Bible goes mobile in a first for Pakistan

(December 09, 2010) Christians in Pakistan have praised the first-ever audio service of the Bible via mobile phones. The project was launched by E-verses, a private telecommunication company, on December 6 at the Karachi Press Club. About 200 media workers listened as Christian project designer Philemon Joseph demonstrated the service by playing Qur’anic and Biblical verses on a loud speaker followed by quotations from Hazrat Ali, the fourth Islamic Caliph. Joseph said he got the inspiration months ago while reading the Bible and came up with the idea of providing people “easy access” to the word of the God. Mobile users can listen to the services by dialing 2121 and navigating through different options to access the holy verses voiced by renowned Pakistani actor Abid Ali. A new playlist of scriptures is uploaded daily, with telecommunication companies charging five rupees for each verse. The project was originally designed only for an audio Bible, Joseph said. “The companies’ initial reaction to my proposal was disappointing. They wanted a service for a bigger audience than (Christians), so Islamic content was incorporated,” he noted. Sharing Bible and Qur’anic verses through text messages is already a popular trend in the predominantly Muslim country. According to a Pakistan Telecommunications Authority press release, the country has 100 million mobile phone users. Meanwhile, WAVE Studio director Father Nadeem Shakir has appreciated the initiative.