Child’s Bible at 45: Teaching children about God’s love
Being a Catholic in Cuba has its challenges, and deciding to become a priest is generally the result of a deep and mature faith. But when Rolando Montes de Oca entered the seminary, the book he took with him was The Child’s Bible: God Speaks to His Children,” published by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
“I was a child, but I will never forget when our parish priest arrived and gave me the Child’s Bible. With this Bible, I learned about the Lord, about the story of salvation, and with it, I fell in love with God. This God I fell in love with called me to the priesthood, and this is the Bible I took with me to the seminary. Of course, later, I had to use other, more complete Bibles, but this continues to be my favorite, because it is the Bible that taught me about Jesus Christ,” the priest told ACN.
Father Rolando was one of millions of children who learned about Jesus through ACN’s Child’s Bible. For many children around the world, the Child’s Bible is the only book they get to own.
Father Henrique Uggé, an Italian missionary who works with the Sateré-Mawé people in the Amazon, explained that “[we] all like to hear, read, and meditate on the Word of God in our own language, in our own cultural and historical context,” adding that the Child’s Bible is also an important cultural tool, since many of the words used in the translations had begun to fall out of use and are thus preserved for the new generations.
The Child’s Bible was first produced by ACN in 1979 to mark the “International Year of the Child,” when it was submitted to the Third General Bishops’ Conference of Latin America in Puebla, Mexico, to assist the Church with its pastoral outreach. Since then, thanks to the generous donations of ACN benefactors, this Bible has been translated into 194 languages and dialects, from Assyrian, the closest living language to what Jesus spoke, to Zulu. Considering that in many cases, a Bible will be read not only by the child who received it, but also by siblings and other relations, the 51 million copies already printed and distributed since the project began represent a much wider audience.
Building confidence and self-respect in children
In many cases, the Child’s Bible is the only written work in a certain language, which makes it especially important. Children can relate to their faith in the same language they speak with their parents and their communities.
Lilian Omari, from the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle, told ACN about how she uses this resource in her work among the pastoral Turkana people in northern Kenya. “Because it has images, they can see, and they can peruse the book, touch it and feel it, and even listen to the Word. This is one of the things that has helped us do catechism, since many children here have not gone to school and only speak Turkana.”
“We are very grateful to all the benefactors who supported this project, making it possible to have it translated into different languages,” she said.
In countries where large parts of the population do not speak the official language, like in Mexico, where about half a million people speak Tzeltal as their native tongue, having access to the Word of God in their own language can build confidence and show that Christianity is not a foreign imposition. Alfred Ajuong Mangui, a catechist in South Sudan, spoke of how the children in his classes grew in this regard. “With the Child’s Bible, you will see all the children growing in respect for themselves. And with this respect, they will develop other skills and a way of life.”
The Child’s Bible is one of ACN’s longest ongoing projects. With 194 languages already in circulation, the foundation continues to work so that more children can learn about how much God loves them and love Him in return.
—Filipe d’Avillez
