What is Fun, Goes Far and Wide?
Prayer & Praise Report #5, August-September 2020
What is Fun, Goes Far and Wide?
The title question sounds like a logic joke, but it's not. Our precious Lord Jesus continues to open amazing doors through the STS Radio opportunities. Not only do our various languages teams have fun preparing and broadcasting on the radio, the seeds of God's Word continue to grow.
We currently broadcast STS on radio, Zoom, and YouTube in the following languages: English, Spanish, Cebuano, Arabic, Turkana, French, American Sign Language (ASL), and Swahili. Some new broadcasts are planned later this month in Korean.
If you would like to hear some of the English Bible story recordings, please visit www.youtube.com/SimplyTheStory
Reaching the Far Away Peoples.
Outside the cities and beyond the "suburbs" are remote villages all over the world. These hard to reach places often have little to no access to education, and know little about Jesus. If some of these villages have pastors, they are often untrained. Simply The Story and our Oral Bible Schools provide much needed understanding and training in the Word of God.
These places can sometimes be so remote, and communication very slow, that we don't always hear about the impact of our tools.
One missionary family, Bible translators working in very remote areas of the Southeast Asia/Oceania region, recently returned to Hemet and shared the impact of STS with me during a 3.5-hour meeting.
The people came to the missionary house every day just to talk about the Bible story! The discussions of Bible stories would last for one and a half hours and often the people would stay longer!
In a area where missionary homes are often broken into by thieves, this couple found that STS style Bible stories have a significant impacts on the hearts. After spending time in the Bible with the local people, the missionaries said about the people, "They realize and wrestle with, 'I know this is what God wants me to do.'" Sadly, not everyone chooses to obey God even though they know what the Lord wants.
This Bible translation family said that Biblical depth and long lasting impact on the people are worth the effort to teach the people using this discussion style!
This family uses Simply The Story almost exclusively, even in American churches during furlough. In fact, one church extended the worship service an extra 25 minutes because the church enjoyed the missionary’s teaching so much!
Heart Pocket Podcasts Seeds Taking Root and Growing
We recently interviewed our Global Ambassador Team Leaders, Bryan and Ami. In another podcast, Chris and JoAn share how fast STS spread through their church and why. Listen to their podcasts at www.HeartPocket.org.
Monks, Orphans, and the Bible?
One of our leaders in Asia recently shared about what God was doing for their orphans. The pandemic has led to shortages of food in some countries. Local monks heard about the orphans in the care of our leader and his wife and started to share food from monastery's garden.
This amazing STS leader also provides Bible studies and discipling to some of the monks! What an amazing trade, spiritual food for physical food.
Elderly, Youth and Simply The Story
Over the past several months, many people across the world have been thrown into "Zoomland." While Zoom might be easily learned and implemented with a younger or more computer comfortable crowd, there remains a group of people who need help to gain some socially distant "social life" with their church family.
A couple of our leaders noticed that while many people over the age of 80 could watch church on T.V., they did not know how to zoom. Our leaders visited these people and taught them how to use zoom.
One 85 year-old used a Toshiba laptop which showed the name "Toshiba” on Zoom. This woman could hear and see the Bible discussion, but could not respond.
Now this older woman, known as "Sister Toshiba," welcomed a visit from the Zoom leaders, who fixed the laptop. Afterward, she was able to respond, and the other Zoom attendees have been blessed with her online company. Several teens and adults in the church are feeling more connected through Zoom.
During a recent STS training, one 16 year old girl said “This Bible study is hard core” and was upset when she had to leave one day early. This same girl was afraid to present stories to adults, but shared a Bible story with her cousin, who does not attend church. Several youth were discovering great treasures in the Bible stories.
A Photo's Journey of STS Training Through Uganda, Sudan and Kenya
Many of the photos through out this report come from the various STS trainings and Oral Bible schools in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda in August and September.
God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity
The subtitles for the Brazilian Portuguese sign language have been completed.
One man recently wrote us about one of our languages in a highly Muzlm nation in North Africa saying, “We know of many who have come to faith and been strengthened in their faith through this video in southern …. It is one of our key tools.”
Prayers for Our Global Family
One of our brothers in India, who recorded the Hmar language of God's Story, was repairing the church roof and fell and passed away. He is now with the Lord, but leaves behind a young family.
A couple of our leaders continue to battle cancer. They trust the Lord and have strong spirits.
One leader has had very low energy levels and going through steps to discover why.
We are taking the initial steps to increase and improve our prayer covering. If you would like to be part of our special Prayer Team, please take a couple of minutes to complete our "Prayer Questionnaire" through the following link.
https://forms.gle/Ux3qVss12TWfjfrA9
Thank you for your time and prayers,
Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director