I Forgive You

I Forgive You

*Felix was running for his life.  He had become the most wanted man in his community for drug dealing, and he knew the police would catch up with him soon.  He found the perfect place to hide, where no one would ever think to look – a pastors’ prayer retreat!  But as the providence of God would have it, Felix was befriended by a wise, compassionate pastor who led him to faith in Christ.  Today, Felix is a changed man and a pastor himself.  

When Al and Nancy (StoryRunners staff living in the Philippines), met Felix and invited him to participate in the Cebuano School of Storying two years ago, he eagerly tried Bible storying in his own congregation.  “My people (in my church) no longer fall asleep since I started telling them stories,” he told Al, and soon Felix was learning how to lead storying trainings himself.

The following year, Felix (photo below) helped with an SOS among an unreached language group in another area of the Philippines. Of the 12 SOS participants, one was a secret follower of Jesus, and all represented a religion that has been hostile to Christianity for centuries. Yet they eagerly learned the Bible stories and were even happy to record them with our StoryRunners team. During the closing ceremony of the SOS, Felix confessed to the entire group why he had been hesitant to come to help with this language group.  “Your people killed my grandfather, but I have forgiven you. I’m glad I came.”  Suddenly one of the participants stood up and spoke.  “And my grandfather was killed by YOUR people. But I forgive you, too!” The two men hugged each other and shed tears of healing as the rest of the group watched walls crumble and bridges being built between two warring cultures.  “Now we know more about the Christians’ Bible than we do about our OWN book,” the other participants rejoiced. “We didn’t know what the Bible teaches about Jesus.” Some also shared, “You treated us like family!” They learned that summer that the weapons of Jesus’s followers are not guns, but the bullets of love in action through the power of the Spirit!

Please pray for the graduates of the two Schools of Storying held in the Philippines, along with many others whom Al and Nancy have trained in storying. Many of these are now networking with other believers in very closed southeast Asian countries, teaching them how to share the gospel orally through Bible stories!  

 

*name changed for security reasons

 

I Forgive You

“Like God”

StoryRunners - Rocky Mountain Summer Missions - Like God

Savoring my successful climb to the top of a mountain peak in the Arizona desert, I spent some time giving glory and praise to God for His awesome creation,

Unaware of anyone noticing, I was singing and smiling as I descended the peak, until I caught up with a fellow traveler on the trail named Michael.

“I saw you up there so full of life, lifting your hands up to the sky! Wow, you really appreciate this beauty!”

“Absolutely! I can’t help praising God for His awesome creation! “Do you know Our Creator?” I asked. “I’m Jewish,” he said! “That is wonderful!” I exclaimed! “Through the Jews, God brought His covenant of love, and I am grateful to you and your people.”

We continued our exciting conversation, as I explained about Jesus, “Yeshua,” being a Jew. Michael told me his name meant, “Like God” and I told him that Yeshua knows him by name, and had a purpose for his life.

As he listened curiously, I asked him, “How would you like to hear a story?” He readily agreed. So I told a simple story of Yeshua’s encounter with a tax gatherer named Zaccheus found in the Bible. His curiosity heightened as we discussed the story and his faith journey. Considering himself an agnostic, he asked how I could be so sure of my faith. “When Yeshua changes your life, and many others’ lives, there is tangible evidence, plus all the fulfilled prophecies in His Word.”

Evidently, the Spirit of God was drawing him as I gave several examples of God’s faithfulness to His covenant people, the Jews.

Michael told me he had never met anyone like me and was considering what I shared. Willingly he accepted my offer to pray for him, as well as give him some Bible verses to read on his own.

After praying for him to discover for himself who Yeshua was, he hugged me and thanked me for being “a little like God” to him.

Visit our Get Involved page if you would like to learn more about how to become a better storyteller of His stories. 

“Like God”