by Donna

I am persuaded that every day should be a celebration of life!  How incalculable is the  value of a human life!  In the book of Acts, Paul addressed the philosophers and thinkers of Athens, who had a nearby altar erected to the Unknown God. Paul proceeded to clarify and declare His identity. “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” Acts 17: 24,35. He continues in verse 28 to state, “ For in him we live, and move, and have our being.”  Paul emphasized the origin of life and affirmed that the true God “gives to all life, and breath, and all things” So, how can we ever calculate the value of a human life?  Various government agencies put a numerical value on a human life. It is, indeed, a profoundly ethical issue, how to assess the value of a human life in financial terms based on benefits vs costs.  Of course these values placed are considering only the definition of the physical aspect of human life.  Human life is sacred, made in the very image of God. The great Creator God himself said “ Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”. Gen 1:26,27.

In the Old Testament, Job, in his quest to understand the ways of God asked, “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?”  Job 12:10. In the New Testament, Jesus tells us to “Love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Mt 22:37. It is clear that a human being , created in the image of God, is more than just a physical entity, but a living soul. This is a long and interesting discussion, and if we reflect upon the idea that God himself sent His only begotten Son to give His life a ransom for every single human creature of His creation, we must admit that God puts a great value on every human life! John 3:16!

Every day as I look into the face of my family members, skype with those who are far away, see the ultrasound of the beginning of a new life, I thank God for all the precious people that God has surrounded me with.  I thank all of you who are supporting the Word Project ministry , those who, far and wide, are laying down their lives for the Gospel, and everyone in the family of God.  May you continue to be blessed while blessing those around you.  You are greatly loved and appreciated!

Amazed: Bel Bel is 3 Years old (young!)

Joana’s Birthday

More family pictures:

Bel Bel birthday dinner

Zach: a little thing is a little thing but to be faithful in the little things is a great thing!

Did you see this?

Not our picture but we watched it too.

This is the morning after the eclipse

and our surroundings

As usual, several errors were corrected and updates made in June, following reports from users, who are usually very helpful in reporting the problems they find. We are in the process of updating the whole Tamil Bible text while Raj records the audio – as he reads from the official Tamil Bible Bible book, he then checks the online version. When he finds errors he reports and we correct them. This is a long process and we should be doing this for a while longer. Raj reached the Book of Joshua, the 6th Book in the Bible, and the good news is that the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs have already been uploaded. We are eager to see it done.

Meanwhile, just today I went back to China to send our first shipment of audio Bibles to Africa. Once again Raj helped me with the whole process and we were able to get the 6 packs, literally, on the way to Guangzhou, where a company will ship them to our dear friends in Nairobi. From there, they will be distributed to the different ministries. In my conversation with Raj, I was informed that recently he helped some brethren from India who came to China to order printed Bibles from the largest Bible printer in the world – Amity Printing. He was impressed, as he visited the factory, with the huge size of their operation and the amount of Bibles they print there – in over 100 languages. He was told that the folks that work there have devotions and read the Bible too… this is in China. The Lord sure works in many and very amazing ways!!

Packages ready to go to Africa

Packages are loaded with our New Audio Bible, Sr600

Tamil Bible printed at Amity in China

Not least, we are comforted by the fact that the Lord is also accomplishing a lot through our much smaller and humble operation. We are reminded of its impact when we receive comments and letters from our users. Here  are some recent ones:

Thank you for your work in providing the audio Bible online.   I find listening to God’s Word very encouraging as it strengthens my faith to listen to God’s Word being read to me. May God continue to reach many through your ministry for His Name sake.  DS 

**

 I am planning to develop a mobile application for my native language . I found the voice for that language in your website. Can I use them in my app? I’ll mention the source as your website . Thank you. AR

**

Warm greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. I am native of Democratic Republic of Congo. I am very much interested with the word project, I have been listening the swahili Bible for a couple of days, and I am interested in knowing the possibility of having my mother tongue bible (EBEMBE BIBLE) to be put in the audio format through your assistance. This will help this Bible inaugurated on 27 Fevrier 1994 to reach out to many of my people who are scattered abroad due to war in my home country. I will be looking forward to hearing from you. DL

**

I really like the audio bible on your website. Thank you so much for all the service you’re offering, If you din’t mind I have a request.I live in the U.S. and I belong to a wonderful religious community here.  I’m very active at the church and I’m trying to reach Turkish people. I’m planning to make videos using your audio files. It would be awesome if you could add ZIP FILES for Turkish Bible too. This way I would be able to have Turkish people to listen to the Bible in their native language.Please let me know if I can get the zip files or if you’d be able to upload the zip files on your website. Hope to hear from you soon. UM

**

Hello,Is there currently any plans to have an audio Tagalog (Filipino) Bible?Thanks, TS  

**

i wanna upload all Chinese bible audios to some Chinese audio apps. Is that ok? i am a bible leaner, but i can’t find audio materials on chinese public apps in china. so i am asking for ur authority and copyright. thank you! FW

**

Hello I’m a Muslim and I want to be a Christian so I need to learn more about the realty so what I can do.  I speak Somali and I leave in Switzerland AF

