I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

“What is the purpose of man?” “Were there only two trees in the Garden of Eden?” “What happens to people who do not believe in God?” These are just a few of the questions asked in a recent Storying Class I attended while in the Horn of Africa visiting semester missionary, Courtney. Storying is a method for teaching the Bible by telling the Bible stories in chronological order. It is used all over the word to teach the Bible to people who have not heard of Jesus as Savior.

One way the missionaries in this part of Africa engage the people is by teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). When students reach a certain level in ESL class, they are invited to join a Storying Class. They begin with the creation story and make their way through the whole Bible. Each week, the story is told to the students in English. They repeat it back in English and then in their heart language. Then they discuss questions like, "What did you learn about God?" and "What did you learn about man?" The goal is to take them through the Bible so that when they get to the story of Jesus, they have the background to understand and accept Him.

We had an amazing time at the Storying Class. Courtney had already told us that her Storying class included Muslims, Seekers, members of the Orthodox Church and some Evangelical Christians. Right after she introduced us, one of the young men looked at me and said, “Tell us something about Jesus.” This is out of the ordinary! He was Muslim and had only been through the first two stories in the Old Testament. But he wanted to know about Jesus. The door was open. I was able to share how Jesus was both my friend and Savior. Lisa shared about being able to talk to Jesus about anything at anytime. Then he asked us to sing a song about Jesus. The three of us sang, “Jesus Loves Me.”

We went on to the story for the day, the Fall of Man. The focus of the story is to show why humankind is separated from God. This is a significant story to prepare the way to understanding that Jesus bridges the gap between God and humankind. During the discussion time, this same young man continued to ask questions like, “What is the purpose of man?”, “Why did God create man?” and “What happens to people that do not believe in God?” He is so anxious to get “to the end of the story” to see if Jesus is the answer. God placed a Christian woman in the class who translated the story and discussion into their heart language. I believe that this young man took one step closer to understanding the gift of grace through Jesus Christ.

Less than 3% of the people in the Horn of Africa are followers of Jesus Christ. It takes an average of seven years for a person to come to the point of accepting Jesus as Savior. A verse I am claiming for the Horn of Africa is Isaiah 65:1, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.’” Please pray for the salvation of the people in the Horn of Africa.

::Brenda S.

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