terrorist conflict, has hardly been able to bear the economic consequences of Covid-19. The Bible Societies in these countries were just two of more than 30 that lost so much of their local income because of the pandemic that they were looking for emergency help to keep their Bible engagement projects going. 

Revd Valente Tseco, who leads Bible Society in Mozambique, told us that the desperate state of his team was giving him sleepless nights. The team in Costa Rica were also experiencing despair as they contemplated suspending their work. Your intervention as a supporter of Bible Society has turned this situation around for so many dedicated Bible mission teams. ‘This means that God won’t allow Covid-19 to stop the plan for his people to get his word through Bible Society’s ministry,’ said Valente. 

Stories from Mozambique 

Crucial projects run by Valente and his team in Mozambique reach people affected by poverty and violence. Their Bible-based Trauma Healing programmes give people the opportunity to talk through struggles with trained facilitators.  

Mariana was able to open up about her experience of rape, having previously not been believed. ‘I feel relief in my heart,’ she said. ‘The trauma I carry was still with me until today when I managed to share what I have in my heart. I feel relieved because I shared my greatest weight with you.’  

There are hundreds of thousands of people in Mozambique who still haven’t experienced God’s word in their own language. With your help, the team there can press on with their work translating the Bible into these languages for the first time.  

Filipe is working hard to bring the Bible to Ciwute-speaking people. ‘I joined the translation in May 2019, and it has changed my life,’ he said. ‘My church is proud of my choice to engage with the first Bible translation in my mother tongue. This is a very difficult task and I always pray for God’s wisdom to translate my language with clarity, transparency and naturalness.’ 

Thank you for keeping life-changing projects like these going. The money raised by Bible Society supporters coming together on Giving Tuesday will make a real difference and protect Bible mission from the effects of the pandemic.