Audio Bibles for the People of Guatemala
Tajumulco Listening Group
Guatemala, with its striking features and strong indigenous culture, is one of the most beautiful countries in Central America.
Approximately half of Guatemala’s population is indigenous, Mayan or mixed Amerindian-Hispanic origin. Mayan languages are spoken alongside Spanish, the official tongue. Because of many partnerships and through the generosity of donors, Faith Comes By Hearing offers the Audio Bible in many of the indigenous languages. Listening groups are implemented with languages such as Cakchiquel, Quiché, and Mam, as well as many others, to reach and disciple people with God’s Word in their heart language.
Please read below about some wonderful things that are happening in Guatemala through the listening of the Scriptures in a mother tongue.
Very Thankful
"The pastors were so grateful to receive the Word of God in their own language that they wept and prayed and thanked God for a long period of time. I have never observed this much emotion from those receiving the New Testament in audio." – FCBH Field Coordinator
Treasure God's Word
Pastor Felipe and his wife Corina grew up without knowledge of God's Word, but have since learned to treasure it. In recent years, Corina's eyes have developed severe cataracts, leaving her unable to read the precious Scriptures, bringing her profound sadness.
When a pastor from the United States demonstrated a Central Cakchiquel Proclaimer® his mission team had brought for them, Corina broke into tears and exclaimed, "I understand it, I understand it!" in her native tongue. She is so thankful to God for providing this new way of communicating His Word.
Recording Team Touched
According to the recording team director, all the participants in the Achí Rabinal New Testament project were thankful to God and very happy to be a part of recording the Word of God in the language of their people. They were blessed by the experience and felt that they "learned many things" in the process.
The most profound moment came while recording the crucifixion. Because the reader of Jesus' lines was tasked with making it real, the Lord showed up powerfully through him as his cries brought the entire team to tears.
God’s Word Spreads Like Wildfire in Tajumulco
Here, Mam-speaking Indians—modern day descendants of the great Mayan Empire—have lived since the first millennium. In 2,000 years since the Gospel message has been preached, they, along with thousands of other language groups around the world, still have not had God's Word in their own language.
Last June, the Faith Comes By Hearing Latin American regional coordinator carried 60 Mam Proclaimers to the Tajumulco. These Proclaimers were used after showings of the JESUS film.
Faithful laborers have struggled for decades to bring the Gospel to this area, but services in the five churches in Tajumulco are held in Spanish rather than their own heart language. At most, only 350 people attend.
So when we found out that 60 different listening groups were started in only 2½ months, with over 1,000 Tajumulco people listening, once again, we stand in awe at the power of God's pure Word.
One woman, Señora Marina, started a listening group in her house. Next thing she knew, her house was regularly packed with people wanting to hear God's Word and people were also beginning to listen outside at the windows.
High in the Guatemalan mountains near Volcán Tajumulco—the highest point in Central America—it is perpetually cold, sunrises and sunsets are spectacular, and clouds sometimes roll past at ground level.
So another woman started a listening group, then another, and when the FCBH coordinator visited 2½ months later, 60 women had started 60 different listening groups, with over 1,000 people listening!
When they sent in reports from their listening groups, here are a few of the things they said:
- "We feel equal because now we have the same Word of God."
- "One brother received healing by listening to the Word."
- "There are two youth that received the Lord."
- "I received God in my heart."
- "In Revelation it talks about the end of the world. Is that true? Is the world going to end?"
Please pray for the fire of God's Word to continue to spread so that all 50,000 Tajumulco people will have the opportunity to hear His Word. Please pray also for the millions of people around the world who still, after 2,000 years, don't have God's Word in their own language.
"The Bible Is for Us"
In some areas of the world where literacy rates are low, the JESUS film and Audio Bible are the best sources for the Word of God.
This is the case for the Kekchi people of Guatemala. As one Kekchi man says, "Thank you for thinking of us. Now it is clear that the Bible is for us. We are listening twice a week. In the absence of a pastor, we have been using the Proclaimer. We listen to a chapter, and then ask questions.
We are praying for the donors who make it possible for us to have this device."
JESUS Film/FCBH School Program
The pastor of an Assemblies of God Church was blessed after receiving the Quiché Audio Bible. He has a better understanding of the terms used in the Bible because he is listening to it in his language. He can now explain things better to the members of his church and is able to help them better. He himself has grown, spiritually speaking.
One of the men in the church says, "Before starting the [FCBH] program, several of the brethren had many family problems. Now, after listening to the New Testament and getting explanations from the pastor, they come to him to ask for advice; they solve their problems with God's help."
The Quiché Audio Bible is also being used in Sunday school programs with approximately 200 children, and there are plans to start 6 more with a goal of reaching over 1000 children.
Kekchi Project, a Partnership with Wycliffe
About 400,000 people in Guatemala speak Kekchi as their heart language. Before the Audio New Testament, many of them did not even realize that God could understand their prayers. Now, a local believer says, “Thank you for thinking of us. Now it is clear that the Bible is for us. We are listening twice a week. We listen to a chapter, and then ask questions. We are praying for the people who make it possible for us to have this device. The children also like it a lot.”
Testimonies from Faith Comes By Hearing in Guatemala
Chichicastenango, El Quiché (in the west of the country, 135 km. from Guatemala City).
Pastor Juan has very little biblical education, as is the case with the majority of pastors in the rural areas of the country. The pastor tells how he agreed to take charge of the church with great fear and doubt. Nevertheless, he took the position. Each time he preached and arrived at a text which he did not understand (for his lack of knowledge of Spanish), he simply passed over it without explanation. But one day he heard the New Testament in Quiché, his mother tongue, on a local radio station and it made a great impact on him. From then on he began to understand many things in the Bible.
Even so, an even greater day of rejoicing came when a representative of the Guatemalan Bible Society gave him a set of the Audio New Testament in Quiché. From that day on he could understand things, together with his congregation, that before he had to pass over with shame because he didn’t understand them.
He adds, “Now I am not only a pastor, but this knowledge gives me a new value and importance so I can tell others about Christ.” The members of his congregation say that now he is an evangelist with great impact in the community, because he presents the Gospel with such clarity in their own language. “Those materials that they have given us are a blessing, many thanks to Faith Comes By Hearing.”
The pastor of 
Iglesia del Nazareno says that the work has been hard. When he began the ministry, the people did not believe in the change that God had worked in his life. “After I became a pastor by the goodness of God, the people of the community themselves did not believe what I told them. That’s because before I met the Lord I drank a lot and had two women. The people thought that I was a liar. When I preached, the people said that the things I said were good but, since they didn’t understand Spanish, maybe I wasn’t telling them the whole truth. But one day the brothers from Faith Comes By Hearing gave me a set of the Audio New Testament in Kekchi; then things changed.” When the pastor got to this point in his story, tears began to fall. “Now the church is full on Sunday mornings and the people no longer doubt because they listen to the Bible, the Word of God, in their own language. That is changing lives and the people even value the ministry that I am doing more. Now, they believe that God can change and is changing their lives. Glory to God.”
Kekchi Baptist Church: “I don’t know what that New Testament has,” says the pastor, “but the first day that I played it in the church, a whole family accepted Christ. I believe it is because the Bible itself says that the Word of God has power. Since that happened, wherever I go, the New Testament in Kekchi goes with me. Almost in every new place that I play it, several people accept Christ. Thanks to it I almost don’t preach anymore. All that I do is make the invitation because the Word of God itself speaks to their hearts. The most beautiful of all is that it is in our own language. Thanks to God and to the brothers from Faith Comes By Hearing for giving us this excellent material. I don’t have words to express my appreciation.”
