oral Bible stories trainers Archives

Telling an oral Bible story by a flowing stream in Africa

We have three teams currently in Africa at the same time. Team Maximus is on a return trip to West Africa to work with the *M people. Team ET is also on a return trip to West Africa with the E* people. While Team Toad is working toward building relationships with leaders in Central Africa to set up the first SOS (School of Storying) in that region. Here is the update from our leader for Team ET.

“Dumah, Dumah Zama, Dumah!” Glory, Glory to God, Glory! Dumah is also used to refer to the majestic trees like this one. (Faces have been blurred for security reasons.)

“We stopped by a flowing stream for a drink of good mineral water. It so happened that there were a few people there. They were filling five-gallon plastic drums from the free flowing water to carry on their heads back to the village. I started telling the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, which I thought was quite fitting for the context. After I finished, some more people gathered. So I told the story again and asked what they learned about Jesus.

One man said, “Jesus can do miracles, like give eternal life.” I asked them if they followed Jesus. The man said he wanted to follow Him. I shared the Gospel that Jesus died to take away our sins and rose to life again on the third day. If we believe that He did this, we could ask Him to give us eternal life too. He said he wanted to, so I prayed and our translator interpreted it while he prayed in his heart. We exchanged contact information so we can follow up with him and invited him to hear our stories next week.”

A sea of Dumah trees.

We praise God for opportunities such as this where we can share the Good News through life-changing oral Bible stories anytime, anywhere to anyone. Pray for those who heard the stories, that they will have a genuine hunger for Christ. And that they will realize that Jesus is the Living Water. If you would like to hear the story of the Samaritan woman, check our YouTube channel.

Telling an oral Bible story by a flowing stream in Africa

*Names changed for security reasons.

Spreading our wings even farther in Africa

A StoryRunners team goes to Africa to look for new partnerships

Spreading our wings even further in Africa - StoryRunners

“We spent our first week in a dry, dusty, Central African country. Our goal there was to work with the national leadership to set up our first School of Storying in that country. It was so moving and inspiring to see these leaders’ passion for their country and desire to see it reached for Christ. We spent several mornings in meetings, ironing out the details of the project and learning about the reality of the situation in the country. We also visited a possible location to hold the training. On top of that, we had dinner at the home of one of the staff members and got to visit the big local market.

Yesterday we hopped on a propeller plane and flew several hours to a West African country we’ve been working in for four years. It was so great to be reunited with my dear friends here!

Tomorrow we will head to the central north part of the country. We will start feeling out the situation to set up a project for January, and we are so excited to follow up with the work that has been going on in the region from our past SOSes. We will be visiting lots of story groups and encouraging the local believers-and getting TONS of stories about what God is doing!

We’ve already heard some of those stories. Dodji and one of our other trainers have started a ministry in a prison. They went and told stories for three days and ten prisoners gave their lives to Christ! Many more expressed interest in having ongoing story groups in their cells, and our guys were able to connect with several Christian prisoners who want to be trained to lead those groups! – Team Leader

This is one of the three StoryRunners groups in different parts of Africa today. We are excited to hear of these developments and we can’t wait to share them with you. Please keep our teams in your prayers.

Check our August Newsletter to learn more about our work in Africa.

Spreading our wings even farther in Africa

in Africa / Field Reports / School of Storying / Testimonies 0 comments

School of Storying in Africa continues to impact participants

Here’s the latest update from our Ewok team currently running a School of Storying in the *Ewok (changed for security reasons) language.

Ma Soul! (Hi in the Ewok language)

“Wow, there is much wisdom in this. We go so deep in the Bible stories – even more than in Bible college!” *Matt (name changed for security reasons), one of our amazing participants, exclaimed during story development this week. This was in response to one of the trainers suggesting a rewording of a question to get better responses from the guests who would soon test the stories. It seemed trivial at the time to the trainer, but had a profound impact on how this man would view Bible storying as a way to dive deep into the riches of God’s Word.

*Matt testifies about how deep school of storying goes.

*Chuck (not real name), a participant/translator, intimated, “When I sing in French it is somehow not so deep. But when I sing in Ewok I feel it with my whole soul.” This is the reason why we focus on these particular languages, even though many people here can speak French or even English. Stories of Jesus in your heart language will touch your soul in ways other languages cannot.

