The Backstory of the NASB Children's Edition
We are praising God for His favor and faithfulness throughout the process of the development of the NASB Children’s Bible! Here is a little of the backstory in designing a Bible to help kids grow in their knowledge of God’s word as the read it, study it and live it!
An Unexpected Partnership From Across the Pond
Steadfast Bibles was first unveiled in March of 2018 at the Shepherds’ Conference. We were grateful for the opportunity to hold a meeting there with pastors who love and teach from the NASB. Of all the items discussed, creating an NASB for kids was the number one takeaway for us. We went to work right away, setting a goal to have the Bible ready to release in time for the Shepherds’ Conference the following year.
As we began to develop what this Children’s Bible would feature, we knew the style of the artwork would be an important element. An artist developing scenes from scratch is a process that can take 2-4 years and we did not want artwork to delay getting this product produced.
Thankfully, a Christian brother directed us to Foundation Matters, a ministry in England that seeks to reach underprivileged kids with the hope of the Gospel. On their ministry team is the talented artist, Graham Kennedy, who creates detailed Bible scenes, accurately depicting the historical period, including culture, architecture and landscape.
In September our President met the Foundation Matters ministry team and served at their youth camp. The commonality of Christ formed a bond with our brothers and sisters from across the pond! We had initially hoped for 16 full-color images and through their generosity, the NASB Children’s edition ended up with 76 pages of art! By God’s grace, one of the biggest components of the NASB Children’s Edition was finalized.
Making It Our Own
Next we wanted to include extra reference materials that would be helpful for kids in their understanding of the Bible. Our goal as we curated this content was to show kids that the Bible has answers for the questions of life.
The Lockman Foundation kindly gave us permission to use their topical index, Bible book introductions and other Scripture helps. We revised the content by adjusting the vocabulary and sentence structure to be age appropriate. We then added our own scripture memory materials and reading charts.
When it came time to consider creating a text layout we realised the Lockman Foundation’s NASB Large Print Pew Bible had all the features we had earmarked. The 10 point type size and easy verse by verse, two-column format made it an excellent choice for early readers.
Lastly, just as the files were sent to the printer, our friend and advisor, Mark MacArthur took a mock-up of our NASB Children’s Edition to show his dad. We were thrilled when we received Pastor MacArthur’s endorsement!
Children need to become familiar with a real Bible. It has been popular to put simple Bible story books in the hands of children rather than the actual Word of God and this is a mistake. Children need to learn and love the Bible. With its readable text, current translation, and beautiful artwork, the NASB Children's Edition is designed to be the Bible they will love all their lives.
John F. MacArthur
We’ve been honored to work on this project and during the process, Psalm 90:17 was a verse that we kept coming back to:
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
As we look back on 2018, we see God’s hand directing the work of our hands and are grateful for His favor.
As a younger generation carries their NASBs in hand, may they also carry God’s truth in their hearts.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
The Team at 316