Past Ishmael Notzi reading his new Luxury Bible for the first time
The first luxury Bible in Sotho was handed over to a man of God that really had a passion to get the Word published in a special edition.
Past Ishmael Notzi received his deluxe Sotho Bible, a special gift from the Bible Society of South Africa after he did the drive to get the luxury Sotho Bibles printed.
Dr Elrika Senekal Van der Berg , the team leader in the central region and sales representative Stella Moletsane from the Bible Society, handed over the first luxury bible to Notzi on Friday, 23 February.
Notzi, a leader at the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) at the Meloding Assembly in Virginia, said he received his first Bible when he was at school.
“It took me 11 moths to read the whole Bible. I was immediately fascinated. To me the Bible has so many hidden treasures.”
The newly printed Bible is of the 1909 translation, which many Sotho speaking people prefer to the 1989 translation.
Notzi started the drive to do a survey on the need for a luxury version.
In October the first print edition of this Bible was ordered, and it will arrive soonest, but for the backlog in the harbour.
Elrika said the first order, that is printed like all South African Bibles in China, is already fully sold out. “This shows how huge the need for this Bible is. Before the Bibles could be printed, we had to pay upfront. This is why the Bible Society rely so heavily on donation – because orders are placed even before readers can buy their Bibles.”
She asked Notzi to help them with their next drive to do a survey for large print Sotho Bibles.
“I also dream about a complete children’s Bible that can be translated into all the South African languages,” she said.
From the left are Dr Elrika Senekal-Van der Berg (Teamleader: Central Region of the Bible Society of South Africa), Past Ishmael Notzi (recipient) and Stella Moletsane (Sales Representative: Bible Society of South Africa).