Chuck testifies of how deeply he is touched when he sings in his (#Ewok) language rather than in French.

We have all worked very hard on six new stories this week, and will continue to put the finishing touches on the 24 previous stories. Thank you for your steadfast intercession on our behalf to the Lord.

—-Ewok team—

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. Because of you people like *Matt and *Chuck are able to know God deeper and worship Him in their heart language. The Ewok team members are also gradually recovering from various illnesses.

School of Storying in Africa continues to impact participants

in Africa / School of Storying / Testimonies 0 comments

Another StoryRunners School of Storying kicks off in a jungle in Central Africa

The road to the village where our team is currently carrying out a School of Storying. Looks like a serene place.

“We have been in the village for two days now. It is in the jungle actually. And very beautiful,” reports one of our trainers.

“We have 20+ participants which is amazing! They are a great bunch and good storytellers. Nine have returned from the first training and have many testimonies of how God is using the stories in their villages. It is so encouraging.” She continued.

It sounds like our team is having a great time in Central Africa and our prayers for translators have already been answered. Not everything is well though as one of our trainers had been ill. She had fever, swollen tonsils, cough, etc. She did manage to grab some sort of a Z-pack and she seems to be on her way to recovery. Please continue to pray for her complete healing, especially for cough and nasal congestion. She badly needs her voice in order to help with the training.

Participants at our School of Storying in the ‘E’ language.

“Our back translator is here. And we have three translators, with a fourth coming soon. We feel so spoiled. And the food has been amazing.” She further writes. “Pray for this first week of story development. We are working on the Passion stories, and the Resurrection.”

“Pray for our newest translator, N, who is struggling in life. She is also lacking confidence in her translation skills, but we tested her out today and she did great. We know she will improve a lot as time goes on and hopefully this will boost her confidence.” “Pray for our team leader and our host as they are juggling many things.” “Thank you! Your prayers are heard.”

Thank you indeed. We covet your prayers.

Please note that we are unable to reveal the names (and faces at times) of our trainers or disclose the name of the place for security reasons.

Another StoryRunners School of Storying kicks off in a jungle in Central Africa

in Africa / Field Reports / School of Storying / Testimonies / Uncategorized 0 comments

She Said Yes!

Serving as a translator for the Aja (Benin) School of Storying, Dodji sensed God’s invitation. “But how could someone like me ever become a servant of God?” Young, single and inexperienced, he couldn’t see it. But God could.

Coached by Parfait Mitchai, Dodji began his missionary training by sharing the gospel on a nearby campus using oral Bible stories as one of his strategies. But Parfait wasn’t finished recruiting.

One day Dodji learned that a young lady would be joining the campus ministry and be trained, with Dodji, in how to lead future SOS’s in West Africa. “I was sitting there with Parfait when she came in,” Dodji recalls. “We were like brother and sister… people started asking if we were twins!”

As Dodji and Doriane began working together as trainers for the Fulfulde SOS, our American trainers could see that God was up to something. “They think alike, their personalities are so similar,” Hera remembers. “They even have the same sense of humor!” Liz, a StoryRunners intern, agreed. So, as might be expected, Hera and Liz put their matchmaking skills to work. It didn’t take much convincing.

“It was when the SOS ended in May of 2015 that I realized it,” Dodji recounts. “I knew she was the one God had prepared for me, and I knew she would be my wife!” Dodji didn’t waste a minute. Without one date, Dodji told her what he knew from God. “Will you be my wife?” he asked her. “I thought you might ask,” Doriane replied to him. “And I had already decided to say YES.”

After a year of preparing and getting to know one another, Dodji and Doriane were married last May in a beautiful ceremony that several of our StoryRunners’ staff were able to attend.

“Now that we are married, we want to continue working with StoryRunners as full-time trainers and missionaries. We are ready to go anywhere and everywhere God wants us to go!”

Dodji and Doriane will be dynamic and strategic in the work of nationalizing StoryRunners’ Schools of Storying in the entire region of West Africa. Together, they have already begun training many local believers and will be leading SOS’s for many unreached languages in the future.

She Said Yes!

in Africa / School of Storying 0 comments