Brief Testimonies
October 2000 - Audio Scriptures bring joy, faith
TECPAN -- “My wife took one of the cassette tapes yesterday and used it in two homes with wonderful smiles,” said a Christian worker, new to Guatemala in 2000.
“They all understood them and so loved hearing the Word of God in Kaqchikel rather than Spanish.”
Guatemala’s national language is Spanish, but many indigenous people understand their Mayan tongue best.
A woman hearing the tapes put her faith in Christ.
Another man heard the tapes as a Christian worker played it in her pickup, driving to town.
“He was praising God all the way, listening to the cassette from John.”
April 2002 - Women hear and remember Scriptures now
SAN MARCOS — Scripture lessons used to go in one ear and out the other, but women are remembering them much better since they began hearing them in their own language.
Hearing the Mam language Scriptures is a focal point each month as 250 members of the Ruth Association gather in 11 rural communities.
One grateful woman heard the Scriptures read in her own language for the first time. "It's so clear in Mam; now people will no longer have an excuse for not accepting the proclamation of the gospel,” she told a preacher.
Women from a group where there are few believers expressed excitement at hearing the Mam Scriptures, some asking for copies of the tapes.
Many pastors are reluctant to let go of the tradition of using Spanish Scriptures in their services, despite greater clarity in Mam.
Please pray that more churches and believers would take an interest in the translation.
April 2003 - Guambiano recording moves witnesses
BOGOTA, Columbia — Powerful performances moved some observers to tears during the first dramatized Scripture recording project in Columbia.
Brother Segundo, who performed the voice of Jesus for the Guambiano language recording, spoke powerfully and compassionately as he recorded the Beatitudes, according to one witness.
“I couldn't hold back the tears because the Lord so profoundly touched me. I felt His very presence,” said Ana, one of the co-translators of the Guambiano New Testament.
“When we heard him on the speaker reading the exhortations of Jesus, Segundo's loving and tender manner were incomparable. I have read those passages so many times, but never have they reached me as profoundly as they did that morning.”
Prior to the recording sessions, Viña Association sent two recording technicians, indigenous Guatemalan believers, to Colombia. They trained a Colombian organization to produce dramatized audio New Testaments for the Faith Comes By Hearing project.
“Some of the readers almost ended our patience and strength,” Ana said. “Nevertheless, the Lord gave us a spirit of understanding in order to treat them with care.
None of the readers fell ill and a “spirit of harmony, submission and respect” permeated the project, which finished in April 2003.
September 2002 - Chorti recording leads man to ministry
JOCOTAN — A good Spanish reader, Manuel was surprised to find he couldn’t read his own Chorti language.
But since he had agreed to read for a dramatized Scripture recording, he pushed himself to learn the Chorti alphabet and to read in his mother tongue.
“When I figured out how to read in Chorti I realized that I understood the Word of God much better in my own language than Spanish,” he said.
Then, Manuel thought of all the people in his own church family. Soon, he began reading Scriptures in Chorti to his church and singing with his daughter.
“Each time that my daughter and I sing in Chorti, the believers really, really enjoy it,” Manuel said. “Now I feel that God is calling me to preach his Word in Chorti to all the Chorti people.”
John’s rebuke speaks loudly in Kaqchikel
SOLOLA — John the Baptist, speaking in perfect Kaqchikel , rebuked King Herod for his sins — and made an impression on Pastor Juan.
Pastor Juan had been reading the Bible for many years, preparing his sermons, but he never felt the effect so deeply as when he heard it in his own Kaqchikel language.
“It didn’t matter to him that Herod was the king,” the pastor said of John the Baptist. “This really encouraged me to preach the word of God to everyone, no matter the person.”
He played the Kaqchikel Scriptures for his entire church, Monte Basan. The tapes had been recorded by Viña Association in his hometown for Faith Comes By Hearing.
Young people in his church also felt the impact. Many came to him saying they finally understood the Word of God and felt the need to preach it.
Recordings bless non-Mayan pastor, church
SAN JORGE LA LAGUNA — Scriptures on tape provided an answer to prayer for Pastor Daniel.
Most of his congregation is composed of Kaqchikel believers, but Pastor Daniel does not speak this Mayan language.
“I received (the tapes) as a gift from God and presented them to the church,” he said. “They also received it as good material to better understand the Word of God.”
The pastor organized a Scripture reading program for his church. Each week, church members read three chapters in the home; then, during a worship service, they all listen to what they read at home and discuss it together to answer questions.
“I’m so happy that I’ve finally found the way for my congregation to dedicate time to read the Word of God,” Pastor Daniel said.
Hearing the Word clarifies murky concepts
CONCEPCION — Since receiving an audio copy of the New Testament in their own language, members of a church in this small town have been very happy.
“We finally realized that we really don’t understand Spanish, although we always read the Bible in Spanish,” said a member of the Iglesia Centro Americana.
The church even had the dramatized Scriptures on tape, but those too were in Spanish.
“Once the Kaqchikel tapes came, we understand it perfectly,” they said. “Before, there were many words whose meaning we didn’t understand, much less their content. Some examples are ‘cizañas, exhortar, reprender, amonestar.’ But when the Kaqchikel came, now we know these words and what they’re trying to teach us.”
Sometime in 2002 - Audio Scriptures help church mature
PCHOK — Divisions plagued a Methodist Kiche church in Guatemala’s highlands until they began to listen to the Scriptures on tape.
“There were a lot of divisions within our membership, the people were not getting along well with each other,” said the church official. “But once we began listening and began to really understand the Word of God, we experienced a real split in the church—a split between carnality and spirituality!”
The church began to mature because the members really understand the Word of God since it was in their own language.
As the members followed the Scriptures in obedience, they began to experience God’s peace.
“Glory to God and thanks to Him that we now have the Word in our own language and in a form that is appropriate for us,” the official said.
Sometime in 2002 - Scriptures remove doubts about man’s past
COBAN — Everyone knew the Kekchi man’s ugly past: He was a drunk and once had two wives.
But when Jesus Christ changed his life, few people would believe it, even when he became a pastor. They treated him as a liar.
His Spanish sermons sounded like most of the rest, but since they couldn’t understand Spanish that well they figured he wasn’t telling the whole truth.
Everything changed, however, when he got a copy of the audio Kekchi Scriptures and began playing it for the church.
With tears in his eyes, he shared that now the church is packed on Sundays, and they no longer doubt his message. The authority of the Word in their own language convinced them.
Now they believe that God can change lives, and more lives are being changed for the glory of God!