Oral Bible Storying in Full Swing in Africa

StoryRunners logo - A good story in the making
Our vision is to help people in 500 unreached language groups become followers of Christ in a growing community of faith by the year 2025.
ORAL BIBLE STORYING IN FULL SWING IN AFRICA - StoryRunners
“God told me to go to the most unreached, to the darkest places,” Kyle* explained. That’s why I go far to start my groups. I find places that have no churches, with no one working there, and that’s where I start my groups. That is who God has called me to.”

Early this month we had three teams spread across Francophone Africa to meet with local leaders, to develop oral Bible stories, and to equip people to reach out to their own unreached people group. Hera, a team leader who was with Kyle, had this to share: “We have been to three cities and six remote villages. Everywherewe went, we saw over and over again that these stories CHANGE LIVES. They  WORK. God is MOVING in places where people know nothing about Him.”

“These are dark places, in dire need of God’s light. In one tiny village alone, I counted five religious temples within 60 seconds of driving through. During a hike to get to a story group in one village, we passed through a courtyard with four cult altars.”
ORAL BIBLE STORYING IN FULL SWING IN AFRICA - StoryRunners

But there is hope for God’s WORD is changing people’s lives. One person (among many) is a village chief whose life has been radically changed because of the story group in his village. He was so excited to have the story group there and welcomed the StoryRunners team with open arms. In another village, the chief proudly took the team to visit the land he was donating so that Kyle could build the first church in their village. Everyone has been eagerly using storying, forming many new story groups, including second-generation groups and churches.

A team in another part of Africa had an equally fruitful time developing oral Bible stories and using them in outreaches. In just three weeks, more than 1,500 people heard the oral Bible stories, and around 56 story groups met in the two villages the team worked in. Hallelujah!

The third team leader shared, “Seeing the simple method working in a relaxed and natural environment reminded me of the power of storytelling. It truly can be done by anyone, anywhere, any time for nearly any situation. And all you need to do is show up. When you do, so does God.” Indeed. Look out for more on how storying is changing the spiritual landscape of Africa in our next newsletter.

GET TO KNOWNANCY KELLEY ALVAREZ

The Lord saved Nancy 44 years ago and was burdened to share God’s Word and love to others. She first followed God’s call to Asia in 1979 to teach English to the Japanese. Later she went to the Philippines to plant churches. She later earned an MA from Wheaton Graduate School in Intercultural Studies and then returned to Japan as a church planter. Through twists and turns the Lord led her back to the Philippines to teach at Cru’s International Graduate School of Leadership as trainer of English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. During this time, she met the love of her life – Al Alvarez. They married in 1999 and adopted Al’s niece and nephew in 2002. Nancy joined Cru in 2000 and has been serving with StoryRunners since 2010.

Nancy and Al travel throughout Asia to tell God’s stories in their heart language. Nancy is passionate about human trafficking victims including among the youth. She loves to make jewelry, read, cook, watch movies, cuddle with her dog Bingo and travel the world. She is also a writer and published her first novel – “The Butterfly Impact: An Unexpected Story of Courage and Transformation”.

 

PRAISE & PRAYER

PRAISE
1) For the marvelous work God is doing in Africa.
2) For the old and new oral Bible storying opportunities He has opened in the Philippines.
3) For the completed set of 42 oral Bible stories in the “E” language.

PRAYER 
| We covet your prayers, please pray:
1) For God to continue to open doors in Africa; for the right partners in the region.
2) For God’s Word to bear fruit in the lives of those who heard the stories.
3) For protection and provision for our missionaries and partners in various parts of the world.

WOULD YOU PARTNER WITH US?
StoryRunners partners with people like you who fund our School of Storying projects and our day-to-day operations. If you are encouraged about how God is using StoryRunners, ask Him if He wants YOU to become a monthly giving partner or to make a special gift.
You can make a difference for people who have never had God’s word in their own language. To give towards a specific School of Storying project, contact Pam Lilly.

Click here for your tax-deductible contribution.

Read the pdf version here StoryRunners October 2017 Newsletter.

