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Like any other year, the Bible Society of India commemorated Reformation Day on October 31, 2022 in all our offices at the Central and in all 17 Auxiliaries across India. This year, the BSI celebrated this day by adapting a special Order of Worship prepared by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) on the theme “Witnessing to the God of Life”. Reflection was done from the chosen text for the day –  Psalm 104 : 24, 27-30 and Romans 8: 18 – 25. Recalling the beauty of God’s creation of the world as recorded in Psalm 104, where we found God’s intention for each and every creation, of their existence, freedom, and respect for one’s space and their boundaries, through which ecological life should remain balanced. But, when we read Apostle’s Paul letter to the Romans in chapter 8: 18 – 25, we understand that the whole creation ceased to enjoy its primordial status and now groaned in pain for redemption from disruptive and abusive situations. Human beings, the custodian of creation failed to do their duties and became very corrupted, even to the extent of selling indulgences ‘God’s redemption’ by extorting money from the peasants. Humans abused and misused the Bible and continued to cause severe crises to God’s creation. Martin Luther, by way of pinning the ’95 Theses’ of wrong biblical interpretations and corrupted ministerial activities thereby set the right tone to correct the church and it’s theology on October 31, 1517 at the Castle Church, Wittenburg, Germany. Today, as the whole world is celebrating Reformation Day, there is yet another big milestone to celebrate in the history of Bible translation. This day also marked the 500^th year of Martin Luther’s significant work of translation of the New Testament into German language which the Lutheran World Federation celebrates with much joy and gratitude to the life and work of Martin Luther. The Bible Society of India too acknowledges Martin Luther’s great contributions to the liberation of the Scripture itself from the clutches of misconstrued ideologies and perceptions.

As the Advent Season of the year is just around the corner, Christians across the globe are started observing Thanksgiving prayers. There are so many reasons to thank God for God’s sustaining mercies and blessings in our lives as individuals, families, churches, communities and nations. The book of Psalms is one of the most beautiful collections of thanksgiving songs we could reflect upon. Let us look into Psalm 103 a little closer to understand in Five Points, the reasons why we should be thankful to God for God’s many blessings, guidance and the protection we receive throughout the year and in the days to come.

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
​(Psalm 103:1-5).

1. Thanking God for the forgiveness we have in Christ.

This is the greatest blessing. As Martin Luther said, all Christians are saints and sinners simultaneously. Through Christ we are redeemed from our sin and are counted in the company of saints. On the other hand, in our human frailty we are inclined to do sinful things and no human efforts are strong enough to prevent us from sinning. But the grace of God is powerful enough to forgive our sins if we truly repent and ask forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

2. Thanking God for good health.

The whole world had gone through one of the most challenging health crises due to Covid19 pandemic from the past two years. It shattered us and even as we are learning how to live with it, the painful impact it has on many individuals, families and communities continue to traumatise us. Even as the world seems to be breathing a better atmosphere, good health comes as a strong reminder of God’s blessing and we should never take our health for granted. Though God does not guarantee healing every time we get sick; but when we do get sick and recover, we understand God’s intervention in our lives. God works through medicine and doctors to heal us. God often speaks to us in the thickness of our struggles.

3. Thanking God for redeeming our life from destruction.

There can be many reasons in our lives that we go for self destruction. When we find life is not how we wanted it to be and beyond our control, many fall into depression and self destruction. In order to avoid the reality of life, some tend to find comfort by taking alcohol excessively; some take drugs and other substances and wander away like lost sheep and like the prodigal son. Even when we do not know how to find our way back to normal life and back to our family and society, God cares for each of us and seeks us out till we are found. God answers the prayer of our family, our friends and our church community because we all are precious in the sight of God and God redeems our life from destruction. As the psalmist says “Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses” (Psalm 107:13).

4. Thanking God for God’s loving kindness and tender mercies.

God’s love and mercies are real and we are to be thankful to God. As the Psalmist says –
“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalms  103:8-14).

