Selection of the First 20 iBIBLE Languages

Identifying the first 20 languages that iBIBLE will be translated into is the first step in bringing iBIBLE to the ends of the earth for FREE...

Selection of the First 20  iBIBLE Languages Dear Family,   With only six episodes of iBIBLE published, we are already witnessing the tremendous hunger and need for a visual Bible. This past week, I spoke with a group of frontline ministry workers and we discussed strategies to reach the billions of people who speak thousands of languages and have yet to engage with God's Word.   In countries like America, it is common to teach people by using text first, followed by audio, and then finally by using visual resources. I have always believed this was a bit backwards when it comes to getting the next generation and the unreached to engage with the Bible. Think back to when you were in school. You probably spent much of your time reading textbooks which probably became tedious. It likely was a bit easier for you when the teacher spoke to the class and engaged students in the conversation. Now, think back to the visual images—whether it was a drawing on the chalkboard, pictures you saw in a book, or even art or science projects that you created—these are probably what you remember the most.   The fact is that for most of us, the best way to learn and engage with new ideas or concepts is first with visuals, then by oral learning, and finally by text. The fact is that for most of us, the best way to learn and engage with new ideas or concepts is first with visuals, then by oral learning, and finally by text. We may not like how much time our children or grandchildren spend on their phones. I would go so far as to say it is not healthy. However, the visual content stimulates their God-given senses. Now think about a person who cannot read. How will they learn?   I have often said that our children and the mission field speak the same language. They learn largely through what they see first, and what they hear second. Therefore, we have made it a priority for iBIBLE to emphasize visuals first and dramatic audio second.   We have committed to pray and identify 20 languages for phase one of our iBIBLE translation work. This is the first step in our mission to reach the entire world with iBIBLE. We have now identified these 20 languages and have broken them down into five primary categories: Widely spoken languages Languages of the front lines of missions Languages of the unreached Sign languages Unwritten (oral) languages Naturally, some of these languages can be included in more than one category. Of the most widely spoken languages we have five languages in production: Spanish  Mandarin Russian Hindi  French   We also have seven languages in production that are heavily used on the mission field. Many of these languages have a minority of Christians however have they a complete Bible and mission activity:   Arabic (Standard) Pashto (Northern) Pashto (Southern) Hebrew Dari Farsi Swahili Just this week, we committed to work on five languages of the unreached (in dialects of Arabic). We define languages of the unreached as those who do not have access to a full Bible. Only portions of the Bible are available in most of these languages and many have limited mission activity. The first five languages are:   Hijazi Arabic (Saudi Arabia, UAE) Sudanese Arabic (Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt) Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic (Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia) Saidi Arabic (Egypt) Libyan Arabic (Libya, Tunisia, Egypt) We have three sign languages in development. There are over 300 known sign languages in the world, and the vast majority of people speaking these languages are considered "unreached." The first three are:   American Sign Language (ASL) Chinese Sign Language (CSL) Iranian (Persian) Sign Language In the second phase, we will begin oral translations. We need to have base languages completed first so that they can be used in the oral translations. I will share more about our vision for Oral iBIBLE Translations, "OiBT," in the next few weeks. Imagine reaching people groups that have never had the Word of God in their language! But again, more on that in a future email update.   Five years ago, I had a vision to bring a visual and engaging narrative of the entire Bible to the world. At that time, I made a 3-minute video of what it might look like. We had no artist, no support staff, and no income. It was a dream bigger than life, but I believed it was God's calling. Today, we have six completed chapters (with a seventh coming next week), more than 10 episodes in production, and we are translating the first 20 initial languages. We have a team of 15 well-trained artists, and we are about to add more. Our support staff is growing and shares this incredible vision. We have also added several interns, with more coming on board soon. It has been a lot of learning and a lot of work to establish the pipeline we now have in place for iBIBLE and I am proud of our growing team and God's continued blessing. I am also thankful and humbled by the thousands of generous partners like you who pray and financially support this vision. I am also thankful and humbled by the thousands of generous partners like you who pray and financially support this vision. A handful of chapters in 20 languages may not seem like much when you consider we need to produce no less than 150 chapters to cover the entire Bible. With a goal to reach as many of the world's 7,000 living languages as possible, it is imperative that we create a solid procedure to work through each language and chapter. It is a great start—a blessed start!   God never led me to believe that this would be easy. In fact, it has been quite the opposite. But we can never give up or retreat. It is time to bring a visual Bible to the world—to our children, to the front lines of missions, and to those who have never been able to engage with God's Word. Please continue to join me in prayer as we seek to complete the 20 initial translations in the months ahead. While we would prefer to translate more chapters at a time, these serve as a model to begin this process of distribution, developing distribution partners, and building awareness of iBIBLE.   Please also pray for God to provide the funding for these first 20 languages. While we have raised some already, most of the funding is still needed and we believe that God will lead others to join us in phase one of our goal.   Thank you for standing with me, my wife Debra, and our entire team at RevelationMedia. What started as a dream will become a legacy and will impact the world for Christ! Have a blessed Sunday. Steve Cleary CEO/Founder RevelationMedia   RESERVE YOUR COPY OF THE iBIBLE STORYBOOK Make a Donation and Preorder Your FREE iBIBLE Storybook. The world's first visual and interactive Bible is now in storybook form! The iBIBLE Storybook series reveals the one Divine narrative of Scripture in a beautifully illustrated, 96-page, 10" square, hardcover storybook. Featuring illustrations from the first three chapters of iBIBLE, the iBIBLE Storybook series is sure to help readers of all ages engage with God's Word. Make a contribution to RevelationMedia and preorder yours today for guaranteed delivery before Christmas of this year.   RESERVE YOUR COPY OF THE iBIBLE STORYBOOK Copyright © 2021 RevelationMedia, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: RevelationMedia PO Box 850005 Richardson, Texas 75085 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can *update your preferences or *unsubscribe from this list.  Subscription Information This message was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally