The following article was written by a guest writer. Our guest writer is involved in missionary work to Latin America and Asia. She is completing her degree in journalism and enjoys evangelizing to the many international students that attend her university. Her name has not been included to protect the work she is doing in the field.
I recently had the opportunity to do mission work in Juarez, Mexico as part of the staff in a missions camp. It was the first day of outreach when we went to evangelize and pray for people in downtown Juarez. As our team was talking and praying with people around the plaza, my small group and I spotted David standing in the middle, simply watching everyone. We decided to talk to him and ask if we could pray for him.
As we talked, we learned that David had been traveling by foot for days and had lived a hard life. As I started talking to him about Jesus, he began to cry and, a little while into our conversation, he pulled out an old flyer and handed it to me. He explained that someone had given it to him. I opened up the flyer and, in the middle, it said, “Quieres que Jesus sea tu unico salvador?” which translates to “Would you like Jesus to be your one and only Savior?”. I asked him if what was written on the flyer interested him. He stopped for a moment and began to cry even harder. “Es que no se leer”/“It’s just that I don’t know how to read”, he said.
It was an unusual moment for me and I had never experienced anything like it before but I began to explain to him in more depth about who Jesus is and that there is forgiveness in Christ. I was able to lead him through a prayer of repentance. David looked up into the sky and would persistently say, “Forgive me, God”. I know God did forgive him (1 John 1:9).
It was interesting to see how God had already been pursuing Him, how David happened to keep a flyer he couldn’t even read but somehow knew it was important. I think meeting David was definitely a divine appointment and God’s plan for him, and I know God will continue to pursue him as He does for us all.
I had heard of people not having the Bible in their language and that was hard for me to process, but I hadn’t taken the time to consider those who couldn’t read. The Bible has already been available in Spanish and in several different versions at that, but David still wouldn’t have had the ability to hear God’s Word for himself.
So, what about the illiterate? How will they hear the Word of God for themselves? We must consider them also and support the making of more digital Bibles and audio Bibles so that they can hear the Word of God for themselves. “Every nation, tribe, people, and language” (Revelation 7:9).
Digital Bible Society is honored to support the work of missionaries throughout Mexico and beyond, so that when they encounter people like David, they can give them the gift of God’s Word in their language and in a format they can engage with.
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