**

WordProject, I love your website and have been using it for years.  I have used it while studying a variety of languages, mainly European, as I was an international studies major in college and have lived in Europe several times.  The language that I would love to see on your site is Irish (Gaeilge).  I had seen a site (anbioblanaofa.org, I believe) that had the catholic, Irish bible on-line, but that site does not appear to be functional any longer. Please let me know if you could add Irish.  Thank you and God bless! FC

**

Hello . I was wondering if you could email me a copy of Urdu holy Bible in a PDF file along with the copy write info I looking to distribute Bible in pakaistain and was needing the Bible format thanks God bless you. CP

**

I am trying to purchase a number of complete Bibles (OT/NT) in the Czech language and am finding it extremely difficult to do so in the UK.Would you be able to help? BW

**

I’m having trouble with your website. It comes up normally for me with Chinese and English, but then when I click the languages (English, Chinese Simplified, and pinyin) it doesn’t do anything. Normally, it automatically changes to those 3 languages without doing anything buy click the boxes. I tried changing Bible books too, and it wouldn’t let me do that either. It just stayed on Genesis. It did allow me to advance to the next chapter though. Any suggestions? Thanks. J

**

My name is Arman. I am a 43 year old Filipino living in Manila Philippines.I am husband and a father to two children and is currently praying to find a local church to grow my faith and my children.I am not a very good christian but I read your Statement of Faith and I would like to offer my help in your ministry in any way you will find appropriate. AC

**

Greetings In The Name Of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,My name is Valencia. I am seeking permission to use your audio Bible in my Powerpoint videos.  I will be grateful to have your permission.  Thank you for your time and consideration of this request. VQ

**

Thanks for your endeavour in spreading the Word of God. This has been a great blessing on my side. May God Bless you. AL

**

Many thanks for this website. I am very glad about quality and usefully your job. For me, it is very nice.  Thanks again and God bless you.by the way – right now (since 2014) I am living in the UK and working with Muslims (they came to the UK from Senegal and Gambia) and this is very interested meet them because every different is inspiring.I wrote something about me because I try to use the grammar extension for Firefox. I think is very good. JP

[and there are more.]

Some users say this about our APP:

Went through other audio Bible apps.. Came back to this with a much healthier appreciation of this app! Thanks for providing the audio word of God, without distractions, and easy presentation. 👍  AS.   **

It’s a very good app like a pocket bible I’m glad to have whole bible in my phone conveniently because I can read and listen a any time anywhere bible with help of this app it’s too good. AB.

******

On the more technical side, Philip has relocated Wordproject and Wordplanet to a faster and less expensive server. He dedicated a few days to do this work, which included the fine tuning of server settings.

International ranking

Philip’s code

In summary, the Word of God is in very high demand all over the world, as times get darker and trouble is heard about everywhere. People are looking up to It for comfort, direction and strength. We are also very sold out on the Word, and we use it daily in our lives. We carry an iBible everywhere we go and, we actually use it! It has always been ‘A very present help in trouble’. Thank the Lord.

By Donna,

Praise be to God, we can definitely testify that ‘where God guides, He provides’! With our vision to import and distribute IBibles in Portugal, we really were not sure where to begin or how to go about pioneering this ministry in a country that we have been estranged to for some time now. Interestingly enough, during the past few years, Jorge has rekindled a longstanding friendship with a Christian brother who also had served the Lord as a missionary in South America for many years. After experiencing the blessing of these small audio players, he went out and started speaking about the Bibles in his local community. People were genuinely interested and he has distributed half of the first shipment we brought into the country. (BTW, the first shipment was brought in our suitcases! ) Then we contacted a Chinese friend in a local grocery store and she gave us the contact for a shipping company as regards to further shipments of Bibles into the country. As we walked by faith, God met us each step of the way, and it is the beginning of Wordproject iBible ministry in Portugal!! We are excited about it, and ask you to join us in prayer for the shipping to work out and that we find more distribution venues.

Cristiana and Jason

Jorge’s friends in Lisbon

It was great to catch up with Cristiana in Lisbon and the Soares family in ‘Margem Sul’. We also had a blessed road trip to the center and north of Portugal. The country is home to so much breathtaking nature and European history, not to mention centuries old medieval castles and grandiose churches and cathedrals.   Close friends Abilio and Julieta hosted us during our stay there. This beautiful region of the Douro River was resplendent after a winter replete with rainfall and the grapes were abounding on the vines throughout the valley. It truly is a spectacular sight.

It was the first opportunity for Gloria and Jason to get to their roots and experience the peace of Penacova. We were able to meet with Jorge’s cousin Isabel and her husband, the only remaining close family that we have in Penacova. They were so happy to chat and reminisce over the old days, sharing stories of family and children grown up all too quickly. Jorge walked us thru the streets and alleys of his childhood and recounted the famous stories of the family which I hope will be passed down thru the generations and never be forgotten. How interesting it is to try to retrace the past and keep a piece of it in your heart, in a time when everything is changing so quickly.

Once, again, the clock keeps ticking and the years keep passing. Young Guilherme is now beginning his 29^th year and lovely Gloria is beginning her 19^th. They both celebrated in grand fashion and are happy with all the good looks and good health that God has blessed them both with!