 

Oral Bible Storying in Full Swing in Africa 

 

 

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.

Telling an oral Bible story by a flowing stream in Africa - StoryRunners

 “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.”

 

Telling an oral Bible story by a flowing stream in Africa - StoryRunners

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. 
Spreading our wings even further in Africa - StoryRunners
 
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!
Spreading our wings even further in Africa - StoryRunners
 
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

Spreading our wings in West Africa

 

StoryRunners logo - A good story in the makingOur vision is to help people in 500 unreached language groups become followers of Christ in
a growing community of faith by the year 2025.

 

Spreading our wings in West Africa - StoryRunners

Dance is an integral part of worship in Africa


“Every morning and afernoon session began with worship. Dancing is an integral part of worship, and everybody has to dance. I’ve never experienced anything like it. The beat, the style and rhythm are so different, and ofen there is a lead singer with the crowd cheerfully responding with a chorus,” reported Mark Steinbach, StoryRunners Director. Mark was at the very frst West Africa Train the Trainer workshop held this summer.


The workshop saw 41 leaders from churches, para-church groups and other ministry leaders gather in West Africa along with three members from StoryRunners in the US. With representatives from Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Togo, the event was the frst of its kind for StoryRunners and the African leaders. Its main purpose was to train the African leaders to become trainers for future School of Storying (SOS) projects.

During the three-week training, everyone developed oral Bible stories using our six-step process and learned how to coach a story development group. The participants also gained practical experience. Using Bible stories developed on the ‘F’ SOS project (name undisclosed for security reasons), some of them taught
‘ F ’ – speaking people how to learn and discuss stories in a Story Fellowship Group (SFG).

For many of the participants, it was their first authentic cross-cultural experience. They had to work with a translator to reach a people who spoke a language different from theirs. Another team also reached out to students at a nearby university to help plant a new Cru ministry in that campus. 

Spreading our wings in West Africa - StoryRunners

Story development in progress


The workshop culminated with the certification of 31 participants as ‘Assistant Trainers in StoryRunners School of Storying.’ This is a huge milestone for us as we have now more than doubled our training capacity—with African nationals ready to work with other unreached language groups. We are incredibly grateful to
these African leaders. Please pray that they will faithfully share the gospel through these oral Bible stories. 

We are also very grateful for your prayers and partnership. We could not have done it without you.

 

A glimmer of hope for the Haka people

Spreading our wings in West Africa - StoryRunners

This summer, we joined forces again with E3, a partner mission agency based in Dallas, Texas. We sent one of our team leaders to revisit the *Haka people, an unengaged and unreached people group who live in a restricted country in Central Asia. 

Afer a challenging two-week session, we were delighted to see encouraging improvements among the participants. When Maria, one of the participants, told the story of Jesus calming the storm to her son, she experienced a ‘breakthrough’ moment. She told our team, “Suddenly, the story came alive to me for the frst time. It was like I was sitting on the boat with the disciples, feeling the water on my face.” We are now planning to complete the project in early 2018 to fnish the story set and continue our training with E3 partners in Bible story development. We praise God for this glimmer of hope. Please also pray that the Haka participants will be steadfast in sharing the gospel among their people.

Spreading our wings in West Africa - StoryRunners

“I was losing joy in serving God but this trip helped me get the joy back!” Exclaimed one of the 25 students who exclaimed one of the 25 students who
participated at our Rocky Mountain Summer Mission. look out for more exciting stories on this in our next edition!

Praise & Prayer

PRAISE:
1) Praise God for the recently concluded second part of the Haka School of Storying, for the changed hearts among our participants there, for their renewed
commitment to using oral Bible stories, and for their partnership with us.

2) Praise God for the recently concluded Cru17 US Staff Conference in Colorado that our team attended from July 16 – 24.

3) Praise God for our summer mission, which fnished earlier this month. Our 32 participants learned about oral Bible storying and shared their faith all over the
Rocky Mountain National Park using Bible stories. Read next month’s newsletter to learn more.

