Mayaguez, Puerto Rico…[Freddy Sosa/IAD Staff]
Hundreds of Adventist young people took part in transcribing the entire Bible in a span of three hours and 16 minutes during a church organized activity in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, on Sunday, Apr. 13.
Some 600 young people from throughout the churches on the island traveled with their Bibles and notebook paper to the Orlando Lopez Martinez Park to participate in what organizers coined as “Sola Scriptura”.
Organizers of the event hoped to foster the reading and study of the Bible among young people.
“This activity comes as at a right time, in the midst of the collective anxiety that we actually live in our country,” said Julio Peres Jusino, one of the organizers. “The lack of hope, fear and uncertainty are the order of the day. People don't know in what or in who to believe. All the points of reference for our collective values seem to fail. It is the opportune time to re-encounter the Bible. It is the opportune time to uphold the Scriptures, the source where the values which define us as a Christian people are found.”
“The Sola Scriptura project served to highlight the existence of the young people as the bearers of Christian values inside a society seen frequently as decaying,” said Abdiel Rodriguez, one of the young people who registered to transcribe a portion of the Bible.
The event was open to the public and also included a musical concert, a display of archeological objects from the Middle East, as well as several ancient Bibles. Sola Scriptura was covered through the internet and the media.
According to church leaders, a special magazine entitled Sola Scriptura has been created. The 16-page full color piece compiling details of the event, the history of the Bible, and special messages from religious and community leaders who have supported the initiative, will be available for distribution on the island.
