Bible Society Australia is once again running a free text message campaign to mark Easter with those who take part receiving a series of text messages telling the Gospel story.
‘Easter Holytext’ – held for the first time last year – will kick off this Sunday, a day known in the Christian calendar as Palm Sunday. Messages are based primarily on the Gospel of Mark and will feature a range of voices including that of Judas Iscariot, Matthew, Peter, Nicodemus and Joanna, Herod’s household manager.
Melissa Lipsett, BSA’s chief operating officer, said that the Bible Society decided to run the event again after the success of last year when more than 4,000 people took part – a figure they hope will increase even further this year.
“We had a lot of fun and we had a lot of people engaging in it – a lot more people than we expected actually. So we thought this is a really great way for us to share this really important Scripture with people.”
She added that reports from last year’s campaign suggested people had been actively sharing the messages with non-Christian friends and family.
“I had that experience myself. I was able to share it with a couple of my non-Christian family members and they were all really positive about it; that it was a fresh way for them to hear this story at a really significant time of the year. So we believe from the stories that we’re hearing that quite a few people are finding this a wonderful opportunity to share the Bible story in a new and engaging way.”
Ms Lippsett said one of the really exciting things about last year’s campaign was that about 60 per cent of those who took part were from Gen Y and Gen X.
“We’re passionate about putting the Bible, putting the truth of Scripture, into the hands of a younger generation so we’re delighted that they took this up with great enthusiasm”.
Noting that there has been some interest from other Bible societies around the world – including in the UK, US and South Africa as well as a number of other countries – in running similar campaigns, Ms Lippsett added that with many people around the world still unable to access Scriptures in their own language, using mobile phone technology in a campaign like this could be a useful way of getting the “heart of the Gospel message” out to them.
In an innovation being introduced for the first time this year in the Australian campaign, the Holytext script will also be sent out by Facebook Messenger as well as SMS texts.
“So if you’ve got a friend overseas, you might like to connect them to this via Facebook Messenger,” Ms Lippsett says.
Other changes this year have included designing so they appear as if they were personal text messages to the recipient – “rather than you just simply listening in on their conversation” – and a greater use of multi-media, with some audio texts and “other surprises”.
Ms Lippsett said given the fact so many people are “wedded” to their phones, text messages provide an immediate way of getting out the story of Easter.
“Here at Bible Society, we’re passionate about finding new and innovative ways to reach people with the age-old message of the love of Jesus. And if we can do that by people’s phones, by text message, then we’re up for it.”
She says that the campaign is aimed at encouraging people beyond the “bite-size” pieces of the story to take a deeper look at the Biblical account of Easter. To that end, the BSA are this year offering everybody who participates a free hard copy book containing the Gospel of Mark.
Participation in Easter Holytext 2018 is free. For those who want to take part, simply text the word ‘holy’ to 0429 993 477 or visit www.holytext.com.au.
