School was very difficult for Kariem*, where he was bullied so much, he ran away from home.

“My plan to escape from the village was discovered, and my father took me back to school and asked the teacher to give me five lashes in front of other students,” Kariem says.

“I felt I was not liked in school or at home,” he confesses. “I was very sad and became sick.”

Kariem didn’t know if life would ever get better. Then, one day, he received the New Testament, thanks to our generous American Bible Society partners.

It was the first time Kariem had Scripture he could call his own, and he immediately knew his life had been changed.

“I was so happy that when I returned home, I forgot to eat food as I was busy reading the stories in my New Testament,” he recalls. “God answered my cries.”

Kariem read the Scriptures again and again, wanting to understand all of God’s Word.

“I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in my heart,” he says. “My life has changed. I have forgiven those who have done bad things to me. Jesus is inside me since I received my New Testament, and He has become my friend.”

Before he received Scripture, Kariem thought his path would lead him to committing criminal acts to survive. Now, he looks forward to finishing school and hopes to become a pastor.

Thank you to our generous financial partners for changing Kariem’s life with your gift of Scripture. He will always be grateful for the hope and inspiration you have given him.

“I am still young and as I grow, I will grow in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him and obeying Him,” Kariem says. “May God bless you for giving me this New Testament.”

*Name changed for privacy