Prayer & Praise Reports

How Old?

Filter by Year: 2016

How Old?

Prayer & Praise Report #4, June-July 2016

India

Our leader in India sent an email recently in which he shared about an 87-year-old woman who trusted in her high caste position to get her to heaven. Our leader's wife and her friends minister in the hospital weekly, but this high caste woman wanted none of the ministry.

However, this woman received God's Story on a solar player as a gift for her birthday. She quickly learned the player was not a cell phone to talk with family and friends, but instead was an audio player that would only let her listen to the message. She listened day and night. When our leader's wife returned to the hospital, the 87-year-old asked to see her and gave her life to Jesus. We share the photo with our new sister’s permission.

Who’s Willing to Die for the Gospel?

A missionary using God's Story in Asia wrote the following in his newsletter about a conversation he had with a new believer. The team had visited a "J-sus meeting" in this new believer's village (one of more than 45 groups started in the past 2 years by this team).

The new believer said, "Even if they shoot and kill me, I will still follow J-sus."

The missionary shared, "I heard these words from a new believer. As we talked about bapt--m, I asked, 'When they come to your house, beat you, arrest you and put you in jail, will you still follow J-sus?'”

The new believer added, “I will bring many others with me!”

The new believer shared that at night he lies on a cot in the middle of his field and listens to his J-sus Radio. As he listened to the Good News over and over at night, God caused the seed of faith to grow.

Children Understand at a Young Age

A young mom reported that her 3 year old loves to watch God’s Story with her. The little girl was telling the mom who the characters were, occasionally asking about them. The little girl would remember what the mom told her. The interesting thing is they were watching the DVD of GS in Mandarin and the little girl does not speak Mandarin!

What Can Happen in 4 Weeks?

We praise the Lord for His grace. We just finished 4 weeks of Comprehensive Leadership Training (CLT) with people working in at least 7 countries or regions of the world (North, West and East Africa, Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and USA).

We experienced going deep in the Word, as well as sharing Bible stories on the streets using Simply The Story (STS). People were trained in specialized situations, such as telling Bible stories to children and doing STS style Bible stories on radio. We increased our STS instructor skills, and learned from children leading Bible stories! As well, we had great fellowship and amazing food.

One attendee shared, "Thank you all for an amazing two weeks. You all showed me so much grace and kindness. And I learned so much and began some new friendships. I hope to keep learning from and working with you all for many years to come for the advancement of the Kingdom."

We had several opportunities to minister on the streets. At one point, 3 of us prayed before going into a coffee shop. When we finished, a man yelled from across the parking lot, "Hey, are you real Christians?"

I yelled back, "What's your definition of a real Christian?"

It turns out we passed his test of being real Christians and this homeless man shared a bit of his story. He had cancer and some other problems, and he just wanted prayer. We tried to give him food and he did not accept it. People had told this man if he was right with God, he would not have these problems. So we shared Mark 4:36-41 where Jesus and the disciples were in the storm.

Our friend discovered that even the disciples, though obedient to Jesus by getting in the boat, were in a storm. This homeless man was so encouraged, and we prayed for him.

While dialoguing with our new friend, a man yelled for us from the coffee shop. It turns out this other young man was homeless too and saw us in the parking lot and wanted to give us water. Both these men heard from the Word of God.

What Happens In Africa Blesses Many

Our leader in Côte d'Ivoire shared these testimonies from a recent workshop.

"In the Fall in the Garden story [Genesis 3], I realize how like Adam and the woman [I am.] I accuse others for my own choices. I need to assume my bad choices and forgive my parents today."

Another man said, "Now with STS I'll not waste my time forcing people to believe what I'm telling them, but sharing Bible stories and have nice discussion with people. During the outreach in Pangouin Village, I've seen how people are ready to listen to our stories and share when they can say what they think and we listen to them, I've seen people give their lives to Jesus after sharing simple stories from the Bible. It was amazing to experience how STS is working simply. Thank you for bringing STS to us.”

A third participant said, "STS has impacted me greatly through the stories. My desire is to go back home and share with the young people in my village. I used to beat the drums to call people to come and listen to me share the Gospel, now I'm equipped with STS to go meet the people where they are and share stories with them."

One happy person shared, "I was afraid of sharing the Gospel, in fact I didn't know how to do it, and I was afraid not to be able to answer to people questions. Now I'm confident that I can share stories with people as I did at the outreach. Thank you God.”

