In the United States, National Bible Week is celebrated each year from Sunday to Sunday of Thanksgiving week—this year, November 18 to 25. In the light of that, the Journal interviewed president of the American Bible Society, on the international outreach of the Society and the role the Bible plays in his own life. Dr. Habecker also shared with the Journal how the Scriptures sustained him during a personal crisis several years ago.
Dr. Habecker enthusiastically supports the well-known saying, "There is first a Bible, then a convert, and then a church." He says, "If a church doesn't have access to the Scriptures, there is a very strong likelihood that the church is not going to experience the kind of growth and development that it would otherwise."
In its mission to give hope to people worldwide, the Bible Society has reached out to a very diverse set of religious traditions and cultures in 200 countries. In his 11 years as president, Dr. Habecker has visited 75 of those countries, and he says that in every one of them he has found at least some small group of people who are open to the Scriptures and would like to have their own Bible.
