Open Doors in North Africa

Praise & Prayer Report #4, June-July 2024

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Open Doors in North Africa

When Satan chooses to steal, kill and destroy, people eventually know that their religion offers no hope. People need the hope that only comes from Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said the harvest is plenty; it’s the laborers that are few.

God’s Story and Simply The Story (STS) have been making their way across north Africa in incredible ways. In many of these countries across north Africa, people are coming together in STS Oral Bible Schools.

The excitement from the realized freedom in Christ has caused many others to want this same freedom.

Please pray for the believers across these difficult countries as they face persecution, arrest, and even death. Also pray for our leaders in this region, who have an amazing plan in place.

Mexico Kids Listen to God’s Story

While on a mission trip in Mexico, building a home for a family with meager means, one of the short-termers gave a MegaVoice solar audio player with God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity to the family’s children aged 6, 7, and 8, to listen to. None of them had ever heard any stories from the Bible before. The children loved the 80-minute program so much that they listened to it over and over and often asked the missionary to share more Bible stories.

The children would walk around with the solar player listening to Bible stories throughout the day. Other mothers and neighbors were thrilled to receive their own player.

The missionary wrote, “These three children do not attend school, cannot read, and they spend most days wandering the streets together. Three of the five kids wanted to pray and thank God for His forgiveness and grace.” They gladly accepted the solar player as a gift.

Uganda: A Country Growing in the Lord

We have not reported on the STS Oral Bible Schools in the refugee camps of East Africa for some time. Rest assured; they continue strong!

Teams are hosting children at the refugee centers in Kenya and Uganda. The children learn Bible stories and get to discuss what the Lord is showing them. They dig together!  What a change for these children, especially in Uganda, from 20 years ago when Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army would take the children and have them do unimaginable things. Now, God gives these children the Hope they need for all eternity.

God's Story continues to be shown alongside the Jesus Film. Both films serve a unique purpose and have a different impact. God's Story lays a necessary foundation to who Jesus is and why He came. This reduces and often eliminates syncretism where people add Jesus to their other gods. After laying this foundation, the Jesus Film presents much greater detail of Jesus' life from the book of Luke.

Even though we have 457 languages of God's Story completed, we need more help. We have languages waiting to be completed in Ethiopia, S. and N. Sudan, Nigeria and elsewhere. Many of these translation projects remain unfunded. As well, we are working as fast as possible to raise recording teams throughout Africa.

These recording teams focus on more than just the technical aspects of recording the God’s Story audio, they also spend time in many of the Bible passages with the translators and narrators. This gives the language teams an in-depth understanding of God's character, as well as enhances the quality and accuracy of the final recording.

When we premiere a new translation of God's Story, we also provide Bible recordings (if available), organize a Simply The Story training and provide other gospel resources. We often find that people in remote villages had no idea that the Bible was available in their language!                                                       Click here to donate.

God's Story Recording in Cameroon.

We praise the Lord for our recording team in Cameroon who are almost done recording 6 languages.  

African Missionary in the USA

Recently one of our African leaders was returning home from the Simply The Story International Office. While waiting for his flight at LAX, he spoke to a newly-wed couple from Canada on their way to their honeymoon. After sharing and discussing the Blind Bartimaeus story, this couple accepted Christ. This couple was so excited about their new found faith, they looked for a way to return home early so they could start growing in the Lord.

STS Reaches Madagascar

Our instructor on Mercy Ships continues raising others with STS skills throughout various places of Africa. Recently they told stories to the children of Madagascar.

The instructor forwarded this praise report from another STS trained day crew (edited slightly for better understanding). "I visited a family which had a problem yesterday. Instead of preaching, I did STS from the story of Jesus Walking on the Sea. We was 6 persons, and every one enjoyed it.

"The feedback is that the STS is very powerfull. This familly seems separated from Jesus, then they begin to have a big problem. But after hearing and discussing the story, they belived in Jesus and put their life under his hand. They took out of the story that their life was like the boat against the wind, but Jesus is coming and take care of them if they trust in him. They told also that they are like Peter, if they belive in him, they can walk on the sea like Jesus."