Gloria’s Birthday dinner

Gui and Joana on Gui’s birthday

Jorge:

It has been a very busy month here in Portugal. We have been able to start the distribution of Audio Bibles here and we have our first distributor who is very encouraged with the prospects. Basically, many people do not own a Bible and as in so many other parts of the world, they need one!! Besides, most are too busy to read the Bible… So, hearing the Bible is the solution for them: you can drive and listen or you can be doing other things, from cooking, to computing, and listen. By the way, do you realize that throughout history more people heard the Bible than read it? People used to hear the Bible before the invention of the printing press and even after that.

We received news that our first batch of 800 audio Bibles is ready for pick up in China. Yes, our producer has delivered and although we were not there to receive them, our dear brother Raj took care of that. Thank you, Raj.

800 Audio Bibles waiting to be shipped

We might as well have lots of audio Bibles as we have received requests from Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Congo. By the way, our contacts in those fields have been sharing with us the pictures of some of the evangelistic work being done there. The audio Bibles are very needed to feed the Word of God in those very needy fields. We know that the need is also material and we hope we can contribute in other ways as well.

Samuel Reports:

These are photos in North Eastern Uganda. 1222 people got saved.

Also, as some of you must remember, our friend and brother in the Lord, Safari, has a ministry on the coastal area of Kenya, where through a football team he ministers and witnesses to young people, mostly from Muslim background. He sent us this picture:

We miss the times we spent in that area, including some football training with his team. FYI we have supplied audio Bibles to Safari in the past and one of our next shipments is to him.

Also, our friend Pamela, from Mombasa, has been in contact and eagerly waiting for our next audio bible shipment. She sent the following pictures from a seminary organized by her group on  the theme of eradication of poverty.

As some of you know, Pamela was instrumental in the recording of the Swahili audio Bible and herself and her family received us with open arms when we spent time in Mombasa searching for a Swahili narrator. She is the person who found the narrator and helped with some of the logistics for the initial trial recordings. Bless her heart.

Also, as you know, French is the language spoken in Congo. We have made a special order of French audio Bibles with the purpose to send to Congo, via Samuel, who sent us the following pictures from the much needed field of Isilo, Congo.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your support that make these projects possible.

It is never too much to stress that our main ministry is online and we do reach out to more people with the Gospel through our online media than any other way. Once again, this month, we were able to keep up with all our servers and maintain our output, as you may see from the stats below. Actually, we have reached our highest ranking as a website, being now 35017 in (Alexa) world ranking and, particularly, 8968 in India.

Just in case you have any doubts that the Word of God does make a great difference in the lives of everyone, including the poor, just remember the old, very true saying: ‘give a fish to a person, you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime’. This is not in the Bible but the Holy Bible does say: “…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”. (Matthew 6:33)

Donna:

This month was marked by the journey of Jorge and Jason to Portugal.  They left with a mission, besides personal and family affairs,  to establish a Wordproject base and deliver many of the newly produced  audio Bibles to various sources. It has been a remarkable time for them, the weather has been congenial and Jorge and Jason have had great teamwork together. They have accomplished their mission of setting up a small office, and are already on the distribution path.

Humble beginnings: Our Wordproject Desk in Portugal

Ben and Gloria have finished their 3rd and 1st years at Uni respectively.  Thank you for your prayers regarding Ben’s internship. He will be starting his summer program with a local media company in a few weeks.  Gloria has joined the team in Portugal before she begins some research projects in the university lab during her summer break.

Gloria arrival in Portugal – (Jason, Donna, Gloria)

Donna and Jorge are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary! It has been an awesome journey, which we hope will continue a while longer!  They were married in Portugal, so it is a very special time for them to be back together there after many years.

Jorge and Donna / Celebrating 40 years of marriage

Sweet baby Aurora is growing by leaps and bounds! She is a very calm, peaceful little girl who is already communicating with her amazing smiles and generous facial expressions.  Isabel is a fantastic older sister who is always concerned for her younger sibling’s welfare.

Baby Aurora of Emanuel and Mandy / Happy face.

The Lord has been good to us this month in allowing us a quick transition from spring into summer. The days in Macau are longer and the heat much more intense. It is a definite struggle to stay hydrated and healthy in temperatures up to 35 degrees C for a prolonged period. Hopefully, some rain will arrive to cool down the situation.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecc. 3:1)

Jorge:

This month we were able to improve some sections of the WP website with the help of some users who were so kind to send us improved translations in their respective languages. Thus, A. Roshdi, a native Persian speaker, improved our Persian page at

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/verses/farsi/index.htm

Then, M. Paraliev, helped us to improve the Bulgarian text at

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/verses/bulgarian/index.htm

We made huge changes to our Portuguese BR (Brazil) page as the Bible text was completely updated to the ACF 1995, which is the version used by the narrator. The previous version, also ACF (Almeida Corrigida Fiel), but older, had some discrepancies or mismatches with the audio. Notice that the changes in these versions are merely in choice of words or updating certain terms, and by no means affect doctrinal fundamentals.

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/po-BR/40/1.htm

As already mentioned by Donna, this month we ordered new Audio Bibles in China. Our order will be large this time and we have already received the first delivery. Meanwhile we have received encouraging emails from the field. From Africa we received the following letter – it explains the impact of our ministry better than we ever could:

Dear Friends at Wordproject,

Thank you for your hard work, I am really enjoying reaping the benefits!  I am a missionary in Uganda, a country with poor education and over 40 dialects!  I have been a missionary for over 7 years, and I am training pastors that live in rural villages.  Of all the Bible study tools, curriculum, and programs to teach pastors, I have (not surprisingly) found that just using the Bible is the absolute BEST thing!

