Bonolo is a 12th grader at a school in South Africa. She comes from a family of seven: her grandmother, grandfather, mother, and three younger brothers. With nobody working and the young boys still in school, the family members find it challenging to make ends meet. Moreover, her small town offers limited employment opportunities. Many people struggle with alcohol addiction and crime rates in the community are growing. “I decided never to succumb to peer pressure through an affiliation with any group,” says the determined teenager.

Bonolo spends her time doing schoolwork and being part of the church youth choir. Her pastor recently visited the school and led a Bible League Project Philip Bible study. “The study opened my eyes,” she reveals. “Though I was a Christian, it showed me how to live and behave. The booklet encouraged me to live one step at a time. I learned patience and to quit some desires because good things come to those who wait.”

Bible studies kindled in her a desire to read the Bible and pray. “I have learned to pray for my family and the faith to face whatever negative things come to my life. Even the small things like praying for my food before I eat and praying before bed have now become meaningful to me.”

Her family and friends are happy to see the impact of God’s Word on her life. “They encourage me to put God first in my life for things to go right, and I have the confidence in God that they will.”

Bonolo quotes Genesis 1:1 and believes God created everything, including her, for a reason. “I am not an accident but created by God for a purpose.” She shows a lot of faith in God and prays that God will use her to touch many who have gone wayward and away from God.

She expresses her gratitude to Bible League for the excellent work of providing God’s Word to a lost generation in South Africa.  “I want you to know that the seeds you are sowing are bearing much fruit by reviving the lives of young people like me to fall more in love with Jesus,” she says.

“My prayer request is for my mother to get a job and for me to further my studies because no one in my home is working,” she continues. “My dream for the future is that Bible League materials should be more available so that all people may accept God and believe that God is with us, even when we do not see Him with physical eyes. He is alive! People should believe there is life after death and believe in the Gospel we preach. I want my friends to follow Jesus because when one understands that, he receives a new life that makes one feel good.”