YouVersion translates to 70 percent of world’s population

With just a quick glance around Liberty’s campus, Internet-accessible smart phones and tablets can be seen glowing in the hands of many students. The Internet’s worldwide rise in availability since 2000 has been dramatic, according to internetworldstats.com. About 40 percent of the world’s population has access to the Internet, and Bible apps such as YouVersion have provided a free Bible to those individuals.

According to YouVersion’s official website, bible.com/app, YouVersion offers users many different features, such as reading plans, devotions, videos, mobile apps and Bible translation available in 1,031 different languages. With the click of a button, users have access to a wide range of Bible study tools.

“I think YouVersion is transforming the way we do discipleship in the 21st century,” Kevin Thomas, senior pastor for Our Church in Australia, said in a YouVersion video, “The Big Picture.”
Bobby Gruenewald, innovation leader for lifechurch.tv, created YouVersion in 1996 and currently manages the app.

“YouVersion represents a new frontier in LifeChurch.tv’s efforts,” a statement on bible.com/app reads. “We aren’t just building a tool to impact the world using innovative technology. More importantly, we are engaging people into relationships with God as they discover the relevance the Bible has for their lives.”

In the past, different Bible versions had to be manually searched for and carefully chosen by users. Today, the YouVersion app makes it easy for users to find a Bible that allows them to read and learn in their native language. According to a Christianity Today article posted Oct. 7, the app is featured in remote languages such as Ama, a language from Papua New Guinea that is spoken by only 480 recorded individuals.

“It’s unprecedented in history having so many Bible versions in the palm of your hand — something we never imagined was possible even a few years ago,” Gruenewald said in a statement to Christianity Today. “This milestone wouldn’t be possible if not for the Bible translators and the more than 150 publishers, Bible societies and organizations that have collaborated with YouVersion.”

The Bible app has been downloaded on more than 150 million devices and now reaches 87 percent of Christians who have Internet access. The YouVersion app offers more written languages than any other app in existence, according to Imperial Valley News.

“I try to tell people, (YouVersion is) not replacing the Bible, because it is the Bible it is just in a different format,” Gruenewald said of the app’s critics.
The benefits seem to far outweigh any drawbacks. YouVersion’s website features a constantly changing demographic tally on youversion.com, which gives a view of the YouVersion’s uses around the world in the past 24 hours. Some of the numbers for Oct. 15 included 420 Bible searches in Egypt, 390 bookmarks created in Hong Kong, 14 reading plans started in Zimbabwe, 98 highlights created in Haiti and 4,118 verses shared in Brazil.

In “The Big Picture,” Gruenewald shared his excitement regarding the app’s growth.

“When we set out to find a way to help people engage with God’s word and have a deeper relationship with Christ, we never realized that God would use one idea in such a way that could change so many lives and draw people closer together and closer to him,” Gruenewald said.

For more information about the app, visit bible.com/app.