One non-reader shared, "... STS has washed my shame, yes it was shameful for me to not be useful to God because I could not read. I've learnt many stories here and I'm able to present them, and my life has changed here as many stories have impacted my life like Martha and Mary one. I'm a new person, I'm blessed. I long to learn more Bible stories”

Our leader reported to me that even a group of blind people say that STS is for them and they want a workshop for themselves! One blind man uses the solar player with God's Story everywhere and people want it.

Please continue to pray for our leader in Burkina Faso who returned with these amazing impact reports from Côte d'Ivoire. She is hosting and co-leading the very first French Comprehensive Leadership Training mid-August through September. The people plan to come from at least 5 Francophone (French speaking) countries in Africa, including 1 or 2 blind people, a missions director, and a Bible school teacher.

USA

An instructor in the USA meets with several people each week and recently sent us this praise from someone in his group. "... it has left me with the hope of being able to do something I never thought I had in me. I have never felt, I had any gift of teaching the Word, but today I started to see, that these tools have the power, thru deeper meditation and its revelation, to help facilitate that very ability, even in me. The stories and story tools stand on their own as teaching tools. I am convinced that with these tools, treasures in the Word of God can be discovered even by those who don’t necessarily believe in God, or believe that the Word of God IS from God.”

Sudan

An STS team from Africa just conducted a training in Sudan. They planted new house churches that the Sudanese are leading. By investing in the people these past couple of years, the Sudanese are now leading the training.

The leader reports that believers are multiplying disciples as a result of developing good church planters and instructors in STS. Along with this, 6 new STS Oral Bible Schools opened in different areas.

Pray for this ministry in Sudan, they lack Bibles in the North and need them. Even though the government says they allow freedom of religion, Bibles sent in large numbers are stopped at the border.

Could STS Add to What Seminary Students Learn?

A few months ago, a team taught STS at a seminary in the Philippines. One student recently wrote to an instructor.

"Sir, our class for story telling has help me to be more effective in preaching and teaching. I have used the technique for preaching and it was very good to me and the congregation. This is helpful for all ages of people."

We continue to be grateful to the Lord,

Andrea and the whole staff at TGSP
Executive Director
The God's Story Project

All Together

Filter by Year: 2016

All Together

Prayer & Praise Report #3, April-May 2016

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Can All People Learn Together?

While talking with an STS instructor about the way many Bible studies separate families, such as teens go to one Bible study, and men being separated from women in another study, and children in a different class, the instructor said something profound. "The more literate the Bible studies are, the more division has to happen. This is due to the literate levels and aptitude of people at different ages.” We are blessed that with the oral style of a Simply The Story Bible study, families and people from all age groups can learn together and from each other as they find treasure in the Word of God.

One such example comes to mind. A few years ago, I was invited to do a Bible story with a group in Macedonia. The youngest in the group was 12 and the oldest were in their 70s.

There were at least 2 or 3 different languages being spoken, so translation was needed. Some in the group were believers and some were seekers, so Bible background varied from person to person. I think you get the picture of the challenge. Since it was God's Word we were studying, all were affected and blessed by our time together. I enjoyed watching the faces of our hosts light up as they realized their investment in STS would reach their community, regardless of age, as they were all personally touched by the Word.

How are Oral Bible Schools affecting the students?

In a highly Muzm area of Asia, 9 students graduated from the first Oral Bible School (OBS) in that area. There are even more students who are ready and eager to hide the Word in their hearts. Please continue to pray for all the students and the Oral Bible Schools that are ready to start.

Oral Bible Schools preparing to Launch

We praise the Lord for the work going on in Cote d’Ivoire where our team just finished working with 6 OBS leaders and students, who are preparing to launch several schools soon. The team also recorded 4 languages of God’s Story that will be used in the OBS areas.

During one of the workshop outreaches, 55 people accepted Jesus as Lord. Our leader there reported, "It was a great encouragement for all, and motivation for all the students to go forward with the OBS.”

Quick God’s Story Report

In Europe one couple took the morning off and shared that they stayed in their pajamas to watch God’s Story. She wrote, ”Both of us were profoundly impacted and are brimming with ideas and ways that the combination of the film and story telling (and training) can be passed on...” Praise the Lord for the impact He has on lives through His love, His Word, and His guidance.

Could Bible stories be used in everyday life?

