Project Hope, the Bible Society of Kenya's outreach to Turkana people affected by drought, has so far delivered 2,000 food packs in Lodwar County. The food is normally distributed in batches of 500 to a cluster of villages. For the most recent distribution trip, the Bible Society partnered with the Anglican Church of Kenya in Lodwar.

Photo (KEN11DJ-26): A woman in Naotin during a trip by the Bible Society of Kenya and the Anglican Church of Kenya to distribute food packages to families affected by drought.

By Thomas Tharao, Head of Operations, Bible Society of Kenya.

The truck that arrived in Lodwar on December 9 brought 11 tonnes of food to feed 500 families for one month. From Lodwar, the team departed for Moruesse, 50kms away, but had to return to a closer village, Naotin, when it became clear that the truck would not be able to cross a dry river bed where the terrain was very soft. Some teenagers who had hitched a lift on the truck had to disembark and walk the rest of the way, 35kms, to Moruesse, to bring the news that the people there would have to walk to Naotin to collect food.

By Grace Smith, UBS Project Manager for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos

Chea Thida and her husband, Seng Lim, a pastor in the Assemblies of God Church, run the Bible Society in Cambodia’s Scripture distribution centre in Siem Reap City – a task they undertake with great enthusiasm. Here, Mrs Chea describes why she is passionate about making God’s Word available.“

I became a Christian through my cousin in 1989, when I was 20,” she says. “At that time, Cambodia was under communist rule and the Church was oppressed. Christians lived in fear and it was very hard to get a Bible – the Bible Society had had to close back in the 1970s.

“There were 50 people in my church and we only had one Bible between us. This meant that the only time we could hear the Word of God was on Sundays, when we met for the service.

An interim steering committee has been formed to spearhead Bible work in the world's newest nation. When UBS Africa Area Secretary David Hammond  (shown with Translation Consultant Dr Edward Kajivora, right) visited South Sudan recently, he found people full of confidence and hope for the future. This is the background against which, it is planned, the Bible Society in South Sudan will be launched by the end of the year.

"My visit to Juba and Yei was very exciting and a real eye-opener," said Mr Hammond. "You could literally smell freedom in the air. People look more confident and are bubbling with hope."

A key purpose of Mr Hammond's visit was to meet Church leaders and heads of Christian organisations to tell them about Bible Society work and the role they can play in this ministry.

"They responded very positively and were eager to share their views about what the priorities should be," he said. "They mentioned, among other things, people who don't have the Bible in their own language, people who cannot read, people who have been traumatised by the war and people who are living in refugee camps in a state of dependency."

There is a common Chinese saying: ‘Everyone has a story to tell.’ Liu Jinzhi, a student at Jiangsu Province Bible School, has a story of being brought to such a low point that he thought there was no way out. God’s Word proved him wrong.

“When I failed my senior high school national examination, I felt like it was the end of the world. Life ahead was bleak as I walked through the valley of utter hopelessness. I wanted to end my life. From the depth of my heart, I cried out, ‘The God of my father, where are you? Can you save me?’