JakartaGlobe-Feb 12
Thousands of Christians in Papua recently set a national record for having the largest number of people to handwrite the entirety of the Bible. To celebrate 170 years of the Gospel in Papua, about 3,870 Christians in 58 locations across Indonesia’s easternmost region took part in writing all 31,171 verses of the Bible by hand. The participants came from various churches, including the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI), 48 other Christian denominations, and one Catholic church. Holding this event was the Indonesia Sejahtera Foundation through its Terang Papua program. Each participant wrote 8 to 10 verses of the Bible. They spent about 1 hour and 30 seconds doing so before their writings got collected in a worship procession. About 68 pastors symbolically handed over the handwritten bible verses to GKI chairman Synod and West Papua PGGP’s chair in a ceremony at GKI Elim Kwawi, Manokwari. West Papua’s Papuan Communion of Churches (PGGP) also mobilized churches, schools, and communities in Manokwary to take part in this event. Yayasan Indonesia Sejahtera Barokah and thousands of Christians in Papua set national record for involving the largest number of people in handwriting the entirety of the Bible. The activity earned a prestigious accolade from the Indonesian Record Museum (MURI) for having the largest number of people write the Bible by hand. The PGGP – West Papua’s chair Daniel Sukan said that he hoped the handwriting could even strengthen the participants’ faith. This celebration also honors two German missionaries, Carl Wilhelm Ottouw and Johann Gotlob Geissler, who first brought the Gospel to Mansinam Island on February 5, 1855. Read more at: https://jakartaglobe.id/special-updates/thousands-of-christians-in-papua-handwrite-bible-verses-set-national-record