STS Trains in Benin

Several trainings took place in Benin over the past month with the goal to raise instructors. We thank the Lord for the team that worked tirelessly to see these advanced and regular trainings to fruition in South, Central and North Benin.

Coming up on Heart Pocket Podcast (HeartPocket.org)

• Darlene shares from her 50+ years of experience leading successful children’s ministries.
• Carol describes literate learners trying to teach oral learners and not reinventing the wheel.
• Larry goes in-depth on how he remembers all 1189 chapters of the Bible, and so much more.

Thank you all for your prayers and love for the nations.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director

Spiritual Freedom

Praise & Prayer Report #3, April-May 2024

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Wanted: God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity

Our God’s Story workshop leader recently returned from recording 7 languages in West Africa. Even though the team goes to record God’s Story, our leader shared the impact these workshops are having on the translators, narrators, and those around the team.

The guest house where the teams stayed is owned by a lady. The team prayed for this woman as well as others and invited several people to join them for worship on last the Sunday our God’s Story team was there. The Word of God was shared, our team prayed for people and the entire guest house of 8 people accepted Christ. A couple of the people were freed from being demon possessed and all were encouraged.

Later, people told the team of a specific spirit that controlled the place prior to the people being freed to worship Christ. Reports have come in that some are going to church by guest house where our team stayed.

We have known for years that any team working on translating or recording God’s Story requires extra focused prayer. Many have shared with us over the years that they have been astonished by the spiritual attacks with God’s Story above what they normally face. These challenges still occur.

Our recording specialists continually run into issues during the scenes where Satan, in the form of a serpent talks to the woman in the garden of Eden. All of their equipment works well before they get to these scenes. Only at this section does the equipment begin to crackle giving unusable recordings. When our leader swapped his equipment with another recordist to try the same section, he had issues at that spot as well. The teams endure and eventually record the parts that expose Satan as the liar that he really is. After that spot in the script, their equipment again records with little to no issues. Please pray for all the teams around the world working on God’s Story languages.

Sometimes, translators are encouraged to do God’s Story without totally understanding the program or its value. One such team recently came to translate in West Africa just to see what God’s Story really was. During translation and recording times, the project still was not clear to one of the translators. Only during the review, the translator told our leader to stop. The translator shared that he had done other translations, and yet in this short time with God’s Story, he finally realized what God had used him to accomplish. The time with God’s Story had greatly impacted him. Listening to God’s Story during the review time allowed several parts in the Bible that he had read several times in the past to finally become clear to him. He plans to use God’s Story to reach many in the community. The translator also knows there are many in the community who do not understand the Bible, and God’s Story will help these people.

Spiritual Rehab

We have realized that for life changes to take place, the Word of God has to penetrate past the mind and into the heart. We see that engagement with the Lord through His Word helps people apply what He says. The power of God has opened doors for us to conduct Simply The Story training in prisons, rehab centers and more. One workshop took place at a rehabilitation center recently in Kenya. Participants are recovering from substance and drug abuse. One person shared this impact story.

“The one leper story [Mark 1:40-45] has impacted my life a lot. I am from xxx and I have been just like that leper. I could not be with other people because of my condition. I have been in the same problem of rejection from friends and even family members to an extent of bringing me to this rehabilitation center. I was not willing come here. “I see Jesus showed love and mercy to that leper, I am now ready to work on myself so as never to do drug’s again because i want to believe in Jesus. I know he loves me and has good plans for me.

“Again, the story of bent woman, how she was healed after so many years. I’ve wasted more that 20 years because of drugs. I believe that this is the time of my transformation.”

A 2033 Goal!

In Congo Brazza, one STS leader has been helping to fulfill a church’s plan to reach the whole country by 2033. That will be 2000 years of evangelism across the world. The church sent out 30 trained STS evangelists to proclaim the Gospel recently. They chose Simply The Story as one of their main tools to go from house to house. These storytellers went to the mission field, and 300 people accepted Christ. The church met recently to discuss discipling these new believers. The plan was to teach the people to learn and quote verses and to learn the Ten Commandments.

This STS leader, familiar also with the power of God’s Story, encouraged the church to use God’s Story to help disciple these young believers by going through each story. This would give the people a clear understanding of the overview or meta-narrative of the Scriptures. People find this method very powerful because many do not read, write, or have the same understanding as the church. Pray for this church to raise the evangelists to reach the lost across their country.