The pastors meet and we go through the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, and I have seen a HUGE improvement in these men and church leaders!  One of my greatest struggles was how long it took them to read through each chapter, out loud.  I discovered that most of my pastors don’t read very well, even the most educated pastor struggles to read the Bible out loud.  For me, it has taken up so much time.  Although literacy is important, it’s not what I came to do, so I began to look for an audio Bible in Luganda or Lusoga.  Praise the Lord, I found Wordproject!

Thank you for your work, I now have been downloading each book of the Bible and taking it out on a little speaker and playing it out loud for them.  The understand it so much better!  As the reader fluently reads each chapter, the pastors are able to hear it all in one setting, and quickly enough that they can study, think, and meditate on what God might be saying, instead of struggling to properly pronounce each word, they follow with their eyes in their own Bible and learn how to better read at the same time!

Thank you again for your ministry, it is currently helping over 40 pastors!

One request:  Is it possible to get the whole Bible in one or two downloads so that I don’t have to download it chapter by chapter?  I’ve finished downloading the New Testament, but we’re about to start on the Old, and (gulp!), the thought of sitting in front of the computer and downloading it chapter by chapter is a bit daunting.

Thank you, and God bless!
Matt

Worship hall in Africa – sent by our friend in Mozambique –

Tamil pages have also been improved with several correction on the text made by Raj, our dear brother who is living in China. Besides working on an improved audio version of the Tamil Bible, already in the final phases, Raj is also helping us with audio devices production and contacts. He has a lot of experience in these fields. We are so thankful for his great help.

Expired Image!

From Donna:

April was a blessed month indeed, a celebration of life! It started off on April 1st with Christ’s resurrection and the new life He  has given us! What Good News and what a desire to spread that message to every corner of the earth! In answer to prayer, we received the first shipment of the new order of Audio Bibles!

First installment of new order of audio bibles

Another mega blessing received was the safe and sound delivery of little Aurora Gao Soares, the newest addition to Emanuel and Mandy’s growing family! Sweet mommy Mandy was at the point of bursting on Saturday, her expected delivery date.  Brainstorming new ways to collaborate with the labor process, she reflected on Mary’s donkey ride to Bethlehem. Surely that bouncing and juggling on the donkey could have contributed in the process of going into labor.:)  In turn, Sunday night Mandy went home and bounced on her exercise ball- since she happened to find herself lacking in the possession of a donkey.  It just so happens that early the next morning, her initial contractions began and by 6 am she was at the maternity. The staff wisely allowed her to ramble around the pre-delivery room, intermittently riding her donkey (aka big bouncing ball)!   Emanuel was prepared for the long haul in the solitary hospital corridor, but to his surprise, at 10:53 AM, April 9th, precious Aurora entered into her mama’s arms! She defied the previous diagnosis of having the umbilical cord wrapped twice around her neck, and came out as clean as a whistle. What a joy she is! Sleeping well and eating well, she is loved by all, especially big sister Isabel who loves her to bits!  It was much to Isabel’s   chagrin that baby sister doesn’t talk, walk or play yet, but she is so pleased to sing to her, read stories to her and LOVE her to bits!  She is already mommy’s big-little helper!

Expired Image!

Aurora just 1 day old

Mandy, Bel Bel and baby Aurora. Happy trio.

Daddy Emanuel and Bel Bel, getting mountain water

On April 25^th, we  celebrated another life, that of Benjamim Soares,  as a matter of fact,  22 years of his life! Ben is finishing up his 3^rd year of uni and is organizing an internship during the summer break. With all of his talents he has many options, so we are praying that the Lord will guide him to the best internship opportunity available.

Benjamim’s birthday celebration at home

Julie Soares also celebrated her birthday at the end of March, and let everyone know that she was really happy! Then, alas, on April 21^st we received news from Philip and Julie in Seattle that they will be welcoming another addition to their precious family! We are overjoyed for them as they have been praying for a sibling for little Zachary.  Another  celebration of life and love! May the Lord grant peace and wisdom to these young parents who are welcoming  new lives into their family. It is an overwhelming task, but they have all of God’s promises on their side. And the rewards are just as amazing as the challenges are!   Children ARE a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb IS His reward.  Psalm 127:3

Philip, Julie and Zach

We are experiencing a period of great online demand again. Over 13 terabytes of audio were served this month and our international ranking raised to 39,000 worldwide and  under 10,000 in India. China and India are fields in great demand of our resources. We have improved several languages, based on information and reports we receive from the field. Raj is now working on the recordings of Genesis in Tamil and within the next few days we should have that audio for upload. There are some corrections to the Tamil text that have to be done too. By the way, I was able to meet with some of Raj’s contacts from India who came to China to negotiate the printing of Bibles. They received our audio Bible too and are very keen to pray for wordproject continual outreach in India.

Within the next few days, we are to negotiate the manufacturing of more audio Bibles devices to be sent to Africa and Portugal and hope to get the funding for that. Thank you for your prayers.

Expired Image!

