A landmark Bible for the African churches was printed last year at the Amity Printing Company (APC). It was the African Women Devotional Bible (AWDB), the first of its kind and the result of a beautiful collaborative effort spanning four years, involving more than 280 women writers across Africa and 25 Bible Societies in the continent.
Published by the United Bible Societies (UBS), the AWDB was produced to address the unique circumstances and issues faced by African Christian women in their daily lives. These issues ranged from economic marginalisation, polygamy, low access to education to motherhood and leadership. The Bible seeks to help women grow deeper in their relationship with God, in their understanding of themselves and reach their glorious destiny in Christ.
The Bible version used in the AWDB is the English Standard Version (ESV) which Crossway has kindly made available to the Bible Societies royalty-free. Key features of the AWDB include: 365 daily devotions, 52 articles addressing issues faced by women in Africa, detailed introductions to all the books in the Bible and 52 essays discussing the lives of women characters from the Bible. Designed for both personal and group use, the Bible hopes to see many African women benefiting from it, finding healing and restoration for their body, mind and soul.
To enhance readers’ experience, the latest gilding and engraving technology was used at APC to bring about a high quality product for this first full-colour Bible. Notably, this was the first high-end new technology in Bible printing used successfully by APC for the Bible Societies in Africa.
The AWDB comes in five binding styles and four different cover colours, moving away from the traditional black cover. The cover design was created by Amity’s R&D department, aptly features elements of daffodils and African stripes and bright bold colours.
At the online dedication of the AWDB held on International Women’s Day 2021, Dr Barine Kirimi, UBS Publishing Development Coordinator, and Thomas Tharao, Kenya Bible Society Operations Manager, expressed their gratitude for the tremendous support from APC. APC is a joint venture between UBS and Amity Foundation established in 1988 in Nanjing, China, with the primary purpose of printing Bibles for the Churches in China. In recent years, it has also been serving churches overseas via the Bible Societies and publishers in the printing of Bibles and Scriptural resources.
Plans are in the pipeline to translate the AWDB into other languages for printing and distribution. Let us join the African churches to pray for the distribution of the AWDB and for greater Bible engagement among the African Christian women and beyond. Pray also for APC as they continue to support the Bible Societies in Africa in the printing and delivery of the AWDB for distribution in Africa.
This article was amended on 22 March 2022.
Story: Cynthia Oh
Photos: APC & UBS
2022 © United Bible Societies China Partnership
