Anna never had the opportunity to go to school. She grew up as an ordinary village girl amongst her Turkana tribe in Northern Kenya. Years later she married a police officer and settled into the quiet life of a housewife. Anna tried to set up a business, but with her husband being transferred from one town to another due to the nature of his job, she struggled to establish a stable business.
As she sought answers to life’s questions, Anna met a Christian evangelist who told her about the love of Jesus, and she gave her life to the Lord.
Newly passionate for the gospel, Anna visited her pastor and shared her desire to become an evangelist and witness for Jesus.
But Anna carried a secret. This secret had been carefully kept by Anna as she always carried a Bible, a pen and a notebook to church. But, this day, the secret was uncovered when the pastor asked Anna, “Tell me about your educational background. Then maybe I can recommend a training program for you.”
Anna revealed, “I have never been to school Pastor, I cannot read.” The surprised pastor told Anna, “Then I don’t think it will be possible for you to get training, so ministry life is just not for you.”
She, as a new believer, was disappointed, but still remained determined.
A few months later, she heard about a
Simply The Story training in Kinango, where she and her husband lived. She attended the entire 5-day workshop and was so excited to discover that even non literate people like her could learn and teach God’s Word through the stories of the Bible. Her hope for ministry rekindled as she began to witness to others by sharing the Bible stories she had learned in the workshop.
The following week, an Oral Bible School was established in Kinango. Anna signed up! Anna attended the six months of classes that were spread out over the next year showing great determination to succeed.
On graduation day, Anna stood out as the best student having never missed a class. But as well, she had learned and internalized the most number of stories of any graduate; 210 stories! She went on to establish a Bible study in her church, much to the joy and amazement of her pastor, the one who initially had thought that non-literates couldn’t lead ministry or teach Scripture!
By the time Anna graduated, she had already identified a new location for ministry and recruited Oral Bible School students in Nyahururu, where she began fulltime to lead the twelve month term.
Long Time in Bondage
A sweet, quiet, lady missionary attended an STS workshop in Michigan.
Afterwards, she shared this with several of the staff Instructors. “For 38 years as a missionary in South America, I have been living as the Bent Woman.” [
The Bent Woman story in Luke 13: 10-17 is one of the stories we learn and share in a workshop.]
“For all the time we have been serving as missionaries, my husband has wanted me to teach the women, but I told him, ‘I can't.’
“All along, as I refused to teach, I felt guilty. What kind of a missionary am I to not teach, but I can't.
She told the staff, "At the workshop, I discovered that I CAN tell Bible stories and CAN talk about them.
She happily declared, "As I go back to the field, I am no longer the bent woman. I am freed of that bondage. I will teach telling stories"
Not Participate
At a workshop in TX, USA, a lady attendee who by looks, seemed not to fit with the congregation. She intrigued us. She looked like a person who had been battered by life. We discovered from the workshop host that this lady was a Katrina victim who this church had adopted.
The ladies at the church had loved on her for almost a year, but up until the workshop, during church functions and Bible studies, the lady didn't talk.
Amazingly, during the small group time of exploring for treasures in a story, this discarded lady spoke out loud a few times. The church people who knew her were amazed.
Finally, on the last day of the 5-day training, she announced, "I will tell a story!" She did not commit to leading the discussion on the story; someone else in her group would do that part. So, when storytellers rotated to tell their stories to a new group, this extremely withdrawn lady actually told a Bible story to a group of six other attendees.
Toward the end of each workshop comes the fun time for each small study group to select a story to tell and to dramatize for the last evening’s grand finale. One person would be selected to tell the story, while the rest of the group silently acts the story out in front of everyone.
Wonder of wonders, the once beaten down lady volunteered to tell the story! Not only that, when the evening came, she brought her Down's-syndrome daughter.
When we looked out and saw 70 plus people in the audience, we realized that the storyteller would have to use a microphone; which for a withdrawn person presented an added hill to climb!
We all watched in awe, some even in tears, as that withdrawn mom told the story, over the microphone—and her daughter took part in the drama!
The STS way of empowering people gave this broken lady that courage to speak God's Word. God is no respecter of persons!
For more on women see: Sample Conversational Use of STS
Women