Austrian Bible Society

High demand for Bibles among refugees in Austria

NOVEMBER 5, 2012 BY COMMS

Refugees with their Bibles.

By Katharina Gabor, Austrian Bible Society

Bibles are running out as fast as the Austrian Bible Society is ordering them! But it’s not Bibles in the national language, German, that are in such high demand: it’s Bibles in Farsi, Arabic and other languages spoken in the Middle East.

“Refugees are coming to Austria in great numbers, many having fled countries torn apart by war,” says Austrian Bible Society General Secretary Dr Jutta Henner. “They arrive with nothing but traumatic memories and the hope of starting a new life. We provide them with Bibles and other Scripture booklets in their chosen language for free.”

Austria has the highest refugee ratio in Europe. About 20,000 refugees arrive in the country each year and face a long time of uncertainty while their asylum applications are processed. A large proportion of those arriving in recent years are from Middle Eastern countries, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Morocco.

Long waiting-list

“We have distributed hundreds of Bibles in Farsi and Arabic over the past few months, but the requests for more keep flooding in,” says Dr Henner. “We have totally run out of Farsi Bibles and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a fresh print-run. We keep getting phone calls from Farsi-speaking refugees requesting a copy and there is now a long waiting list!”

Refugees at a Christian aid centre near their camp.

As well as serving refugees who come directly to the Bible Center in central Vienna, the Bibles Society supplies Bibles to the many churches, individuals, government agencies  and NGOs who work with refugees.

Refugees from Afghanistan

One church in Vienna, for example, has begun running a service in Dari every Sunday afternoon for the many refugees from Afghanistan who want to attend. The Bible Society provides them with Dari Bibles. A consignment of Scriptures in Urdu, Farsi and Arabic were also recently delivered to Austria’s central refugee camp, where local Christians are ministering to the 1,500 refugees interned there.

One refugee detention centre manager thanked the Bible Society for supplying Scriptures to the inmates.

“The Bible is a favourite here,” he told them. “People read the Bible even if they are not believers. There is a great desire for spiritual encouragement.”