Sales & Distribution
Distribution is the channel through which we avail scriptures to all God’s people. Country-wide coverage of reaching all people with the scriptures is our driving force. We made regular visits to all the regions including Eastern and Northern Uganda where the war situation and rebel activities kept the security concerns in a balance. We are greatly thankful to God that the security situation is continuously improving.
To achieve the widest possible and effective distribution of the scriptures,we use variety of channels including The Bible Society Bookshop,The Bible Society Centres (Iganga , Fort Portal , Mbale and Gulu) ,distribution vans,volunteers,brocures, church book-stalls, mission agencies, and other Christian bookshops and stationery shops. A commission and / or discount is given to distributors who are not full time employees of The Bible Society.
A Picture Showing Holy Scripture being Distributed.
We rejoice in the Lord for helping us to continue making available His life-giving Word to people at affordable prices.
The year under review started well as far as scripture stocks were concerned. The distributors and the partners in Scripture distribution work tirelessly to reach far and wide with the Word.
We praise God for enabling us to increase the numbers distributed as can be seen from the following table.
|
Scripture Category
|
Actual 2008 Budget
|
2007 Actual
|
| Bibles |
184,388
|
147,375 |
|
Testaments
|
13,349
|
48,782
|
|
Portions
|
69,006
|
29,374
|
|
New Reader Portions
|
42,829
|
166,870
|
| Value in Ug shs | 2,239,982,600 | 1,917,437,200 |
This is a positive trend because it gives a boost to the translation programmes. We trust that as schools implement the teaching of mother tongue in lower primary, the reading of vernacular scriptures will also increase in the due course.
The past year was a transitional year when we moved from the traditional way of budgeting to the project-based budgeting. This calls for stronger partnerships with churches and scripture agents to plan together with us to determine the needs for each year. Every project has to be accompanied with facts and figures to justify the funding and implementation.
We had an opportunity to partner with a Christian NGO working in the North of the distribution of Acholi Bible. This has provided a unique opportunity to meet the spiritual need and thirst for God's word in the numerous IDP camps. As the peace initiatives start bearing fruit, we have a great opening for reaching out with the Word through such partnerships.
Another highlight is the opportunity to distribute a portion in Luganda to the pilgrims on Martyrs' day. This portion, Ruuti ne Esiteeri, depicts the loyalty and courage among women. Those who received it appreciated it very much.
The major challenge we face is the ever-increasing poverty in the rural areas. This creates a stumbling block to our mission of availing affordable Scriptures when the cost of production is rising and purchasing power decreasing. Increased support from you is what we need to address this challenge so that the poor can access the Word of God.
We call upon church leadership to supply timely information on Scripture needs especially for vernacular ones so that we plan adequately.
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God's Word Hope For All.
