Category: Partnerships

With Lent now officially upon us, there seems no better time to take up a Bible reading challenge. One way to do that is to get involved with a great initiative like #BigRead12, a Lent Bible reading program from Durham University’s Big Bible Project.

The Big Read 2012 encourages Christians to meet together in house groups to engage with the Bible, knowing that there are others reading the same text at the same time, all over the world. (In 2011, the program had visitors from all sides of the globe.)

The house group material, freely downloadable from the website, offers conversation starters to examine how the realities of the Bible can transform lives. This year, The Big Read focuses on the third book of Tom Wright’s series Lent for Everyone, looking at Mark.

The Big Read team is encouraging people to share the conversations that arise: Tweet about their ideas (using the hashtag #BigRead12), join the Big Read 2012 group on Facebook, and comment on the blog entries that will be appearing throughout.

The Big Read’s coordinator, Dr. Bex Lewis, told us how she first got going with her own daily reading habits:

“I started to build up proper daily reading habits whilst working for Oak Hall (a UK Christian Holiday camp), as I had a number of speakers whose actions were clearly soaked in Biblical thinking…. It took me 3.5 years, but I read the Bible from cover to cover. I don’t want to equate it with ‘positive thinking’, but it helps me see where God is in everything that goes on in my life.

“I love the fact that I can read the Bible wherever I am these days, mixing between the Bible App from YouVersion, WordLive, and other tools for daily Bible readings, and using the Bible App as my Bible in church (whilst tweeting bits of the sermon!). I read far more of it than I ever used to!”

For more details, or to get involved with the #BigRead12, check out the Big Bible Project website.

Having the opportunity to engage with God’s Word in your own heart language is one of the most powerful ways you can experience it. YouVersion would never be able to practically translate the Bible into all of the many languages people ask us to. We’re fortunate to be able to partner with Bible publishers and societies from around the world, organizations who graciously join with us to make their translations of the Bible freely available to our YouVersion community.

As you might imagine, translating the many different pieces of the global YouVersion experience—interfaces, menus, websites, blogs, tech support, and more—is a huge undertaking. That’s why we thank God every day for our passionate community of extraordinary volunteers. Thanks to them, we’ve already seen YouVersion translated from English into Norwegian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Dutch—and of course now into French! We couldn’t do what we do without the help of these amazing people.

Bible Societies

Generous partners have provided the YouVersion community with several beautiful translations of the Scriptures into French, with more still to come:

• Bible Segond 21 (S21). Offered by the Geneva Bible Society, the Segond 21 required 12 years of translation from original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts, while also incorporating more recently available research. Billed as “the original with the words of today,” it’s been a top-selling Bible among French speakers—even making an appearance in the top 200 books sold at Amazon France!
• La Bible Du Semeur (BDS). Provided by the International Bible Society (now Biblica), La Bible Du Semeur was translated from the original Biblical languages using a thought-for-thought, meaning-based philosophy. Completed in 1999, the BDS presents the Scriptures in contemporary, easy-to-read informal French.
• …And 3 More Brand New Additions. We’re excited to announce that thanks to the Alliance Biblique Française, we have just been able to release for the first time on YouVersion the Français Courant 1997 (FRC97-FR), Nouvelle Bible Segond 2002 (NBS-FR), and Parole de Vie 2011 (PDV-FR). Each of these are well-known, widely read translations among French speakers. Keep checking under Français on the Bible App’s list of available translations and on YouVersion.com’s Versions page!

The Geneva Bible Society Bible also provides the Nouvelle Edition de Genève 1979 (NEG79). In addition to all these contemporary translations from publishing partners, YouVersion also offers more “classic” versions from the public domain, including the Martin 1744 (FMAR), the Bible Louis Segond 1910 (LSG-FR), and the Ostervald (OST).

Volunteers

Wonderful French translations are critical to helping French readers and speakers engage with the Bible, but that’s just one part of YouVersion. Bible App users also need to be able to read its controls, buttons, and menus. People passionate about sharing God’s Word, gifted in translation, volunteer to make all of these tools just as accessible for French users. We never stop making the Bible App better, so there’s always translation to do. And now that we’re offering technical support in French for requests which come to us through email, there’s even more to do. We deeply appreciate our French-speaking volunteer community, so we’d love to get more help for them. If you can assist with any French translation—particularly in responding to requests on Facebook or Twitter—please join us. We need you!

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to help YouVersion reach the world, we asked a few of our awesome French language volunteers to share their experiences with you:

“I was involved in translation at church and in other areas, when I received YouVersion’s email requesting volunteers. I saw the opportunity to sow in a ministry that was helping me so much through the Bible App, so I jumped straight in! Volunteering with YouVersion has connected me to Christians from different parts of the globe, interacting, working, and learning together while having the opportunity to bless people we don’t even know. This is an awesome privilege!”
—Ramelle S., Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France

“I stumbled upon YouVersion while searching for a Bible App. I fell in love with how simple it was to connect with God’s Word on a daily basis. Then I noticed an invitation to become a volunteer. How thrilled I was to see that I could be part of the translating team, and use this ability with language to help people just like me engage with God! This opportunity is truly a rewarding and blessed experience.”
—Vanessa R., Montreal, Canada

“I began volunteering for YouVersion a few months ago under the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This ministry is so fulfilling because I know it is impacting many people all around the world.”
—Maria-Rosa C., South Jordan, Utah, USA

“The Bible App has been very strategic in my walk with Christ. I am able to tap into Reading Plans and just rest in God’s grace as I read His Word. It was important to me that I share with others by volunteering my time, skills, and talents. It is humbling to know that I am part of a team that comes together to help others out of love and obedience to the Lord. Each day in the Lord is a journey in service—serving God and others. Volunteering at YouVersion is a daily reminder to me of that.”
—Vera S., Jackson, Mississippi, USA