The IOS and Android Apps are also doing well. The comments we receive are always the most encouraging. Here are just a few comments from this month’s list:

” Great application. perfect audio and the pleasant Portuguese accent Portugal.”  [P.N.]

“I love God a lot and I love to study his Word, He is everything that I’ve ever wanted and I am so happy to have Him in my life❤” [M.M.]

“Bible audio and Mr. Scourby is by far the most dynamic audio reader of the Bible and just found app. Had it on cassette for years, but so simple to navigate to any where in the bible. Plus many bible topics also read by him. Been saved 56 years, and love every moment. God sent me right to this app. And it’s free. Praise God. Just like Salvation. Thank you Jesus” [I.I.]

“Thank you for a no strings attached free audio bible.  Great work and very much needed.” [C.H.]

Recent Rankings

Recent ranking / other countries

Wordplanet also raising

Wordplanet, wordproject sister site is also in increasing great demand. We are upgrading the server and updating the Bible text and audio links. We expect Wordplanet to become an alternative site to WP and one that could be downloaded for offline use, since it is a streamlined version of wordproject, simpler, containg text basic features only.

From Africa we received news from Samuel, in Kenya, and his contacts in Congo, where our audio Bibles have been distributed and where some equipment, such as portable mikes and speakers were sent as a gift. We hope to be able to raise funds to supply more of these useful tools for evangelization. See images:

evangelization meetings in Congo 1 (notice portable speaker and mike)

Evangelization meetings in Congo 2

Donna:

This month we continued to gather every Sunday morning for our family fellowship. Not surprisingly, we face a raging battle with an invisible, yet formidable enemy who is determined to destroy our unity. ”For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: ( For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  Thus, the weapons we employ during our warfare engagements are not physical but spiritual, such as dependence upon the Power of the Holy Spirit, the reading of God’s Word, and committing our lives and situations into the hands of the Almighty God  in prayer .  The end result is: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth  itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”. 2 Cor 10:4,5, (which is  a very difficult task indeed, as we are all bound  by our sin.) However, we do not desist in assembling  together!  The family that prays together –stays together!  Good Friday devotions was very special, as we offered reflection on the suffering and shame that our Redeemer willingly submitted himself to on our behalf, ( in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us). We were then able to join in the Jubilant Song of the Redeemed on Easter morning ! Hallelujahs and Praises be to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!! Death is swallowed up in Victory!  Christ is Risen from the dead and is set at God’s right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named. Eph1:20-21. Hallelujah! All glory to the name of Jesus! We are a happy and thankful people!

Assorted pictures:

roof top Sundy lunch

Easter Moon from our roof top

Jorge has been making a tremendous effort to change our previously vacant roof into a charming venue for sharing meals,  bbq’s   and convenient  camping!  After designing and mounting the wooden pergola , he has gone on to construct  wooden tables, storage areas and benches.  We have enjoyed wonderful family get- togethers, as the spring weather has been conducive to outdoor mealtimes, studying , working  and camping!

new home made furniture – pallets

Roof top garden (Bel Bel)

Donna:

February was another month of beginnings, as we peacefully entered the Chinese New Year!

CNY decorations in Macau.

Actually, the symbols and traditions of the Chinese New Year are deeply rooted in more than 5,000 years of human culture and beliefs. Unfortunately, many of the traditions have roots in astrology, religious horoscopes, feng shui , lucky superstitions and the ambition to become prosperous and wealthy. As we know from the Bible, these practices are forbidden for those who serve the Lord God.  For this reason, the Spring Festival can be quite challenging for Christians of Chinese descent who no longer believe in luck but believe that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and that every good and perfect gift is from their Father which is from above.  “Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all” 1 Chr 29:12.  Christians are challenged to abstain from the cultural practices based on luck and instead focus on the good Chinese New Year traditions such as visiting family, friends and relatives (some traveling thousands of kms home on crowded buses and trains), sharing  foods and the exchange of small  gifts etc.  Hopefully, they can use the opportunity to share how thankful they are that God has blessed them.  An interesting thing to note is that with so many Christians in China, ( some estimate that there are now more Christians than members of the communist Party !)  a new culture of texting Christian greetings and prayers for the New Year is proliferating. Besides the new fad of on-line sending and receiving of hongbao, or red envelope gifts, wishes for peace and eternal joy from God are now circulating on social media sites! Praise be to God! Pray for the innovative Chinese Church in China to find new ways to share the gospel of His love!!

Jorge:

After one year in the mainland we have closed the apartment and we are back in Macau. This year we have several goals we will try to attain from here. A possible trip to Portugal this spring is in the works. Not least, there is the arrival of Emanuel and Mandy’s new baby expected for April. We also hope to assist and encourage those of our family who are studying and working in Macau and strengthen our unity to face future challenges. We also are enjoying fellowship and activities together. Always enjoy hearing from family near and far.

Assorted pictures:

All together in Taipa

At Emanuel and Mandy’s home for CNY dinner.

Expired Image!

Picnic around the island.

Bel Bel being cute

Brave Zac in Hawai

Philip, Julie and Zac in Hawai

Cristiana and sher singing teacher in Portugal

This month we have been busy making corrections and updating. Several reports were sent to us concerning links that did not work, chapters that were missing, audio that was wrong, etc., which, for the most part, we have fixed.

