News & Updates | Bible Society of South Africa

Leave a legacy of faith

16 September 2024

You’ve spent a lifetime building your legacy. You have strived to help as many people as you could. Maybe your greatest joy was telling people about the Gospel, God’s sacrificial work and his son Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice for all humanity. Maybe you wish that you were more emboldened to share the Good News with those you met during your lifetime. Do you wish you had more time to accomplish all you’ve set out to do? All your life you’ve cherished the Bible and how its values guided you through your life, times of happiness, difficulty, uncertainty, sorrow, and despair.

Bible Society celebrates 204 years of Bible work

Join the Bible Society of South Africa in celebrating 204 years of Bible work!

23 August 2024

The Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA) commemorates its 204th anniversary on Friday, 23 August 2024. Since its founding in 1820, the BSSA and those in its service have faithfully strived to fulfil the vision of “a Bible for all”. In practice, this took the form of producing Bibles for the diverse people of South Africa in their heart languages and formats that make the Word of God accessible to them.

New book delves into Bible translation in Southern Africa

19 February 2024

A new book from the Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA) documents the significant history of the Bible Society’s translation projects in numerous indigenous languages. Lighting the Lamp on the Pathway of Life was written by Dr Eric Hermanson, who retired as the BSSA’s Assistant General Secretary of Translation and Text Processing in 2005.

Bible Society of South Africa Announces New CEO

28 March 2023

BELLVILLE, CAPE TOWN. The Bible Society of South Africa announced today that Rev Rodney van Wyk has been appointed the new CEO of the organisation. He will hold this position for the next two years. Rev van Wyk was unanimously appointed during the Annual General Meeting at the Bible House in Bellville, on 16 March 2023. He has held the position of Interim CEO since 1 November 2022, following the departure of Rev Dirk Gevers, who joined the United Bible Societies as Secretary General.

Bible Society CEO appointed in top position at the United Bible Societies

31 October 2022

Rev Dirk Gevers, the current Chief Executive Officer of the Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA,) was appointed as the new Secretary General of United Bible Societies (UBS), a worldwide network of Bible Societies operating in over 240 countries and territories, to succeed Michael Perreau on his retirement later this year. He is the first Bible Society official from Africa to have been appointed in this role.

Taking on Africa for Bibles

24 July 2019

Two sisters, Lynsey and Suzann Knoetzen, determined to “find themselves” on a recent holiday rediscovered the Bible instead. It changed their lives – and now they want to help to change the lives of others in Africa too. Lynsey enthused, “While we studied the Bible, something just clicked in my mind. I realised that it was what I was missing in my life. I had this overwhelming feeling that everyone needed to know about this. The Word had to get out!”

Bikes roaring for Bibles

10 April 2019

It’s Word Riders time again: when bikers boldly tackle rough terrain for Bibles – this time in the southern parts of the Eastern Cape. The group of 59 people comprising 37 motorbikes in support of the project, Bibles for Grade 7 learners, left Port Elizabeth on 7 April. Some of the towns that the group will visit include Humansdorp, Willowmore, Uniondale, Aberdeen and Graaff-Reinet.

Bible Society salutes armed forces

27 March 2019

For many years the Bible Society of South Africa has had a long-standing relationship with the armed forces. Members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have been using New Testaments and Bibles distributed by Bible Society since 1940. One such example is a small Testament with a wooden cover printed in 1943, with a message from England’s King George VI as well as a handwritten message from the then Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, General Jan Smuts.

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