Spiritual Freedom

In Guinea during Ramadan, one Bible storyteller from a large ministry shared the blind Bartimaeus story from Mark 10. A strong Muslim man stood and said, “You know what Jesus has done? It’s the same thing your ministry has done with us. You could have come and given money and left, but instead your ministry and Jesus are giving us sight.”

Mozambique Excitement

A growing instructor in STS shared a great report from training in Mozambique. “We didn't know how many people we would have, but we averaged 50 people per day….People from 4 different churches were represented.

“It was exciting to see people get excited about using their new tool right away and asking for help for how to use it in their ministries. Several people used it with children's ministry on Saturday and Sunday... A few of the pastors used it this past week also….

“One boy in my tribe barely looked up or said anything during our preparation. His whole demeanor was kind of cured with a sense of insecurity. When I asked who wanted to tell the story he said he wanted to. He wasn't presenting until the next day so he had time to prepare. We reviewed the next day and he presented. He did a great job! When I was coaching him he had a big smile on his face and it looked like he had just got a boost of confidence…

“The hot topic at church yesterday was telling stories:) How easy, practical, and fun it is!”

STS + Flannel graph = Discipleship

As 3 STS workshops combined with flannel graph training took place, another man who has more than 100 older people that come regularly to learn stories in the STS way wrote, “YES. I NEED. MOST USEFUL TO [location left out for security reasons] OLDAGE CHURCH FAMILY, THEY UNDERSTAND WELL WORD OF GOD BY SHOWING PUCTURES. YOU PLEASE COME TO […] AND SPEND TIME WITH MY OLDAGE PEOPLE AND PREACH WORD OF GOD BY SHOWING PICTURES. SEND ME ONE KIT FOR […]”

Languages Upgraded or Mastered Recently

Chothe, Fur, and Mongolian have been completed and upgraded. Please contact us if you want to help sponsor languages or request a language to be upgraded.

Heart Pocket Podcasts Recently and Coming Up at www.HeartPocket.org

In a recent podcast, Zev describes life in Israel for the past several months. Wilma shares the impact of STS in her life. Kelly gives insights for doing Bible stories with children and the impact of STS on outreach. Teresa has fun with A Little Mango in a Big World. Doranne and John make retirement fun with ministry!

If you are interested in joining a Bible storytelling time with Simply The Story, please let us know. We have one Ministry That Multiplies session started online in English and plan to have more. Our first online English Oral Bible School has started.

Thank you all for your prayers and love for the nations.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director  

People Hear & Believe

Praise & Prayer Report # 2, February-March 2024

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God’s Story Premieres

For the month of February and a little into March our leader in Ghana, along with a God’s Story team, premiered 6 languages in several regions throughout Ghana. The Kamara and Anum Boso (Gua), have no known Scripture in their language except God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity. The Choruba (a dialect of Gonja) and Kplang language have only God’s Story and some GRN recordings. Two languages groups, Choruba and Kamara, are considered unreached people groups.

Our leader shared regarding the Choruba, “The chiefs and elders were excited to have GS done in their language. They never thought their people could be remembered.” The Kamara people were excited to have God’s Story in their own language for the first time.

After the Nankani premiere in Ghana, the team went to a restaurant to eat. The woman who spoke Nankani was so excited to hear God’s Story; she now wants to use the video at her restaurant.

In Congo Brazzaville, our leader led a team to show Ombamba in 5 villages. This again is another language that has only God’s Story and GRN recordings available for the people.

This people stayed unreached due to ethnic and language barriers.

They are discriminated against because they are from Gabon. Local missionaries have been sent to the villages preaching and teaching in the other languages, not Ombamba. This discrimination occurred for many years and has kept local churches from being planted in these villages. As a result, these

people have remained bound to their traditions and false gods.

God’s Story in Ombamba is the first material about God they have received in over 90 years. Testimonies from the showings of Ombamba God's Story in 5 villages include the following.

(Google translated from French) “It is appropriate to point out that wherever the film was shown, we noted that populations not reached by churches have an acute thirst for the  word of God. Another observation made is that the unreached and the Christians have finally found a reliable tool of communication, which is this film in the Ombamba language.

