Syrine could have been bitter about the impact of the Bible on her life. "Because of his work translating the Bible, I never had the chance to know my father. However, what happened to my father made me value God's word even more. It is the Bible for which my father offered his life."

In 1974, Hart and Ginny Wiens, working in the Philippines on translating the New Testament into the Kalinga language, prayed for people to help them learn the language and work with them on the translation. Syrine's father Pedro was an answer to prayer. He spoke English and gladly agreed to help. Soon Pedro's family and the Wiens family became friends.

At first Pedro thought the teachings of Jesus impossible for his people to follow; loving one's enemies went against the Kalinga core value of revenge. But Pedro and his family chose to follow Jesus and became positive examples for their community.

When cultures clash, Bible translation is dangerous work. One day, bandits opened fire on Pedro and took his life. Although Pedro's wife was urged to take revenge on her husband's killers, she refused because of her understanding of the gospel. Syrine was 11 months old when her father was killed.

With determination, Pedro's community continued to work on the Bible translation. Many people made new commitments to follow Jesus. In 2004 the New Testament was dedicated in a community alive to the Gospel.

"My father's work on the translation gave the people in my community the chance to use the Bible as an instrument to know God better. The Bible not only taught me to forgive, but I came to know who my real Father is. I realized that I have a living Heavenly Father who makes us all one family. The impact of the Gospel for me is a challenge to accept even the most difficult situations, to love even our worst enemies, to pray for all who have wronged us. Most of all God's promise is that his arms are widely open to accept us in his kingdom as his children."

Syrine's story was recently highlighted on ListenUpTV. View the segment here.