Audio Bibles Proclaim God's Message in Mother Tongue

The Quechua people of South America didn't believe God understood their language—as far as they could tell, God only spoke Spanish.

Like many of his fellow Quechuans, Ricardo is unable to read his own language and often heard about spiritual things in Spanish, his second language.

Ricardo grew up as the son of the local curandera, a witchcraft healer. The local law and cultural customs required him to take over his father's practice; but, after sitting in on a Bible listening session, Ricardo realized there was another way to live.

He began listening to the Bible regularly in his own language on a solar-powered Audio Bible called a Proclaimer, which was provided by Faith Comes By Hearing.

"After listening to it for 3 months along with my family and neighbors," Ricardo shared, "I understood that witchcraft was a sin. What it says in the Acts of the Apostles changed my life. It was like a dagger to all of my sinful ways."

Ricardo, now a father and husband of three, has taken over his father's business . . . but with a twist.

"People come to me to heal them, and I preach the Gospel to them. Already, three of the families in my neighborhood have given their lives to Jesus," he said. With the support of his pastor, Ricardo started a second listening group in a neighboring village.

This Amerindian people group, numbering more than 10 million, mainly reside in the Northern Andean region spanning several countries. Historically marginalized by the majority culture, the Quechua always thought that God did not understand their prayers.

There are roughly 40 different Quechua languages. Faith Comes By Hearing, the global Audio Bible ministry leader, has recorded the New Testament in 14 of these languages with six more in process.

In the last 2 years, Faith Comes By Hearing started 3,218 Bible listening groups among this people group that stretches from southern Colombia to the most northern corner of Argentina.

In Quechuan villages, believers take life-changing Audio Bibles into their villages and hold Bible listening sessions. Villagers in groups up to 300 people gather around to listen and then discuss what they've heard. By interacting with the Word of God, people come to know and follow the God of the Bible.

"The Word has changed me," said Alejandro, a Quechua man who lives about 150 miles northwest of Cuzco, Peru. After struggling with alcoholism for nearly two decades, Alejandro attended a Bible listening group. His miracle finally came in the form of a Quechua Proclaimer.

Alejandro does not remember doing anything "extra." Just listening to the Word in his own tongue gave him an understanding of God's principles that simply made the alcohol unattractive.
The community took notice of the change and elected him to serve as representative over eight local communities. The responsibility was great, but Alejandro responded to the challenge with God's help. Thanks to his efforts, electricity and water have been brought to the area and he is currently working toward building a drainage system.

"Today I feel a great love for my brothers that motivates me to serve them. So when they nominated me as their representative, I began to work very fervently so as not to defraud them," Alejandro said.

"The spoken Word, which we hear on the Proclaimer, has completely changed my life, so that I can serve God and my Quechua-speaking brothers."

These stories represent the work God is doing among the Quechua. Believers and non-believers alike are finding the strength to live righteously through hearing the Holy Scriptures in their heart language. The Quechua are now able to grasp the truth that God has always desired to communicate: He loves them desperately and wants to be the center of their lives. Hearts are mending and lives are transforming in the Light of God's marvelous Word!

Faith Comes By Hearing listening programs serve the world's oral majority: those who can't, won't or don't obtain new information through literate means. Lives, families, villages and people groups experience the life-change when they begin to understand and follow God's Word in their mother tongue (heart language).