Thailand

One STSer recently wrote to us about how he used a couple of Bible stories in his daily life. "For a week I had been involved in orality training at a conference and on my last night coming home I passed a couple on side of road. Feeling convicted that I should help them, I stopped and then reversed back to them. Their motorcycle had broken down and they needed a ride…. I was able to tell this couple “The Good Samaritan” story and was pleased when the young man answered my questions about why the 2 religious people walked by without helping. This couple thanked us profusely when they left our car."

Does a Simply The Story training affect people?

One STS instructor recently led 2 training classes in India and also introduced STS at two seminaries in the Philippines.

The following are reports that the instructor shared with us from the students at the seminary. (Names

changed for their protection.)

Student Simon, a strong Filipino preacher and M-div candidate wrote, "You know, when I preach, people don't remember what I say; this is more powerful."

Student Maz, a man from India and M-Th candidate, said, "This is more interesting for the people; they can engage in it."

Peter, another student from India who is a Doctor of Missiology candidate describes his experience, "A sermon is like a meal in a fine restaurant--it's good, but you can't enjoy/cook it at home.”

Peter had to leave the workshop early because of an appointment to meet with a Sikh woman and three of her friends. In the STS training Peter had just learned the Jars of Oil story from 2 Kings 4:1-7. He told the ladies that story. At the appointment, one of the women explained that her husband had just left her for another woman and she was in bad debt (though not in danger of losing her children). Additionally, she held on to severe bitterness towards her family and extended family back in her home country because they had mistreated her since childhood; she hasn't seen or talked to them for years. The woman began to cry.

After Peter finished discussing the story with the ladies, she asked him about the God of this story, and he told her about Jesus. She accepted Christ as Savior and began saying God had sent Peter just for her! When she returns to India, she's going to try and reconcile with her family.

How might Simply The Story be integrated in to VBS and Bible Studies?

This report comes from one of our instructors on the team in New Zealand. “The VBS part of the team has had great success in sharing the gospel and seen kids and a couple of adults accept Christ. “We have a worship time every night and have done stories. ‘Karel’ has done 2 stories. For being 17 she is amazing.

“Last night ‘Leander’, a local, who has been here every night and who the pastor said, ‘he never shared anything in church’ has not stopped sharing. He said what he really likes about this method is the freedom to share and explore the Word.”

Eastern Europe

One recent attendee of an STS training implemented what she learned and reported the results on Facebook.

“Did an STS Bible study with our home fellowship group tonight. We def (definitely) had fun! One of the ladies is a non-believer. Man, did she have good spiritual observations!! And the other one is a new believer who just got saved a few weeks ago - she’s never been so enthusiastic about discussions before! Our spiritual applications went on and on. It brought back so many sweet memories from my time….

“What an amazing tool that will never cease to amaze me, inspiring me to fall more in love with my God!”

How might STS encourage us in a difficult situation?

A young lady, who is working towards being an STS instructor, reported about her experience upon landing at a United Kingdom airport. On a previous visit to the UK she had been deported due to a misunderstanding in paperwork. Once again she found herself detained at Immigration.

After waiting in the detention room for more than 5 and a half hours, and following an interview, the border officer said they decided to release her.

The young lady clearly knew this was a spiritual battle and could have been bitter. She described her emotions as, “a bayonet against your throat when you are detained and imprisoned, especially if you've been deported in the past... and how those emotions can linger and poison.” However, she chose to put this behind her. As a result of the time in detention, this young lady shared how the Lord ministered to her.

“As I sat there waiting for hours, pretty numb, I kept hearing Jesus ask, ‘Do you trust me?’ And I had to honestly answer no, I don't, because look what happened last time. So Jesus, if you want me to trust you, you're going to have to make it happen. I asked him for a story, and two bits rose to the top... Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet, quiet, not saying ‘I should have said this or that,’ and what happened? Jesus defended her...” (Luke 10:38-42)

Recounting the second story, she shared, “Moses Rock One, when God's people get led to a place with no water, and they ask, ‘Is the Lord with us or not?’ (Exodus 17:1-7)

The young lady continued, “The story prodded me to recognize that attitude for what it is, and simply wait to see what He would choose to do. God's faithfulness doesn't always look like faithfulness from our perspective, but there are times we get to see it, bright and clear!”

Grateful to the Lord, Andrea

Executive Director

The God's Story Project

Going Deep

Filter by Year: 2016

Going Deep

Prayer & Praise Report #2, February-March 2016

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Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!! Going Deep

USA

In a Sunday school that uses Simply The Story (STS), the leader of that class shared about a lady in her 70’s, who has been a Bible Study Fellowship leader for more than 20 years. The lady stated that she will miss the STS class once it is over because she is learning so much. When asked what about the class made it different, she replied, "The depth...with STS I have learned to go deeper into scripture than any other study I have been a part of."

