The Power of Storying

"Tell me the stories of Jesus, I want to hear

Things I would ask Him to tell me, if He were near..."

This is the plea of hearts, all over the world, longing to know the One who loves them, who died for them and who desires to live with them forever in Heaven.

But what if these people live

• where there is resistance to the gospel,
• where there is no written language, no alphabet, no books or Bible, no Jesus Film,
• where there is, at the most, a small church, few if any believers, and fewer missionaries?

This describes many parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.  But there is hope! That hope is something called "storying."

The following true account is taken from Background Partners 

I have a believer friend who lives in a country closed to Christianity.  His village is in a remote area.  The nearest well with somewhat drinkable water is 3 km away.  Goats wander around his village freely.  On the roofs of the mud houses are drying piles of dung to be used for cooking fuel.  In the evenings, people gather in doorways and by mud walls in clusters.  The connection they have with each others’ families comes from centuries of being in a survival community.

Khalim is the only Christian known among his people.  As Khalim has tea with people in his village, he says “Let me share a story with you…” and tells a three minute story from the Bible in their own language.  When he’s done, the men sit around talking about it, eating some bread and nuts and drinking tea, shooing the goats away from the small gardens.  Friends come and go in the discussion which might last for ten minutes or an hour. 

The next evening, he shares another story.  A few days later, another…

What is happening? 

• People are getting into God’s word and God’s word is getting into people in a place that has never had the Bible talked about before.
• They are talking about it freely, exploring it in community.
• This is happening very naturally in environments that are safe and comfortable.
• People aren’t extracted from their communities and labeled “infidels” as they are on their spiritual journey.
• Because it’s natural in style and not threatening, people are taking these stories home where they are sharing with their families and friends in other villages.
• While this is happening, credibility for God’s Word is being built.  Stories from God’s Holy Book aren’t seen as a tool of the “western corrupted church”.
• Khalim and his neighbors aren’t in trouble with the local religious authorities.  They don’t have a print copy of the Bible in their possession and they aren’t doing anything illegal.  They are simply talking over tea. 

It’s a way of getting people into God’s Word and God’s Word into people with the fewest obstacles possible.

Several months after Khalim began sharing stories, he was on a ridge at night watching the sheep of a friend.  As they sat on top of the ridge, his friend sat quietly looking up at the stars.  “Khalim. . . I think I believe in this Jesus that you keep telling stories about.  Tell me more . . . ”

Throughout history, the most enduring form of communication has been stories. Think about it. What do you do when you get with friends or family? Tell stories. What part of a talk or sermon does an audience wake up for? Stories. What do kids want before going to bed? A story.

Today, the majority of the world’s unreached people groups are made up of oral preference learners.  Many of these groups don’t have an alphabet in their native language.  And even if they do, they prefer to learn by oral or narrative means.  They communicate their history, civics, laws, and religion through stories, parables, songs, and drama.

These people need to be approached in a non-Western way. They need to hear the story of Jesus in a style that they are familiar with. Thus, telling stories is one way that missionaries are bringing the Good News of Jesus to those who have never heard the Gospel.

There are many agencies that are involved in this method of sharing Christ. Some of them include:

Background Mission Partners

One Story Partnership

Scriptures in Use

Story Runners

Faith Comes by Hearing

International Mission Board

What's the Most Popular Movie of All Time?

What is the most-watched movie in all of history? Would you guess The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, E.T.? None of those. In fact, because of this film, every four seconds, somewhere in the world, another person indicates a decision to follow Christ. What is it -- the "JESUS" film.

Think of the impact of this film...every four seconds someone accepts Jesus because they have watched it... that's 21,000 people per day, 630,000 per month and more than 7.5 million per year! That's like the population of the entire city of Seattle, WA, coming to Christ every 27.5 days. And yet, if you are like most people, you may have never even heard of it.

Called by some "one of the best-kept secrets in Christian missions," a number of mission experts have acclaimed the film as one of the greatest evangelistic tools of all time. Since 1979 the "JESUS" film has been viewed by several billion people all across the globe, and has resulted in more than 225 million men, women and children indicating decisions to follow Jesus.

A video on their website does a good job of visualizing this impact. Jesus film

"But how can any single film reach so many people and touch so many lives?"

