YouVersion

YouVersion.com just added Korean and Russian as interface options, once again all thanks to YouVersion’s amazing, dedicated volunteer community. To switch to one of these languages, click in the lower left corner of the reader, or go directly to http://ko.youversion.com/ for Korean or http://ru.youversion.com/ for Russian.

The ability to choose your interface in Korean or Russian means you can enjoy your entire connection with the Bible in the language of your choice, whether you’re on the website or using the Bible App™ on your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, Android, or BlackBerry device (referenced here and here). If you’d like to read the Bible in Korean, you can choose from the Korean Living Bible (KLB) and the 개역한글 (KORVB). For Russian, you can read in the Русский Синодальный перевод (RURSV). And of course we’re constantly working to bring you more versions in other languages.

Do you know anyone who might enjoy engaging with God’s Word in Korean or Russian? Please let them know about these exciting new options, and spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. If you’d like to help out as a volunteer translator, please let us know through volunteer sign up what you can do. Participating in the global YouVersion volunteer community offers truly unique opportunities for you to share your faith—with literally millions of people all over the world.

During the first 46 days of 2011, together the YouVersion community engaged with the Bible for more than 1 billion minutes. And during just the past 60 days, the Bible App™ was installed on 3.4 million new mobile devices. So far, the Bible App’s interface is available in 11 languages, with even more to come. More people than ever now have the opportunity to experience God’s Word in a personal, meaningful way. All of those things happened in partnership with dedicated volunteers passionately offering their gifts—volunteers just like you.

Volunteers with YouVersion have the opportunity to touch the lives of literally millions of people all over the world—volunteers like Klaus in Germany, Kleber translating Portuguese in Brazil, Sebastian in Poland, Yanick working on Dutch from the Netherlands, Jose in Guatemala contributing Spanish, Ingu helping with Korean from the U.S., Isaac and Jerry translating into Chinese, Roman and Vitaliy in Russia, and Ramelle in France. But even as great as these tireless leaders are, if you can assist with translation into any of these languages, they would be grateful to have your help.

But of course YouVersion isn’t stopping there. We’re also seeking volunteer translators for Japanese, Arabic, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Afrikaans, Swedish, Slovak, Romanian and Czech. And if there’s another language you’d like to see the Bible App in, and you can help translate it, please contact us.

There are other ways you can help, too. Can you translate? Provide support to other users? Design or develop websites or mobile apps? Test new versions and provide great feedback? Volunteers come from all kinds of professional backgrounds—one recent contributor had spent years handling multilingual front-end work for an online sweepstakes casino platform, and when she heard about the localization push, her experience with internationalized interfaces turned out to be a perfect fit. Please let us know if any of these tasks sound like you.

We would be honored to welcome you to the YouVersion team.

If you use reading plans, whether online at YouVersion.com or in the Bible App­™, then you already know how much they can help you engage with the Bible every day. On Friday of last week, we had 62 plans. Today we’re adding 68 more brand new ones—the most we’ve ever brought you at one time. That’s 130 unique paths for you to choose from to interact with God’s Word.

Why so many? Because we’ve been listening, and we’re trying to respond to requests from the amazing YouVersion user community. We want to equip you with as many tools as possible to help you—and the people you’re reaching—genuinely connect with the Bible. Whether you’re exploring faith, or you’re seeking to grow closer in the relationship with Christ you already have, or you’re simply looking for encouragement, you’ll find something just for you in YouVersion’s reading plans. Here are just a few examples:

• Teens/Youth. We now have more than 20 plans devoted to topics that young people face every day.
• Parenting by Design. This devotional offers quick, daily encouragement for parents who want to raise a Bible-centered family.
• 1-Minute Daily Devotions. Right from the Heart Ministries developed this series of short, inspirational readings you’ll want to meditate on throughout your day.
• New Testament Books. Individual plans lead you through most New Testament books.
• Practical Topical Plans. Through a collaboration with the Stewardship Council, we have 3 new focused plans you might try: Debt, Compassion, and Busy Women.

And of course, we try to make it simple for you to share what you’re reading with the other people in your life on Facebook and Twitter. Simply connect the Bible App to your social networks and go.

All this is only the beginning. Keep watching this space. Right now we’re working on new plans in additional languages. More announcements to come…