Bible Sunday observed across country

'Bible Sunday' was observed in churches across the country yesterday, Dec. 6.

The day was marked with prayer, thanksgiving and contributions from Christians for translation of Bible into several indigenous languages.

The tradition - initiated by Rev. Thomas Cronli of England in 1545 - is observed all over the world by churches of various traditions and denominations.

Rev. ZK Rochili, the Auxiliary Secretary of the Bible Society of India (BSI), Dimapur, this past week urged churches to observe the day "giving thanks to God for the Scriptures" and to "pray for those who are still to hear the life-changing Gospel."

On this day, Christians also contribute money for the still impending bible translation projects. "Several Bible societies in the world depend on contributions from Christians to continue the massive task of Bible translation, production and distribution," says Rochili.

"Thousands still cannot afford a Bible. So it is critical to meet such challenges and deliver the Word of God in their own languages," Rochili explained to Christian Today.

Bible Society of India has been translating and printing Bibles since its inception in 1811. The Bible is now available in at least 49 Indian languages.

But, Rochili says there is still a lot of communities to hear the Word of God. BSI, he said, is currently working on 85 Bible translation projects.

The Society is part of the United Bible Societies (UBS), which is a fellowship of 145 individual Bible Societies working in over 200 countries and territories.

The UBS is currently involved with close to 600 translation projects covering nearly 500 languages.

Today, Scriptures are available in no less than 2,454 languages, with the complete Bible having been translated into at least 438 languages, and the New Testament into some 1,168, according to UBS.

Dalit Liberation Sunday

Dec. 6, apart from Bible Sunday, many churches also observed the 'Dalit Liberation Sunday', an important feature in the calendar of the Indian ecumenical movement.

The CBCI and NCCI have been jointly observing it for the last three years. The theme for this year was 'Crossing Boundaries and Building Bridges: Overcoming Prejudices'.

Churches were encouraged to use the theme in congregations and communities to "sensitise, to deepen understanding, develop partnership and challenge all prejudices and discrimination done against Dalits" in the country.

Bishop Charles Soreng, Chairperson, CBCI Commission for SC/ST/BC, suppliantly urged churches to "pray for our Dalit brothers and sisters on the DLS 2009."

The entire Christian community has to resolve to continue our struggle for equal rights of Dalit Christians by demanding the Union Government to table the Ranganath Misra Commission report in the winter session of the Parliament and to give a positive reply to the Supreme Court, he said.