A world-traveling copy of the Bible, written in 66 languages, is on the last leg of its 20-month odyssey.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church's Bible study initiative, Follow The Bible, entered North America yesterday when a church leader from Southern Africa brought the hardbound 12-by-18 inch Bible to church officers waiting at Washington D.C.'s Dulles International Airport.

Church leaders launched the initiative in 2008 to promote Bible study in the community and among its members, following studies suggesting that only about 50 percent of members regularly study the Bible. Leaders hope this worldwide Bible traveling campaign increases that figure.

The Bible has been featured in stadium events, rallies and parades in nearly 130 countries, and held by governors, tribal chiefs, presidents and kings and queens.

"If we can have more people reading the Bible we'll have a more committed group and a more committed effort of leading people to Jesus," said Don Schneider, president of the Adventist Church in North America, after being handed the Bible from Paul Ratsara, president of the church's Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region.

The Bible is scheduled for events in churches, hospitals and campmeetings in the United States and Canada before it completes its journey in Atlanta at the Adventist Church World Session, beginning June 23.

Schneider said he was glad to receive the initiative in his territory. "You have to have some pizzazz sometimes to call attention to the things you believe in," he said. "This is another opportunity to remind ourselves what we're all about."

Pictures from the initiative's website show the bible being read in Iceland, displayed at a rally in Fiji and held in parades in Kenya.

"This has brought Adventists around the world together. They have recommitted themselves to Bible study," said Mark Finley, an Adventist world church vice president.

Finley admitted the Bible had been rebound twice during its journey -- once in Europe and another time in South America. The cover was coming off, he said.

"But when you consider this Bible has traveled for 20 months and been in well over 100 countries, it's amazing," Finley said.

The Bible has never been shipped or checked in as airline luggage, initiative organizers said. Ratsara, the president of the church's Southern Africa- Indian Ocean region, said a church leader in his region upon boarding a flight was initially told by an airline representative that the 18-pound Bible and its accompanying bag was too heavy for carry-on luggage. "We would rather check in our computers than this Bible," Ratsara said.

The Bible had a "huge impact" in his region, Ratsara said. At a stadium event in Zambia recently, people lined up for nearly two hours to see and hold the Bible. In Lesoto, the king was so impressed that he vowed he would read the Bible more, as did a governor in Angola.

"I'm also impressed by the impact this had had on young people," Ratsara said. Youth have led parades in his region, while in Botswana, a 15-year-old church member made a near perfect attempt to memorize the New Testament.

At the airport, the North American delegation met Ratsara at his 6 a.m. flight arrival from Johannesburg, South Africa on Memorial Day, a national holiday in the U.S.

"We think most of the other celebrations will take place at a time of day when it's not 6 a.m. in the morning," Schneider said.

For more information, visit followthebiblesda.com.