PRAYER

1) Pray for our upcoming SOS trips in the fall: for preparation by our nationals in the feld, safety and health for our travel teams, and for full funding for each
language. 

2) Pray for the 31 African leaders we trained to be School of Storying Assistant Trainers to continue to develop their storying skills and gain more experience.

To receive regular updates from StoryRunners, follow us @storyrunners on our Social Media sites: Facebook, twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube

 

Spreading our wings in West Africa – StoryRunners

More Stories and Songs for the Ewok

StoryRunners logo - A good story in the makingOur vision is to help people in 500 unreached language groups become followers of Christ in a growing community of faith by the year 2025.

“The rain pelts the metal roof and creates a dull roar for the background music of our lunch. But the cacophony inside is much louder, composed of voices in fve different languages, with songs of various genres playing from phones for good measure. One man stands up from the table as he shouts and points. No, he’s not mad—it’s just another lively discussion over lunch between the participants. I looked around at the 30 or so people gathered together for this School of Storying—men and women, young and old, pastors and laymen, Francophones and Anglophones—and I can’t help but think that only God could assemble this particular group of people for his work. It’s a little taste of heaven to be able to worship together with seven different tongues, tribes, and nations represented, all of us united in Christ to praise our glorious God,” writes Darryl, leader of Team *Ewok.

More Stories and Songs for the Ewok - StoryRunners in Africa

Matt captivates the crowd with his story.


Darryl and his team recently went to Africa to complete the second part of the 42 oral Bible stories they were developing in the Ewok language. At least 30 people participated, 9 of whom were also present in the frst part of the training in March. That in itself is incredible as former participants are not always able to attend the second session for various reasons. Everyone proved to be enthusiastic participants and turned out to be amazing storytellers. Many of the returnees also had testimonies of how God was using the stories in their villages. Coming from various backgrounds and professions, the team worked tirelessly for three weeks to develop and complete the set of oral Bible stories. In the process, everyone has been impacted, with many stories of lives changed. Here are just a few of their testimonies.


“Wow, there is much wisdom in this. We go so deep in the Bible stories—even more than in Bible college!” *Matt was one of our Ewok participants who came to a realization during story development time one day. One of the trainers had suggested 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 richness of God’s Word.


“When I sing in French it is somehow not so deep. But when I sing in Ewok* I feel it with my whole soul!” *Chuck was an Ewok participant who also served as a translator, and he saw the significance of having songs in his mother tongue. This is why we focus on these particular languages, even though many people in this region can speak French or even English. Stories of Jesus in your heart language will touch your soul in ways other languages cannot!


“Before my frst School of Storying I was a big pastor, always commanding people to do this and do that. That’s not how God made me. I didn’t know how to have fun with people. But now I can tell a story and just be free with them.” *Lew, from West Africa, served as one of our national trainers. Using Bible stories for ministry inside and outside the church has had a tremendous impact on him and those around him. He told about one little girl who had been struggling with reading and other literate learning methods in church and in school. But when Lew began using stories to teach, she quickly caught on and became one of the best storytellers in the church at only ten years old. And now she’s doing much better in school!

More Stories and Songs for the Ewok - StoryRunners in Africa
Ethan (right) smiles with another of our translators.

One of our translators, *Ethan, had a similar experience with Bible storying. Because he spent all week at this training, including evenings, he didn’t have time to prepare a sermon to preach. So he shared the story of Jesus walking on water, and to his surprise, the church loved it! Everyone actively discussed the story and had it learned by the end of the service.


Because of your partnership and prayers, people like Matt, Chuck, Lew and Ethan have learned to develop oral Bible stories that they
can now use in their local ministries, Bible studies, evangelism and discipleship. Personally, they’ve also learned how to dig deeper into God’s Word. Please keep the Ewok language group in your prayers, and pray that they will be faithful in retelling God’s life-changing stories!

 

Praise & Prayer

Praise:

1) For the successful completion of phase 2 of the Ewok* School of Storying and the safe return of our trainers.
2) For the successful West Africa “Train the Trainers” conference with 30 ministry leaders from five countries on the African continent in attendance.

