Students Experience “The Gift That Changed Everything”
LHM–Guatemala is one of LHM’s ministry centers that offers Project JOEL as a values-based youth program that provides biblically based guidance in making healthy lifestyle choices. It is approved by the Guatemalan government to provide this program to students in public schools.
LHM staff and volunteers recently gave a presentation titled “The Gift that Changed Everything” to students graduating from the primary level at a local school. Following a short motivational activity, the LHM team shared information about what the Bible is all about. They explained it is a “library” written over thousands of years by different authors and including various literary genres (poetry, history, prophecy, wisdom, codes). Yet its message remains relevant and personal for each one. The presentation reflected on passages from Psalm 119, highlighting that the Word of God sustains, guides, and gives hope both in times of joy and difficulty. Current analogies were also used to illustrate how the Bible accompanies, protects, and guides daily life.
At the end of the presentation, the students eagerly opened a box of Bibles donated by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and distributed them with visible joy. One of the students, José Luis, began to look through his Bible with great interest. He approached the LHM team to ask questions about the content and learned it was Luther’s Small Catechism that included explanations of the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer, along with guidance on how to apply God’s Word in daily life. The young man expressed deep gratitude and immense joy, as this was the first Bible he had ever owned.