Police Arrest Storytellers

Police Arrest Storytellers

Prayer & Praise Report #7,  2008

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Dear Friends of God’s Story,

Sorry to be so late to get a report to you. After 5 weeks on the road in Asia and Middle East, I returned and promptly came down with pneumonia! After 4 weeks of battling that I am now finally coming back to life. Many prayed and God is restoring.

Huge doors for God’s Story and Simply the Story opened throughout the world during our recent trainings. Please pray that we will make the choices God wants us to make.

God’s Story

Wonderfully when I am out of country or sick, we now have a dedicated staff that keeps the ministry going. We have just completed production on 10 new God’s Story languages, with several others in studio or in the mail to us. We now have 224 approved language versions! Just added for India: Gondi; for Ghana Buli-bwu, Kasem-xsm & Kusaal-kus; for Philippines Tausug-tsg & Maguindanao-mdh; for Myanmar Matu; in Bangladesh Chittagonian-cit; in Zimbabwe Ndebeli-nde and for Nepal Jirel-jul.

In… Mongolia: One attendee at the STS training shared, “Last February my dad received a blue player and listened over and over to God’s Story. He wanted to learn more from the Bible but can’t read. Now I know how to give him more stories from the Bible.

In… Asia: A lady reported, “I was in a remote area of the T region and just happened to meet an old man who invited me to his home for tea. Looking around I saw a megavoice with God’s Story on his shelf, so through the translator I asked him what it was. The man said it was a radio with stories of God on it. “

In…Philippines: A dynamic man, “T,” targets a very hard to reach people group, mostly mslm. He had heard God’s Story eight years ago. He tried using God’s Story in the closest language available, but his people just couldn’t understand the words. He wanted to have God’s Story in the language of his target people, but was told it was impossible. When T met us and discovered that he COULD partner with us to produce God’s Story in his needed language, he could hardly contain himself! He kept shaking his head saying, “I can’t believe it. I prayed for it, but I can’t

believe it!”

In …Unnamed Region: “I don't know if you heard the latest or not, but the police went around in all of the towns with loud speakers threatening jail for any XXX people who listen to or watch the GS or the JF. They put up wanted posters for the people who helped do the voices on the recordings. Also, anyone who tells or listens to Oral Bible stories will be put in jail. Some of the XXX who have been traveling around telling the stories are very discouraged now, because the villagers are so afraid that they will not even listen to the stories…..I think this is a huge sign of success.”

Simply The Story

Manda responded to the training: “The method was very simple to understand for any people. Teachers knew what to do, and most important thing was they were teaching God’s word without any addition or deduction.”

Another attendee wrote: “For me STS is the best way to share Bible with unbelievers or with new believers. There are 3 reasons that are why. First, it is very simple, I do not have to be very good teller or either have to be smart. All I have to do was to tell people just what I have learnt. And they do the rest of it by them selves. Second, when we find out the treasures, more we were encouraged to read bible and share it. It gives courage to anyone (old and young, man and woman etc,) to share the stories. Thirdly, it was really fun to study bible like this. Before I saw many times that people are getting tired or bored because they don’t understand the preaching in the church. I think any one can understand the STS.

“I used STS training at my church and at cell groups. Right after I went to STS, I shared the story “how Jesus made calm the storm on the lake Galilee” at my church, and shared what I have learnt in past few days. And I saw that everybody were involving in that story by answering questions and also asking questions. It created the relationships between us.”

In China: Simply Amazing. People from all over various regions attended the training and left saying, “We know you came to serve us. Thank you for giving this to us.”

In Hong Kong: We explained the need for oral strategies and gave an example of an STS story to CCMN, the largest world network of cell and house churches. Leaders from that presentation, and other encounters on our trip, now swell the list of countries waiting for this training to 53! In 2009 we want to top-off the training of the many who are using STS, so that they can be certified go and train others.

In Philippines: During an STS training, one study group contained 7 people from 7 different countries! They were practicing the Joshua and Caleb story. One man “V” was dismissed by the others in the group as not very serious as he just wasn’t getting the process. The dynamics of the group changed dramatically when the man innocently asked, “If you were asked to go to the XXX region and bring back a report what would you say?” Faces turned serious as XXX is the heart of a feared terrorist group. The group agreed that they hoped that they would bring back a true report. The STS instructor interjected, “This man serves in that region. He now shows God’s Story there and is seeing 30-40 people believe in Jesus at each showing.”  V, this man above men, was being judged based on his ability to learn a process in a 2nd language, but he just showed that he understood the story and was applying its truths! All present were humbled.

