History
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.