Jean,* an SIL worker in Asia, was traveling in an area where a certain minority language was spoken.  She was part of the team translating the Scriptures for this people group, and she longed to see some evidence that God was working in their hearts.

She was invited to a family’s home for lunch. After the meal, the host began to ask her a lot of questions about her faith.  “Do you have a Bible in my language?” he asked her. “I want to read it.”

Jean replied, “I don’t have a printed copy with me, but I have one on my phone.”  He said he would need to find a phone and meet her later. That evening he showed up at the home where she was staying, carrying a phone. The area had no internet reception, and though Jean could transfer Scripture via a memory card to his phone, the phone was very old and they could not get the Bible app working.

Unwilling to give up, the man asked, “Can I just hand copy it from your phone?” “Of course,” said Jean. He grabbed paper and pen and started copying. He copied much of the first chapter of John before leaving.

The next night he came back! “I’ve already memorized what I copied,” he said. “Could I copy more?”  He spent the next few hours copying more of John’s Gospel by hand.

Jean left the language area a few days later, joyful that her new friend was hiding the Good News about Jesus in his heart.  “Thank you, Lord,” she prayed. “Thank you for showing me that people you have called me to serve are hungry for your Word!”

Jean’s new friend reminds me of the Prophet Jeremiah, who said, “When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16, NLT).  How thankful I am that those words are available to you and me, too. If it’s been a while since you’ve feasted on the Scriptures, I’d challenge you to rediscover God’s words and let them fill your heart with new joy and hope.

*pseudonym