Good Seeds Spring Forth Good Fruit
Prayer & Praise Report # 1, December 2022 and January 2023
Planting Seeds, Bearing Fruit
Five years ago, a young American woman traveled to Zambia and Mozambique to do STS style Bible stories at an orphanage. As this young woman left, the leaders of the orphanage said she did more to impact the orphans in one month than anyone had in the previous 25 years. Some of the older boys had even left the gangs they were in!
Fast forward five years. The kids are still doing Bible stories, along with skits, every Friday night. They also continue their memory verses. One leader said it is a sign of true discipleship that the children continue even after that young American woman has left. The children bear fruit, and God’s Word disciples their hearts.
Children Rise Up to Lead?
While leading a training in Spain years ago, I had the blessing of teaching Simply The Story to a 14-year-old boy. For practice, he presented the Bible passage and asked probing questions to a group of ministry leaders. When it was done I asked everyone, “If your pastor said a 14-year-old boy was coming to give the sermon, what would you think?“ Then I asked a second question, “How many of you learned something new from this Bible story?“ Everyone raised their hand. This solidified that God's Word and His Spirit is the ultimate teacher, not experience nor age.
Jesus Taught in the Synagogue at 12 Years Old, Can Others?
An African man, who has planted many Bible stories into the lives of his children, recently shared what God has been doing in his children’s lives. In December, this man’s eldest son was invited by five different churches to give the Christmas message. I asked him, “How old is your son?” He said that his son is 12 years old.
I wondered, “How could 5 churches ask a 12 year old boy to preach the Christmas sermon?” It is not for lack of pastors or churches! The father continued to tell me that his son told his own pastor about the invitations he received, but his pastor replied, “You’re not going anywhere! You’re going to preach in this church.”
Younger than 12?
This boy’s younger brother (the man’s second oldest son) attends a different church. They call him the associate pastor in the children’s Sunday school class. I asked this dad why they call him the associate pastor. The dad explained to me, “The pastor of the Sunday school said because he knows so many of the Bible stories (from STS) and he is excellent at engaging the other children.” This boy is only nine years old.
That same 9-year old boy attends a Catholic school. The Muzlm students are excused midday on Friday to attend prayer. This young boy asked the principal if he could tell a Bible story to the other children who stayed. He prepared for 2 weeks and told the story of Jesus turning the water into wine (John 2:1-11). The boy went on to also lead a discussion about the story as well! The principal sent a WhatsApp message to the father and said that the boy asked a certain question and wondered if the father had told him to ask that question or not. The father asked, “What question?”
The principal responded, “If Mary said to everyone in the facility, especially the disciples and those who brought water, whatever Jesus said you should do it, why are you doing what Mary wants and not what Jesus wants?” Does Jesus say they should bow down to Mary or does Mary say they should do whatever Jesus says? All the teachers of the school were there! The teachers and principal discovered this 9-year old’s father is a Bible storyteller and pastor. When back in the hometown he contacted that principal, who wanted to learn more, and asked for 30 minutes to discuss the story more. The principal said, “No. I will give you an hour. I want to learn more.” Stayed tuned for the next part of this story to come.
Even Younger than 9 Years Old?
Our storyteller’s second youngest daughter was picked by the teacher of her primary class to talk to the governor of their town because the teacher was impressed with her. This young girl used her mom’s phone and called her dad and asked, “Daddy, tell me a story … about the obedience of children. I know that Jesus obeyed his parents.” Her daddy told her Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” Her mom helped this young 5-year old deliver the story for 10 minutes with the governor. The governor was so impressed that he gave this young girl an envelope with nearly equivalent of $100. In Africa this is a lot of money.
Life Results from Death
One of our leaders recently lost some family members. Funerals in Africa are not like those in America. This leader’s family and friends normally celebrate the deceased person’s life with an evening of drinking. However, this leader chose to celebrate with family by sharing life. That evening, he showed his people a recently completed version of God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity. He told us that now people are convinced that Jesus is the God who created the world.
Children with Autism Engage
During the Chinese New Year celebrations, one storyteller shared that they had 30 Chinese people, and lots of children, including some on the autistic spectrum, at their home. This storyteller used to be a nursery school teacher for children with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Attention Deficit Disorder. She shared with the parents how faith in God can help people. She also offered other practical advice.
The storyteller was asked to do a very interactive storytelling of Genesis as most of the Chinese Christians have no idea about Genesis. There were over 70 people attending the Chinese New Year celebration at the church. This story had to be autism friendly as well. The storyteller used puppets and props to help. She shared, “As with STS I am always accurate and took it slowly, involving as many children and adults as I could. God blessed it abundantly.” For most of these Christians, it was the first time they had heard "In the beginning…". She also shared that many of the children with autism also participated in the Bible story discussion.
Heart Pocket Podcasts
If these amazing stories touch your heart, be sure to listen to the Heart Pocket Podcast (www.HeartPocket.org) Every Tuesday a new episode airs. On February 14 and 21, hear what a church in Southern California did for a neighborhood Christmas outreach to the neighborhood and the impact. Hint: it does snow in Southern California in the right places.
Items for Prayer
1. STS Children’s curriculum is in the testing phase in the USA and enters testing in Egypt and Ecuador. Pray for those testing the curriculum.
2. New Website has been tested and we are working on a problem with the AI translation tool. Please pray that we can easily and quickly resolve the translation tool and the other minor issues discovered during testing.
3. STS leaves for Israel for training and a tour. Our tour has STS woven throughout along with some unique outreach opportunities. Thirty people from USA, Africa, Europe and Asia are registered. Thank you for praying for the training and the tour.
We are thankful to the Lord for the way he uses these podcasts to encourage people. Our team spends time recording and editing each podcast and the feedback encourages us to keep going.
Thank you for reading and for praying for this ministry