Youth
John Watson
4 Marh 2013
Bible Society’s new venture at this years’ Parachute Music Festival Bible Shop proved a hit with the new Kiwi Audio bible, Audible, also proving popular.
This is the first time Bible Society has run a shop at Parachute (Hamilton, 25-27 January) and, with an audience of 17,500, staff were kept busy over the festival’s three days, staying open for more than 12 hours a day.
Distribution manager John Watson said several thousand people visited the shop and hundreds bought from the large range of bibles and related products.
‘We were blown away by the interest. It was a bit of an endurance event with the long hours and the 30-degree heat, but it was well worth it.
‘There was often a good crowd in the shop and people welcomed the opportunity to check out the variety of translations and special features available,’ he said.
‘A number of people in their 20s, who had stopped going to church as teenagers, popped in to buy a new bible to help them re-engage with God. Some were keen to share their stories with us and we felt privileged to see and hear first hand how God had been at work in their lives.’
Bible Society also launched the Audible at Parachute this year. It features the New Testament (New Living Translation) read by a Kiwi.
Produced in partnership with the Rhema Broadcasting Group, Audible is in MP3 files on a USB drive, ‘aimed at the “connected” generation’.