Thirteen-year-old Frejus admits he was a handful. “I used to tell lies, insult people,” he says. “I did not obey anybody, including my parents.”
Frejus is growing up in extreme poverty in Benin where almost 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Because of extreme poverty, human trafficking is on the rise. Children can be sold to rich families in neighboring countries for as little as $15. Young teens like Frejus live in danger, always wondering whom they can trust.
“I used to leave our house and go elsewhere to spend nights,” he says. His parents never knew exactly where Frejus was. And he was scared.
Then one day a woman in his village told him he should meet someone at a special meeting. Frejus was curious and attended the meeting. It was a church service, and the person he met was Jesus. This encounter changed his life.
“I no more insult people as I used to do. I no more leave my parents to go to other places. I try to obey my parents,” says Frejus.
When Frejus received his own first Bible, it drew him even closer to God. “Jesus will be closer to me as a friend,” he says. “If I didn’t know Jesus, I may be one of the worst guys in my area. I may be a thief or a wrongdoer.”
The generous gifts of American Bible Society financial partners are used to help share God’s Word with waiting hands and open hearts. Very often, first Bibles introduce adults and young teens like Frejus to Jesus. And lives are changed for good.