5. Thanking God for God’s provision.
Even in our most vulnerable situation, even when we do not know how to pray, we just need to be thankful to God for our very lives. In times when we do not even get enough food to eat, proper clothe to wear, no proper roof above our heads, and on sick bed, we may question in our heart, how is it possible to be thankful to God in the midst of such hopelessness. The testimony of a boy, whom we met during our BSI Scripture Engagement programme in a hospital in Bangalore city is so encouraging to hear and to learn how to be thankful to God. This boy Madu (name changed) was able to thank God, even as he was on a sick bed for several months. He just thanked God for his life, the food and the clothing provided by the hospital, the hospital bed to sleep on, the prayers of the hospital chaplain, the Children’s Pictorial Bible to read over and over again, the care he received from the doctors, nurses and hospital attendants. He never gave up on his life as he found God in all these. Later, the chaplain of the Hospital reported to us the amazing story of this boy. On the day he was discharged from the hospital with a wheel chair to use till the time he no longer needed it, his words were marvelous testimony (a translated version). “I will continue to pray and thank God for everything, and be a faithful follower of Christ. I will pray for the sick and for the needy and that people may find peace in all circumstances”

By Dr. Hrangthan Chhungi,

AD

Church, Public relations and Resource Mobilisation

It was God’s grace that has sustained the smooth functioning of the Re-editing Kannada of Inter-Confessional Bible project. It is an ongoing translation project comprising of the dedicated Core Translator Team both from the BSI-Catholic institutions. The translation checking has been conducting through the extensive Translators’ Workshops in the BSI William Carey Centre Office, under the supervision and guidance of Rev. Dr. Along Jamir, Translation Director, Translation Department. Indeed, the team is grateful to our respected General Secretary, Rev. Dr. M. Mani Chacko for his generous and constant support towards the noble cause. The checking work is well in progress. The committed Core Translator Team has been intended for intensive translation workshops to keep up the time schedule within the frame of the planning project. Thus, the team has been engaged to focus on the completion of the checking of the New Testament books this year 2022. During the year 2022, three workshops had already been conducted by the Translation Department in the months of February (22 nd -24 th ), April (26 th -29 th ), and August (30 th -2 nd September). Subsequently, the team has also decided to meet on the following months: October (11 th -14 th ), November (15 th -17 th ) and December (6 th -9 th ) to accelerate the task of translation checking. In order to systematize, and to have an error free Bible, a small group was formed within the umbrella of the Core Translator Committee. At this stage, as a team, we affirm the wholehearted dedication of the Translators of the Core Committee which enhanced the translation checking process towards the achievement of our goal. We sincerely request for the continuous prayer support of our dear readers for this project.

The 66 th Annual General Meeting & Thanksgiving Service of the Kerala Auxiliary was held on Saturday, 1 st October 2022 at All Saints CSI Church, Thrissur. It was presided over by Auxiliary President Most Rev. Dr. Yuhanon Mar Chrysostomos Metropolitan. The Rt. Rev. Baker Ninan Fenn, Bishop in CSI Cochin Diocese inaugurated the Meeting. He exhorted that the reading and meditation of the Word of God enlightens people, gives wisdom to discern between right and wrong and that leads to goodness. Vice President Bishop Dr. Oommen George, BSI Central Council member and the Rt. Rev. Abraham Mar Paulos Episcopa blessed the meeting with their presence & speech. The Auxiliary Secretary, Rev. Jacob Antony Koodathinkal presented the Annual Report, and Treasurer, Mr. Jacob John presented the Annual Accounts for the year 2021- 2022. The Auxiliary Committee members & dignitaries such as Rev. Dr. Issac V. Mathew, Mrs. Starla Luke, Chev. Prof. Baby M. Varghese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Ostin Paul, Rev. Johnson E. George, Lt. Col. Daniel J Raj, Mr. M. C. George, Dr. P. C. Thomas, Dr. P. C. Abraham and Mr. George Thomas spoke in the Meeting. Mr. Immanuel Henry, Trivandrum, the man who was placed in the “Limca Book of Records” for his hand written Bible was honored in the meeting. The meeting also paid homage to the members who are in heavenly abode and praised God for their valuable services for the BSI ministry. Awards were given to regions and branches that excelled in resource mobilization. The Auxiliary Committee members, Church leaders & members, representatives from different regions/branches of the Auxiliary and Auxiliary staff participated in the meeting. Bible exhibition & discount sale were conducted as part of the Annual Meeting.

30 th September is celebrated as International Translation Day. As the Bible Society of India, Telangana Auxiliary staff we have celebrated it with the Deaf and Speech impaired community members, it was a wonderful experience to learn something new and good. We had Mrs. Persiswho is a Librarian at Govt. Degree College, Bhodhan, Mr. Rambabu who works as Cash Counter Attendant in KFC, Secunderabad and Mrs. Nagendramma who works as a Cook and Cleaner in a Hostel, ECIL.

