Leaders of nearly fifty Bible Societies visited the capital of Hungary on 15-17 January 2019.
General Secretaries from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa assembled to discuss various topics, such as the opportunities for Bible mission, its current state in Europe and the Middle East, the connection between Scripture and culture, and the sustainability of Bible mission.
“Sustainability is an important issue,” said Ottó Pecsuk, General Secretary of the Hungarian Bible Society, “Traditionally, Bible mission is based on printing and selling Scriptures. Today, the printing sector, in general, is in crisis, and Bibles are no exception. More and more Scriptures are being published digitally and for free. We also discussed the relationship between Bible Societies and local churches.”
After the conference, the participants visited the recently reconstructed Bible Museum, located in central Budapest. The old museum was founded at the time of the 1988 UBS World Assembly. The recently reopened museum is not simply a place to display artifacts, but rather, it is an “experience tour” in the world of the Bible with the expressed goal of displaying the message of the Scriptures with the help of interactive installations, rather than as still, mere objects.
Visitors of the museum can also get an impression of the history of the Bible translation and the work of the Bible Societies. A huge display contains Bible copies from all around the world at the entrance of the museum. Each participant of the conference brought a copy of their recently published Bibles from their home countries; these books will also be added to the collection.
Written by Miklós Göndöcz
Photos by Tamás Füle