God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity: One for Every Village!? Africa

A mission leader recently reported on the results of using God’s Story in a West African village. “At dusk, they played the God Story. It drew quite a crowd and it had everyone's attention. They were loving it. About 3/4 of the way thru, it got stuck and the controls on the dvd player weren't working …”

After a couple of days the people fixed the player and played God’s Story 3 times. Each time they liked the DVD better and better. The leader reported that the people anticipated and helped each other understand and were, “shushing the noisy kids, etc. It was quite a hit!”

As a result this mission leader reported, “… So now we're wishing we had more dvds, because we want to leave one in any village where they have the means to play it.”

In another remote village, where the chief hangs his two phones on a pole because it’s the only spot for cell reception, this same mission group shared (STS style) the first three days of creation (Gen. 1:1-‐13) to a mixed group of about 15-‐20 people, including the chief, most of his family, and both wives. They all joined the discussion enthusiastically.

The next day the chief told the group sharing Bible stories, “There are two men who want to become

Christ followers. One is a young [tribal] man about 30, who works everyday in the gold mines… The other is an

older man, whose family live close…”This mission group, who recently attended an STS training in West Africa, shared how God has been allowing them to teach God's Word in a way that the people can repeat. Listeners can share with others accurately and as often as they want without the listeners having the skills to read and write.

Village after village, this mission group continues to see God open doors as a result of deep discussion in the Word. They are receiving multiple invitations to return to many villages.

Our New Handbook!

We thank the Lord!

Three thousand printed Korean STS handbooks arrived. The handbook is also online for free download! Thank you Mary for your hard work investing in many Koreans to learn a tool that will help them in missions.

Mary recently shared a quick overview of STS to a members of a Korean executive committee, who represent about 850 churches in the USA. One man said that this was the best session of the 3 days.

Removing the Stigmatism of Shame Asia

There is a little known part of our STS training that continues to impact people, especially in Asian countries. Several Asian leaders have shared that many of the children grow up never being encouraged for doing well because “that’s expected.” However, the children often hear when they don’t do well. As a result, many Asians give the appearance that all is perfect to avoid the shame of being corrected. This pattern contributes to higher suicide rates in some countries.

Some people are amazed that, in STS, we coach storytellers about what they do well, along with ways to improve. We carefully train our leaders how to coach storytellers so that they may have greater effectiveness when telling Bible stories. During the testimony time in a recent training in Taiwan, people continued to share about how the coaching impacted them.

Our Asia Liaison commented that some Westerners feel the coaching might cause shame for some people, especially in Asia. She asked the group in Taiwan what they might say regarding this issue. They responded, "They must not understand our culture. The human heart, and human nature, is the same. When someone has the right heart, then they may speak the truth to us in love. This kind of coaching in STS removes our discomfort and shows us how to do things the right way, and this is what we want."

Emotional Healing–God Cares

Masters and doctorate students recently attended an STS training in the Philippines at their seminary. Our instructor there shared a few comments after just the first day.

One church leader who was asked to speak with a Sikh woman from India said, "A sermon is like a meal in a fine restaurant-‐-‐it's good, but you can't enjoy or cook it at home". This leader decided to try this newly discovered STS meal. The leader met with the woman, whose husband had left her for another

woman. Three of her friends were also present. The leader told the women the “Jars of Oil” story from 2 Kings 4:1-‐7. The woman explained how she was in terrible debt and her family in India mistreated her since childhood. As a result, this woman lived with bitterness. After the leader finished the story, the woman began to cry and asked him about the God of this story. She accepted Christ as Savior and said God had sent the leader just for her!

When she returns to India in a few weeks, she plans to reconcile with her family.

How Many Ways to Describe the Effects of an STS Training on Lives?

We recently completed an STS training in Central Asia. One attendee shared about the result of discussing Bible stories, “… when we are in deep conversation with someone, we can figure out what this person needs. So when you know this person’s needs, we can both go and dig deeper and God can help us to find a solution for this person’s need.”

Another person concurred stating, “the best thing that I like here is that you don’t preach and press on the person, but you can help him to find the treasures by himself.”

“… This training doesn't have us skip stones on the water, but we go deep and find treasures” said one person.