PRAYER:

WE COVET YOUR PRAYERS. PLEASE PRAY:
1) For the newly graduated Ewok participants to be faithful in using the completed 42 oral Bible stories in
their personal ministries, in evangelism efforts, and in discipleship.

2) For our upcoming Cru17 US Staff Conference in July—that our StoryRunners team will be encouraged
and refreshed spiritually.

3) For the upcoming Rocky Mountain Summer Missions trip participants—for God’s provision and that they would all be encouraged and equipped to use oral Bible storying in their personal lives and outreach opportunities.

 

Get to Know

In a survey we ran earlier this year, you mentioned that you would like to know more about the StoryRunners team—so here’s an opportunity to take a personal look at who we are!

Mark Steinbach – StoryRunners Director

More Stories and Songs for the Ewok - StoryRunners in Africa

Mark has served on staff with Cru for the past 37 years. He came to Christ as a Penn State student through the influence of Cru, graduating in 1980. He later earned his MBA degree from Rollins College here in Orlando. Before his role with StoryRunners, Mark served with The Jesus Film Project. He was part of their executive management team for 13 years that included directing the studios for recording and post-production of JESUS (the most watched Christian film in history) and its associated films in over 850 languages.

When not immersed in our business operations or overseeing various StoryRunners projects, Mark loves to read and catch up on current events. Mark also enjoys going to the beach with his family, yard work with his wife, and cooking. He’s become quite famous around the StoryRunners’ offices at Christmas time for making the best fruitcakes in town too!

Mark has lived in Orlando since 1991 with his wife, Jenny, and their four sons. They are now enjoying life as empty-nesters.

Click here for the pdf version of our June 2017 Newsletter.

More Stories and Songs for the Ewok

 

Into the Bush

Into the Bush - Telling oral Bible stories in the jungles of Africa - StoryRunners

Deep into the bush we drove, winding our way along the pot-holed dirt road, the jungle pressing in on both sides. After miles of trekking up and down the mountains we arrived at a small village where a family greeted us. Over the next hour, more and more people showed up at the house to hear the story. *Zeb began telling the story of Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He skillfully guided them through the steps of a story fellowship group, which culminated in a discussion of the story.

Into the Bush - Telling oral Bible stories in the jungles of Africa - StoryRunners

The man pictured in the grey suit volunteered to retell the story, and he recounted it almost verbatim. The School of Storying participants who helped develop the story a few weeks ago were thoroughly impressed at how well the man learned the story and retold it. They were audibly ooohhh-ing and aaahhh-ing every time he nailed a line.

Into the Bush - Telling oral Bible stories in the jungles of Africa - StoryRunners

This man is but one example of how transferable Bible storying is for communicating God’s Word. During the discussion, another man asked what happened at the feast (the Passover in the story). *Zeb answered with a smile, “You’ll have to come back to find out in the next story.”

Darryl for the Ewoks

This is the latest update from our team in Africa currently running a School of Storying for the *Ewok language group. If you missed our earlier updates, please check our previous posts. May you be blessed.

*Names changed for security reasons

Into the Bush 

‘Douma’ Means Glory

Here’s the latest update from our team in the *Ewok (name changed for security reasons) language in Africa. If you haven’t seen our earlier updates, please check our previous blogs…

“Douma douma douma, a Zamba. Douma eh, douma eh, a Zamba.” “Our voices harmonize to send up these praises every morning. Glory, glory, glory to God. Glory oh, glory oh to God.” The word ‘douma’ is also used for really big trees. How big you may ask? Check out the picture below – that’s me in the bottom right!

StoryRunners - 'Douma' Means Glory
Darryl, one of our team leaders, poses next to the humongous tree in Africa.

This week we confirmed the fact that *Ewok and *Etok (both names changed for security reasons), though generally mutually intelligible, are different enough languages that they warrant their own story sets. In light of this, we have been working very hard to get the stories recorded in both languages. Most of our current participants speak Etok, so the priority is to get whatever stories they tell translated into Ewok. If time allows we will also do the reverse​.

