Audio Bibles bring hope to Tamil refugees

|PIC1|The rebuilding of lives for thousands of Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka also involves the “rebuilding of their faith”, says one ministry that is giving the “message of hope” to people whose survival currently depends on aid.

The 26 years of bitter civil war came to an end in May with the defeat of Tamil Tigers who were fighting for a separate homeland in the North.

The United Nations estimates 7,000 civilians were killed and about 250,000 people have been displaced from their homes. They are now trying to rebuild their lives from the refugee camps.

The Faith Comes By Hearing says the transition period has opened the door for the Good News to come into areas once cut-off from the world.

“Conditions in Sri Lanka are difficult right now - closed roads, unsanitary living conditions and lack of resources,” says Doug Harstine, Faith Comes By Hearing's regional manager.

With the need for food especially great, relief organisations and Faith Comes By Hearing partners like the Ceylon Bible Society are assessing which regions have the most damage.

“The rebel-held areas, which were once closed and heavily guarded, will be open again soon. During this time of rebuilding comes a rebuilding of faith," said Harstine.

“The people are ready for the message of hope that comes from God's Word."

Faith Comes By Hearing is working with the Ceylon Bible Society to distribute audio Bibles to the thousands living in refugee camps. Harstine says the ministry is also expanding its impact in the region by forming a new outreach team and sending out a recording team.

"Our new Faith Comes By Hearing outreach team is made up of Ceylon Bible Society staff. These dedicated believers will go into these areas and camps, come alongside churches and ministries and start audio Bible listening groups," says Harstine.

As people hear God's Word, they are discipled and transformed and they respond by planting churches.

“The recording team will re-record the Tamil audio Bible using indigenous voices,” says Harstine. "The current recording was voiced by Indians because of the lack of access to the Tamil region. Now, the Word of God will be in their dialect, and Tamil people will be more open to the Scriptures."

After finishing the Tamil New Testament, the team plans to record other languages in South Asia.

Faith Comes By Hearing's mission is to record the New Testament in 2,000 languages and to implement two million Bible listening groups by 2016 to reach the 50 per cent of the world who cannot read and are poor. Faith Comes By Hearing now has 439 audio Scripture recordings in 371 languages.

On the web:
The audio scriptures in 2,000 languages are available for free download at www.FaithComesByHearing.com