In one month, Faith Comes By Hearing has more than doubled the languages offered on their free Bible app,Bible.is. Just last month, the world’s largest Audio Bible ministry announced that the app contained 218 languages. That number now stands at an astonishing 542 languages, which are accessible on the app and website – many with text and audio. The ministry is working toward having both text and audio available for every language on the app.
Bible.is was introduced as an iPhone app just a year ago. Today it is also available for iPad and mobile Android devices, as well as on the web at http://www.Bible.is. The app has now reached 5 million downloads.
Originally only functional in English, the app can now be downloaded for navigation in seven additional languages, including Spanish, Chinese and Arabic.
“Our progress over the last year has been nothing short of miraculous, but I guess that should be expected when you’re working for the Creator of the universe,” quips Troy Carl, Faith Comes By Hearing’s national director and architect of the ministry’s Digital Bible Project.
“In all seriousness, we realize this technology is a gift from God. And we are humbled to bring honor to Him by providing free access – in the heart languages of the world – to the saving message that is found in His Word.”
Bible.is belongs to the larger Digital Bible Project, which has become the world’s largest, standardized, digital resource of Bible text and audio. The ministry currently holds word-for-word Audio New Testaments in 565 languages, with a goal of having 2,000 such recordings by 2016. Current estimates show this will represent a potential outreach to 97% of the world’s population.
In addition to the Bible app, Faith Comes By Hearing offers free access to Audio Bibles on their website via streaming and downloads, with podcasts available in their iTunes store. For those areas that do not yet have regular access to the Internet or mobile devices, the ministry continues to reach out by providing Audio New Testaments on a solar-powered device called the Proclaimer. As of this release, more than 290,000 of these devices are proclaiming God’s Word around the world.
“The fulfillment of the Great Commission is no longer a hope,” concludes Carl. “It’s a reality.”
