About Us
The notion of a Bible translated into text message language arose in a small group meeting of the Willow Bend Community Church of Lutz, FL in the fall of 2008. We had been discussing ways to reach young people. No one in the room knew how it might be accomplished, and there was not even a consensus that it was a good idea. Over the next several months, the idea seemed to languish, until my wife, Julie Hankins, discovered a website set up by Neil Hazelwood of Auckland, New Zealand and realized that a machine translation of English language text into text message language was possible. I immediately began the task, starting with the Gospel of Matthew. With Neil’s indispensable assistance, we were able to accelerate the process and within a few weeks translate the entire bible. Outreach pastor J.D. Massey conceived the cover art and appears on the cover, while Mike Cleary of ClearE graphics created the covers themselves.
We cannot claim to be the first to have done it, since the Bible Society of Australia launched a version in 2005. Our hope, however, is to introduce it into as many channels where it can be made available as possible.
Mark Hankins, March 2009