The program was started with a word of prayer by Mrs. Persis in Sign Language later we have learned an action song and she expressed how Bible plays important role in her Life. She showed how they understand the Bible by drawings, each Bible verse has a different drawing. Mrs. Persis has a Book which she carries with her every-time, in which all the Bible verses are in drawings. She explained the Bible verse with Signs and pictures, which was a task for everyone to understand, later she showed her drawings with verses in her book. Mr. Rambabu prayed in Sign language and Mrs. Nagendramma has sung a song in Sign Language. All the three have
expressed their views and they were very happy to be part of this program.

As Telangana Auxiliary team started a pilot project to Translate Bible into Indian Sign Language for the Deaf and Speech impaired people. This exposure and experience were a good learning time for all the staff. We, the staff at Telangana Auxiliary bought T-Shirts with the Theme – Sign Languages Unite Us. These interactions and fellowship made us sensitive and sensible towards the scriptural needs of the Deaf and Speech impaired communities.

The goodness of God is not only an attribute of God but a foundational truth every Christian should embrace. Many of us who check the news everyday may be dismayed to see all sorts of bad and unpleasant things happening around the world. With all the bad news circulating around us, we sometimes get caught up with negativity around us and are threatened to draw away from God. Therefore, it is important for us to learn to detect the movement of God and see the goodness of God in everything, everywhere.

Tasting God’s goodness

For a long time during my childhood I did not like chingit (michingi patta), and I never even intended to try it. I didn’t like it mainly because of its look and smell. It has sharp conical thorns or spines on the red-brown stems and trunk, and even the leaves have spines on them! Furthermore, chingit has a strong odour and, for me, it smells like the bed bugs! However, my father kept on insisting me to taste it. It was like “Taste and see that chingit was good.” So, I tried it. Strangely and unexpectedly, with the first taste I started liking it! And now, chingit has become one of my most favourite Mizo bai (cuisine).

When the Psalmist says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” he is not talking about ‘testing God.’ But he is talking about “tasting God’s goodness.” To ‘taste’ here is literally to perceive by experiencing. It involves a conscious decision to be involved, to experience it by yourself, to be in it so that you would see how good the Lord is. It is a kind of what they call ‘acquired taste’ – you only like them after you have become familiar with the taste. In this verse, ‘taste and see’ does not mean that we are to check God’s credentials, but rather it is a warm invitation to “Try this; I know you will like it.”

Finding God in a world of ‘busy-ness’

We are living in a world of “busy-ness” – busy people, busy streets, busy telephone line, busy traffic, and so on. We are so busy with our jobs, our studies, our families, our social and ecclesiastical responsibilities that we often forget to think about God, about God’s goodness that always surrounds us. Everyone seems to be busy with our own interest, living in our own comfort zone without looking for God who is always around us. This has often been the reason why we cannot find God and his goodness in certain areas and occasions in our lives.

John S. Dunne tells of early Spanish sailors who reached the continent of South America after a tiring and difficult voyage. They sailed into the headwaters of the Amazon, an expanse of water so wide the sailors presumed it to be a continuation of the Atlantic Ocean. They did not even try to drink the water, since they expected it to be saline, and as a result, some of these sailors died of thirst. These men died of thirst because they did not know that their ship floated on the world’s largest source of fresh water! Likewise, some people starve to death spiritually while plenty of things are in store all around them. One important thing here is that we only need to look for traces of God everywhere.

There are people who could not see God’s goodness because they have not tried it. Meanwhile, there are people who always praise and thank God because they recognize the goodness of God in everything they see and meet. The only difference is whether one has a heart to find and see signs of God’s presence in every time of his/her life.

How big is your God?

In order to see the goodness of God, we need to remember how massive God is. King Solomon makes an amazing statement in I Kings 8:27: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you.” Have you ever wondered how big our God is? The question may sound, at first, like a childish question. But it is also a question that philosophers deal with while trying to grasp the existence
and nature of God. The fact is, it is not possible to define God by human standards of size and measurement. The following illustration might give you a better perspective of this age-old question.

A boy once asked his father, “What is the size of God?” Then the father looked up at the sky and saw a plane and asked his son, “What is the size of the plane?” The boy replied, “It is very small. I can hardly see it.” Then the father took him to the airport. As they approached a plane, the father asked his son, “How big is the plane now?” “Wow Dad, it’s huge!” he yelled. Then the father told him, “God’s size depends on how close or far you are from God. The closer you are to God, the greater and greater God will be in your life.”

