Have you ever felt distant from God? Even as a Christian, have you ever felt far away from your Savior? That’s how Marie in Rwanda used to feel.

“I was a Christian, but I could not understand who God was,” Marie says. She visited multiple churches in her village, but couldn’t find the intimate relationship with God she was looking for.

After getting married, Marie became so busy with a mounting pile of household chores and responsibilities that she couldn’t even think about her faith.

“Friends invited me to church, but I was too busy with household activities,” Marie admits. “I could not go to church, or even pray.”

When a friend encouraged Marie to give church one more try, she reluctantly agreed. That’s when everything changed.

At church, Marie heard an announcement about a Bible that could talk to you. Intrigued, she decided to experience the talking Bible for herself. The talking Bible turned out to be a Proclaimer ™—a solar-powered audio Bible produced by Faith Comes By Hearing®, one of American Bible Society’s partners in the End-to-End ministry partnership. End-to-End empowers partners like you to share the gospel with remote language groups through JESUS Film screenings, Scripture listening groups, and Bible reading programs.

Through the End-to-End ministry, Marie and her fellow villagers heard the Gospel of Matthew read aloud in their heart language. As she heard the words of Jesus come to life in her village, Marie experienced God’s presence in a way she never had before.

“I learned about how Jesus selected his disciples and told them to ‘follow me and I will make you fishers of men,’” Marie says. As she continued to listen, Marie was struck by Jesus’s radical call to discipleship:

“Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it.”


Matthew 10:38-39 (GNT)

Marie realized that to experience the relationship with God that she craved, she needed to recommit her life to Christ.

“I must follow Jesus,” Marie decided. She began going to church on Sundays instead of spending all her time on household chores.

Today, Marie is a trusted member in her local church. “The church has confidence in me,” she says. Marie was chosen to lead the public Scripture readings in her church. She even sings in the church choir.

Through your generosity and through the power of God’s Word, Marie can now sing the words of the timeless hymn with joy and confidence:

“I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back,
No turning back!”

Story originally published in the 2017 American Bible Society Stewardship Report.