Liz and I had quite an eventful lunch. We stepped onto a road quickly when the yells of a child didn’t stop. She was sitting in a ditch clutching her lower right leg, with two young boys looking on. We would find out later that a run-in with a wheelbarrow​ had caused the injury, quite possibly a fracture or at least a deep bruise. After examining the knot forming and discovering that it wouldn’t bear her weight, we decided to help the girl back to her home. Someone suggested tossing her in the wheelbarrow, but Liz compassionately scooped her up in her arms and started walking, with a small crowd of locals following. 
StoryRunners - laundry day among the Ewoks in Africa
A glimpse of everyday life among the Ewoks in Africa – laundry day.

The girl said “here” in French when a small path appeared at the side of the road, and off into the jungle we trekked, weaving in and out of various plants and fallen trees. Midway through, Liz handed her over to me to carry. Finally we reached another dirt road that led to the girl’s home and called for her mother.
Remembering the rarely-used cold compress that we packed in the medical kit, I ran back to get it. Tess was there to find it for me when my search turned up void, so it was truly a team effort to take care of this girl. Upon returning to the girl’s home, I found Liz telling a story via a translator to the crowd that had gathered. We activated the compress, gave instructions for how long to keep it on, and recommended taking her to a doctor. Then we prayed for her and disappeared back into the jungle.

 

What a week it has been. Please pray for continued wisdom, strength, and discipline as we develop, record, and rerecord stories. And pray against the bugs – they don’t seem to understand that repellent means we don’t want them to bite us. Liz must be especially sweet, as she is covered in bites. We’re thankful that Tess and I have been more or less restored to our healthy selves! Darryl for the Ewoks

 

Thank you for your continued prayers. Our team among the Ewoks are almost getting ready to wrap things up. Please pray that the Ewok School of Storying participants will be faithful in proclaiming the gospel through our oral Bible stories. That they would be effective in using the stories in their personal ministry, Bible study groups, discipleship and hopefully church planting.

 

If you are new to StoryRunners and would like to know more about our oral Bible stories, please check our ‘Stories‘ section. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or would want to know more about this amazing oral Bible storying ministry and strategy among unreached people groups.

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.

 

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

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

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

School of Storying - 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.
School of Storying - Central Africa
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

An Incredible First Week of School of Storying in Manila

 

Here’s a fresh update from our Team #alog in Manila, currently running a School of Storying there.

Hello everyone! Greetings from the hot, steamy tropics!

What an absolutely incredible week it’s been. I cannot imagine a trip better set up than this one. We had everything we needed – great translators, super helpful guests, a friendly back translator, and 27 OUTSTANDING participants. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever been on a trip where we’ve had better participants. They are stoked to be a part of the training, totally on fire for sharing their faith, super quick learners, and just so much fun to be around. Everyone is always laughing and joking and telling stories!

Participants worship before starting a session.

On the first day when we were doing introductions, they kept going on and on about how they’re already planning on using the stories. Their answers spanned a broad spectrum of uses, and I know that over this past week, they’ve come up with even more.

Seeing them sharing the stories has been such a wonderful experience – and God is already blessing their efforts abundantly. In this past week, our participants shared stories with 227 people, and 115 of them prayed with our participants to accept Christ! We feel so humbled to be a part of what God is doing in this country!

A very enthusiastic group of participants indeed.

One quote I want to share that I think really gives you an idea of how these participants approach everything with eagerness and excitement. During our people check where we have non-Christians come listen to the stories and answer questions, one of the participants asked me, “Can we have a third round of this check? Can you bring another guest? This is so fascinating! They’re giving such interesting and useful responses!”

God is so good, guys!

– From the Team Leader of our trainers in Manila, Philippines running a School of Storying. We praise God for all these fruitful results. Please pray for the 115 people who have decided to give their lives to Christ after hearing our oral Bible stories. Please also continue to pray for everyone’s health, safety and commitment to telling His life-changing stories.