About Institute for Bible Translation

Institute for Bible Translation (IBT), is a non-profit organization, whose main task is to translate and publish the Bible in the languages of non-Slavic peoples living in Russia and the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Its staff is drawn from all Christian traditions and denominations.

Established in Sweden in 1973, Institute for Bible Translation worked silently but successfully in Communist USSR accomplishing Scripture translation in language after language. It took 19 years, for example, to complete the New Testament in Uzbek, a non-Slavic language spoken by 20 million Central Asian Muslims. In Operation World, Patrick Johnston says: ”The single-minded work of the Institute for Bible Translation, based in Sweden, has been remarkable with its vision to provide the Scriptures for all the non-Slavic peoples in the USSR. Many translation projects were started in very restrictive conditions under Communism.”

In 1990-1992, as Communism fell from power in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, restrictions on Bible deliveries were eased and IBT shipped over 5,000,000 copies of Scriptures and literature into Russia and the emerging new nations of the CIS. The translations were ready when the doors opened. This flow of Scriptures continues, though quantities are now somewhat smaller.

Finances -- Financial assistance for the Institute’s translation work, printing, and shipping is traditionally provided by missions organizations, churches, and individuals in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and the United States. Presently, the annual budget stands at about USD $2,000,000.

Partnerships -- Today, in partnership with United Bible Societies and SIL/Wycliffe Bible Translators the Institute coordinates the efforts of some 200 translators, checkers, consultants, and support people who focus their energies on preparing Scripture translations in languages where it has never before existed. Translation projects are in progress in nearly 80 non-Slavic languages spoken by 90 million people, 60-65 million of whom are Muslims by tradition.

The Children's Bible -- One of the highlights in IBT’s translation and publishing work is the Children’s Bible. This top-quality, 544-page book in full color has become the most popular book in the former Soviet Union and 7.5 million copies have been distributed in 28 languages. April Jurgensen, of OMS International, recently returned from two years of teaching in Russia. About the Children’s Bible she says:

Thank you for your excellent Children’s Bible. Through it, Jesus has brought children across Russia to Himself.

While in Russia, I bought a copy for a friend of mine, a third-grade public school teacher. She was initially enamored with the full color illustrations, but soon realized she, along with her students, was drawn to Christ Himself.

While using your Children’s Bible in my language study, I found the translation simple, yet accurate. Vivid stories from the Old and New Testaments fascinated me as they did when I was young.

With those incentives, our ministry team began buying cases to distribute to kindergartens and elementary schools. They were well received -- and used!

Please continue sending Children’s Bibles to the former Soviet Union. After years of mandated atheism, Russians relish, revere, and read the Word as all of us should!

Throughout the entire former Soviet Union, the Children’s Bible is eagerly read by adults as well as children. For example, 20,500 copies in the Yakut language have been sent to North-Eastern Siberia. Other shipments have gone to Central Asia, to the Finno-Ugric peoples in the Volga region, to the Baltics, to Ukraine and Belarus, to Azeris and Armenians in the Caucasus, and, of course, to Russians throughout the former empire. Nearly 8 million copies have been distributed, in 28 languages.

Dr. Samuel Antossian, an Armenian linguist and Bible scholar comments on the Children’s Bible in Armenia:

The people of Armenia, who suffered enormously from the violent, and cruel persecution of free thinking under communist rule, gladly, and with great pleasure, received this easily accessible and comprehensible book, the Children’s Bible.

Following the fall of communism, Armenians began returning to the faith of their ancestors, and the Children’s Bible, which had become so popular, played a significant role in this revival of faith in Armenia.

Indeed, the Bible plays a significant role in bringing the message of healing to lives damaged by ”generations of mandated atheism.”

The Tolkovaya Biblia -- In 1989, as Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the millennium of the first Christian baptism in Russia, Institute for Bible Translation spearheaded a project to present a three-volume (6,500 pages) Russian commentary Bible, the Tolkovaya Bibliya, to Russian Christians as a commemorative gift from the Nordic (Scandinavian) peoples. This project gained wide support in all Scandinavian countries, to the extent that even government funding was provided. 150,000 sets (450,000 books) were printed and distributed among Russian Orthodox as well as Evangelical groups in Russia. Note that this took place 2 years prior to the fall of Communism in 1991.

Through these types of activities, the Institute for Bible Translation has gained wide respect and acceptance in the former Soviet Union, in Orthodox circles as well as among evangelicals.

The Academy of Sciences -- Already in 1990, the Institute concluded an agreement with the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (now Russian Academy of Sciences), whereby the two organizations cooperate to produce translations of the Bible in non-Slavic languages (formerly labeled ”minority languages”) spoken in Russia and the other nations of the former Soviet Union. With this agreement, IBT finds open doors to the most qualified translators, reviewers, checkers, and other needed workers throughout the CIS.

Results -- This strong response to the Institute’s program, both from the point of view of donors as well as from that of receptors, has solidified the Institute’s determination to press on towards its intermediate goal of completing the New Testament by the year 2005 in 15 non-Slavic languages with a total population of 11,770,000 (1989 USSR census). This goal was reached. Taken together with the New Testaments completed earlier, the Word of God was then be available in the mother tongues of over 53 million non-Slavic people in the CIS. This, as a direct result of the work of the Institute and its partners. Of course, New Testament and Old Testament translation work isl continuing in other CIS languages.

Over the past 30 years, IBT has completed the Bible in 3 languages, released new translations of the New Testament in nearly 20 languages, and published Gospel portions in about 60 languages. The Institute’s Children’s Bible, now the most popular book in the former Soviet Union, has been distributed in nearly 8 million copies in almost 40 languages.

Still, there are millions of non-Russian speaking, non-Slavic people in the former Soviet Union who do not yet have the complete Word of God in their mother tongue.