When it comes to writing notes at seminars, one person stated, “I usually take lots and lots of notes at a seminar and I have lots of great notes at home, but I don’t remember all that I have learned at the seminar. But this time I have no notes, but I feel like I remember most of what you taught us. I am excited to see how God will use it in the future.”

From another training, a Masters of Divinity candidate stated "You know, when I preach, people don't remember what I say; this is more powerful."

Multiplying Depth in the Word!

In Western Kenya after just 2 workshops, one regular and the other an advanced workshop, our instructor wrote back regarding the progress of the students, “They feel very

confident in their skills now and we have confidence in their abilities as well. They are now enthusiastically spreading out over the nearby islands to train leaders and lay people, evangelize and plant churches.” One person reported that since the advanced workshop in February, he has led 40 people, including his family, to the Lord.

Refugee Update

Our time working with refugees in Europe proved eye opening and fruitful. Our small team, from 3 nations speaking 3 different languages, worked with refugees directly and with a group ministering to refugees. We desired to test several tools and methods, including ours, to see if spiritual results could be seen in a short amount of time.

By the end of 5 days, we saw several Arabic speakers hungry for the Word of God. All of the people who saw God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity in Arabic wanted to discuss the Lord Jesus at greater length with our leader. The discussions were rich and deep. As well, each one asked for the Bible, including the one who couldn’t read. We know of at least one man who became a believer, and think several others did as well, based on the discussions and the fact that some returned to watch God’s Story again.

This experience has prompted us to develop 2 programs designed for reaching and discipling refugees. We hope to begin testing before this summer. Please keep this project in prayer.

Grateful to the Lord, Andrea

Executive Director

The God's Story Project

It’s a Small World After All!

Filter by Year: 2016

It’s a Small World After All!

Prayer & Praise Report #1, December 2015 - January 2016

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How Small Is Our World?

USA

While waiting for a flight, I received a call from Dorothy Miller's sister-in-law. She had just returned from a conference about working with international exchange students, and had no idea anyone there knew about God's Story or Simply The Story (STS). One Chinese student shared about her experience, "I don't know much about the Bible, so, I use STS." What a small world that our founder's sister-in-law would hear about someone using STS at a conference devoted to working with international students.

Africa

Our leader in Kenya was traveling down the roads in Mombassa when he noticed a man with an oversized backpack walking down one of the side roads. Led by the Lord, our leader stopped and spent time with the man. He soon discovered the man had been going from village to village showing God’s Story on the projector in the backpack, and had received STS training, and was seeing great results! What a small world to see this man walking down a side road!

Southeast Asia

The world decreases in size when one is in prison. However, when the Lord opens the door for people to know him, the world increases and one has the opportunity to join a great family of believers.

A trainer in Asia shared, “One group of [these] leaders commented after an STS training that they … are excited to use STS as a way to lead and raise up disciples in [country]. These [country] brothers and sisters work in a tribal area where many do not read and write.”

This trainer continued, “Please pray for our friends, they are experiencing persecution. The believers in this area have tripled in the past 3 years. The [taken out] government is noticing the growth and threatening them to stop believing in Jesus or go to jail and face all kinds of hardships. They continue trusting in Jesus at the cost of going to prison.”

This active trainer shared more, “Had a good time doing STS … near [Asian] boarder. What I found encouraging was the comment made by some local people after we were done. She said, ‘When I heard a missionary was coming to teach us, I thought we would be sitting and just listening to something, but you have given us very practical tools to share the bible with our people and we are excited to go out and start to tell Bible stories.Another leader in a difficult Asian country shared with us the following about people knowing Jesus through 3 different language versions of God’s Story shown both on TV and in prison. “Celebrating Christmas in the prison in a Buddhist place is not easy. To get permission is very hard/ difficult. But by the WILL of God we did the Merry Christmas celebration in prison.”

He continued “… Many people gave response that they were encouraging through GS [God’s Story]. After showing GS in the Television people asking me to get a copy of the GS so I make a copy and give or sent to them. God is so good. He love and Care us.”

How Do People Worldwide Respond to Bible Stories Coupled With Deep Discussion?

USA

A special instructor told a Bible story to a mix of adults and children during 2 church services. Here are some of the results. “In both services a couple of parents sat on the floor with their kids. One guy said he really liked hearing the story 3 times and will be thinking about it this week. Another lady said that she was stepping out of the boat ….”

During another occasion, the instructor shared, “At the end we all prayed and the 5 yr old thanked God for a good teacher and [the boy] wanted to know if he was in the class next week.”