Let us remember that when it seems like God is far away, God is not the one that moved. It is we who move away from God. The Bible tells us that God is not far from each one of us, God places us where we are so that we would search and find God (Acts 17:27-28). Let us, therefore, share the conviction of the Psalmist who says, “But for me it is good to be near God” (Psalm 73:28).

We must trust that every breath, every day of our life is in the precious hands of God, who is all- good, all-powerful, and all-merciful toward us. It is only when we taste and see God’s goodness that we will be able to rejoice in the Lord always and serve God with gladness.

Rev. Remlalfaka,

Auxiliary Secretary,

BSI, Aizawl Auxiliary

The theme of this Assembly was to “Christ’s Love Moving the World to Reconciliation and Unity”. On this overarching theme, many workshops and presentations were held from various perspectives and platforms. Here is a message from the Ecumenical Indigenous Pre-Assembly meeting for the Christian World in general and for the Churches in particular drafted by Lori Ransom, a delegate from the Presbyterian Church in Canada: “The church must pursue reconciliation with Indigenous peoples around the world.  It must confront and address the spiritual violence it has committed in the name of Christ’s love, and in the pursuit of a unity that denies the God-given diverse identities of Indigenous peoples, including their spiritual identities.  The church in its many global contexts needs to establish processes to hear the truth of the harm it has done, to repent of its sins, to atone, and change its behaviour.  This extends to a deep examination of its understanding of what it means to witness Christ’s love.  Indigenous peoples have much to teach the church in this regard. It also involves supporting Indigenous peoples in dealing with historical and ongoing trauma, and racism within the church, that still leads to suffering (e.g. suicide, substance abuse, and violence) and the loss of Indigenous lives.  Finally, the church must commit to supporting Indigenous self- determination within ecclesial institutions in keeping with article 12.1 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The family of the Bible Society of India, throughout the Central Offices, Translation Centre Shillong and all our 17 Auxiliaries observed the International Literacy Day declared by the United Nations Organization on September 8, 2022, in our respective offices. This day was observed with morning prayer by following a very meaningful Order of Worship prepared by the Media and Special Audience Department, Bible Society of India. Praying for those who are not able to read and write, those who do not have the opportunities of learning and are denied access to knowledge. We have meditated on the selected biblical text Joshua 1: 7 – 9, as a reminder of the importance of learning and following God’s command. The mission of God is to get involved in teaching and Scripture Engagement with those who are ignorant and who do not know how to read and write.

Odisha Auxiliary

Indeed it was a great time to observe “International Literacy Day” in our Odisha Auxiliary meaningfully by following the order of service prepared by the Media Department.

It was wonderful to have Mrs Sushanna Pramanik, Translation Advisor, BSI Bangalore and the Kuvi consultation team as we observed International Literacy Day even as the Kuvi Bible consultation is an ongoing project under their leadership. The sharing from the word of God by Rev. Prabhudas Sirka, one of our Translators of the Kuvi Bible, was very encourageous. We gave thanks to God for those who can read the Bible and also have prayed for all those who are yet to be literate.

The Bible Society of India commemorates Kandhamal Day to stand in solidarity with all Christians — Children, Youth and Adults who faced the Kandhamal religious violence and to remember victims of targeted violence against Christian Adivasis and Dalits, and to express solidarity with all victims of hate and violence across India.  This day was observed as Combined Prayer Fellowship on a virtual platform through Zoom across the BSI Offices in Central Office and all the Auxiliaries and Translation Centre, Shillong by following a very meaningful Order of Worship prepared by the Jabalpur Auxiliary. Archbishop Rajiw Satish Toppo, President, BSI Ranchi Auxiliary and Archbishop of the Northwestern Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church, Ranchi was our Guest Speaker. The speaker emphasised that “Without Crucifixion, there is no Resurrection '' by way of talking about the firm faith which the victims of the Kandhamal riots are holding on in Christ. As they cling on to the crucified Christ, their faith and spirits are not shaken and they continue to rise above the threats of evils.

According to Archbishop Toppo, the forces of evils are nothing but temporary forces that came from the instigated socio-political and religious factors in and around Kandhamal. As Christians, we need to pray constantly to do away with the forces of evils that surround us and pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen and give us an understanding of our socio-political and religious context so that we can be on guard and fight for justice in this world.