USA (MNN) — People in one city in the United States woke up to something of eternal value. Approximately 180,000 Pittsburgh area residents received a gift from their community–a gift containing the secret to eternal life. It came in the most unlikely place, their local newspaper — the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Enclosed in their newspaper was a Pittsburgh-specific New Testament containing images of their city, local history, and testimonies from area residents.
CityReachers "Our City. God's Word" New Testament (NIV) was created by International Bible Society, a division of IBS-STL Global, and distributed through donations from Pittsburgh's Christian and civic leaders and residents. The portable, user-friendly format includes a guide to reading the Bible.
Area churches and volunteers are delivering another 40,000 New Testaments to residents who do not receive the local newspaper.
"This was an awesome idea…, handing out Bibles with the newspaper," wrote one Pittsburgh resident. "It inspired me to join up with a church and become active again."
Cities nationwide have realized spiritual values are an essential component for fighting crime and moral decay in their communities. The Bible provides the powerful message of hope and life-change through salvation in Jesus Christ. CityReachers New Testaments speak to readers through the clear, easy-to-read "New International Version" translation.
This year, IBS-STL has distributed more than 500,000 CityReachers New Testaments nationally. A second distribution is planned within the next year for homes in the Virginia Peninsula and Philadelphia. Distribution is also planned for South Florida and Fort Worth, Texas.
IBS-STL launched CityReachers in 2004. To date, more than 1 million New Testaments have been distributed in Brampton, Ontario; Colorado Springs; the Colorado River Valley (Arizona, California, and Nevada); Houston; Jackson, Mississippi; the Virginia Peninsula; Philadelphia; Spokane, Washington; and
Pittsburgh.
For more information, please call (888) 465-4448 or visit www.ibs.org/cityreachers
IBS-STL Global is one of the largest Bible and Christian literature ministries worldwide, translating the Bible into languages of 1 million or more speakers and distributing Christian resources to engage people with the life-transforming message of Jesus Christ. It is the translation sponsor and copyright holder of the "New International Version"® (NIV) of the Bible, the world's most widely read contemporary English translation. IBS-STL also holds the copyrights to the "Today's New International Version"® (TNIV), "Nueva Versión Internacional"® (NVI), and 45 international Bible translations. For more information on IBS-STL Global, visit www.ibs.org.
