Lifewords exists because the Bible is for everyone. We want people everywhere to experience it as good news for their lives, and for the world.

Lifewords in New Zealand is a part of Lifewords organisation whose core purpose is to bring God’s life changing words in a creative style that will engage and transform people’s lives. We have a rich heritage as Scripture Gift Mission and over the years, have become famous for our bible booklets and creative portions of God’s Word. 125 years later, we continue to find new and exciting ways of doing the same mission.

  • Global Head Office: Lifewords global head office is in the UK, and their contact details can be found at www.lifewords.global
  • Asia Region: We continue to work in Indonesia, Philippines, India and a number of other Asian countries. Dan Hardie works with the global develop team and manages the work in the Asia region, working with a small team from each country.
  • New Zealand: Our mission in New Zealand continues through our bible resources, daily readings and fundraising toward reaching Indonesia. Many Kiwi’s love and support the programs we are doing both at home here in NZ and in the developing countries of our region, and generously give toward them.

Throughout the twentieth century, Scripture Gift Mission published portions and compilations of Scripture, focusing these Bible products for specific target audiences, addressing pertinent life issues, and using contemporary design in order to communicate the Bible’s life giving words to the culture of its day with relevance and meaning. This vision continues to be at the centre of our missional calling today.

The classic literature ministry which first made Scripture Gift Mission known continues, and is brought into sharp focus for today’s cultural context through our Inspire range of creative resources. It is complemented by more extensive programmes for communities in need, such as Pavement Project, an initiative reaching street children around the world, and Choose Life, a values education programme for Kenyan schools.

Our heritage
The world was changing fast in 1888. It hasn’t stopped changing since, but in the midst of it all, some things never change. The words of Scripture that inspired Scripture Gfit Mission’s founders are as relevant as ever. Our mission is still the same, to speak the Bible’s life words into that changing world, in ways that resonate with people’s everyday lives. And our hope for all our resources and programmes remains the same – that through them, as William Walters put it in 1888, “people will read the captivating story of God’s love” and experience that love for themselves.

In 2013 Lifewords celebrated its 125th anniversary.

What we do

  • We produce Bible booklets for you to share with others. AND we offer them for free!
  • We train missionaries & Bible college students in sharing the Bible in their own way.
  • We use the web, social media and modern technologies to bring life words to young and old alike.
  • We research the Bible’s role in mission and its impact on our cultural life.
  • We create and run programmes that enable people all over the world to connect with the Bible, from children-at-risk to African teenagers and even into the unreached people groups of Indonesia.

Basically, we want to see the Bible transforming lives, churches, communities, nations – even the world, as people come to know Jesus and understand their place in God’s Story.

Reach Indonesia
Indonesia boasts some of the world’s largest unreached people groups. We bring them the hope and love of Jesus in 3 main ways:

  1. The Visible Story – How do you reach those in slum & poor communities who have low literacy and no access to Bibles? We bring them The Visible Story.
  2. Pavement Project – Reaching children at risk with a powerful counselling tool that brings God’s hope and a new identity.
  3. Bible translations – our booklets get translated into thousands of languages and dialects so people can read in their native tongue.

Global Partners
The Lifewords global family of organisations is at work in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, partnering together with the common goal that the Bible’s life words are seen, heard and experienced as an essential part of everyday life, work and worship.

As a creative agency and publisher, we provide resources and training rather than deliver programmes on the ground. Our work depends on hundreds of different partner agencies, trusts, churches and grassroots organisations all around the world, making use of their specific expertise and local knowledge.

There are too many to mention everyone, not least the thousands of individual missionaries, chaplains and evangelists who use our materials, but here are a few examples of the groups we are working with today.

  • Wycliffe – Lifewords has partnered with Wycliffe Bible Translators for many years, including dozens of pioneer Scripture translations. Wycliffe are a key partner in the Choose Life initiative, alongside the Christian Churches Educational Association of Kenya.
  • Viva Network – Viva bring invaluable experience in working with children-in-need, and are instrumental in the development and delivery of Pavement Project around the world. Other Pavement Project partners include Compassion International, World Vision, Oasis India, and countless local groups.
  • Bible Colleges – Moriah Theological School and SETIA Bible College are key partners in The Visible Story, training Indonesian missionaries in the programme.
  • Christian Enquiry Agency – CEA provide valuable follow-up services for those seeking to find out more about Jesus. We have worked with them on several different outreach resources, most recently on our Historic Churches range.
  • IFES – Lifewords has worked with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in several different countries to create Gospel distribution projects, including UCCF in the UK.