Bible Society New Zealand is a Christian organisation dedicated to supplying bibles within New Zealand, and supporting Bible Societies around the world to do the same within their respective countries. They aim to serve the whole Christian community by working closely with churches to serve all denominations. The organisation has approximately 30 paid employees, and around 700 volunteers throughout New Zealand. Bible Society New Zealand was established in 1846 and is a donor supported non-profit society that receives no Government funding and depends on prayers and financial support of Christian individuals and churches. It is a member of the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...

, a fellowship of 146 Bible Societies throughout the world which co-operate to make the Bible available to people everywhere in a language they can understand and at a price they can afford.

Publishing

Bible Society New Zealand publishes a wide variety of non-denominational Scriptures and resources for churches and Christians to use. This includes leaflets for children and adults that tell the Christmas and Easter story and share Bible answers to life's questions, New Testaments for outreach, gospels for Easter camps, full waterproof Bibles for

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, prom ...

personnel, Christian story books for school and many more. Sometimes Bible Society New Zealand initiates a publishing project and sees it through themselves, but more often they work with another organisation that has a particular need or audience, and partner to publish what they require for their outreach or ministry. The society also publishes Bibles for general reading, in English and a number of Pacific Island languages. Due to being part of

, the world's largest Bible translating and publishing organisation, Bible Society New Zealand doesn't always have to do the publishing themselves. Through partnering with other Bible Societies, they are able to stock and distribute a huge range of Bibles and other material in most English Bible versions and in most other major languages.

Recent projects

In the early days, Bible Society New Zealand volunteers walked or travelled on horseback throughout frontier regions in New Zealand, distributing Bibles to remote settlers and Māori people. In 2009, acclaimed children's author

Joy Cowley Cassia Joy Cowley (; born 7 August 1936) is a New Zealand author best known for her children's fiction, including the popular series of books Mrs. Wishy-Washy. Cowley started out writing novels for adults, and her first book, ''Nest in a Fal ...

teamed up with Bible Society New Zealand to write Tārore Story which was distributed free to 240,000 school children across New Zealand. It is the true story of a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

girl named Tārore, the events surrounding her death in 1836 and the impact her death had upon the Māori people of

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and South ...

. In a military world first, the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

was published in 2013. Chaplain Class One Lance Lukin perceived a need for this project and contacted Bible Society New Zealand to make it happen. The

is a purpose-made, waterproof, tear resistant, military book and is endorsed by renowned adventurer and former soldier, Bear Grylls. 5000 copies were printed and distributed to new recruits, and a reprint is in progress. Other projects that Bible Society New Zealand has recently completed include reformatting of the Maori Bible published in 1952, and the first Tokelauan New Testament was launched in June 2009. Current projects include the first

Children's Bible to be completed by 2015, and a complete Tokelauan Bible due to be completed in 2016. Bible Society New Zealand is located in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

References

External links

Bible Society New ZealandUnited Bible Societies

Sources

* * * * {{Authority control Bible societies Book publishing companies of New Zealand Charities based in New Zealand Christianity in New Zealand Religious organizations established in 1846 1846 establishments in New Zealand