I Love to Tell the Story

I love stories, don't you? Tell me a story and I'll listen. I'll read a book or watch a movie - they are all stories. But, the bestest story of all is His story! And, I love to tell it!

You see, I am the caretaker of a small village church. That means I "preach" quite often. But, I am NOT a preacher. I am a teacher, and I have taken the Spiritual Gifts tests to prove it! (I also  went to University for teaching.) Put me in front of any size congregation, I don't want to "preach," it stresses me. I will share my story. Mostly, I share His story, the story of Jesus and His love. 

My congregation is 97% illiterate. They fall asleep during church. The talk. They walk out. One woman, Ernestina, will go around and tap people with a stick to wake the up, sometimes, it is more than a tap! She will tell people to be quiet and listen if they are talking. Preaching in Kalsagri has to be simple and interactive. If it is not, people will not know what the sermon was about even three minutes later. So, I have started using Biblical storying.

This is how it works: In my church, the gospel is read in Dagaare. Then, the Creed is said in Dagaare. After that, with Bible in hand, using the same words as written (unless the word is too big and I have to clarify the meaning), I tell the Bible story in English. It is interpreted into Dagaare. Then, I tell people to really listen because their turn is coming. Then, I tell the story again. Next, we break up into groups of four. Each person in the group tells the story in their heart language. When everyone is finished, I ask questions, such as: "What does this story tell us about Jesus? (or Pilate or David, or whomever is in the story.) I ask it about each person in the story. Sometimes, the questions will be about something else. The last two questions are: "What did you learn from the story that you can apply to your life today? What do you hope that you will always remember from this story and never forget?" Each person in the group has a chance to answer. Then, we come back together as a whole and ask for volunteers to answer the questions. At the end, I will share with the congregation what I learned. Then, there is homework - tell the story to someone else during the week.

No one falls asleep. Everyone is actively involved and, even those who cannot read, leave with a Bible story and Biblical truths connected to it. I did this today in another church where more people are educated and they loved it. Each time I "tell the story" people have really good discussions. It has been a blessing to this "teacher." And, that's why I love to tell the story!

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?