“All levels (children, young people, adults and the elderly) were very happy to follow God's message in their mother tongue. Moments of happiness and emotion (such as the moments when people agreed to follow Jesus Christ and abandon their sins and the moments of prayer of the sick) crowned this tour.

“The involvement of notables from each village in the success of this projection widely opens the doors for us in future projections…. People testified that they enjoyed watching this film which is in their Ombamba language.”

The report continued, “They understood the message well … they had joy at finally having biblical support in their Ombamba language.”

They now scheduled other film screening sessions and are requesting a video projector

to show God’s Story more. The people want training in oral communication (STS) to spread the word of God.

“In view of the above, the screening of the film story of God from creation to eternity has just sparked a spiritual awakening in the villages mentioned above. The success of this tour is the work of the Almighty. May all glory be given to him in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We remain humbled and blessed to hear the incredible reception people have to God’s Story. Pray for all these people to know the true resurrected risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

Raising Instructors in Peru

STS instructors Andrew and his wife Sheryl recently traveled to Peru to train others. They are raising 3 ladies from Lima to be STS trainers and to be able to tell God’s stories with power and conviction. The team then traveled to a small city in a jungle area of Peru and worked with a small congregation from the ethnic group known as the Shipibos. Most of them spoke Spanish well, but at times they needed to use translators.

Andrew writes, “The people were encouraged and enjoyed the training, and the pastor learned a new and dynamic way to share the Word of God with his congregation.”

“One miracle … the pastor told us that it was the rainy season, and if it were to rain, the roads would turn to mud, and no one would be able to make it to the church for the training. We asked the Lord to hold back the rain during the day between 4:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

So…God held back the rain every day for ten days . . . Until the day we left for the airport, and then it rained cats and dogs from 2:00 PM onward!”

YWAM & STS in Brazil

What happens when YWAM contacts you and says they want Simply The Story training in several places throughout Brazil? Well, you block out a month, round up a team of STS instructors and travel to a few places in the country and teach anyone and everyone who is hungry to learn. One of these opportunities included

training those working among the indigenous people.

Several Portuguese speakers are well on their way to becoming instructors; praise the Lord! We need to fulfill the requests that are coming in from Mozambique, as well as Brazil, for STS.

India Laws Verses God Almighty

Our leader in India shared Bible stories in a prison recently. They heard Blind Bartimeaus (Mark 10:46-­‐52) and the One Leper (Mark 1:40-­‐45). Many of the prisoners saw that the leper did not obey the law of the land or the Word of Jesus. These prisoners saw themselves as doing the same as the leper and cried despite the fact that many are in prison only for political reasons or not being able to speak the language. More than 600 prisoners heard God’s Word.

The growth of STS in India is beyond measure. Our leader can count at least 10 generations of instructors and receives at least 300 to 400 messages a day regarding the impact of the ministry.

One leader among a tribal group who has been in ministry for 20 years said that because of STS he has grown closer to God and is leading many others to Christ because people

remember the Bible stories. Just in that tribal group they are seeing the 3rd and even 4th generation of instructors. This leader sent his gratitude in tears to our leader via a message recording.

Our leader said to me, "Planting seed is easy. Seeing it to fruit is not."

Items for Prayer

In April one of our leaders will be recording a God's Story language of an unreached people group in Central Asia and leading an STS workshop. The people are a Roma (Gypsy) people group and the Bible has not been  translated  into  their language. In  fact, God’s Story will be the very first item  of any kind produced in their language. Please  pray for the   translator and the young man we are asking to narrate. Pray for protection – physically and spiritually – as they prepare to record.

In April we have an online Assistant Instructor training along with a regular in-­person training in Kentucky April 12-­‐14. An advanced and a regular training will be at our Hemet California headquarters in July. For more information, go to our website, www.SimplyTheStory.org.

A God’s Story recording team is preparing to be in Benin to record 8 languages. Pray for the story tellers, translation teams, and recording team.

We thank God for the Advanced and Full STS training in Hemet, CA recently. The results can be heard on Heart Pocket Podcast (www.HeartPocket.org).