It is the power of the Word of God in their heart language.

Based on the Gospel of Luke, the "JESUS" film has now been translated into more than 1,665 languages, with a new language being added nearly every week. This brings God's Word to people in more than 200 countries in languages they know and understand. By God's grace, it is yielding a spiritual harvest of unprecedented results.

Not only is the story of the "JESUS" film one of effective evangelism, but also of a powerful tool for expanding the church worldwide. In fact, according to Dr. Stephen Steele, former CEO of DAWN Ministries (c. 2001):

"Three quarters of all churches planted in the last decade around the world used the 'JESUS' film as part of the church planting process."

God is using this film in powerful ways to reach people and build spiritual movements worldwide. I'd like to share just a couple of the many stories of the impact of the Jesus film.

Two brothers in a South Asian country were Hindu priests. While on a visit to the city, one of the brothers heard the gospel message. Later, when a "JESUS" film team came to their village, both brothers watched the film. One of them began to question the team about the life of Christ, but the other seemed uninterested and wanted to leave. Once home, they talked long into the night, discussing what they had heard. They came to the conclusion that their faith led to a dead-end road, and salvation came only through Christ. The next day the men returned to the film team, wanting to accept Jesus Christ as Savior! Today they faithfully attend church, learning more about Jesus.

In a small, South Asian village, Pema*—a teenager—displayed signs of demon possession for nine months. "JESUS" film team member Joseph, his wife, and two other CRU staff members came to Pema's home and prayed for her for seven days. Each day they saw increasing improvement. On the seventh day she arose, then prepared and served tea to her parents and the others. Her family was amazed! When they saw Pema's deliverance through the prayers of Christians, they said: "... the god we serve is really not God. They are devil. So we want to get away ...." Immediately, they piled together all the statues of their gods, poured gasoline on them, and burned them. Pema and all seven members of her family chose to follow Christ. Others in their village saw the change in Pema and heard of her deliverance. Joseph showed the "JESUS" film in the village, and many more received Christ as Savior. Eventually everyone in the entire village became Christians and formed a church—25 families (65 people). Joseph continues to teach them and recently baptized 32 adults in that village. Praise God!

A Bible in their Own Language

"We have good reason to be encouraged because of what God is doing in the world, but that must be balanced by the solemn reality that so much remains to be done and that forces opposed to us are formidable. The finish of world evangelization is in sight, but there are huge barriers to jump and strongholds to break down before the end when Jesus returns. Isaiah 54:3 foretold the massive spiritual harvest with a promise:

"For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

Your descendants will possess the nations (peoples) and will settle the desolate cities."

According to Patrick Johnstone, author of a really encouraging and challenging book which I highly recommend entitled: The Church is Bigger Than You Think, there are three major challenges we face if we are to complete the Great Commission. These are geographic (reaching every inhabited part of the world...I've talked about this in connection with the 10/40 Window where most of the work still needs to be done), ethnic (reaching every people) and urban (reaching the cities...which I just spoke about a few weeks ago). 

I'd like to focus, for the next few blogs, on the ethnic challenge of reaching every people group. Just as a reminder, a people group, referred to as "nation" in the Bible, is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.

To reach every people group, there are various important ministries that must be strengthened for this discipling to be effective and lasting. Today I am going to focus on Bible translation, what it looks like and some of the agencies that are doing this today.

First, each of us needs to consider what the Bible means to us. The Bible is God's letter to us, the expression of His love, His desires, His guidance (see Psalm 119). It is our guidebook on the path of life and it tells us of all God's promises to us. How would we be able to live a life for God without it?

That is the reality for 350 million people who do not have the Bible in their language. But, instead of looking at that number with discouragement, there is much to be encouraged about in the area of Bible translation!

To give you an idea of the rapid progress of Bible translation: in the year 1600 the Bible was translated into 36 languages; 1700 - 52; 1800 - 67; 1900 - 537 and by the year 2,000 it had been translated into 2,800 languages! Praise God for what has been done in this last century.

