Audio Bible Bolivia

God's Word in Audio - Testimonies

Faith Comes By Hearing associates gather information and testimonies about what God is doing in and through Audio Bible listening programs in heart languages around the world.

From a Chicken Coop to a Building

Pastor Javier’s village congregation needed a place to gather, so they moved the hens from a chicken coop and there they started their little church. Very few attended, but, after JESUS Film and Faith Comes By Hearing arrived, the congregation grew. Soon there were seven listening groups and 50 people crowded around the coop, squeezing in when it rained! Thanks to a generous villager, the church now meets in a building with a concrete floor and tin roof.  These days, even when it rains, the villagers can be blessed by God’s Word! 

"God Gave Me the Faith I Needed"

Carmelo shares how the Word of God gave him the strength he needed to overcome his illnesses:

“I thank God for the life he allows me to have. I have been a believer since I was young and never worried about my health. I always thought I was strong, until my body reached its limits and was diagnosed with acute arthritis and advanced rheumatism. I continued to work as normal until I could no longer get up or walk. I remained in bed for many weeks; but the worst part was that there was no cure.

“My children told me about the FCBH program that is for those who couldn’t attend church. I listened to the program on our church’s radio station for three weeks in a row and one day I heard the story about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Tired of my situation, I shouted in a loud voice, ‘If God can resurrect the dead, why can’t he heal me?’ I used all of my strength to move myself from the bed to a chair. I began to pray fervently, ‘God is healing me.’

“After a while I began to walk around my room and felt my legs reacting. I began to weep intensely as God manifested himself in my life. The pain I had began to disappear and…I could walk again!

God is rich in mercy and we only need a little bit of faith for Him to work in our lives. I thank God for the Audio New Testament; it produced the faith that I needed to believe.”

Ears to Hear

"About 70% of the adults at the church do not know how to read.  Also many of them are tired from the arduous labor in the field and would fall asleep in church.  They would read the Bible, but weren't sure if they understood. 

"As a pastor, I was very concerned and thought, 'What can I do?' At a pastors’ meeting, Pastor Mora from the Bolivian Bible Society was making a presentation of the Faith Comes By Hearing program.  I almost cried with joy because that was exactly what we needed, and without thinking twice I inquired about participating in the program with the Quechua language. 

"When I arrived at church after the pastors’ meeting that following Sunday, I played the Audio Bible through the large speakers we have.  The majority of the brethren woke up and began paying attention; no one said anything.  At the end of the chapter I stopped the Audio Bible and all began yelling asking me to put it back on.  On that first day we listened for over half an hour; then they began to ask me questions.

"During that first listening meeting I ran out of time to preach because all of them had questions, so I told them that we would listen to the Audio Bible during each midweek service. Many of them who did not attend the midweek services began attending because they did not want to miss even one chapter of the Bible.  The youth would come with more desire to ask questions. 

"Now my meetings are much better with the Audio Bible in Quechua; a lot of brethren attend them.  Thanks be to the Bolivian Bible Society for giving us the FCBH Audio Bible.  May God bless you greatly."

The Bible in Quechua

Faustino Nany, his wife, and eight children live in a provincial city near a river, 25 kilometers from the nearest town.  His wife is a believer, while he struggles lost in the darkness of desperation and the lack of work.  He does not read well and hunts to provide his family with food. In terms of the Gospel, he is very reluctant, but all this changed in the following way:

“One day I took my dogs out hunting, but decided to go back home because I couldn’t catch anything.  I went into the stream to bathe, but did not realize that an alligator was heading directly towards me.  At first I was able to avoid the bite, but finally it seized my right foot.  I clung to the nearest tree so that the alligator couldn’t drag me into the river.  My dogs barked and I screamed 'Lord save me!' while kicking the alligator with my other foot.  The alligator finally let go of my foot, tearing it, leaving me in a lot of pain.

“I dragged myself to the banks of the river and began shooting the alligator, but only made it angrier.  The dogs kept the alligator from coming closer while I dragged myself to the main road. I began shouting until some villagers heard me.

“They called my wife, who then called her pastor.  The pastor [had spoken] to me about Christ, and I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.  At the hospital I was told I was lucky to be alive because my leg had gangrene and may have to be amputated. That night my wife, the pastor, and some brethren from the church prayed for healing.  Thanks be to God – He heard their prayers, and I was healed. 

“After I was released from the hospital, I started going to church, was baptized, and became an usher.  When I needed God and His Word the most, an FCBH worker brought the Word of God in Audio to the church.  Through listening to the tapes, I have learned a lot about God, and my wife was healed of a hernia. 

“Therefore all we do, we do it to the glory of God!  I am a man who fears God and I speak a lot about what God has done in my life.”

Working in the Schools

At San Ignacio of Velazco, Christian teachers carried out a program where students could take the Audio Bible home to listen with their parents. One girl testified that it produced a deep change in her father, prompting him to repent and beg forgiveness for the abuse that he gave his family. The girl gave thanks to God for the Audio Bible because of the change she saw in her father.