Cover artwork for My City My God New Testament

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO (ANS) -- Nearly 476,000 copies of the original My City My God New Testament, including English and Spanish versions, have been distributed since its 1998 release.

The specialized New Testament for urban youth and youth workers stemmed from a national conference in which 20-plus urban ministries requested a Scripture tool for outreach. Some of the organizations at the conference included Willowcreek, Harambee, and Christian Community Development Association.

Now, the International Bible Society, a division of IBS-STL Global, will launch an updated, newly revised edition of the popular My City My God (NIrV) New Testament Feb. 2, 2008 at the Reload Urban Youth Conference in Denver, with an estimated 300 youth and youth leaders in attendance.

The revised New Testament contains seven all-new testimonies from teens and Christian youth workers in major cities (Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York), as well as a new introduction and notes.

International Bible Society collaborated with YouthPartnersNet and other ministries on the revised New Testament. Teen testimonies in My City My God tell of growing up amid violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and poverty, reflecting the grim realities of urban life for many:

*Nearly 43 percent of urban teens drop out of high school.

*Three in 10 teen girls become pregnant by age 20. Teen moms are much more likely to drop out of high school and raise their children in poverty. Their children are two times more likely to be abused., their sons more likely to end up incarcerated, and their daughters more likely to become teen mothers themselves.

*Homicide and suicide are the second and third leading causes of death for teens ages 15 to 19. Nearly three-fourths of teen homicides stem from gang violence.

“Too many bullets, not enough Bibles,” YouthPartnersNet President Dean Cowles said. “That’s a crying shame, as kids and gangs shoot and kill each other. Survival is the name of the game in the ’hood, and a $60 Bible is way down the list of necessities. And small-print, black-and-white pocket versions given out at street fairs and homeless meals don’t get much attention from youth who either can’t read, won’t, or just don’t.

“That’s why the My City My God urban New Testament is so unique and critically needed,” Cowles added. “Because the cover and full-color testimonies grab the kids’ attention, they are more likely to crack it open. Time and again when we’ve given these custom-designed urban Scriptures to our youth, they immediately look over the pictures and then start to read the testimonies. After their interest has been piqued, they start to read the words of Jesus and His disciples. Then the stories in the gospel hit home.”

My City My God is priced at $1.99 each and $1.59 each in a case of 40 ($63.60 a case). A revised Spanish edition is forthcoming. For more information, go to www.ibsdirect.com/pc-642-109-nirv-my-city-my-god.aspx.  

IBS-STL Global is one of the largest Bible and Christian literature ministries in the world, translating the Bible into languages of 1 million or more speakers and distributing Christian resources to people worldwide. It is the translation sponsor of the English-language New International Version (NIV) Bible, the most widely read contemporary English translation, as well as the Today’s New International Version (TNIV) and the New International Readers Version (NIrV). The organization’s mission is to engage people with the life-transforming message of Jesus Christ by translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible and other Christian resources throughout the world. For more information on IBS-STL Global, visit www.ibs.org.

YouthPartnersNET is a network of ministries serving children and youth in America’s high-risk communities. Formerly Compassion International’s USA ministry, YPN has more than 130 ministry partners. For more information about YPN, contact Shelley Wallen at 1.800.334.KIDS or e-mail via www.youthpartnersnet.org/about/contact.html.

For information or interviews, please contact
Lynn Waalkes,
Communications Specialist
719-867-2626
lwaalkes@us.ibs-stl.org  

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael's involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of ACT International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (ACT) International. His weblog appears at: Michael Ireland Media Missionary.