“It was as if God was speaking to me.”

As a young boy, Abaku* lived with an aunt who struggled to feed him. He fled the poverty and hunger, looking for a better life. But the streets of Benin, Africa were no better. Dangerous and without comfort, they were no place for a child. Abaku slept most nights in old cars. He existed on what he could steal. His only companions were bandits and thieves. “My friends were criminals,” he admits. “We led a life of wickedness . . . I had no peace in my heart.” More than once, Abaku’s life was at risk from the dangers on the streets. He had no education and no hope for a better life. “I could have died,” he says. One day, Abaku saw a celebration taking place in a local sports stadium. He wandered in to see why so many people would be so joyful. It was the launching and distribution of the new Fon Bible! Abaku received a Bible that day in his own heart language . . . and it changed his life forever! A literacy program helped Abaku learn to read God’s Word. “That was my first Bible,” Abaku shares. “My heart was filled with joy when I received it. When I read it for the first time, it was as if God was speaking to me. I remembered my sinful past, and I knew that God still loved me.” God’s Word reached right into his heart. Abaku started turning his life around that day. He asked for forgiveness for his sinful past and discovered God’s grace and love. “God had mercy on me and saved me,” he says. The kind support of our financial partners places Bibles in the hands and hearts of people just like Abaku in Benin and other regions of the world. They invest in lives by providing Bibles because when God speaks to hurting people in their own heart language through Scripture, lives are transformed. *Name changed to protect privacy.