Martha lived in a house built of mud bricks with no electricity in Ghana. Poverty forced her to drop out of school at an early age. “How I was going to face the future was a nightmare to me,” she says.

But the worst thing Martha says she had to face was living without God’s Word in her own language.

“I only heard Bible stories preached to me. I usually forgot most of the stories because there was nothing to remind me,” she recalls. Martha longed for a Bible of her own in her own language.

Martha is not alone. More than 1 billion people lack access to the complete Bible in their heart language. A recent study revealed more than half of the world’s 6,901 languages still do not have a whole Bible translation.

“I had a Twi Bible [a local language in Ghana] but I could not read it well,” she says. Because of Bible translation efforts in Ghana, Martha received a newly translated Esahie Bible in her own heart language.

“I was delighted because I had a Bible in my own language. I could understand it and felt God was talking directly to me,” Martha explains.

Translation efforts are critical when it comes to placing Bibles in the hands and hearts of people just like Martha. When they receive God’s Word and engage with His truths, people in spiritually dark countries like Ghana are turning their lives around.

Martha clutches her Bible close to her heart. “It will help increase my knowledge of God and enhance my walk with Him,” she says. “It is going to help me to grow more like Jesus. Now I have a source to guide my life; it will also help me to live right.”

Please continue to pray for ongoing translation efforts and American Bible Society’s work to distribute and engage people in Scriptures in West Africa and around the world.