Thank you all for praying for our leaders, the trainings, languages, and the ministry. Thank you also for the gracious donations that help us get the Word of God out.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP) Executive Director

“It’s Terrible…"

Praise & Prayer Report #1, December & January 2024

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“It’s Terrible in the camp of the enemy

Our leader just returned from premiering several languages of God’s Story in Cameroon. He said, “It’s Terrible in the camp of the enemy.“  “What?” I asked.  He continued saying, ”Souls are being saved so it’s terrible for the enemy!” speaking about the spiritual impact God’s Story has been having. Even the spiritual leaders, elders, and dignitaries are coming to the Lord.

Rejoicing in spontaneous dance and song in the Lord.

How to get an Audience with the King.

In some African cultures, the King, or village chief, is sought out to get permissions to show God’s Story to the whole village. During the recent premiers, our leader met with several kings and received authorization to show God’s Storybecause they saw what we do and the value for the whole village. The kings often come to the showings as well because it honors the people, the king, and their language. In one instance, the Muslim king invited the pastors to premier God's Story in front of his house and asked for prayer for his village. He received his copy of God’s Story and also translated the testimonies of those that were healed. Yet he did not want to be seen in the church.

Another lady played God’s Story for a king, and he asked for his own player. This 68 year old king was thrilled to receive his own Megavoice solar audio player. The king listened for 8 days to the player. Then he shared the player and God’s Story with those close to him. People in the village got curious, so the king played it on a loud speaker. Finally, the king built a place where people could come listen every evening. It is now a natural event every evening and people even run from market place to listen to the God’s Story.

People have heard it several times and are not tired of it.  A church has now been planted and the king, who the people call pastor, is asking for a pastor. Our ministry is now preparing for an STS training with this village and others.

Our leader continued, “Bandits attacked neighboring villages of this king. Yet they will not come to king’s village because they say God is with them” (speaking of the king’s village).

What Language to Speak?

The people of Cameroon are caught between a rock, a hard place, and the fire due to different languages!  The battles rage between those who speak English, those who speak French and those who only want Islamic languages spoken (such as Fulfulde, Arabic, etc).  

By the leading of the Holy Spirit, our leader asked many people, “Where does language come from?”  The people did not have an answer.

Through the tower of Babel story and Rev 7:9, (“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb…”) our language premier leader allows people to discover the preciousness of their language.  After realizing the value of his own language, one village leader told the people to speak in their own language. As a result, many find God’s Story and any Bible portions in their language even more valuable than before! 

For one specific language premier of God’s Story, the original governor limited our leader from showing God’s Story. After seeing spiritual fruit, the governor changed his mind and even organized a premier launching at the governor‘s place as if it was his language. Now this governor wants God’s Story in his own language on the list for the next recording. Praise the Lord. 

The same results are happening where we premier languages. Let’s rejoice together in our Lord’s mercy.

God’s Story + Scriptures + Solar Players = Access

We learned recently that there are Scriptures available in some of the languages we premiered. However, in the remote villages where God’s Story goes, the people do not have access to those Scriptures. Internet is limited and people do not know how to find the available Bible passages either.  When we premier God’s Story, we include as much Bible on the Megavoice solar players and micro SD cards as possible. As a result, we discovered that we are bringing the tools to the people rather than waiting for the people to find the tools. Our language teams are creating access to the Gospel by making Scripture available in remote places. We call this “Project Access.”

Pastors and Leaders “We need more!”

People often use Whatsapp to communicate globally because the text messages and calls are free of phone charges. A person only needs a data connection.  So when one pastor called our leader in West Africa with a country-to-country direct call, he knew it was important.

A pastor calling exclaimed, “The tools are working! We need more!” He continued to share that the tools we left in his country are adding value to what they are doing. Here is how.

A few months ago, a team of God’s Story recording specialists and leaders traveled to Congo Brazza to record several languages and premiere a handful of other God’s Story languages recorded in 2022. In the few months of those God’s Story languages being used throughout the country, we have received multiple reports of impact and need.