"We can only praise God for the remarkable ministry of the Bible societies around the world who have multiplied over and over the number of languages that now have Scriptures. More recently God raised up Wycliffe Bible Translators with the specific vision to provide a New Testament for every language without the Scriptures. WBT is now one of the largest cross-cultural mission agencies in the world. These numbers are from their website: 

- More than 1,500 languages have access to the New Testament and some portions of Scripture in their language.
- More than 650 languages have the complete translated Bible.
- About 7,000 languages are known to be in use today.
- At least 1.5 billion people do not have the full Bible in their first language. More than 110 million do not have a single verse of Scripture.
- More than 2,500 languages across 170 countries have active translation and linguistic development work happening right now.
- Approximately 1,600 languages still need a Bible translation project to begin. Of the world's 6,912 languages, an estimated 2,251 may still require New Testament translation work. The majority of these languages are in the African Sahel and Horn of Africa, the Iranic peoples, Central Asia, the Caucasus, China and India.

In order to grasp what receiving the Bible in their own language can mean for a people group, I strongly recommend the book And the Word Came with Power about missionary Joanne Shetler who translated the Bible for the Balango people of the Philippines. Our children and I were so encouraged by this true story!

You can also view the video EE-Taow  It is an incredible video about how God called an entire tribe to Himself after they received the Bible in their language and heard the Gospel message.

Also, you can be directly involved in Bible translation through the Bibleless People's Prayer Project .

As parents, this is a ministry we can pray about for our children. What better way to live your life than to dedicate it to bringing God's Word to a group of people who have never heard of Jesus' love for them or been able to read about it for themselves?

I have listed below the websites of other organizations, besides Wycliffe,  concerned with Bible translation:

The Seed Company  I blogged about their program for children here Help your kids learn about Bible translation

SIL International

And if you live in or near Orlando, FL or are planning a trip there in the future, you might want to check out:

Wordspring  WordSpring Discovery Center in Orlando, Florida is the place to discover the amazing story of the Bible. Encounter people, languages, and cultures you’ve never seen before. It’s about the art and science of translation. It’s about how God’s Word carries hope around the world to people in their own language. It’s an interactive cultural adventure! Discover how the Bible was preserved and shared throughout history.

But, what if the people group can't read? The world illiteracy rate, according to UN studies, is between 16%-27%. How will those people hear about Jesus?

Over the next couple days I will blog about two really neat ministries in the mission field: the Jesus film and storying.

Where are our Priorities?

“Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; 

don't stand back and let them die.

Don't try to avoid responsibility by saying you didn't know about it. 

For God knows all hearts, and he sees you. 

He keeps watch over your soul, and he knows you knew! 

And he will judge all people according to what they have done.

(Prov. 24:11, 12.)

"It is a solemn and most momentous truth that our every act in this present life – and our every omission too – has a direct and important bearing both on our future welfare, and on that of others. And as believers, it behooves us to do whatsoever we do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Those are the words of Hudson Taylor when he wrote a powerful book entitledand China's Spiritual Needs and Claims.  Hudson Taylor (1832 – 1905), was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM) (now OMF International ). 

Taylor was known for his sensitivity to Chinese culture and zeal for evangelism. He adopted wearing native Chinese clothing even though this was rare among missionaries of that time. Under his leadership, the CIM was singularly non-denominational in practice and accepted members from all Protestant groups, including individuals from the working class and single women as well as multinational recruits. Primarily because of the CIM's campaign against the Opium trade, Taylor has been referred to as one of the most significant Europeans to visit China in the 19th Century. Historian Ruth Tucker summarizes the theme of his life: “No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematised plan of evangelising a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor."

Even though Hudson Taylor went on to be with Jesus more than 100 years ago, I believe his words still have importance for our day. I am sharing just a small number of them below in the hope that they will inspire and challenge you as they have me!

"Very early in the course of His ministry, the Lord Jesus taught His people that they were to be the light – not of Jerusalem, not of Judea, nor yet of the Jewish nation, but – of the world. And He taught them to pray – not as the heathen, who use vain and unmeaning repetitions; nor yet as the worldly-minded, who ask first and principally (if not solely) for their own private benefit and need: “For,” said He, “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. After this manner therefore pray ye: -

“Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name;

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done; as in heaven, so in earth.”

And it was only after these petitions, and quite secondary to them, that any personal petitions were to be offered. Even the very moderate one, “Give us this day our daily bread,” followed them. Is not this order too often reversed in the present day? 

