“I hope and pray that the Bible in the New Translation Edition 2 will touch the hearts of many people, including Indonesian language users in the Netherlands,” said the director of the Dutch Bible Society (NBG) Rieuwerd Buitenwerf on Saturday, February 4, 2025 at the Celebration Welcoming the presence of the New Bible Translation Edition 2 (TB-2) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The festive celebration welcoming this translation work took place at the Indonesian Christian Church building in the Netherlands.

'In the past, the Dutch have caused a lot of suffering in Indonesia. "By 2025, the cooperation between the Bible societies of the two countries will be even stronger," says Buitenwerf. "Because Indonesia is so large and has so many languages, the challenges for Bible societies there are enormous." The TB-2 Bible is a revision of the New Translation of the Bible published in 1974 - first produced after Indonesia's independence by the Indonesian Bible Society, with the help of Dutch Bible scholars. After fifty years, the language had become outdated and needed to be updated in places and new insights into the Bible had to be included.

Buitenwerf adds, "The NBG is supporting two translation projects in Indonesia. 'We also hope to do something for the churches in the Netherlands that use Indonesian."

Bible Distribution in Migrant Churches

One such church is the Indonesian Christian Church of the Netherlands (GKIN), a migrant church. Unlike most established churches, many migrant churches are growing. NBG supports them with Bibles, knowledge transfer and further training for child laborers. Samuel Ekpo is the Relationship Manager for Migrant and International Churches and visits migrant and international churches.

Ekpo explains, “Our mission is for everyone to be able to read the Bible in their heart language. That is why we provide Bibles and encourage engagement with the Bible.” NBG has Bibles in English – such as the Migration Bible and the New International Version – Sranantongo and Twi. Children’s Bibles are available in English, Portuguese and Papiamentu, among others.

Training for Children’s Ministers with Bible Basics Modules

NBG also provides training for children’s ministers (Sunday School Teachers). This is done using the bilingual Bible Basics modules. These modules and methods are based on children’s theology and take into account the different ages and learning styles of each child. With 27,000 active users, Bible Basics is the most widely used children’s development method in the Netherlands and its former colonies.