From Marianne, Wycliffe Translator: “I want to thank you all so much for the tremendous impact the STS workshop has made in our team of 7 from B…. They are so excited that they are planning to go to C… this weekend (one of the very remote jungle areas) to teach the stories they have learned.

“Not only that but they are studying new stories every morning in their quiet time from 5-6am. “They have been so impacted that they are already inviting about 15 tribal leaders from 2 language

groups for a New Years 5-day story celebration. We will be arriving just in time to celebrate with them. I can't thank the Lord and you all enough.”

From: Marianne: (in another letter) … “I feel so strongly about it, that I dare to say each Christian and especially each translator or literacy worker should get this training and use it for personal and ministry application. I feel this training approach is so practical that after a 5-day workshop and with some additional practice our people can use it right away for witnessing and develop their own storying project. Especially with our background of world view etc.

“If I may ask your permission...this is what I would like to focus on for the rest of my life.

“This approach of Scripture promotion can incorporate everything I love to do. (Including media, video, audio, music drama etc.) But what I like is the simple focus on the Word first without too many gadgets, therefore all of our people we work with can do it. No batteries needed, no computer, no ball pen or paper needed. Just a head and a heart.”

In … Zambia from Michael, an Evangelical Leader: “…It is encouraging to see how God is using this wonderful tool throughout the world. It is amazing now when I meet people and they call me “story bank” and they ask to tell a story of their choice and surprisingly they hear me tell it and get treasures together.

“Comparison: STS cannot be compared to any program. It is on its own standard. This is because nothing makes sense to a learner of the Bible until the Bible is understood. For example, to evangelize, one will have to understand Scripture, so is discipleship. Learners will have to fall in love with God’s word in order for them to understand what salvation is or what theological truths are in the Bible. “It is something to have perfume wrapped in a well decorated bottle; it is another thing to actually get the smell of it. Most of the systems we use are well labeled and packaged.  Explanations are done by the labels that are attached to the packet, but STS creates the opportunity for the learner to smell the real message that is in the packet. Eg. Salvation: Packaged ways involve things like the Roman Road to salvation, bridge illustration etc.

“The Roman Road to salvation takes a packet of Scriptures from the Bible to show sin and how we can be saved, the problem is that these Scriptures prove a point but do not give us the context in which they happened. There are no practical examples from the Scripture to show that these Scriptures are talking about people. But a story of the Prodigal son shows the original state of this son when he was with the father, the moment he got lost by asking for his portion, and the way he came back to his father. Salvation in this story is not a method, but life. This is a difference.

“I teach people to use stories for evangelism rather than methods which are completely removed from human experience. The Bible then becomes alive. The results are amazing. Practically, everyone can tell a story, so everyone can evangelize. This is what we are seeing everywhere. Evangelism being done by the children of God and not experts with well laid down points. Conserving the fruit: We have seen that if we begin immediately telling stories to new believers, they begin to know the word by heart. It is the word of God that strengthens people in the things of God. All of those who are saved through storytelling and are immediately exposed to Bible stories have remained. This is because they see themselves through the characters of the Bible. I have put together stories that deal with different issues that we teach them and find treasures together. This leads us into discipleship.

“…Discipleship is not just a class, but a life style. To create commitment in a new believer’s life, we need to let him or her know that living a Christian life is not only for them, but that others also have lived this life before. So by teaching practical biblical stories, we give an opportunity to our people to see spiritual growth through real life instead of gathered points.

“So again instead of comparing STS, I recommend that all programs include STS in everything they teach from the Bible. STS is a class of its own….

“The results are amazing. People ask, where has this method been? Why have we been given the Bible without explaining the key to understanding it? Why have you come to make the Bible so clear and yet so late in my life? I never thought I will be able to see this connection through the Bible; I was trained to teach it as points and not as a story. I now know that knowing the Bible has nothing to do with education, I have the ears and they are enough. They call me illiterate, but I know more stories from the Bible than the literate. The Bible has now become for all, the young, the old, the schooled, the unschooled, it is simply for the children of God…..”

In… the USA: “… “GOD IS AWESOME! Milt & I continue to teach Bible stories using STS to our international students. Attendance has averaged 43 the past five weeks; 80% of attendees are not yet followers of Christ. The Spirit of God is touching these precious young people from 8 different countries. We are soooo blessed and compelled to pass on the blessings of His Word. Thanks for teaching us.

“When will you do another seminar in So. CA? I want to continue to learn to do this method well so I can pass it on to many others.”

Thank you for your prayer, support and encouragement. Please pray for those who are risking their lives to use God’s Story and now even to tell Bible stories.

Blessings,

Dorothy A. Miller, TGSP