NTM Bible Pictures

Today is day 4 of my week long 'Blogathon' and I'm still on track - but only just!

Today I wanted to give an update on the set of 209 pictures that were completed a while ago for New Tribes Mission. All 209 pictures are available now to buy on DVD for $59.95 click here for more info. The pictures are being used in some of the remotest places on the planet by NTM missionaries.

Mike Henderson from New Tribes Mission has, very kindly, been keeping me up-to-date by sending me photos, (and the odd movie), of the pictures in use - they are wonderful and humbling to see. (Thanks Mike!) Also thanks to Robin and Rosemary Griffiths.

I thought it might be nice to share some of these pictures below. hope you like them. Click on the pictures for a better view!

lbaloi Church leaders see the pictures for the first time:

A display of the pictures in Santani town, Indonesia.:

Working with the Pwo Karen tribe, Thailand:

The Mwinika tribe hear the Gospel in Mozambique, PTL!:

Below are some screen shots from a short subtitled clip where four of the men, (Aziana tribe), who are helping with translation discuss the pictures from the Tower of Babel set. (Papua New Guinea).

Photos ©NTM 2015

NTM Pictures finished!

The 'New Tribes Mission' pictures are finally complete! There are 210 pictures in the new set which is exactly double the number of pictures in the old set which were painted 26 years ago by Filipino artist Carlos 'Caloy' Gabuco.

I've had to make a number of changes to my pictures, (over 60 in all), in order to make them more biblically/historically accurate. Thankfully there have been many expert eyes on the project, not only guiding me on matters relating to biblical topics but helping me to understand how to present certain topics clearly to pre-literate people groups - I have very much appreciated their input!

Preparing pictures to assist missionaries in their presentation of the Bible message has been a great privilege and responsibility. I can't think of a more worthwhile use of an artist's/illustrator's time though and I would encourage other artists to pursue this vocation.
In many cases these pictures give the very first glimpse of the outside world to be seen by remote people groups - so you do feel a certain amount of responsibility there too! I've already had feedback about how fascinated one group were to learn how early civilizations could build buildings using mud! Moulding and baking bricks in the sun, as is shown in the 'Tower of Babel' set, was a completely new concept to them!

It's hard to imagine that there are still 2,500 people groups that are unreached with the Gospel! The next step is to get all the picture sets printed, laminated and distributed to the 3,000 NTM missionaries working in the field. If you would like to help towards the cost of printing, click here. Many thanks if you have donated already!
Please remember the work of NTM in your prayers.

Happy New Year!

"Happy New Year" to all the readers of the Bible illustration blog!
My apologies for not posting recently but things have been extremely hectic here!
I hope everyone had a very pleasant Christmas.

There have been lots of exciting things happening during the closing weeks of 2008 which I would like to share with you. We have now officially teamed up with 'New Tribes Mission' with a view to redoing their Chronological Bible picture set which will now comprise of around 164 pictures. The present set of 105 pictures were painted in 1985 by Caloy Gabulo, an artist from the Philippines. These pictures are used by NTM missionaries to present the Gospel message to primitive people groups around the globe.
This is an exciting and challenging project and many things will have to be taken into consideration as we prepare these pictures as many of the tribal people who will be viewing them have never even seen a picture before!
In one particular tribe, if only half a person is shown in a picture, (e.g. the other half is out of view,) they think that the person must only have one arm and leg! This is just one of the many aspects that need to be considered. We enjoy pictures with dynamic perspective and dramatic lighting because we have developed a sophisticated visual language that we understand and take for granted. It's hard for us to imagine the questions that might come into the minds of those viewing pictures for the first time. Some missionaries have pointed out however that the tribal people's ability to understand and appreciate this visual language develops fast, and so we shouldn't get bogged down with simplifying the pictures too much. They stress that Biblical accuracy should remain paramount in the pictures even though certain aspects of Bible times may be hard at first to explain.
This project is going to be immensely interesting and challenging and there will no doubt be lots to blog about! I would appreciate your prayers as we move forward on this.

The second exciting development is that we are in the process of providing pictures for our very first Bible! The pictures for the 'International Children's Bible' will need to be finished by the end of February. Authentic Media will be looking to publish this Bible in the Summer of 2009, God willing.

Finally, a Christian card producer has taken some of our 'Nativity pictures' with a view to producing a range of Christmas cards and Advent calendars for 2009! Watch this space.
Because of the above workload things might be quiet on the blog until the end of February. If I get chance to post though, I will.