About the Online Esperanto Hymnal
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Esperanto is a language that was designed specifically to help speakers of various languages communicate directly, without the need for interpreters and without the inequality inherent in the use of a national language (like English) as the default international language. First published in 1887, Esperanto has spread to all parts of the planet; for the millions of people who have learned it, it is a functional, successful way of overcoming language barriers. With its streamlined grammar, largely free of the irregularities and idioms that complicate English and other ethnic tongues for the foreign learner, Esperanto can be learned in a fraction of the time it takes to learn another language. Free courses are available, online or by mail, through which a person can actually achieve usable competence without ever having heard the language spoken. I and many other Esperantists can attest to this from our own experience. I strongly urge all visitors to my hymnal who don't know Esperanto to drop what they're doing and run not walk to the nearest course. ;-) For links to many useful online sources of information on the language and its worldwide community, presented in dozens of languages including English, visit the Multilingual Information Centre.

The Christian Esperanto movement is spearheaded largely by KELI and IKUE, the international Protestant and Catholic Esperanto associations respectively. These groups publish periodicals and organize annual conferences, sometimes separately, sometimes jointly. The new Esperanto (print) hymnal, Adoru: Ekumena Diserva Libro, 2001, is a joint publication of IKUE and KELI. Worship services conducted in Esperanto are held at international Esperanto gatherings, both Christian and secular, and are also held on a regular basis, monthly or quarterly, in a number of cities. The Bible was published in Esperanto in 1926 by the British and Foreign Bible Society and the National Bible Society of Scotland (the New Testament came out in 1912); a new edition incorporating the deuterocanonical books (Apocrypha) is in production at this writing (Sept. 22, 2002). The next ecumenical Christian Esperanto conference will be held in 2003 in Rimini, Italy, and will have as its theme Jesus' saying, "You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world ..." (Matthew 5:13-14).

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