Here is one of those reports:

“Hi friends, I appreciate very much what you do. I was looking for an audio Bible in my language (Bulgarian) I  found you. I appreciate that you have a Bulgarian page. Probably you have used an automated translation. The text is understandable but there are few words that are a bit different. If you would like I could give you some small hints how to improve the Bulgarian text (since it is my mother tongue) It is so funny I helped with spreading English Bibles you help with Bulgarian… we are all helping in this big work to spread the Word of God.” M.

We did receive the corrections from this Bulgarian friend and we made the relevant changes. Here:

Bulgarian audio page

We also received this email from another user:

“I am not using the parallel function.  I click on Farsi, and then the Farsi bible is shown (without another book in parallel).  Until about a week ago, I could click on a book of the Bible and the chapters in that book would be shown above the text.   Then I could click on the chapter I wanted to see, and I could go right to that chapter.   Now that feature seems to have been eliminated.  Chapter one is shown, but in order to go to chapter two or to later chapters, I need to go to the bottom of the page and click the arrow for the next chapter.  To go to chapter 20, I need to do this many times!!!   Are the chapters in the book no longer shown right above the text, so that I could immediately go to chapter 20,  or am I doing something wrong?  Is there a way for me to find the chapter indications again?   Thanks for any help you can give me.  Sincerely in Christ our Lord. ” J.A.

In this case we had done some updating and change the way the links work for the chapters. This was just an overlook because everything stayed there and just a simple scroll upwards will reveal all chapters links. We explained and the user is now able to navigate the chapters without any issues.

Here are the changes we have implemented. Notice the new SEND mailto button and the new location of the increase/decrease font buttons:

New location of buttons. Notice also square frames on chapter numbers.

IOS New Version

Our dear brother in Korea, Hison Khang, has done  a wonderful job in updating the IOS app. He made some improvements and solved compatibility issues and also included 3 new languages in the APP. Now, the IOS app offers Bulgarian, Burmese (Myanmar)  and Luganda (Uganda) text and audio Bibles.  We are very thankful and his efforts are to be appreciated by those who speak those languages and are able to read and hear the Word of God in their own languages on their iPhones. The Android version was also updated and includes Burmese and Luganda as well. A great blessing.

Burmese. (Myanmar on the IOS platform)

February APP comments

Excellent app, I really like multiple languages, whether to read it or listen to it and read it. I recommend it widely. Thank you very much, God bless you very much for this work. FC //// I have arrived at right destination of audio bible, offline is wonderful. NA //// Very good serve our Lord Jesus Christ also very good. P. //// Clear voice, narration speed perfect. Continuous play very useful. God bless you all. Excellent work. JD. //// Thank you for a no strings attached free audio bible.  Great work and very much needed. CH.//// Thank you for creating this god bless you. TR. ////  Excellent best ever. I.

Language Menu in Android APP. Notice the two new languages: Luganda and Burmese.

Our outreach is much amplified by through several websites that have practically copied ours and present themselves online under a new name. (This is a compliment to our designer – Gabriel – who sees his design being copied by several developers). Some of the most relevant:

http://aservicodoreijesus.com.br/bibles/audio/01_english/index.htm

http://aservicodoreijesus.com.br/bibles/audio/31_kannada/b01.htm

http://coo2cwr9gsf.bible1audio.xyz/Book/EnglishKJV/index.htm

http://biblep.pro/kj/

This site streams Bible audio from our servers:

http://bibleaudiointelugu.blogspot.in/2016/12/01.html

This month we were blessed to add two more audio languages to our site: Luganda and Burmese. The Luganda audio Bible was recorded in Uganda by brother Mathias, who has been faithful to record It in his improvised studio. You may listen to the results here

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/lug/43/1.htm

Also, here is a short testimony we received from him:

“I have no studio. Remember my very first sample? I recorded it on my iPhone. And then the entire NT. At some point my iPhone audio recorder collapsed. Then I got a MacBook Pro laptop. I found out that it’s audio was much better. It is around that time you told me to read the NT. I looked at the volume and opted to start with OT. By the time I finished the NT I decided to redo the NT.  I am blessed to retell the struggle. I self taught myself how to use GarageBand. Then I would edit (cut out the blanks, coughs and misreadings). I would then make MP4 with iTunes then generate MP3 files.  In some cases I could read the soft copy. In other cases I could read the hard copy. Sometimes I had to compare with the English because some words have similar spellings but the pronunciation determines the meaning. I had to play and listen as I read the soft copy in order to arrest the mistakes there.  I have not proofread the entire Bible to date. Even as I find time I realize there are still some mistakes in the soft copy. Will keep trying. I am so thankful that you gave me this opportunity. Before you, I checked out with four other sites. They all carried the same mistakes. I even got in touch with the original person who typed the first soft copy that all others had to copy. I later lost touch with her! … Back to studio. I kept reading from different places in my house. I had echo and funny sounds till I found one place where I hang clothes….. and … Voila …..it was better. This has been my recording area. ” [Mathias]

S. Mathias, the narrator of the Luganda Bible.

Improvising Bible recording in Luganda language

Also,

After we published the online audio we received the following email from a thankful users:

My best Christmas gift is the Luganda Bible audio.  It has brought the word of God alive! I cannot stop listening to the Bible.  My mother can now sit back and listen to the word of God all day long.  I want to bring to your attention Zabbuli 101 and words, reads Zabbuli 1, for instance 110 reads 10.  [fixed] This is a project I would love to be part of.  Thank you! [D.S.]