The team that premieres the languages has been doing this for many years in several countries and continues to maximize the use of these tools for each language. They often plan with pastors, leaders, and village chiefs when and how to premiere each language. Our team learns what tools are used most throughout the country with each language. In some areas the God’s Story language needs to have more DVDs, and in other areas we need more microSDs, and in many remote areas, the Megavoice solar audio players work best. (Click to learn more)

When a new language of God's Story is premiered in a country, this event allows us to begin the spread of this wonderful tool across the country. Pastors, leaders, evangelists and whole villages are invited to attend the premiere. Each of these leaders who attends the premiere is given God's Story resources, DVDs, microSD cards and Megavoice players. These leaders become God’s ambassadors and take God's Story across their country. They share the resources our teams provide with other leaders who were unable to attend the premiere. Too often the demand for these resources outstrips our limited ability to provide.

We receive calls from people working among the blind, people in remote areas, rebel groups (yes, rebel leaders have called us), prison ministries, and others asking for more tools. 

Wish to help with God’s Story Premieres? (https://oralbibleresources.com/shopcart/donate.htm, select God’s StoryPremiere). 

Prayer Needs

Pray for our India team traveling soon to Sri Lanka. There is no food and no fuel in this country, along with government issues. Our team is going to see needs and how to help. They will also conduct an advanced workshop. They will also see how the 2 Oral Bible Schools planted several years ago have multiplied.

Several teams are traveling for Simply The Story training and God’s Story launchings in Europe, Latin America, West and East Africa and Asia.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)

Executive Director

Just Do It!

Praise & Prayer Report #6, October-November 2023

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God's Story Languages Impacting Many

As 2023 comes to a close, I'm reflecting on the Lord's goodness. Even as the world returned, the best way it knew how, to normalcy, the Lord allowed us to continue working in 5 continents (still working to find a way into Antarctica 😀). Opportunities to be more involved exist.

Currently we have a God's Story recording team in Nigeria working with 7 language teams. The recording teams and teams that premier new God's Story languages spend time in the Word of God with the translators and narrators. Several people on the language teams have commented to our leaders how much they learn from God's Word. Some have even repented! This year we premiered or launched new languages in Nigeria, India, and Congo Brazza. We are making plans to premiere new languages in early 2024 in Togo, Cameroon, Congo Brazza, Ghana, and more.

Betrayed, No Friends, and Alone Finds Christ 

The following testimony came as a result of an STS storyteller doing the betrayal of Jesus by Judas in Matthew 26:47-­‐56.  After hearing and discussing the story in Matthew, a person wrote the STS storyteller about having lived through an unexpected divorce and being sensitive to betrayal. This person not only lost a spouse but all their friends too and was alone and empty. This person cried to God, only knowing the Lord religiously and culturally. God brought to this person a believer who kept sharing the words, "Life is beautiful," which allowed the person to recognize the relationship this believer has with the Lord. It opened this person's heart to have a relationship with Christ and filled the emptiness.  

This person continued sharing that even abandoned and betrayed, Jesus could carry us through. We are not alone, and death could not restrain Him.  Christ's resurrection testifies of His glory, power, and love, and we are no longer alone.  

When Not Invited, What to Do?

One of our leaders in Africa called recently to share these amazing reports. For 10 years he had reached out to a specific denomination wondering when they would finally adopt Simply The Story. After a recent training, they were amazed at the results.

Our leader started the conversation with me by saying, "It's going viral!" Curious, I asked him to explain.

Toward the end of the training with this large denomination, the attendees went out to practice their new storytelling skills. In just 30 minutes 22 people accepted Christ! The attendees returned overjoyed. Now people the students meet are inviting the students from the training to share more Bible stories.

One woman trained in the workshop continues to go out every day to share the Truth of Christ with people on the streets. This amazing evangelist met some Christians on the street. They told her that if she wanted to preach to them, they were already believers and go to church. She replied, "No problem" and then shared an illustration from our training called the Path. When she reached the part about those who run down the path, these Christians realized they were the ones running down the path, not wanting to hear the Word. This opened their hearts to hear a Bible story and to discuss the treasures together with this storyteller.

This woman also encountered a street preacher and asked him a couple of questions when he was done preaching, "What have you done? Could people tell you tomorrow what you said today?" 

The preacher replied, "No." 

The woman then told him a Bible story and had a great discussion over the word of God with him. Afterward, he exclaimed, "I need this!"

