Immigrants and Refugees

In Matthew 25, Jesus describes the lives of those whom  the Father will welcome into His kingdom. Of these people Jesus says, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." In the past decade, the number of refugees fleeing their homes for safety has more than doubled. Many countries have noticed an increase of these "strangers" among them. These refugees come with many needs, both spiritual and physical. Many truly want to integrate into their new communities, but find significant barriers, such as language, transportation and culture.

Christian organizations and churches are finding that STS is an excellent way to start addressing the spiritual needs of these new neighbors. Some churches have regular outreaches where stories are told, often with translation. This often involves targeting specific language groups. People from other religions who would never go to a church or sit through a sermon find that they love the stories, and they enthusiastically participate. In fact, in a city with a large Arab population, a Muslim woman loved the stories so much that she attended an STS workshop to learn how to tell these stories to her children! Christian volunteers make use of these gatherings to build relationships with the refugees. Some of them start more intimate story groups in their homes, possibly attracting refugees who might not feel comfortable going to a church.

International Students

International students come to The United States, or other countries, to study for four or more years.  In addition to their college life, many hope to make personal connections in the communities where they are studying.  Unfortunately, far too many of them return to their home country without ever being invited to a church or into a local home. There are many parachurch groups on college campuses which reach out to these students, both with friendship and spiritual encouragement.  Many of them have weekly meetings where students can meet other students and hear a Christian message.

Several of these Christian campus groups are discovering that Simply The Story is a highly effective way to present this message.  International students like STS studies because they get a chance to talk and practice their conversational English.  Rather than just listening to a lecture, they get a more natural opportunity to ask questions and interact with people and the Scriptures. These deep conversations make it easier for international students to develop relationships, both with other international students and students/volunteers from the community. It’s even possible for some of the volunteers to continue these relationships by hosting STS story times with a group of students in their own homes.

Leadership Development

A lack of leaders and pastors plagues the Church worldwide. The traditional solution has been Bible colleges and seminaries. While an excellent option for some, this is not a viable option for those with low literacy skills and lack of resources. For many around the world, the financial burden of this traditional educational approach is prohibitive. What's more, leaders are needed now. The number of churches without a pastor or other leadership in the majority world is staggering. 

Simply The Story offers an option for helping address this need. Those trained in STS workshops are immediately able to share stories with deep discussion. While practice and experience results in increased ability and greater skill, even new storytellers are well equipped to lead fruitful studies. 

Beyond filling the pulpit and teaching roles in the church, STS offers a pastor and church a powerful tool for training up leaders.  By virtue of having people in the Word on a consistent and ongoing basis, they will learn to apply the Truth in their own lives, develop a biblical worldview and biblical theological understanding. 

Simply The Story Oral Bible Schools are also a proven option for training pastors and church leaders. While completing a full OBS takes time, groups are generally formed locally, and at little to no cost. Lack of literacy is also not a barrier to study. 

Prison Ministry 

The use of stories when ministering in jails and prisons has proven to very well received and highly effective. While many churches send teams behind bars, oftentimes those who go in preach or teach as they themselves are taught. Praise God for their ministry. The challenge that a vast majority of inmates face is that the messages they often hear is difficult for them to understand and remember because it is presented in a literate way. Over 70% of incarcerated men and women are either not literate or functionally non-literate.

Those trained in the Simply The Story method of Bible storytelling and Bible study can and do effectively bridge this literacy gap. The conversational and interactive way that STS Bible studies are conducted allows inmates at any level of literacy to fully engage in learning and sharing in the conversation. 

Senior Ministry

There is an expression in the United States that "You can't teach and old dog new tricks". Often when discussing 'doing' stories with senior adults some storytellers have seen initial hesitancy, but experience has shown that many seniors truly embrace and enjoy Bible storytelling once they experience it first-hand.

One leader who was pastoring a very old church in a rural area started using stories during the Sunday night service. This pastor streamlined the service so that almost all the time was being used to discuss the Bible passage. 

One evening immediately following the service, the pastor was met by a committee of Deacons and some of their wives. He was greeted with what was for him a surprising statement. 'Pastor, we want to talk to you about the Bible stories'. The pastor was shocked, as up until this moment everyone had seemed to be enjoying the stories and the discussion immensely. 

The wife of one of the deacons piped up and said, 'yes, it seems like as soon as we get into the really good discussion we run out of time and have to stop. Is there any way we can start earlier or go longer?' For the second time in just a few moments the pastor was shocked. In thirty years of ministry no one had ever asked him to preach longer and now here was an important group of church leaders requesting more time to dig into the Word.

These results among seniors are not unusual. Seniors have well developed senses of confidence and are usually very ready to speak up in a group. They often appreciate the more communal aspect of the discussion-based style of learning. 

Retirement communities and nursing home ministries are natural outlets for using Simply The Story among seniors. The regular use of STS allows seniors to get comfortable with the different teaching method which leads to more confidence and an even greater appreciation for the methodology.