Listening to Luganda Audio Bible

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Merry Christmas . Feliz Natal. 祝福你们全家圣诞快乐！

Donna:

November has arrived and along with it the cooler weather! Time to pull out the sweaters, boots and jackets! We have adjusted to routine schedule after all the wedding excitement; life in its general beauty leads to thankfulness for every drop of health and every day of life we have to share!

One of the best news is that we have had the chance to share the good news of the gospel with teachers at Jason’s school and a few of them have already responded by trusting and receiving Jesus as their personal Savior! We pray they grow in Christ by reading His Word and learn to rely on Him to solve the challenges they are facing.  It is a new beginning, a rebirth, the greatest miracle anyone can experience!

School continues for all. The uni students are already into exams and Jason and I are busy fulfilling our home school requirements before the Christmas holiday begins.  Jason earned a good score on his Chinese  HSK level 4 exam and is now studying level 5!

During our time in Macau, the duo Jorge and Jason were able to set up the wooden pergola on the upper roof. It is the beginning step in making the area more useful and in keeping the house cool during the summer months! They also added a synthetic grass finish to the metal sheeting between the two upper  areas! Home improvements never end! It is the house project!

Expired Image!

Jorge:

A new package of audio bibles was sent to Kenya  for our friend Samuel to take to Congo. As you know the official language there is French. The devices we sent were programmed with the French and English audio Bibles, which we customized at their request. Meanwhile our friend Isaac is distributing the Bibles we sent previously to the much needy people in his area.

The online ministry kept steady, as we monitor daily the several servers and keep making any changes and corrections that are brought to our attention. Wordproject has, through the years, been an inspiration and resource database for those who wish to use their talents and invest time in programming and implementing online or digital based Bible ministries. The following letter, which  we received this past month, is a sample of such interest:

‘My name is Mohamed Hossam. I am an independent film maker. I and a group of my friends, also independent film makers, are in the process of opening a satellite channel. The channel will feature different programs . The Holy Bible is also a program that we are excited to bring to our screen. We are putting together a full Bible Series and would kindly like to ask for permission to use your website’s audio Bible tracks; The Audio Bible tracks from your website,  https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/audio/  would be used as the main element in this program, which will be presented in the following format: Bible audio narration, Bible verses captions, changing natural scenes as background. A Bible series, in which the King James Bible version will be displayed in audio and text. In the original order and content. Please find attached a screenshot samples of how the entire Bible; text, audio and background all-together, would be displayed. We look forward to hearing from you soon,‘

Usual we are more than willing to grant permission, which, by the way, is already implicit in disclaimers and statement posted on the website.

The other no less important outreach is our application (APP) for Android and IOS mobile devices, where we experience slow but steady growth, with many using the app as their daily Word diet. Here is an interesting comment found in our app frontdesk:
I LOVE THIS APP! BEST ONE I HAVE TRIED SO FAR. IF THE QUALITY OF THE AUDIO WAS A LITTLE BETTER I WOULD GIVE IT 5 STARS! THRILLED THAT IT USES ALEXANDER SCOURBY AS THE NARRATOR! CS.

Although our audio quality is quite good, this person would like it to be even better. However, better audio would mean bigger files, therefore harder for people in countries in Africa and South America, for example, to download, either because of bandwidth limitations or increasing costs for those using mobile data. The following comment seems to be more accommodating:

EXCELLENT APP. EXACTLY WHAT IS NEEDED. JUST WITHOUT UNNECESSARY BELLS AND WHISTLES. CONVENIENT TO USE. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AND USE THE AUDIO WITHOUT THE INTERNET. THANKS TO DEVELOPERS. EC

And the next one even more expressive, with another request for improvements, although windows 10 can be easily used through our website:

I HAVE DOWNLOADED THE ANDROID APPLICATION ONTO MY S7 IN MY OWN LANGUAGE (ISIZULU). THANKS A MILLION FOR THIS APPLICATION. IT IS THE BEST APPLICATION THAT I HAVE EVER DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET  – EVER!! BUT MY PHONE HAS BECOME SMALL FOR MY EYE SIGHT. I NEED THE SAME APPLICATION ON MY PC WINDOWS 10. HOW CAN I ACCESS IT?

Perhaps not without some exaggeration, but we can understand the excitement when the object of the appreciation is really the Living Word of God. That is something to be excited about and we are also very excited and honored to be able to work  on It. We thank you again for your faithful support and your prayers that makes it all possible.

Android dtats 1

Android stats2

IOS

IOs2

Besides the usual: ‘how you do this’ or ‘how you do that’, there are other things people say when they write to us. Here is some input from last month:

Good day! God bless you. I want to create an Amazon Alexa Skill for the Holy Bible in German. May I use the Bible texts?  With best regards, A.V.

**
I have been using this site for over a year now and have always found that it is very helpful.  Please let me know how I may contribute Not much because I don’t have much).  Thank you and God Bless You. J.

**
Greeting in the name of Jesus, I just wanna report a missing verses on the Amharic version Bible. Genesis Chapter 31 starting from verse 33 – 55. Thank you, D.G.

