Project: 10,000 Bibles for Francophone Africa
Article Date: 14/09/2020 00:00:00
Help us supply our Fench-speaking West African countries with low-cost Bibles!
by Liz Patten, Regional Director for Africa
As I write this, Ivory Coast is undergoing Presidential elections. The atmosphere is tense, for already 14 people have died and a former Prime Minister’s house has been burned down, along with one of the schools in the area. It’s not surprising that my CLC colleagues in Abidjan (the economic capital) and Bouaké (the central major city) often ask for prayers for peace and stability in their land.
To the northeast, lies the border with Burkina Faso. I once traveled from Abidjan to Ouagadougou (Burkina’s capital) by train. The journey lasted some 23 hours and my seat in the only first-class carriage cost GBP 30 – a huge saving on the alternative flight. We roasted by day as the sun beat heavily on the windows and froze by night as an ancient, rattling air conditioning unit blasted cold air upon us, with no way of escape.
Today, I would not choose to go by train. In the ensuing years, terrorist activity has significantly increased. My colleagues in Ouagadougou pray when leaving home each morning and are thankful when they arrive safely at night. Due to COVID-19, I was unable to see them this year and go with them as usual to the corner restaurant run by a family of another faith. On previous visits, I have eaten shwarma whilst watching the adherents of that faith rolling out their mats and bowing in the direction of Mecca, to the accompaniment of the distant minarets…
South-east of Burkina Faso lies Benin, a country where voodoo is considered to be completely normal and is followed by some 40% of the population. In Cotonou, home of the CLC bookshop, violent crime is common, poverty is evident and the spiritual darkness is palpable.
For CLC International, it is time to help our brothers and sisters in West Africa. We are seeking to raise at least GBP 35,000 in order to produce 10,000 copies of an economy version of the Bible in French, to be divided between the four CLC bookshops mentioned. It is our intention that these Bibles will be a much-needed boost for our bookshops and our customers. They will be sold at the lowest possible price (approx GBP 3.6), with the idea that this will pay for the next 10,000 Bibles. A project three years ago in CLC Mozambique was run along similar lines and a second print run of 10,000 Bibles in Portuguese is already underway.
Of course, it is not only Africa that needs the Word. CLC’s mission to make God’s salvation message available to all the nations has resulted in a number of Bible projects on different continents, such as:
•5,000 Bibles in Thai for CLC Thailand
•6,000 Bibles in Russian for CLC Belarus and CLC Russia
•45,000 Bibles in Spanish for CLC in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Spain.
Thank you for your help in bringing the Word of Life to the people of Benin, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast in 2021. “Que Dieu vous bénisse!”
Project Goal
The idea is to supply the Bibles 100% free to our African bookshops. They are then sold at an accessible price and, with the money from sales, the Project can be repeated, thereby ensuring a continuous supply of these Bibles.
PROJECT UPDATE I:
French West Africa Bible Project It is wonderful to report that we have now raised the full amount needed to supply 10,000 Bibles in French to West Africa. On behalf of the International Office and our teams in Benin, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, we say a big MERCI (“thank you”) to all those who have prayed and given financially – or both! We are now at the printing stage and hope to be ready to ship at the beginning of next year. Our CLC bookshops in Abidjan, Bouaké, Cotonou and Ouagadougou, will each receive an initial quantity of the Bibles and then a further supply based on their sales. Our grateful thanks to CLC France for handling all the logistics involved. God’s Word changes lives!
Keywords: projects, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Francophone Africa
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