Africa

One sharp man in East Africa said, “I have gained leadership skills” to our STS instructor, who

also shared, “All so thankful and attentive and wanted skill.”

In West Africa, 103 people were trained in STS, among them 20 pastors. During the outreach time, many people listened to Bible stories and about 15 people came to Jesus!

Middle East

An email forwarded to me from one of our instructors, “Thank you all for your time and commitment in making STS a success. As His word says seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, … STS is a wonderful way to help people seek HIS kingdom.

“As I had epilepsy for many years until God healed me in year 2001, I was not a good learner, I couldn't study at all as my memory was really bad as a symptom of epilepsy, so I used to forget a lot and I kind of got used to live without making any effort as it was difficult.“Coming to STS helped me to remember the biblical stories in detail (like a movie) and to find spiritual applications while reading a small passage, and I do believe that this method will help me to evangelize, and simply tell HIS stories to many. “Thanks again. May God bless all of you, and use you more and more for HIS glory.”

Have You Ever Seen the Physically Blind Leading the Spiritually Blind?

Cote d'Ivoire

One of our West Africa leaders shared that blind men have asked for an STS workshop for blind people. Amazingly, two blind men are part of a God’s Story translation team. They have finished the translation and are ready to record.

Can you imagine! These men may be physically blind, like Bartimaeus along the road near to Jericho. Like that blind beggar, who recognized Jesus as the Son of David (Messiah, Mark 10:46:52), these men also see with their spiritual eyes. They see that God’s Story and Simply The Story are spiritual tools to help the spiritually blind find Jesus as Lord.

West Africa

We have 7 languages ready to record and thank the Lord for the many who work hard to make

God’s Story available. Pray for the completion of these languages.

More for Prayer and for Praise! USA

One instructor recently received an invitation to do training in a state prison! Praise the Lord. Think of how people in prison could be changed by the Word of God in their heart pocket

Latin America

Recently, many of our Latin American team of instructors met for extra training and to discuss the Lord’s direction for 2016. We are overwhelmed by the requests, and are moving rapidly to raise more STS instructors.

During a training in South America, trees kept raining mangoes! Thankfully no one was hurt in Burkina Faso.

We praise the Lord for the safety of the attendees and instructors during the attacks in Burkina Faso. One of our leaders had his plane diverted to Niger because of the attack in Ouagadougou. The passengers were given a choice to get out or go back to Europe. Thankfully, our instructor chose to take the bus to the Burkina Faso training, and, after more than 20 hours of ground travel, the instructor arrived at the training as planned.

Our leader in Burkina shared about a church in a remote village that received an STS training. “Many people become Christian, many got healed from their sicknesses. Most of the ladies in the church are illiterate and were able at the end of the training to learn and share stories with their families and friends, they testified that it is their first time to find themselves useful in the Lord house.”

Pray that the team can return to this remote village to help the church to reach the local people as the church grows. The leader commented, “It is not easy to make the 40 km on Moto [motorcycle] to reach the village after the bus ride.”

Middle East

By the end of 2015, more than 117,000 copies of God’s Story have been distributed in a language for a difficult to reach people group.

Refugees in Europe

A select team of Simply The Story instructors and I have an incredible open door to work directly with refugees in Europe over the next few weeks. We will be working side-by-side with other ministries to help develop more strategic uses of several ministry tools that are available. Please keep this time in prayer, as it will affect thousands of refugees all over Europe.

Thank you to all for your prayers and for standing with us.

Grateful to the Lord,

Andrea

Executive Director

The God's Story Project

One Year New

Filter by Year: 2015

One Year New

Prayer & Praise Report # 5, October-November 2015

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

What are some ways Gods Story: From Creation to Eternity affects people in different parts of the world?

God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity continues to lay a solid foundation for people to learn and trust Jesus as their Savior. One user of God’s Story emailed, “We receive good reports from the field. People are very interested to listen, as this is in their own language and it is easy for them to understand. Some people have started to cry of joy as they have seen GS in [their location], Asia

It is amazing to see how the Word of God brings good fruits, despite all the problems they face as a ethnic group, exposed to genocide, and the few believers experience very much persecution for their faith in Jesus. Right now two of our main contacts are in prison for their faith, but even there they spread the Good News.”

Not only does God’s Story reach the remote ethnic groups in Asia, it also reaches the Europeans.

