How Can White People Teach Storytelling
Praise & Prayer Report #1, 2010
Capsule of Last Four Months
Dear Friends,
Thanks for your prayers and gifts. Thirty new versions of God’s Story began, plus Danish, Greenlandic Gonja, Bal s/w-bcc & Karamojong were recorded. Simply The Story workshops held have quadrupled.
Four Oral Bible schools show an average of 100 stories learned in 4 months!
Multiple workshops were led in Central Asia, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, India (15) in Africa, Vietnam, Nepal & USA as well as singles in Egypt, Cambodia, Malaysia, Dubai, Kuwait, Ireland, Colombia, Guatemala, Australia and New Zealand…to name a few!
But always, the only thing that really matters is how God is reaching people through these tools. So here are “stories.”
God’s Story
GUATEMALA:
“Pastor Pedro, arrived to tell us that one of the men of his church had borrowed the Pokomchi DVD and used it to evangelize the neighboring Achi tribe. Translating bits and pieces verbally, he succeeded in bringing 25 Achi people to Christ! ... using the Pokomchi DVD! Is that cool or not?! It is so God!
With Him nothing is impossible and He wants to make sure that we don’t forget it, by d’ golly!”
SEA ASIA:
Our leader from Asia spent days living in airports, then was deported when he was supposed to meet us in the Middle East.
“I had fellowship and good time with big Monk in the Monastery. I gave a GS video.
“I was so eager to share with you all God has done and doing through GS and STS, Mega Voice in my country. But that happened and could not meet you. I am sorry for that. But I never mind for this problem, Sometime failure happened. But failure is not the end but it is the beginning for the better way. Pray for us.”
Simply The Story
Mus*lm Background Believer
“In 2008 I attended a storytelling (STS) seminar in Manila. I was reluctant since the instructors were white people. I told myself, how can white people teach storytelling to a guy like me from a storytelling tribe?
I opened my ears and listened to the instructors. I was blown away by the
system they use. I knew this will change my ministry and way of life.
“After the training, I told the story of ‘Jesus and the Storm’ to M*sl*m youth. I saw the spark in their eyes. They listened and participated in the story.
“In the discussion looking for treasures, one young M lady said ‘Excuse me. I think Jesus is Lord!’
“In ‘Crippled Man Lowered Down’ story, a 17 year old guy shared ‘Hey, I didn’t know that Jesus can forgive sin.’
“Storytelling changed our lives and we know that God will also use this system to change people’s lives. We use STS for our family Bible study, in the pulpit preaching, sharing gospel on bus, plane or in one on one conversation.”
Horse Watches Retiree Teach
STS in Senegal
People listened too! Henry discovered STS in 9/08 and since as an instructor has taught on 5 continents.
"Senegal’s big surprise was having a Muslim attend the 3rd day and participate fully in the discussion, both OT & NT stories!"
Parlez-Vous Francois?
We Do Now!
As you will see from the following Nairobi report, highly educated Africans from French speaking Africa (20 African countries are Francophones) are embracing STS. Leaders with Masters and Doctorates in theology testify to discovering life changing information in the Word never before seen.
But amazingly the non-literates training alongside these leaders were discovering the information more quickly than the literates!
Finally the vast reservoirs of non-literates are being empowered to understand the deep treasures in the Word, in a way that they can, and are taking it back to others.
Our Africa Simply The Story instructors just led a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. There, 30 top African leaders from 7 West-African countries joined in as part of the 80 in attendance. These were top leaders from Francophone countries. A revered academic, Abel, gathered them.
Previously a dear friend of TGSP, Mike, had demonstrated STS to Abel. Then Abel sent a "scout" to N Nigeria to join a workshop when we could not get STS instructors into Chad. After hearing the report from his scout, Abel was so taken by the possibilities of STS for Africa, that he invited these 30 leaders to fly to Kenya for the STS workshop. Abel saw STS for what it is, inductive Bible study, oral style.
One of those highly educated pastor/leaders from Cote d'Ivoire attended the workshop with great reluctance. Twice he wrote back to Abel, saying, "You must have made a mistake. You don't want ME to go across Africa to a storytelling training?"
After the 5-day training, that pastor stood up and told how he had not wanted to come, but to his surprise the stories had impacted him personally. He then announced. "This training should not be called 'Simply The Story.' It should be called 'The Deepest Bible Study Ever Invented!'''
The leaders attending from Burkina Faso didn't ask ... they "demanded" that our African director not answer the 6 months ago call to go train in Cote d'Ivoire. But "Rather," they said, "You must come train in Burkina Faso. It is the easiest place to gather leaders from all the French speaking countries of Africa. And you will not just stay one week. You will stay until you have completed our training in how to train others, however long it takes! We will then carry STS on to French speaking Africa.”
USA Missions Pastor
“For the workshop and the lessons I learned, thanks. I taught Feeding of the 5,000 to my best friend, who is our Ends of the Earth leader, my Sunday school class, and to our mission team heading off to Tanzania.
“I keep hearing, ‘Can you teach us another story?’”
April 30 this church in AL is hosting a workshop … open to all.
Beyond Remote Region in Africa.
“After two years God's Story was finished in our people’s language. They are almost 100% Muslim, spread across several countries of West Africa. What a blessing the DVD has been.
“I was in one of the major cities of our people, helping to distribute the DVD. Over the next few days, people started stopping us on the street saying, ‘I watched the DVD last night and have questions for you." Of course, we were very glad to answer their questions!
Several thousand DVD's have made their way into the hands of the people in that area. We are now so thankful that they are there. Our missionaries have been evacuated due to severe security problems. Even though we are not there, God's truth continues to be proclaimed through God's Story. How precious it is that they are hearing of God's perfect plan for their eternal lives in their own language.
Thanks for your help in bringing God's Story to those who have never heard.
Tibetan Churches Birthed
“I had one STS planned on the Tibet border with EN the leader who attended our seminar. By using this tool they have now started 6 churches, average 20 people in each.”
Witch Doctor Hospitality
“We shared GS with an all animist village. I showed it in Thai and translated it into Po.
“The video was seen in none less than the witch doctors house! He even made new steps for us so the whole village of 42 could easily gain access.
“I gave the invitation and 2/3rds of the people said they wanted to receive Christ. The witch doctor stood up and told everyone to ‘stand down. I don’t want the village split.’
“That night, two young boys, age 15 and 18, snuck out of their huts and came to me asking if they could secretly receive JC. ‘Many villagers are meeting, all agreeing that GS made so much sense and JC had to be the true sacrifice.”