Bible Society celebrates 200th anniversary
by Tim Callaway

The Canadian Bible Society’s Southern Alberta District is joining with dozens of Bible Societies around the world to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the original Bible Society established for the purposes of translating, publishing and distributing the Scriptures.

"Although most Christians in Canada have some awareness of the ministry of the Canadian Bible Society," said recently appointed Southern Alberta Director, Reg Graves, "comparatively few know the remarkable story that led to the founding of its English parent."

Mary Jones was a ten-year old girl living near a small town in Wales in 1794. Every morning following chores, Mary would walk two miles to school where she learned to read. It wasn’t long before the teacher asked Mary to read to the class from the big Welsh Bible.

So meaningful was her experience of reading the Bible to her classmates that Mary immediately decided she would do everything she could to purchase a Bible of her own. A nearby farmer’s wife, Mrs. Evans, invited her to her house on Saturdays to read the holy book. Every Saturday afternoon, after helping her mother at home, a very happy Mary ran to Mrs. Evans’ farm to read from her neighbor’s Bible.

For several years Mary worked diligently to earn money toward a Bible for herself. She knit socks, grew vegetables to sell and even kept bees and sold their honey. Mrs. Evans helped her by giving her some chickens so Mary could sell eggs. When harvest time came, Mary helped the farmers with their crops to earn additional income.

Mary saved her money for six years before the day she counted her coins and realized that, at last, she had enough to buy a Bible. Her pastor said that a Mr. Charles in Bala, could sell her one. There was only one problem, however. Bala was twenty-five miles away and the only way Mary had of getting there was to walk.

Mary spent an entire day walking to Bala. Arriving late in the day, she had to stay overnight with a friend before she could see Mr. Charles.

Very early the next morning, Mary knocked on Mr. Charles’ door. She excitedly told him about her hard work to save enough money to buy a Bible. Sadly, Mr. Charles had to tell Mary he couldn’t help her – he’d sold all his Welsh Bibles except for one and that one he had promised to a friend.

So disappointed was Mary that she began to cry. Seeing her sorrow, Mr. Charles remembered he had an English Bible and that his friend could read English as well as Welsh. Charles gladly sold the Welsh Bible to Mary who raced the twenty-five miles home to read it to her parents.

Mr. Charles never forgot Mary. Her dedication to securing a Bible of her own helped him decide he would do everything possible to help the people of Wales obtain Bibles of their own.

Four years later, in 1804, Charles visited a group in London called the Religious Tract Society that eventually became known as the British and Foreign Bible Society. The first Bible they printed was the Gospel of John in the language of North America’s Mohawk Indians.

In 1904 a group like the British and Foreign Bible Society was officially launched in Canada. Today the Canadian Bible Society works with 140 other national Bible Societies around the world in a fellowship called the United Bible Societies.

Bible Society teams work in more than 200 countries distributing entire Bibles, New Testaments as well as Scripture Portions and Selections.

"The Bible, or parts of it, are now available in more than 2,200 languages," said Graves, "and societies around the world distribute more than 600 million copies annually. "Unfortunately," he added, "there are still a half-billion people waiting for even one Scripture verse in their own language."