Looking through past issues of Christian Renewal to see what news article I should post today, I realized I should share an exciting update about the Life in Christ catechism curriculum.
The series has been so well received that it is going into a second printing. Books have been sold in several other countries and are being translated into other languages. The book I wrote, Not My Own: Discovering God’s Comfort in the Heidelberg Catechism, as well as God’s Unfolding Promise: From Shadows to SONLight by Laurie Vanden Heuvel, have now been printed in Russian. The Indonesian translation of Not My Own has also been completed.
Pastor Ron Scheuers (First United Reformed Church in Chino, CA) wrote the following article, which appeared on page 22 in the November 13, 2013, issue of Christian Renewal.
There have been some exciting developments regarding our catechism project, Life in Christ. When we began the project to write instructional material for our youth, we never imagined that it would be used so widely as it is today.
In August of 2011 we had completed the project to write eight volumes for grades 5-12, and had printed 1500 copies of each volume, or 12,000 volumes. They are being sold by Reformed Fellowship in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Due to demand a second printing is needed. The committee is correcting a few errors and is preparing them for reprinting.
There have also been a number of requests to translate the materials. Permission was granted to have the books translated into Russian, Ukrainian, French, Creole, Spanish, Bahasa Indonesian, and Khmer, with the possibility of Italian as well.
Translators have completed work in Russian on the 5th and 6th grade volumes and one volume (grade 5) has been translated into Indonesian. In May, Henk Drost, a contact in Ukraine said, “I am glad to tell you that our first translation of a catechism book is ready. We printed 1000 copies. At the synod I gave each church one. In November we hope to have a conference about education and 450 years Heidelberg Catechism.” In Indonesia, Rev. Markus D. Lere Dawa wrote about the book that is in the process of printing. He said, “I had a wonderful opportunity to share some parts of it last July at a conference on 500 Years Anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism. Many friends in Indonesia, coming from various reformed denominations, are interested in it. They showed us their serious intention to have it as guideline in educating their children and youths. Hopefully, we are able to respond to that requests asap.”
Who could have ever imagined that our efforts would have been so blessed and used by the Lord to reach so many people? How wonderful is God’s provision! We are grateful for the efforts of the translators. We are most grateful to the Lord for His Word and grace which He is using to reach His people everywhere.
Praise God with us. We are very thankful for those who have contributed towards this effort. If anyone still wishes to do so, we would deeply appreciate your kindness.
While it’s exciting to see your name in a different language on the cover of a book, it’s more thrilling to think of biblical teaching reaching people in other lands.
Won’t you join me in praying for God’s Spirit to work in the hearts of many readers?
Glenda Faye Mathes 