Instead of honoring Him with the first-fruits of our time and substance, are we now content to offer Him the fragments that remain after our own supposed need is supplied? While we thus refuse to bring the tithes into His storehouse, and to prove the Lord therewith, can we wonder that He does not open the windows of heaven, and pour us out the fullness of blessing that we desire?

We have a striking exemplification of the manner in which we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, in the life and in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when risen from the dead, ere He ascended on high, He commissioned His people to make known everywhere the glad tidings of salvation – full and free – through faith in His finished work. This duty He enjoined on us; enjoined in the most unmistakable form, and to the most definite extent; saying, “Go ye, into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” 

Grievously has the Church failed in fulfilling this command. Sad it is to realize that so near to the close of the nineteenth century of the Christian era, there are immense tracts of our globe either wholly destitute of, or most inadequately provided with, the means of grace and the knowledge of salvation.

Leaving other fields, however, let us concentrate our attention on the Chinese empire. Let us reflect on its great antiquity, its vast extent, its teeming population; on its spiritual destitution, and overwhelming need. Let us survey the efforts that have been put forth for its good, and contemplate the work which still remains to be done, ere the gospel is preached to “every creature” throughout this empire. And may the view we shall obtain give rise to devout gratitude to God for our own superior privileges, to humiliation before Him for our past want of earnestness in the dissemination of the truth, and to more strenuous efforts in future for China’s good."

The same can be said for all areas of the 10/40 Window, especially. There are still more than 2 billion people who have never heard the name of Jesus. It is our commission, our duty, our privilege, to tell them about the One who loves them so much and wants to prepare a place in Heaven for them. 

America supplies more money and people to worldwide missions than any other nation. That is wonderful, but it is not enough. We are also among the top five richest nations in the world with the largest percentage of Christians in the world. We have been given a HUGE blessing and a HUGE responsibility. 

Our military are ready to go into foreign nations to fight and die for people they don't know in the name of democracy and freedom so why aren't more Christians willing to go into foreign nations, to fight and possibly die for people they don't know, in the name of Jesus Christ who is more important than anyone else in our lives? 

May we each ask the Lord what He wants us to do and then go do it. The glory of the Lord and eternity for 2 billion people is at stake. 

Cities - the Next Step to Reaching Them

If you have already heard the call of the lost from the world's cities or if you are just beginning to hear that call, there are ways you can further explore what God may have in mind for you. The following steps were suggested in The Challenge of the Cities by Roger S. Greenway.

1) Grow

Most important is your own spiritual development. Ministry in cities requires that you "put on the full armor of God" (Eph. 6:11), not just once or occasionally, but daily. Therefore, stretch your spiritual horizons. Go beyond your individual development into church-related concerns and areas of ministry in which you must pay a price in order to strengthen others.

2) Get Involved

Become involved in some kind of organized urban mission work. It will give you valuable experience and will test your gifts for ministry. Offer yourself as an "apprentice" to an effective urban pastor, evangelist or missionary. Observe carefully how the Lord uses his workers. Learn all you can about presenting the Gospel to different kinds of people and meeting a variety of needs.

3) Learn

Read books and journals that deal with mission work in cities and learn all you can about different models of urban ministry. If possible, take a course in urban ministry at a Bible college or seminary. Some schools offer advanced academic programs in urban mission.

4) Explore

Investigate a particular city. Begin by studying a map of the city and identifying its different parts - the commercial areas, industrial zones and residential neighborhoods. Look closely at the areas that are growing in population and the kinds of people and cultures found there.

Then choose one neighborhood and study its people - their religions, cultures, languages and social conditions. Inquire about their spiritual, social and material needs. Find out if there are vital churches in every language group. Then think about ways to advance Christ's Kingdom in particular neighborhoods.

5) Pray

Develop and maintain a prayer ministry for cities. Prayer is missionary action. You can begin your urban mission immediately by making a list of certain cities in various parts of the world. Learn all you can about the people and their needs. Then pray regularly that God will build His Kingdom in those cities.

Follow these steps and you will grow in your understanding of what urban mission entails. God will increase the burden of your heart for cities and will show you what role He wants you to play. Consider it a great privilege if He calls you to be His co-worker in building His Kingdom in the most strategic places in the world, the cities.