Like too many Paraguayans, Francisco* and Maria* are well acquainted with suffering. When heavy rains caused massive flooding in the city of Asunción last year, they lost their home. Forced to leave the flood zone, they moved on to a rural town called Karaja Vuelta.

But there, as Francisco explains, “We are eight people living in one house.”

Francisco and Maria have lived a lifetime of abject poverty. This too is common in Paraguay, where more than one in four of the people survive on just over $3 per day.

But you wouldn’t know it from the radiant smiles on their faces. Their lives are full of joy, because friends like you helped bring them the Bible.

Every morning, they awaken to the strains of what Francisco calls their “radio.” It’s actually an audio Bible, provided through our partners’ generous support of American Bible Society. “We don’t know how to read because we are illiterate,” Francisco says. “For us, it is very important to have this audio Bible.”

“The Bible is our teacher,” he says. “It brings about a change in every area of our lives.”

The change was dramatic. Francisco says, “The Bible is my life. When I started to listen to the Bible, it was like I was reborn. God set me free from my bad habits. There are changes in our family also.”

The Bible has also filled Francisco with a passion to reach others for Jesus Christ. “People need to hear from God, and if I don’t share the Gospel with them, who else is going to do it?” he says. “I cannot read, but I always carry a New Testament with me so people can identify me as a Christian.”

Friends like you helped provide that too.

As Francisco and others share God’s Word with their neighbors, our financial partners will be going with them. Their generosity is providing audio Bibles and free copies of the Guarani-Spanish New Testament to thousands of people in rural Paraguay — including 6,000 students in Paraguay’s schools.

The ongoing support of friends like you will make even greater things possible!

*Names have been changed to protect privacy