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Though the “Bible Across America” tour officially came to an end last month, the effort to gather handwritten Bible verses from 31,173 people across the nation is still ongoing.
“The road tour has ended but we are still collecting verses in Michigan,” Bible Across America spokeswoman Tara Powers informed The Christian Post. Publishing giant Zondervan, which launched the cross-country effort last September, is based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
“We have about 7,000 to go and have lots of events planned over the next several weeks,” Powers reported. “We expect to have all verses collected by June 1 in order to have the published Bible in stores late fall/early winter.”
Since its launch on Sept. 30, 2008, “Bible Across America” has been gathering handwritten verses from people from all ages and walks of life to create the first NIV Bible penned by 31,173 individuals.The effort had been launched as a way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the bestselling NIV Bible, the most-used English language translation today.
Though the cross-country tour was originally scheduled to conclude Feb. 12 in San Diego at the National Pastors Convention, it was later extended to the end of March in Dallas, where the inaugural Christian Book Expo was held.
At the time of the extension, Powers told The Christian Post that the effort hadn't collected verses as quickly as originally planned due to a few different reasons – weather, cancellation of some events due to mechanical problems and smaller turnouts in some cities.
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To speed up the effort, organizers have been holding additional signing events at churches in Zondervan's hometown to collect additional verses.
Over the course of six months that it was traveling, the “Bible Across America” team covered more than 19,000 miles, stopping by more than 90 cities in a 42-foot RV donated by Michigan-based Spartan Motors.
“We had survived the lotus-eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops (with a cunning plan involving sheep. Good idea young Kyle), Giants, and even evaded the Sirens,” wrote the traveling team of four in their blog, playfully describing their own Odyssey.
“Thank you all for following our adventures as we took part in this amazing project. We met some great people, seen some wonderful places, and have made some memories that we will not soon forget,” they added in their final entry on March 30.
Upon completion, the collection of the handwritten verses will be published as a complete America's NIV Bible and sold in stores nationwide as soon as this year.
Zondervan also plans to create two original editions, one of which will be offered to the Smithsonian Institution. The other edition will be auctioned off to benefit the International Bible Society (IBS), which owns the copyright to the NIV.
According to IBS, more people buy the NIV Bible than any other English-language translation, though critics say the translation is looser than more literal translations, such as the New American Standard Bible. To date, more than 215 million copies have been sold worldwide, reports Zondervan, which publishes the translation.
Zondervan is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, which in turn is a subsidiary of News Corporation.
