I Love to Tell the Story

Last week I attended a conference at WinShape near the Berry College Campus in Rome, GA. It was how to share the Bible with oral learners and it was amazing! I learned so much. I learned things like 70% of the world's population are oral learners. They may not be illiterate, but they prefer an oral learning style. They either can't read, won't read or choose not to read. How do you reach them with the Words of Life? How does one reach the people groups that have no scripture in their own language? How does the Body of Christ reach out to the unreached, unengaged people groups that have never heard of the name of Jesus?

It's not going to be through the written word. A printed Bible doesn't help much if you can't read. And, a printed Bible doesn't help much if it is not in your heart language, the one you learned from birth. So, an oral approach is needed. An approach that is heart felt, using the words of Scripture in the peoples' heart language. That's what Bible storying is all about...sharing the Scripture from memory with the voice inflections, body language and facial expressions that a storyteller would use.

A storyteller keeps their audience engaged in the story, and in this case it's His story, the story of God. It seems as if there are as many different methods as there are people. Some, use the words straight from Scripture, not adding anything, not taking anything away. Some, include things that probably happened, but is not mentioned in Scripture, but was the custom of the day, such as taking off sandals when entering a house. Some storytellers use more actions than others, more voice inflections and similar type things.

The one thing that Bible Storytellers all have in common is their love for the Lord Jesus Christ and their desire to see people from every tongue and every nation bowing down at the Throne of God. And they will continue to do so until their last breath in this world, for They Love to Tell the Story...Do you?