By Christian Headlines | Created at 2024-12-04 18:13:06 | Updated at 2024-12-05 02:27:52
8 hours ago
The popular ministry YouVersion says it experienced major growth worldwide on its Bible apps in 2024 as users displayed "an increased hunger for God's Word" and used its prayer features in record numbers. YouVersion also revealed its most-engaged verse of the year. Created by Life.Church, YouVersion offers several free apps, including the Bible App, Bible App Lite, and Bible App for Kids. All total, they have been installed on more than 875 million devices worldwide.
In 2024, YouVersion experienced an average of 11.2 million new device installs per month, with about 14 million users engaging in the Bible each day. It was a record year for app installs and daily use, YouVersion said.
Its fastest growth was in Central Africa, Eastern Africa, and Latin America.
"This notable growth points to an increased hunger for God's Word," YouVersion said in a news release.
In Africa, daily Bible engagement on YouVersion apps experienced major growth in South Sudan (82 percent), Angola (68 percent), Mozambique (55 percent), Guinea (50 percent), Nigeria (35 percent), and Algeria (35 percent). In Latin America, the top countries for growth were Nicaragua (107 percent), Venezuela (74 percent), Bolivia (52 percent), Honduras (50 percent), Cuba (45 percent) and Argentina (30 percent). Some 1 million Brazilians use the Bible App each day.
"It's encouraging to see people throughout the YouVersion Community, in every region of the world, engage with the Bible at such high levels," said YouVersion Founder and CEO Bobby Gruenewald. "These Bible engagement trends highlight the commonalities that can be found throughout the global Church -- in the struggles we face and in our need for God."
Meanwhile, engagement with YouVersion's prayer features grew by 46 percent in 2024. A news release noted that the prayer features allow users to "share prayers with their friends, indicate that they prayed for others, and complete guided prayer sessions that connect people with God through Scripture and prayer prompts."
"Throughout 2024, we have seen a rise in the number of people dedicating themselves to night and day prayer in different nations around the world," said Carla Harding, international director of products for 24-7 Prayer International, a YouVersion global partner. "Our hope is that through continual prayer, the global church would be ignited in the presence of God and carry His love with greater compassion and power to the communities around them."
The Bible verse that experienced the highest level of engagement -- and is the YouVersion Verse of the Year -- was Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
"In many cases, our anxiety comes from holding onto worries that we aren't meant to carry," Gruenewald said. "To me, this verse being sought out the most this year is an illustration that our community is seeking God in prayer and choosing to trust Him to carry their burdens -- and we're seeing that supported in the data."
Last year's Verse of the Year was Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." It was also the Verse of the Year in 2020 and 2022.
Photo Credit: ©YouVersion Press
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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