A leader from the Netherlands states, “The summer camp was great! We had 55 children; the 37 older ones (between 10-15 years) with their leaders watched GS. Especially the last part had a lot of impact on the teenagers in my group, they had lots of questions what would happen on Judgment Day, even before I had to answer, they got the answers from GS. Some of them renewed their faith in the Lord and did pray the prayer, told me later they had peace in their heart!”

Multiple languages and copies of God’s Story on Megavoices are now in the hands of several refugees. We thank the Lord for the many refugees in Hungary who have submitted to Jesus as Lord. Working with the churches, we desire to reach the refugees before they settle in Europe. The power of God changes hearts, and God’s Story has proven highly effective in Farsi and Arabic.

Can Children and Youth Go Deep in God’s Word and Lead Bible Discussions?

People often ask our instructors, “Does STS work with children?” Absolutely, and in several ways! Children learn the STS process sometimes faster than adults.

The father of this 3-year old sent me this photo (to the right). His son loves telling Bible stories, especially the “Blind Bartimaeus” story (Mark 10:46-52). His father, who lives in West Africa, was trained by Dorothy Miller and was even taught how to do great actions and expressions. When the boy started to share the story with his own friends, he stopped and asked for his dad’s glasses. Why? He wants to be just like his dad when telling stories, including the actions!

One 16-year old lady was warned by the instructor that God normally has something special for the people in their first story they present in a training. This young lady told the “Bent Woman” story (Luke 13:10-17). That night, the girl couldn’t sleep and started applying the “Wise Counselor” questions we teach to the “Bent Woman” story.

The next day she shared with our instructor a couple of questions. “This woman chose to come to Jesus and he released her from her infirmities. (‘Yes,’ the instructor said.) Then Jesus put his hands on the bent woman and she stood straight and glorified God. (Again, the instructor agreed.) Do you think this woman cared about what the others thought? The last few months at church I’ve wanted to raise my hands and worship God, but kept wondering what people would think.” This young lady saw herself as the bent woman bound by what she thought others might think.

One mother wrote about telling Bible stories at their Vacation Bible School. “The kids were glued to my every word... Even the questions! I did the 15-minute model, but still, thirteen of the around 30 to 40 kids prayed at the altar after the ‘fall in the garden’ story!”

We thank the Lord to be able to include children in our training. One mother shared with me that we’re the most child friendly conference she has ever attended.

Since our last Prayer & Praise report, there has been both regular and advanced workshops in South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Australia, India, Thailand, unnamed places in Asia, Singapore, Turkey, USA, with a Korean group, and an STS Oral Bible School graduation.

Bible Storytelling, could this lead to better evangelism?

An attendee at a recent Australian STS training commented, “These days I have been thinking, 'What can we do for evangelism?' because if we come up to people we want to talk about God, and people would usually shut down straight away. However, with storytelling, It will attract people and will be powerful to reach people. With other ways people shut down, but with this there are open doors.”

Another New Zealander at the same training shared about STS, “Similarly I have been thinking about evangelism and I have been thinking about if we want people to come into a relationship with God and not into a new set of rules, but an encounter with the Person of Jesus and the Father. And so I have been thinking about how I can introduce them to God and to encounter Him and I think that this is really an incredible way, through story, to really show people what He is like and not just tell people His system of rules.”

Church Planting with STS, really?

One group using STS in evangelism, recently sent an update that included a picture of the church (to the right). “Despite the physical hunger lingering throughout South Sudan, the pastors reported there is also a hunger for God’s word. This is so exciting to us as this village has resisted the gospel in the past. After we planted a church there in 2012 many abandoned their traditional beliefs, stopped going to the witchdoctor and started to follow Christ . . .God’s word is bringing change and transforming lives. God is healing the sick through prayer and bringing peace to this village. Earlier in the year the clan fighting was so bad and brought many casualties upon families. The church responded in prayer and the Lord gave peace to their land. More and more ‘God stories’ are being told and passed around.”

STS Oral Bible Schools - Could they help change lives?

Many reports come to our office about STS Oral Bible School students being changed, including miracles of the heart being changed and miracles of the body being healed.

Recently, the leader of the first STS Oral Bible School in the USA reports that a woman, who attends the school, suffered a stroke two years ago and could not use her right hand. After listening to the “Eutychus” story and what Paul did to raise him from the dead (Acts 20:7-12), her husband noticed that the woman picked up a pen for the first time since the stroke and started taking notes!

