In Toronto many children live in the midst of family turmoil and abuse. Some live in communities where drugs and violence are far too common. For many inner-city kids the hot summer months are filled with empty days, void of anything constructive to do. UrbanPromise provides many activities at their summer camps to keep these children occupied: music, Bible stories, sports, building friendships.

Brett McBride, Youth Program Director, wrote: “We truly appreciate how fast you sent us those Bibles. What a blessing they were!

“When we brought out the Bibles and told the youth that they were each going to receive one, they rushed to the boxes and started frantically trying to get at them. Imagine youth that excited about getting a free Bible! It was amazing to see the excitement in their eyes as they leafed their way through the pages of sacred Scripture with childlike wonder.

“I know that these Bibles you have blessed us with will be instrumental in the lives of the kids we serve.”

Basketball Reaches Youth
James Holland

On Saturday, August 24, Morning Star Youth (Regina, Sask.) had their first-ever basketball tournament in north-central Regina. We invited youth from the community to come out and compete against one another and for the title of tournament champion. We also had a draw for sports equipment and a short message from the tournament ref on the love of Christ. Every player and even some of our cheering section received a "Path to Victory" basketball New Testament following the tournament.

We were disappointed by the attendance, but those who did attend played extremely well, and we were blessed to have them come out. We made contact with some new athletes and renewed other relationships. The team who won the tournament well deserved it; they played hard.

As a youth leader here in the inner city, I feel that this is an awesome way to meet and make contact with lots of skilled youth who have tons of talent and potential. The real motivation behind the idea comes from those involved: Randell Donison, our ref, and Nolan Malbov from north Saskatchewan, who had the idea of using competitive basketball among youth as a way to invite people to church.

We want to do this again in the summer of 2003. Thank you to LifeLight for the Bibles. Thanks to those who helped out, and thank you to Christ for the beauty of His children.

Score Big Points for Evangelism
Today's sports fans are zealously devoted to their favourite teams and players – and you can reach them right where they are. Along with easy-to-ready NIV text, Path to Victory presents testimonies and pictures of world-famous athletes along with relevant insights on developing a godly character on and off the field.
• Basketball - updated • Winter Sports • Football - updated • Women's Sports- NEW • Baseball • Multi-sports - NEW • Motor Racing Suggested donation: $5.00 each

Did You Know…?
• According to Barna Research most recent surveys on the subject, 60% of all American adults agree that "the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teaching" (44% agree strongly, 16% agree somewhat). The surveys were conducted in 2001.

The Word of God…According to Kids The following statements about the Bible were written by children and have not been retouched or corrected:
Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.
Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.
The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
In the first book of the Bible, Guinessus, God got tired of creating the world, so he took the Sabbath off.
Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients. Moses died before he ever reached Canada. Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little Lamb, His fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, The Lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school each day. Twasn't even in the rule. It made the children laugh and play, To have a Lamb at school.

And then the rules changed one day, Illegal it became To bring the Lamb of God to school, Or even speak His name.

Every day got worse and worse, And days turned into years. Instead of hearing children laugh, We heard gun shots and tears.

What must we do to stop the crime, That’s in our schools today? Let's let the Lamb back to school, And teach our kids to pray.

New Appointment

LifeLight Ministries is pleased to announce the appointment of Donavan and Kendra Friesen to the position of Youth Ministries Consultant. They will be available to youth groups as a resource for youth group projects and empowering youth to minister and witness to their generation. Contact them at 204-475-3350. If you would like to partner with them financially, please indicate on the enclosed card.

300,000 Gospels Printed for WYD

Three hundred thousand Gospels of Matthew were distributed to young Catholics attending World Youth Day in Toronto in July. Each pilgrim received an attractive backpack, stuffed with everything from maps to peanuts, as well as the special pocket-sized Gospel of Matthew written in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Italian. This is the largest volume distribution of Scriptures ever accomplished in the almost 100-year history of the Canadian Bible Society (CBS).

Serge Rheaume, Directeur du Secteur francophone for the CBS, says the project was a natural fit for his organization. "We believe the dramatic story of God's love can bring hope and peace to today's youth. This is an exceptional opportunity to freely offer the Good News of salvation to these young people, at a time when they will gather together to learn about and celebrate their faith."

Opportunity to Bless

Recently we received a shipment of 20,000 copies of the How to Find God New Testament. It is designed to help new Christians understand and grow in their newfound faith and is also perfect for evangelism.

With your help we are able to make these NTs available to those who are searching for God. If you would like to make a donation towards the cost of these NTs, send it to LifeLight Ministries, Box 4904, Steinbach, MB R0A 2A0. American friends can send their donation, designated for "LifeLight," to International Bible Givers, Box 216, Anoka, MN 55303.

LifeLight Purpose Statement
To serve Christ and the church in evangelism and discipleship by providing God's Word in contemporary languages so that people around the world may come to faith and life in Jesus Christ.

Rays of Light

• I would like to order three Spanish Bibles to take to Costa Rica as gifts. – Carmen
• I would be very interested in copies of How to Find God for my ESL class, as well as for friends and neighbours who need to know the Lord. How do I go about getting several copies? – Juanita
• I would like four copies of The Way for Cowboys for my grandchildren. What a nice little Bible to give away! – Carolyn
• A missionary in the Philippines.requested some English NLT Bibles. He wrote: "We do come in contact with a number of people who would be interested in them. I use that translation myself when I am working between English and Tagalog, and it works well." – Carl

Light for Kids

Adam is seven years old. He lives with his mom and dad in Manitoba. He and his mom came to the LifeLight office recently. Adam was looking for something that would help him tell his friends about Jesus.

We had just the right thing for him: the booklet "Would You Like to Know Jesus?" This booklet will help your friends understand who Jesus is and how He can be their friend. It has colourful pictures and stories about Jesus.

"The Story of Jesus" also has stories from the Bible about Jesus. It has pretty pictures and some activity pages.

Are you telling your friends about Jesus? Do you need something to help you? Write to us and ask about these and other booklets that can help you. Or ask your mom or dad to write or phone us.

 

The Donate Bibles Website
www.donatebibles.net