Recently, I wrote to a few friends of Bibles International,

     “If you had visited our Bibles International office the first few days of January 2008, you might have crossed cords of vacuum cleaner units; greeted ladies in the halls in working clothes, with bottles of chemicals in one hand and cleaning cloths in the other; sneaked into a conference room where a translator training workshop was being conducted; bumped into an administrative assistant who was running to get the last visa/passport applications prepared for the consultants leaving soon for overseas journeys; eavesdropped on a strategic planning conversation; participated in a prayer meeting; or praised the Lord together with a bookkeeper who had just opened the envelope containing your gift. In contrast to these busy activities, some writers are concentrating on producing texts, others are working on formatting the next Bible to be printed, while others are communicating with partners overseas by email or by telephone to strategize for BI ministries. And that is Bibles International throughout the year.”

     What occurred at the BI office during the first week of January presages indeed the business we expect for BI throughout the world during the whole of 2008, especially within the Editorial Department. When you read the Projects Update column on page 4, you will see how many of our projects are coming to fruition, Lord willing, in 2008. Like airplanes lined up on a runway awaiting their turn to be released, at least half a dozen projects are in position for final formatting and printing. Meanwhile, many new projects will begin, for example the Creole OT for Haiti (see page 7) and various literacy projects in many countries around the world.

     We covet your prayers as we endeavor to produce a conservative Bible translation in every language that needs one.