How BibleProject Makes the Word of God Accessible Worldwide
By Movieguide® Contributor
In less than 10 years, BibleProject has gone from an idea between college friends to a multi-million-dollar nonprofit that makes the Bible approachable and engaging.
Tim Mackie and Jon Collins always wanted to make something that would get more people to read the Bible. In 2014, they experimented with two animated videos about the Bible. Donning the experiment, BibleProject, they posted the animations online with no expectations of where they would lead.
Mackie and Collins’ experiment has grown into a nonprofit that makes the Bible, for many, more engaging than ever. BibleProject has created over 180 animated videos and 350 podcast episodes. Its efforts have garnered over 620 million views and reached over 200 countries.
“None of us were smart enough to think we would create this big nonprofit out of this,” Chief Global Focus and Strategic Relationships Officer, Michael McDonald told Faithwire. “This really was a passion project of two friends who thought, ‘I think this would be helpful to not only just us, but some of our friends.’ And the crowd just caught up so fast in not only watching the videos but wanting more of them.”
“[The online audience] started helping fund them just with, you know, five bucks here, ten bucks there. And then we had enough funds to make another video and away we went,” McDonald continued.
BibleProject’s large worldwide success can be attributed to the company’s preservation of the sanctity of God’s word.
“From page one to the final word, we believe the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. This diverse collection of ancient books overflows with wisdom for our modern world. As we let the biblical story speak for itself, we believe the message of Jesus will transform individuals and entire communities,” BibleProject’s website reads.
Rather than focus on the popular, easy parts of the Bible, they cover parts that are confusing or unintuitive as well. BibleProject doesn’t want people to view the bible “as a collection of inspirational quotes,” but rather as the life-changing, living word of God.
“One thing we think God is doing is that He’s helping people see the Bible as a really important part of their life. And what we think our contribution to that is, is helping people see the Bible through this paradigm of Biblical theology, where you appreciate the Bible and its literary design and you understand the Bible as a story and you see how the story leads to Jesus,” Collins said.
The holistic approach to teaching about the Bible is perhaps what makes the resources they create popular worldwide. The company now releases videos in 56 languages, including those that reach the Muslim world.
“You find people in Tunisia watching the Arabic videos and sending in comments of, ‘I’m [a] Muslim who has been interested in the Bible and I didn’t know how to, you know, engage it or read it. And I found your videos on YouTube because they’re free,’ and now they’re opening up the scriptures in a unique way and understanding what it’s saying about Jesus,” McDonald said.
