Stories From the Field

Berta: a testament to god’s faithfulnes

Berta became a Christian when she was only 13 years old. Her parents were not Christians, though, and they did not like that she was following Jesus. Sometimes they would even beat her for going to church in a neighboring village, but “God helped me, and I did not give up,” Berta said. “I kept going and praying until I got married, because my parents were not Christians.”

At one point in Berta’s adult life, she was so sick that she almost died. She had seizures and a fever for four months, and no medical intervention could help her. Finally, Berta prayed, asking the God she had trusted since childhood to heal her. God healed her body, proving that He not only has the power to give her salvation and heal her heart, but to heal her body as well.

Today, Berta and her husband are leading the church that they started in their local village with the help of HLA. Berta says that “the audio Bible has been so helpful” in their ministry, because the people in her village can not read, but “they really understand the audio Bible.” At their church, Berta and her husband have a speaker connected to a battery, and a microphone connected to the speaker. They put the audio Bible next to the speaker so everyone in the church can hear the Word of God in their tribal language of Sukuma.

Read on to hear how God has since changed Berta’s mom’s life!

berta’s mom: NEW life

Berta’s mother (who we will call Renee) was not happy about her daughter choosing to follow Jesus. Even after Berta grew up, got married, and had a family, Renee still did not believe in Jesus. When she saw the healing power of God in her daughter’s life, though, her heart started to change.

Renee had been suffering from sever back pain. It got worse every year, especially during the long hours of harvesting in the fields. She had seen what seemed to be God healing Berta, so eventually she decided she would go to a church and see if they could do anything for her. While there, a pastor prayed for her to be healed from her pain. She then experienced the healing power of God in her own body, and decided that she needed her heart to be healed as well. Renee accepted Jesus as her Savior, and now says “I am happy to follow the Lord!" The example of her daughter, along with God’s healing power changed her life forever.

Renee now attends the church in her village that was started by her daughter and son-in-law. She is growing in her faith and knowledge of the Lord as she listens to the audio Bible provided by HLA. Renee exudes joy and is pain free to this day. As a testament to her healing, she even worships God by dancing in her church choir!

Daniel: a life and a family changed

In June of 2025 HLA brought the Jesus Film to Ayalalo village, high up in the mountains of the Endabash area of Tanzania. Before the Film was shown there were only three Christians in the entire village. After the Film was shown, many people decided to follow Jesus. Daniel is just one of those people. This is his story:

Before coming to God, Daniel was not a kind man. He fought with his family every day, and he was angry all the time. He was abusive to his wife, and sometimes even tried to chase her away.

After surrendering his life to Christ, Daniel’s heart changed, and that caused his actions to change, too. He stopped abusing his wife and acting out of anger, and he is now living at peace with his family and taking care of his children.

Daniel’s countenance and behavior has so radically changed that he has since been chosen as a leader of his community. He now serves as chairman of Ayalalo Village, and was ultimately chosen because the people saw that he was a good man. The transformative power of Jesus was evident not only to him and his family, but to his whole village.

Daniel is now an integral member of his growing church. As of July 2025, there are 21 Believers in Ayalalo who gather under a tree to listen to the Word of God, and they are praying that God will grow their church- both in people and in a building!