Dear Prayer Partner, In August our Bible-a-Month calendar is focusing on El Salvador. El Salvador is a South American country, which borders Guatemala and Honduras. El Salvador is one of the smallest countries in South America, famous for coffee and known as the "Land of the Volcanoes" as it has over 20 volcanoes within its boarders! The Bible Society of El Salvador has been affected by COVID-19, and are working to adapt their projects to be done online or complying with social distancing measures. In this Extra Insight we'll share some updates from the Bible Society of El Salvador and how they are reaching people with the Word of God.

El Salvador Capital: San Salvador Population: 6,194,126  (July 2020 est.) Official language: Spanish Religion: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 36%, other 2%, none 12%  Statistics and map taken from The World Factbook and Operation World .

Ministry in El Salvador El Salvador is one of the most densely populated countries in Central America. There is a large range of religious beliefs in El Salvador, including Roman Catholicism, Evangelical Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Jews and Atheists.  The Bible Society of El Salvador is passionate when it comes to sharing the Word of God with the people in their country. They place a heavy emphasis on youth work and technology, knowing that the world is a changing place and that they must adapt to changes in how they communicate. They are strong Bible advocates in their country and want to show how the Bible can make a positive impact in their society. The urbanisation of the population of El Salvador in recent years has meant that it has gone from being a predominantly rural society to one in which 60% of people live in cities. This change has meant an increase and crime, poverty and gangs. As a result, the Bible Society does a lot of rehabilitation work and outreach to prisons.

"The New Testament Tour in Schools " - El Salvador

El Salvador has a high population of young people. Due to the country’s economic instability and socioeconomic inequality, many young people feel hopeless and although they want to make a difference they do not know where to start. The Bible Society of El Salvador is reaching out to these young people through a personal development programme based in the Bible. This programme teaches young people about what the Bible says about their worth and value. They work in public schools all over El Salvador and visit them every week to deliver this programme. They partner with an organisation known as “LIDER”, meaning “Leader” and local churches to deliver this programme. El Salvador has had one of the longest lockdowns due to COVID-19. In January, the programme was having a huge impact and they could see that young people were being blessed by the materials, but as COVID-19 started to spread El Salvador declared a state of emergency. Borders were closed and classes cancelled for an initial 15 days. It soon became apparent that the lockdown would last longer than anticipated. As classes and schoolwork began to move online the New Testament Tour was also able to adapt. They began to explore ways to make the project digital. They have found that students have been struggling to adapt to online learning but know that the programme continues to give them hope through difficult times.

"My child, remember my teachings and instructions and obey them completely. " Proverbs 3:1

Pray for this Project: Pray for the young people who are participating in this project this year. Pray that they will be able to easily adapt to their online learning and that the New Testament Tour would have a positive impact on them. Pray for the staff and volunteers of the Bible Society of El Salvador as they reach out to schools and young people. Pray that they would be able to still deliver a high-quality programme and to share God’s Word. Pray for El Salvador and the impact that COVID-19 is having there. Pray for the politicians and church leaders, that God would give them wisdom during this time.

Give Every £5 donated to this project will help the Bible Society of El Salvador to provide students with Scriptures. Make a donation online now. This project is our Bible-a-Month project for August. Decide to become a Bible-a-Month partner today! You will receive a free calendar with information about this and 11 other Bible Society projects. Commit to giving just £5 each month and you will ensure that the Word of God is shared across the world. Sign up here.

BIBLE SOCIETY NI 27 Howard Street, Belfast, BT1 6NB 028 9032 6577 Charity Reg. No. NIC102557 www.biblesocietyni.co.uk Header image shows two boys with their New Testament Scripture books.

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