The Bible Society-New Zealand is planning to distribute 5,000 Bibles and New Testaments in 70 languages to chaplaincies in the country to help people in prisons and hospitals.
According to a recent news release, the Christian organization is partnering for the project with Habitat for Humanity, Tira Tūhāhā Prison Chaplaincy Aotearoa, The Interchurch Council for Hospital Chaplaincy, Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand, and the New Zealand Defence Force.
“Together, we bring the Bible to individuals who may have never encountered it before,” the Bible Society said.
A living testimony of the Bible's impact in prisons
Former rugby league player Chris Nahi testified how reading a Bible changed his life. The ex Gold Coast Chargers star began taking drugs in 1997 and an addiction ruined his life.
He ended up in jail in Australia for charges related to drug dealing and possessing a firearm after running as a fugitive from police.
“I made some really bad choices,” recalled Nahi to the Bible Society. “The last time I was in jail, I was paranoid and broken. I cried out to God, ‘if you’re real, help me,’ and I heard His voice saying, ‘follow me and I’ll restore you.’”
The Bible was the only book in Nahi’s prison cell and he thought it likely left there by a chaplain. He opened it and read Psalm 23 – and immediately felt it a “divine appointment”.
“It jumped out at me, telling my life story. I was a lost sheep, walking through the valley of the shadow of death for 15 years. God’s words were exactly what I needed to hear. They spoke to my heart.”
The next morning, Nahi sat at a card table and kept reading the Bible aloud. Other inmates began listening and the atmosphere in that area of the prison lifted.
“The Bible’s wisdom and guidance uplifted me. My anxiety and paranoia vanished. The chains of addiction fell away. I realized that following Jesus and His teachings would keep me from ever returning to jail.”
After his release, with his life transformed by Jesus, Nahi graduated from the rehab Victory House Program in Australia. Later, he opened a Victory House in Whangarei, New Zealand.
Nahi said his vision is to see Northland known as a place of recovery for addicts. A New Zealand Drugs Trend Survey in Aug. 2023 found higher level of meths bought by addicts from gangs in Northland, as well as Southland, than anywhere else in the country.
As a Christian live-in rehabilitation program, Victory House accommodates eight people struggling with addictions to drugs, alcohol and gambling. The weekly program includes church services and daily Bible reading.
“I always tell the boys, ‘keep your eyes on the Lord’,” added Nahi. “‘When you stumble, get up, and focus back on Him.’ God took me out of the darkness and into the light so I can help others.”
