Bible Educational Services (BES) grew from a Postal Bible School (PBS) work started in Ireland by Bert and Wendy Gray in 1958. It publishes three series of Bible lessons:
- Bibletime, with age-graded lessons covering many Bible stories, for children aged 2 to 16
- Newlife, aimed at young Christians aged 15 to adult
- Gleaners, a more in-depth study series for adults
BES does not itself carry out PBS work directly, but produces resources for use by separate PBS ministries. Initially, these were based in the UK and Ireland, but over the last decade there has been substantial growth in the use of lessons (particularly Bibletime) in Eastern Europe and Africa, and now in South-East Asia and South America. This has necessitated the translation of lessons, and there are currently around 40 languages in which translation is complete or in progress.
Lessons are increasingly being used in church Sunday School settings, as well as via the post; in some countries they are now used in schools. Users can download lessons free of charge and arrange printing. The numbers of children regularly completing Bibletime lessons is estimated to be well into six figures, and growing rapidly.
