It is particularly gratifying when stories come to my attention about young lives transformed by Scripture, like the one Tonya Wilder-Butts told at the American Bible Society Board meeting in June. I asked Tonya to present something about her experience visiting a Youth Commission facility in Texas. Afterward, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room.

Tonya's work as editor in chief of Elementz of Life® magazine takes her to extraordinary locations. This past spring, it brought her to the Marlin Orientation and Assessment Unit, a maximum security facility near Waco, Texas that houses 432 young people. Tonya brought Jose Velez, whose own story about leaving gang life was the cover feature of last year's issue of Elementz of Life magazine. Inside the facility they visited with youths, ages 10 to 16, whose crimes included drug dealing and murder. When Jose spoke to them about his own dangerous past and near-death experience, the kids were riveted; Jose was speaking their language. By the end, many came to greet Jose with tears in their eyes.

Then Tonya stood up to share the mission of the American Bible Society with them, and related stories from the latest issue of Elementz of Life: about how other young people facing similar situations found solutions through the Bible, and are now coping more effectively in life. Sharing and participating in that kind of transformation is why we do what we do - and the end result is that real lives are changed forever.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Record. We are thrilled to have reconnected with Colonel Frank Borman, who led the 1968 Apollo 8 spaceflight). His amazing life is a testimony to God's Word working in and through him these many years.

May God bless you this Christmas and always.