OBS - Philippines Six-Month Report

Wrap-Up Report After Six Month School Term 
The students the writer "E.B." referenced in the earlier paragraphs above as being at the three month milestone have now completed their six months’ term and graduated.
Five STS instructors (two from the Philippines, two from the US and one from Australia) attended the graduation. The nine students (out of the original twelve who started in this school) told a Bible story of their selection to the instructors. They also told a story that was selected at random by the visiting instructors from the list of Bible stories the superintendent said the students had learned.  

Besides telling the story, the students shared some of what they had discovered spiritually in the story and told how the six months of school had impacted them and their families.

The superintendent had told us at the three month mark that the students knew an average of 20 stories each. This number seemed very low to us considering how hard we knew the students had been working and how long the school days had been.

Through an investigative phone conversation, it was discovered that the superintendent had trained the students to memorize the stories. He had not yet clearly understood the style of remembering we teach in STS. (See the fun story of this episode of memorizing/remembering discovery). When this Filipino leader finally understood how much easier it is to do what we in STS call “remembering” a story, and that remembering did NOT compromise the integrity of the Word of God, he quickly taught that skill to the students.

Amazingly, the total number of stories learned by the students in the second three months of the school averaged one hundred and ten stories! YES, remembering is easier than memorizing. The total number of stories learned in the six months by the students ranged from 100 to 150 stories!

As well as the quantity of stories learned being impressive, the impact on the lives of the students, their families and their ministries also greatly encourages us to move forward as quickly as possible in establishing these Oral Bible Schools. (Ministry began during the six-month school term both locally on weekends and during a few visits back to the mountain area that these students call home.)

[As our dedicated and overwhelmed volunteer staff can transcribe the student reports, we plan to post them on this site. Below are some of the students’  “report cards.”]