ISRAEL (ANS) -- Israel's Foreign Ministry is assisting in a project called 'People of the World Inscribe the Bible,' which aims to hand-inscribe the Bible in 100 different languages.

The effort has been initiated by the Bible Valley Society, an Israeli NGO, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a news report from the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).

ICEJ says that six of the Bibles -- completed versions in Chinese (Mandarin and Taiwanese), English, Tamil and Finnish, and one in progress in Hebrew -- went on display on Monday at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.

"This is a very meaningful project for millions of Christians around the world, and it can attract more support for Israel and the Jewish people, because people who know the Bible become closer to Judaism and Israel," said Terry G.C. Ting, Taiwan's representative to Israel, who added that Taiwan's 1.2 million Christians are 'very strong' supporters of the Jewish State.

Organizers hope to reach their goal of 100 Bibles in 100 languages within five years.

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania and the former Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia, Israel,and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.'