This project has been established as a response to the needs of churches, who wish to teach their non-literate members to read the Bible. This program uses the Bible and a textbook to teach literacy skills, while a local church volunteer conducts the classes, with the help of an audio device that dictates the lessons.

The Laos Partnership within Bible Society is working closely with Bible Society Cambodia on implementing the literacy project. They also work closely with the churches in Laos, who host and run the classes.

Each year the goal is to start 150-200 classes with 1,500-2,500 students, in the national language, Lao. There is a currently a long waiting list in local churches for members who want to be part of the program, so the need for more classes is clear.

In 2023, as well as starting new classes, the year will be a time of evaluation. There will be 40-80 classes, with 40-100 facilitators throughout the program. The project will print 900 literary primers, 900 supplementary reading materials, and 3,300 copies of Scripture materials – including 800 New Testaments, 900 “Stories of Jesus” New Reader Portions, and 1,600 Children’s Portions.

The team will run evaluation sessions to determine the impact of the project and to develop the most appropriate materials for learning.

In recent years, Bible Society has achieved annual a distribution of over 1,500 New Testaments, 6,000 new reader Bible portions and 6,000 children’s Bible portions to those who participate in the classes, and other members of the community who may be impacted by this project in their area.

In 2023, the team plans to meet to develop 10 new Bible stories for the students in Level 1. This will increase the capacity of the project to impact and advance the skills of participants with the Bible.

Significant impact is seen as people from ethnic minorities gain literacy skills. Literate adults are able to read the Bible and become better equipped to contribute to their communities and to church life.