Ethiopia has 19 STS Oral Bible Schools with 8 more pending. Please look for an amazing report from Ethiopia on our website later this month. The report will be under “What’s New” to the right on our home page. The report shows several ages working together, along with the educated and uneducated going deep into God’s Word as a group.

The Philippines have 5 OBSs in special areas. Continue to pray for the students of these schools and the others around the world.

Could God’s Stories Affect One’s Memory?

time he heard [an instructor] tell a story that he knew it would help him, which is why he was fine to give up camp to go to Hemet as my birthday and Mother's Day gifts. :)”

Flooding in Myanmar

Update from our leader in Myanmar about the flooding which has affected 12 of the 14 provinces, displaced 385,000 households, killed 20,000 cattle and destroyed about 1 million acres of crops. Our leader there has been distributing food, clothes, supplies and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even sharing the Word from a boat! Thank you to all who prayed and contributed to this country in an incredible time of need.

More Blessings From Around the World

We praise the Lord for 3 new languages of God’s Story from West Africa and Asia that have been completed since our last Prayer & Praise report.

In the Netherlands a woman who told the Martha-Mary story to approximately 75 people shares, “had a good participating front row with the smallest children, …25 minutes total, which is a long time for these type of children (!). And people during the week kept referring back to the story . . . the children loved it. As one of my teenagers, it was her 2nd or 3rd camp, said, ‘this speaks more to me than last year.’”

In West Africa, we praise the Lord for the many advanced and regular workshops the past several months. Our leaders are planting deep so that many can take the Word of God to their ministries, their communities, and their countries.

One leader from West Africa reports, “All the Guinée women testify the effectiveness of STS compare to the others methods of sharing the word of God they were using before. They are using stories and the wise counselor in their everyday life. One woman said, ‘now I can lead and solve problems at my work place.’

How does a small Korean church say “Thank You” to one of their STS trainers? By encouraging their people to give what they can week by week. This little Pig was filled with $56.56 of "Thanks."

Thank you everyone for your prayers and for standing with us around the world.

Andrea and the Staff The God’s Story Project

Children Affected

Filter by Year: 2015

Children Affected

Prayer & Praise Report #4, August-September 2015

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

What are some ways Gods Story: From Creation to Eternity affects people in different parts of the world?

Not only does God’s Story reach the remote ethnic groups in Asia, it also reaches the Europeans.

Can Children and Youth Go Deep in God’s Word and Lead Bible Discussions?

People often ask our instructors, “Does STS work with children?” Absolutely, and in several ways! Children learn the STS process sometimes faster than adults.

We thank the Lord to be able to include children in our training. One mother shared with me that we’re the most child friendly conference she has ever attended.

Since our last Prayer & Praise report, there has been both regular and advanced workshops in South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Australia, India, Thailand, unnamed places in Asia, Singapore, Turkey, USA, with a Korean group, and an STS Oral Bible School graduation.

Bible Storytelling, could this lead to better evangelism?

An attendee at a recent Australian STS training commented, “These days I have been thinking, 'What can we do for evangelism?' because if we come up to people we want to talk about God, and people would usually shut down straight away. However, with storytelling, it will attract people and will be powerful to reach people. With other ways people shut down, but with this there are open doors.”

Church Planting with STS, really?

STS Oral Bible Schools - Could they help change lives?

Many reports come to our office about STS Oral Bible School students being changed, including miracles of the heart being changed and miracles of the body being healed.

The Philippines have 5 OBSs in special areas. Continue to pray for the students of these schools and the others around the world.

Could God’s Stories Affect One’s Memory?

One mother wrote recently about her teenage son who suffered a brain injury in a car accident, “Just want you to know that STS is helping him a lot. His biggest cognitive issues (memory, sequencing and relationships as tested by analogies) are all addressed through remembering the stories in sequence and thinking through the wise counselor questions. He told me the first time he heard [an instructor] tell a story that he knew it would help him, which is why he was fine to give up camp to go to Hemet as my birthday and Mother's Day gifts. :)”

Flooding in Myanmar

More Blessings From Around the World

We praise the Lord for 3 new languages of God’s Story from West Africa and Asia that have been completed since our last Prayer & Praise report.

How does a small Korean church say “Thank You” to one of their STS trainers? By encouraging their people to give what they can week by week. A little Piggy bank was filled with $56.56 of "Thanks."

Thank you everyone for your prayers and for standing with us around the world.

Andrea and the Staff The God’s Story Project

Language Translator

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