Due to space limitations, the Pastor who opened his church to the STS training did not choose this woman evangelist to attend the workshop. Praise the Lord, that did not stop her from attending.

The Pastor shared, "It's working. Everyone can give the Word. Members understand the Bible and remember it." This pastor is part of a denomination of 3000 churches. Now, several churches in the denomination are asking for Simply The Story. This truly is going viral!

Wife and Mom, Tools for Growth

One attendee from the above workshop used to argue often with her husband. After hearing the Martha and Mary story on the first day of the training, she saw herself as having a "Martha" attitude when she spoke to her husband. Touched by this, her attitude changed when she went home. Her husband quickly noticed the change and said, "This is not my wife." So he asked her what the church taught her that day. Her husband, being in the military and understanding the importance of leadership structures, heard her response and now wants to attend an STS training. 

This woman, who is also a young mother, practices Bible stories with her children. Her children told her, "If this was the way Sunday school were taught, we would never sleep through the class." Now, even when this mom is tired, her children ask her for a Bible story. 

Mexico Sees Results 

Much has happened in Mexico over the past few months. We love our partnership with By Design Visuals 
(https://bydesignvisuals.org), maker of high quality and unique flannel graphs for a new generation. By Design flannels combined with Simply The Story has opened doors for training people from numerous churches in accurate and captivating Bible stories.  Along with the multiple trainings, two STS Oral Bible Schools have been launched in Mexico. 

Another of our leaders in Mexico recently completed a series of Ministry That Multiplies sessions at her home. As a result of these MTM sessions, new STS Assistant Instructors have been raised, and storytellers have been equipped.

Prayer Points

We often have opportunities to do stories in prisons, train prisoners in STS, and start Oral Bible Schools in prisons. In one African country, we have an opportunity to train prison chaplains. Pray for these unique situations.

We praise the Lord for the recently completed Comprehensive Leadership Training (CLT) in East Africa, where experienced and budding STS leaders from 10 African nations were trained. Pray for these leaders as they return and implement what they have learned. 

In early February, a small team of STS leaders head to Asia to partner with a ministry that rescues girls from human trafficking. Our leaders will conduct in depth training with the Asian leadership team who minister to the rescued young women. Our Asian partners have shared how STS meets the key spiritual need that has helped shorten the girls' recovery time and has deeply impacted their hearts. This heart change has kept more than 93% of the girls from falling back into the lies that lured them into the hands of the traffickers in the first place. Please pray for our small team going and for the leadership of this other organization as they implement the training.

Our Hemet California Advanced training is nearly at capacity. Pray for the attendees as they prepare to grow in their learning. We often dive into more challenging passages, like Epistles, using the STS skills.

Congratulations to John and his wife. God blessed them with a baby girl. John leads our language recording teams

Congratulations to John (and his wife), our leader in East Africa, ordained as a Bishop in November.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. 

May you have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. 

Andrea & The whole staff of Simply The Story and The God's Story Project (TGSP)

Executive Director

God’s Power! 

Praise & Prayer Report #5, August-September 2023

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STS Oral Bible Schools Continue Strong 

Several years ago, I sat with ministry leaders in Ethiopia who shared their desire to raise Bible study leaders strong in the Word of God.  Sending people to seminary of regular Bible schools was too costly and nowhere near their location. They thanked the leaders of Simply The Story in Ethiopia for bringing to them the solution of our STS Oral Bible Schools. Since then, many people have been part of these OBSs throughout Ethiopia. The results have been churches planted, church leaders raised and strong growth in the Lord.   

What do amazing flannel graphs, STS and Oral Bible Schools have in common? 

All are working together to help people in Mexico grow in the Lord and reach the lost. After attending an STS training in Mexico, 50 people signed up and attended the inaugural STS Oral Bible School for Latin America. These students commit to learn 296 Bible stories and to share the Bible passages with people in their local area. The deep discussions they have in the OBS allow the students glean tremendous observations and application for their lives. 

The BDMI flannel graphs are also proving to be a wonderful combination with Simply The Story and are being used in Mexico, India VBS, and Africa. The flannels draw people's attention and the STS Bible discussions reach the heart. All ages love this combination. 