**
 Thank you very very very much for this site, is amazing! The best at all!
I love you! From Brazil.

** 
Hello, I tried downloading the book of Matthew (Audio) in the English language, but when I opened it in my files it was in Spanish, all but the 28th chapter, which was in English. Could you let me know what I’m doing wrong? I specifically wanted the Book of Matthew but was disappointed to not be able to get it in English. When I listen to it (without downloading it) all the chapters are in English. It’s just when I download it that it’s in Spanish. Thanks for your help! A. [fixed]

** 
I am hopeful and thanks for spreading Christianity am a Christian fearing GOD i will like to co-operate with you. S.

** 
It is the only one of the best bible site I ever seen in my life really great site but if you don’t mind I have a request please upgrade your play store app. E.L.

** 
Just found your site. Thanks very much. I am a missionary in Cambodia. Our Bible is NOT TR based, but it is all we have. Do you know anybody thinking about translation?

** 
Are all your Bibles TR based? For example, Telugu. I heard someone was working on a translation, but the one they have has been around for a while, and the best Christians who are strong on the fundamentals use it. My wife is Telugu speaker, has memorized many many verses and her people in India are what I would consider on the fundamental side. Of course that does not prove that the Bible is right, only that her people are strong. Anyways, just curious. We often compare verses and she says, Our Bible says like this so it makes me wonder. I am KJV. Thanks for your work. W.

**
 I am using this bible script here in Gulf Country where i cant use my bible openly. Thank you for word Project in Telugu. I will pray for it. Kindly pray for me and my future life. Thank you in Name of our God Lord Jesus Christ. T.V.

** 
I have been checking your page: https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/audio/15_turkish/index.htm
I saw that some audio files of Turkish Bible are missing. You can download ALL Turkish audio files of Old and New Testament via this link:
ftp://bitimage.dyndns.org/turkish/Bible/Turkish-Audio_Bible_Complete_OT_NT_MP3.zip
PS: We liked your “copyright” page. We 100% agreed it.
Thanks for your great website. We started to use your “proverbs” pages on our website on a daily basis. (via iframe) O.M.

** 
Jesus thanks all brothers all sister blessing your prayer all India Amman. R.

**

//////

 Comments for Android APP

Auto-translated from Russian:

Excellent app. Exactly what is needed. Just without unnecessary bells and whistles. Convenient to use. You can download and use the audio without the Internet. Thanks to developers. E.C.

**

Auto-translated from Portuguese:

God bless the developers for this wonder to sow the word of God.

**

Auto-translated from Portuguese:

Excellent Good Book The highest scores for the Word of God. Congratulations ! That this Word reach to the ends of the earth !!!

**

Auto-translated from Portuguese:

It is wonderful to hear the word of God in many languages! Great initiative!

**

This is what I was looking for, it’s very  perfect app, I don’t write review for any app but this app is worth to write  review, I’m so happy now, God bless everybody. R.B.

**

Auto-translated from Persian:

Excellent. H.A.

**

Auto-translated from French:

I recommend this app to any lost soul who seeks to understand the word of God everywhere at all times and in all places. Let the word of God and freeing of the knowledge of the Word is our ultimate goal. And do not hesitate to share this wonder. Shalom. Y.K.

**

I just love it. ‘Cos it satisfy my yearnings for the Word.

**

Auto-translated from Portuguese:

App very good, more incentive to apply the reading and understanding of God’s Word. J.M.

**

Very good,multiple languages,real audio,offline version and no adds.These people really give a care about you,and the message of Christ.or at least I’m convinced of it. T.B.

**

Auto-translated from Spanish:

Excellent. R.A.

**

Excellent. Thank you. Just what i was looking for. Love that it is simple and add free.  C.R.

**

Auto-translated from Portuguese:

Excellent. Current language option the size of the font and letters pages in two color options, and so reading you hear. K.F.

**

Brother Raj has been faithful with the recordings of the Tamil Audio Bible. He has recorded Psalms, Proverbs, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts. He has also recorded the verse section in our website. He has increasingly seen the need to have a better and more clear version of the Tamil Audio Bible and he sets aside certain hours of the day to pursue such task. It has been a blessing to work with him on this project and we do appreciate your prayers for its full completion.

Raj on the mike.

Listen to Tamil Bible recordings here:

https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/tm/43/1.htm

Africa, just like the rest of the world, is going through great struggle and constant change. We have heard the news that a conflict has erupted in Mocimboa da Praia, North of Mozambique, where, according to a report, a “group, estimated at over 30 strong, attacked three police units”. Some sources say this group has connections to Islamic militants. Also, further north, in Kenya, the news of fresh confrontations related to elections are also very distressful. Not long ago we were in these two locations and we are still in connection with brothers and sisters in the Lord who are there and continue with their efforts to bring the Word of God, and the good news of our Savior to the people. We are encouraged that our Audio Bibles are being shared and there are many who seek peace through  the Prince of Peace, and believe that Love and complete regeneration in the hearts  of men are the long lasting solution for the problems of humanity.  From Pamela, in Mombasa, we received this happy photo, which also fills our hearts with joy:

All together now: ‘The Bible is the Word of God and worthy to be excited about.”

These were sent by Samuel in Nairobi:

Audio Bibles to Kenya 1

Audio Bibles to Kenya 2