{"id":94696,"date":"2026-01-08T12:58:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T23:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblesociety.org.nz\/?p=94696"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T02:54:49","slug":"bamrg-february-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/bamrg-february-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"BAMRG Members Report &#8211; February 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>South AFRICA<\/h2>\n<p>South Africa is facing a deepening literacy crisis. In 2023, findings by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) revealed that by the end of Grade 4, only 18 per cent of learners can read with comprehension.<\/p>\n<p>The impact is far-reaching with South Africa\u2019s poorest communities being the hardest hit. Low literacy fuels a relentless cycle of poverty, unemployment, crime, violence and broken families\u2014one generation after another. In response, the Bible Society of South Africa has developed and implemented two Bible-based initiatives to address both literacy and values formation among children and young people.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible-based literacy programme supports early learning in 11 of South Africa\u2019s official languages. With the approval of education authorities, it has been used in primary schools, pre-primary centres and Sunday schools, reaching more than 360,000 children to date.<\/p>\n<p>The Grade 7 learners programme provides young adolescents with a Bible at a formative stage of life. For many households, this is the first\u2014and sometimes the only\u2014Bible they have ever owned. Through this programme, over 90,000 Grade 7 learners have been reached.<\/p>\n<p>Together, these initiatives address the literacy crisis, strengthen Bible engagement and instil Christian values that help young people navigate life\u2019s challenges. Beginning with English, isiZulu and Afrikaans, the programme aims to reach 17,500 children in 2026\u2014transforming not only young lives, but entire families and communities. Your gift to Bible a Month Regular Giving this month will help to support these projects.<\/p>\n<h2>Prayer Points for South Africa<\/h2>\n<p><em>Pray for children in South Africa to gain reading skills, confidence and hope, breaking cycles of poverty through education and God\u2019s Word.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Pray for teachers, facilitators and volunteers to be equipped with wisdom, patience and compassion as they nurture literacy and faith together.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Pray for the Bible-based programmes to bear lasting fruit, shaping young hearts with godly values and transforming families and communities.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Pray for sustained provision and partnerships, enabling these initiatives to reach more children in every language and region across South Africa.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Pray more with us<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/get-involved\/pray-with-us\/?utm_source=bsnz&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=pwu&amp;utm_content=bamrg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>FURTHER BIBLE MISSION PROJECTS<\/h2>\n<p class=\"is-resized\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"580\" src=\"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RS9454_BYE12DJ-5-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Belarus - Bible a Month Regular Giving\" srcset=\"https:\/\/biblesociety.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RS9454_BYE12DJ-5-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/biblesociety.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RS9454_BYE12DJ-5-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/biblesociety.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RS9454_BYE12DJ-5-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/biblesociety.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RS9454_BYE12DJ-5-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/biblesociety.org.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RS9454_BYE12DJ-5-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" style=\"height: auto;\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<h2>Belarus<\/h2>\n<p>In 1991, Belarus became independent from the Soviet Union, but it has remained under Russia\u2019s influence. In 1986, the Chernobyl disaster occurred in Ukraine, which affected Belarus more severely than any other country leaving it with significant environmental and human devastation. Today, 1.7 million children live in poverty with 500,000 children living in contaminated zones, which brings unbelievable suffering as many are born with genetic defects.<\/p>\n<p>The country has many orphans and children living in dysfunctional families where there are issues such as alcoholism or drugs. Bible Society has a long-standing ministry to orphanages, boarding schools, and hospitals where it provides children\u2019s Scriptures including Bibles, New Testaments, and portions to vulnerable children.<\/p>\n<h2>Nepal<\/h2>\n<p>In 1715, Christianity reached Nepal brought there by Capuchin Friars. In 1768, following Nepal\u2019s unification, Christian groups were banned from the country. After the revolution of 1951, foreign missionaries were permitted to enter Nepal but only to perform social service work. In the same year, a church was planted in Kathmandu by Indian Christian technicians working in the area. However, church growth was slow due to a hostile cultural and political environment.<\/p>\n<p>In 1976, the Nepal Bible society was formed. Today, it is working to provide scripture engagement projects to women and children. It is providing audio bibles to vulnerable people including illiterate and semi- literate people, the visually disabled and disabled people.<\/p>\n<h2>Moldova<\/h2>\n<p>In the 4th century, Christianity reached Moldova. Today, 90 per cent of Moldovans identify as belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church while a further three per cent belong to other denominations. In 1991, Moldova achieved independence from the Soviet Union. In the same year, the Interconfessional Bible Society of Moldova was established.<\/p>\n<p>Bible Society is focusing on two key areas of work. Firstly, it is travelling to remote rural areas to serve the churches using a Bible Bus which enables it to go to places, such as marketplaces, summer camps and church outreaches. Secondly, it is distributing free family Bibles to give vulnerable families, single-parent families and elderly people access to the Word of God.<\/p>\n<h2>Latvia<\/h2>\n<p>In the 13th century, Christianity reached Latvia. In 1813, the first Bible Society in the territory of Latvia was established. Latvians were early supporters of Luther and much of the population converted to Lutheranism. The churches in Latvia were harshly persecuted under both the Nazis and the Communists. Today, although the country is neither anti-Christian nor anti-religion, it remains a challenging mission field to work in.<\/p>\n<p>The Latvian Bible Society is working to revise the Modern Latvian Bible to make it more accessible to a new generation. It is producing the Gospel of Mark in Latvian sign language. And it is creating a new website with an online shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your contribution to Bible a Month Regular Giving this month will play a crucial role in supporting Bible mission in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":267,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[10,11,12,9],"class_list":["post-94696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bamrg-members-report","tag-bible-engagement","tag-bible-mission","tag-bible-poverty","tag-get-involved"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105725,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94696\/revisions\/105725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newzealandmarketing.co.nz\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}