History

1958 – Present Day

1958

Bert and Wendy Gray begin writing the first lesson in Ireland.

1962

Bibletime Lessons are split into Junior and Senior Series

1965

A4 size Bibletime Lessons are being sent to 350 students in Ireland and England.

1968

Over 1000 students are completing the Bibletime Lessons across Ireland and the UK. Levels 1-4 are written.

1971

The first Postal Sunday School summer camp takes place in Ireland for children doing the Bibletime course.

1980s

More and more Postal Bible School (PBS) centres are set up across the UK.

An Editorial Committee is established, and the first revision of the Bibletime Lessons begins.

1992

Bert and Wendy Gray hand over the running of PBS Ireland to Noel and Liza McMeekin.

1999

The first International PBS is established in Canada.

2001

Bibletime Lessons move from black and white to full colour production.

2002

Bible Educational Services (BES) Charitable Trust is established in the UK.

2003

The first Bibletime Lessons to be translated into European languages begins with Polish and Romanian.

2004-2006

Translation of Bibletime continues in many Eastern European languages including, Russian, Ukrainian, and Hungarian.

2007

Translation of Bibletime into French and Malayalam begins.

BES India is established.

2008

Over 32,000 Bibletime Lessons are being completed worldwide.

BES in Kenya is established.

50th Anniversary of BES is celebrated and “Love Letters to the World” is published.

2009

Sam Balmer becomes Chairman of BES. Bert and Wendy Gray step back but remain BES Ambassadors.

2010

BES partners with Revival Movement. They print and ship the first Bibletime Lessons to BES Zambia.

Translation begins in Swahili, German and Spanish.

2011

BES is operating in 22 countries and holds its 1st International Conference in Northern Ireland.

4 new translations begin in Italian, Portuguese, Croatian and Mongolian.

2012

Bibletime is being translated and used in 20 languages around the world.

BES office opens in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

2013

A4 level 0 Lessons for pre-school children in Ireland and UK are launched.

A5 Booklets and Teacher Guidelines for international use are designed and printed for the first time.

2014

Bibletime Lessons are being translated in 30 languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Telegu, and Tamil, and available in 50 countries.

BES UK employs its first member of staff.

BES In Brazil is established.

2015

BES holds its 3rd International Conference in Northern Ireland with 75 delegates from 30 countries.

The SunScool App is launched.

2016

Bibletime is established in Rwanda and Burkina Faso.

7 new translations begin in Farsi, Urdu, Malay, Kinyarwanda, Chinese, Burmese and Falam Chin.

2017

Bibletime translation starts in Arabic and Oromo.

BES establishes itself in many French-speaking African countries.

Teacher Lesson Plans are written and introduced to schools in the UK & Ireland.

Level 0 & 1 Bibletime Lessons begin to be re-written. Level 1 becomes an 8-page booklet.

2018

Bibletime is available in 40 languages in 65+ countries.

BES in Australia is established.

2019

BES holds its 4th International Conference in Northern Ireland with 130 delegates from 50 countries in attendance.

BES becomes a CIO.

2020

The Bibletime Starter Series is replaced with a single 8-page cartoon-style -Gospel Booklet.

COVID-19 prevents international shipping of Bibletime and travel to BES Centres.

2021

A-C Series A5 English booklets fully revised.

BES is established in Venezuela.

2022

BES launch the new A Series A4 lessons with characters 'BES and friends'.

Translation into Chichewa (Malawi), Bemba (Zambia) and Mongolian commences.

Bibletime Going Deeper is written / edited to replace NewLife.

Level 0 is available in an English A5 booklet across the Series (A-C).

2023

BES launches its LMS (digital training platform) with 14 teaching modules.

The BES Timeline is redesigned with stickers.

BES Visual Aids are introduced to complement the Bibletime stories.

Translation of Bibletime begins in Kazak.

2024

Translation of Bibletime into Montenegrin, Serbian and Slovenian commences.

BES holds its 5th International Conference in Northern Ireland with 75 delegates from 38 countries in attendance.

Bibletime is available in 45 languages in 80 countries.

39,000 children across the UK and Ireland use Bibletime each month.