Cost Effective OBSs and Needs

Our Oral Bible Schools remain highly cost effective due to the unique design. Our greatest expense tends to be the graduation because we love providing solar powered Megavoices with God’s Story, audio Bibles if available, microSDs and other tools to graduating students, depending on the region.  

Recently, one leader shared that in Northern Kenya, the Turkana people are starving due to drought. They are nomadic and there are no wells for their herds, and thus the cattle are dying and food has become scarce. When our leader reached out to 3 organizations that dig wells, they refused to help because he did not have the funds and was not a western organization.  

Despite these issues, many Turkana continue to attend our OBSs. We have chosen to help feed them 3 meals a week. This is only a fraction of the need.

Please pray for an organization that can dig the wells needed in this region and for the resources given to the OBS graduates. 

STS Seeps into the Catholic Church

Earlier this year, we did a few trainings in one of the largest countries of Africa. Several of those attending with a Catholic background wanted to tell the priests about our tools, but the instructor encouraged them not to do that. Instead, they started to simply tell the Bible stories and discuss them. Now the instructors are receiving reports how the people are spending time in Bible stories rather than reciting prayers to Mary. Many are accepting Christ as well. 

A Mind Blowing Testimony

Recently one of our leaders emailed me with a testimony that is both mind blowing how God changes hearts, and gruesome before people submit to the Lord. It comes as a result of one God’s Story premier. Some details changed or left out for security reasons.

An assistant pastor received God's Story during the premier of his language. In one of the villages where this church leader works, a lady who used to come to church asked to borrow his microSD card so that she could watch it closely at home, alone.  

A few days later she came to the assistant pastor and shared something strange. She admitted to being a prostitute and practicing magic. She also confessed to having other gruesome practices. 
She told the pastor that every man who comes and touches her bed has to give her all the money he has. Even the villagers testified how people with cars visited this lady. She asked the assistant pastor to go with her and to help solve these other gruesome practices. She wanted to be set free from this situation forever.  

The pastor was very scared. After praying all day with the lady, the next morning they went to resolve the gruesome practices. 

What a testimony to the power of our Lord and His Word bringing this woman to Himself. 

God’s Story Recordings and Premiers: Transformative 

Our leaders work hard to finish God’s Story languages and then set up the language premiers. 

Our leaders continue to share how several translators and narrators are transformed while translating and recording God’s Story languages. Our teams spend time in the Word with these precious servants, and that time impacts their hearts. These deep Bible discussions have been called, “Powerful.” 

Our teams also coordinate with  several denominations to dedicate and gift the church leaders and church goers with a limited supply of DVDs, CDs, solar audio players, and microSD cards, all depending on the location where the language is most commonly spoken. Our leaders challenge the churches to organize themselves to reach every corner and village where their language is spoken with these precious gifted tools. 

People are asking for more. 

In one language group, the militias terrorize people and challenge the government. The leader of this militia group is considered a representative of God in the area. No church wants to evangelize in these places because they are hostile to the Word of God and for security reasons. After the premier of God’s Story in this region, the leader of this militia group and some of his close leaders were informed about the movie and they wanted a solar audio player.  

The leader sent his people to the representative Pastor, who was the narrator and who was also an STS Assistant Instructor, to get God’s Story materials and to use the opportunity to organize a STS workshop. The STS / God’s Story team wrote, "We also need your prayers because we will be in front of rebels." They plan to train the rebels in STS when they return. 

Like the rest of the world, our money does not buy as much due to inflation.  God’s Story premiers, Oral Bible School graduations, trainings, and all the tools God provides are laying a strong foundation for who Jesus is and why He came. People are understanding the Truth and receiving Christ. Pray with us for the provision needed to continue to provide these resources. 

Heart Pocket Podcast 

October and November podcasts include an interview with David Witt, CEO of Spirit of Martyrdom, who uses God’s Story and the foundations of STS in their ministry. We also have an interview with Dan and me regarding the rebranding and website along with plans for the future.  Listen to more podcasts at www.HeartPocket.org. 

We continue to add more God’s Story languages to our website for people to watch and to our Youtube station. Share these links with others.  Thank you for your prayers,  Andrea & The whole staff of STS & The God's Story Project (TGSP) 
Executive Director