It is difficult to grasp how desperate life is for some people. The level of hardship they endure daily is staggering. And their despair is deep—like being in a pit they can’t crawl out of without help.
Joanne experienced this deep pit of despair. “I was a broken woman. After losing my husband to AIDS, I did not get any help from my church even though I was very involved there. Discouragement overwhelmed me. I could not read the Bible. I could not pray. I totally lost faith in believers and in God.
“Then I got pregnant, and the father of the child told me to get an abortion. I could not do that. At a Bible listening group, I recognized the role my choices played in my situation, and I asked God to forgive me. Peace returned to my life from that moment until today. Everyone has noticed the change—I am always happy. Now, I feel the presence of God around me and live out the truth I learn from the Bible.”
Placit grew up attending church. It is what his family did on Sundays and felt like a formality. Two tragic events shaped his youth: not being allowed to attend school after the first few grades and later, his father abandoning him and his siblings to fend for themselves. The consequences of these events afflicted the children with mental illness. One brother died. Their community wondered if the whole family had gone mad.
Desperation pushed Placit to alcohol. His addiction did not solve anything. It made him even more miserable. By divine grace, he visited a Bible listening group in his former church. Truth surged to overcome the brokenness in his life. He now prays and trusts God to reveal a solution for his sibling’s illness, believing that God can do anything.
Bo attended church, but she was hardly interested. She paid more attention to her phone than to the sermon. Learning from the Bible was misery. She surprised herself when she decided to join a live Bible listening program she could tune into on her phone. After two months of listening, Bo overcame her natural shyness and engaged freely in the group discussion. Interesting and joyful are the words she now prefers to describe Bible study.
Because of heavy rain one day, the power failed, and Bo’s house lost Wi-Fi. Even her cellular signal was weak. Afraid to miss the Bible broadcast, she hurried to a spot with signal and stood under an umbrella for an hour to listen to the Audio Bible.
Bible listening groups look different in different places. It could be families and friends gathered in the same room, with an audio playback device or a cell phone. An individual sitting in their home on their personal device, gathered over an internet group. Each group listens, discusses, and applies spiritual lessons. Radio broadcast listening groups and other digital listening formats enable listeners in different locations to join together. In each of these settings, people are transformed as they hear God’s Word.
Faith Comes By Hearing establishes Audio Bible listening groups globally as part of our Vision 2033 commitment to provide Scripture in every language that needs it by 2033. We want everyone to have the chance to hear. Learn more. Listen to Audio Scripture.
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