Teresa had no interest in the Bible before she read it in her language.
Teresa had big plans.
The 28-year-old was eager to travel from her home in Guatemala to the United States to further her education, but God shut that door. Next, she wanted to serve in a church, but she ran into a second closed door when she couldn’t find the right opportunity. Finally, she thought about finding work in another country.
She was just about to make that decision when God used a phone call from her pastor to reveal a door He’d kept hidden until that moment. Would she be interested in supporting the Bible Society of Guatemala in a project to translate the Bible into her language?
“Without thinking,” she recalls, “I just said, ‘Yes, I want to join the team.’”
About 90 percent of Teresa’s people—the Kiche Chichicastenango—identify as Christians. But their daily practices combine Catholic and traditional Mayan beliefs. The translation project is bringing them the very first Scripture in their language: several books of the New Testament.
Teresa had no interest in reading the Bible before joining the project because she didn’t understand it. But as she interacted with Scripture in her language, she began to see it for what it is: both a mirror that shows people who they are and a refuge they can turn to in their struggles.
She admits that missing out on her big plans still raises doubts. There was a moment when she was tempted to abandon the work. But as she continued reading the Bible, she saw the temptations Christ faced as a human being. “He was even tempted by Satan and abandoned by the Father when He was on the cross,” she says. She realized that her doubt was a trial that God had perfectly prepared for her—and for her faith.
Then something else happened. Someone stole merchandise from her husband’s store, where she also works. Only after she translated Luke 10:4–5, where Jesus commissioned His disciples to spread His message without fear, was she able to find peace.
“Since this trouble does not take away the place that Christ has prepared for me,” she says, “from now on I only trust Jesus.”
The Kiche Chichicastenango translation project began in 2024. Right now, translated Scripture is becoming available in their language for the first time. Join people around the world in praying for language groups like Teresa’s.
