Kenneth Taylor , editor and publisher of The Living Bible, was born in Portland, Oregon. His father, Nathaniel Taylor, was a minister in the United Presbyterian denomination. He received Jesus Christ as personal Saviour early in life; while in his Junior year at Wheaton College, he read Borden of Yale, which made a profound impact on his life. After graduating from College, Taylor served on the staff of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Canada, then attended Dallas Theological Seminary (1940-1943). He completed his seminary training at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, at the same time working as editor of His magazine. Upon receiving his Th.M. degree from Northern Baptist, he was ordained to the Christian ministry at the Central Baptist Church in Portland. He gained other editorial experience and business management from 1946 until 1963. As the father of ten children, he set out to translate the Bible into a language children could understand and comprehend. This led to his paraphrase and the Tyndall publishing venture. By 1987, fifty foreign-language versions of the Living New Testament had been published. Paraphrases may not be for scholars, but The Living Bible was the first version I was able to read through, and it planted the basic ideas in my head and set me on a lifetime of Bible reading.
Esaia Malepa was born in South Africa. He worked in the gold mines in South Africa, then gave up a lucrative government mohair wool authority position to attend the Open Bible Mission Bible Institute, graduate, and serve the Lord full time. He became the Lesotho Field Director, pastor of the Open Bible Church, and Principal of Open Bible Institute. Brother Malepa was true to the Lord and ambitious to reach lost souls. He had a weekly prison and hospital ministry, visited numerous distant villages and public schools on a regular basis. Because of his firm stand for the Lord he received numerous death threats, was beaten and stoned, and stood in constant danger of his life. He wrote, "the more the Devil attacks, the more the Lord blesses!"
