Oral Bible Storying as a Tool for Evangelism and Discipleship

One of the best tools we discovered last year shortly before our trips to Ethiopia was this concept of Oral Storying, or story-telling as a means of evangelism and discipleship in non-Western cultures. Story-telling is the principle means by which people in the majority of the world learn everything from farming to leadership to directions to the neighbor's house. Ironically, if you read through the gospels, you see Jesus using this as his primary means of teaching and training for the crowds as well as the disciples.

Recently, the Lausanne Movement (http://www.lausanne.org/), "a worldwide movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization" has posted some thoughts on the value and necessity of this strategy for reaching the unreached people groups of the world. Here are 3 recent posts on this topic.

Oral Bible Storytelling -- Why This and Why Now?

http://conversation.lausanne.org/resources/detail/10042

Oral Bible Storying Part II

http://conversation.lausanne.org/conversations/detail/10217

Bible Storying as Entry, Presence, and Exit Strategy

http://conversation.lausanne.org/resources/detail/10112

Ramping up for Ethiopia in 2010

That long silence you've heard here on the blog is us preparing yet another two teams for a great week of ministry in Ethiopia. We have spent the past several months casting the vision for these trips, sorting through applications and interviews, prayerfully selecting our teams, and now training those teams both for a week of ministry in Ethiopia and for ongoing lifetime ministry here in Dallas or wherever the Lord may take us.

Tonight, our teams begin a portion of our training where we meet for 5 weeks to do some specific heart and head work in preparation for our trips. Namely, we'll be working on developing our personal story of grace, learning to effectively use the Evangecube, and discovering how to implement the art form of oral storytelling as a means to engage with the hearts of the people of Ethiopia.

Please be praying for our teams as we begin to make these preparations for a trip that is just over two months away now. Can't wait!

What God taught Holly

I said a couple of days ago that I would be trying to get more stories from our team members so you could hear more directly from them. Well, this is a great story from Holly Holmes on her blog. Rather than post the whole thing here, let me just give you the link and encourage you to read this great story of how God taught Holly what sacrifice, both great and small, looks like.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hollyholmes/journal

The End of the Beginning

Sorry for the lack of posts over the last few days. We had more than a few issues with phones and internet while away and we were basically in the technological dark for the last few days. Nevertheless, team 2 returned safely back to DFW yesterday afternoon.

As we return, we bring with us the joy and satisfaction that comes from obedience to God and participation in His mission for the world. In moments like this, we are more fully aware of what we were created for than perhaps any other time in life, that is being used up and spent for the sake of God and His glory. There is no greater satisfaction.

The report from last week reads like this: We shared the gospel with over 1300 individuals last week and from that, the Lord saved 297 and adopted them as His sons and daughters. Amazing! Combined with the first week, we were able to see 394 individuals come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Only God saves and only God accomplishes things like this.

But as the title indicates, this is only the beginning on a couple of different fronts. First of all, our friends Dimecca and Tarikua will return back to Asela this week to train and equip the disciples makers we worked with the last two weeks so that they can effectively follow up with each and every one of the 394. They will equip them to start Bible studies in the villages and it is likely that several new churches will begin in the coming weeks. Please pray for this wonderful couple and the work they have ahead of them in Asela. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, small at first, but undeniable in its majesty in time. The number of believers is merely a mustard seed there currently, so pray that their faith will grow, that they will endure persecution that will surely come, and that they will be emboldened to declare the gospel to their friends and neighbors.

On the second front, this is, for our two teams, the beginning of a new season of life. Most had never experienced any kind of trip of this nature, and it is doubtful that any of us had every experienced a trip like this. We were encouraged, challenged, convicted, and broken over the condition of a world apart from Christ, both in Ethiopia and, now more prevalently for us, in Dallas, TX. We consistently refer to these trips, not as mission trips, but as discipleship trips. Pray for our teams, that the discipleship they experienced during their time in Ethiopia will bear much fruit in their lives here in Dallas, that many of our family members, friends, and co-workers will hear and respond to the gospel as we are newly emboldened to share with them in the days and weeks to come, and pray that this is not merely a flash in the pan, but true change that God has done in our hearts that will carry us as long as the Lord gives us breath.

Lastly, as you've followed along over the last couple of weeks, you've only received a sampling of the stories from this amazing trip. I am going to ask many of the members of the team to email me their favorite stories from the trip and continue to update the blog in the weeks to come with some of the stories you haven't heard yet, so keep checking back. I'll also try to get updates from our friends in Ethiopia about the work that continues there and will update you as I receive that information.

Thank you all again for your prayers, and please continue to pray!

Between peanut butter and tortillas for lunch, seeing the kiddos along the street yelling, “Ferenge! Ferenge!”, meaning “white people,” and the mystery dinners that are different recipes for the same meals each evening, this is one unbelievable experience. En route to a village on a rainy day, our van could go no further because of the mud, which left us with quite a hike ahead. As we began to walk through the sticky mud, the Lord divinely appointed three horse carriages for the remaining trek! Two carts almost tipped over, the girls were screaming and our horse obviously had a high fiber diet! Laughter is a good medicine.
Holly, Kathy, Lindsey and Troy, along with our Ethiopian crew, made up Team #3. On our first day, the girls played “lamb, lamb, chicken,” instead of “duck, duck, goose,” with the kids, while the guys played soccer with adults. After playing “futbol” for a while, our translator asked everyone to sit with us and hear the story of how Jesus Christ has changed our lives. All but two of the guys picked up their coats and simply walked away. Vicado and Abebe were the two stayed and listened. After Troy shared his testimony and the gospel using the Evangecube, Vicado paused, had a big smile and said, “This is marvelous! I recently had a dream that someone would come and explain what happens to us after we die. I can’t believe it.” We were stunned and thrilled simultaneously. Neither of them trusted Christ, but they both asked for bibles to see if what we said was true. What a “heart” lesson learned…the Father will go beyond our human means to share the glory and hope of His Son.
In our short 4 days, our team had the opportunity to share the gospel with 214 people & 56 confessed Christ as their Savior…how incredibly powerful is the gospel when we dare to declare it. Our hearts have been so dramatically stirred, hopefully to the point of carrying the gospel as a way of life with even greater boldness, intentionality and kindness with the lost, lonely and ‘least of these’ in Dallas. May we be more than just “bought-in” to the gospel, but entirely sold-out. What a blast and blessing this trip has been for all of us. (Story by Troy Dandrea)
Thursday has been our last full day of ministry. We will work a ½ day tomorrow & then head back to Addis Ababa. The entire team is feeling well but emotionally, spiritually & physically tired. Pray for safe travel on the long road back to Addis & rest for the North American team.

Picture is of a former Muslim young man who just accepted Christ & now is holding his first New Testament.


God has been moving in powerful ways! From seeing over 40 people come to Christ the first day to travelling by horse-cart to a remote village and seeing several people, including a local witchdoctor’s blind husband, saved (a church will now be meeting in their home)…this trip has been an adventure.
Today we hiked muddy roads to two villages even further away from where we had yet been. The first village was Muslim. We played soccer with the children until many adults approached us, curious about why we were there. While Leslie and I played the Ethiopian version of “Duck, Duck, Goose” with tons of smiling children, Jay and Jessica were able to share the gospel with the men and women. Many villagers began taking steps toward Jesus and they thanked us for bringing the good news and even prayed for us Americans. It is incredible how so many of the people here have never heard the name of Jesus.
The second village received us well and made fun of my trying to crack the farmers’ whip that even the little girls can work with ease. One thing that impacted us is how aware the people are of the fact that following Christ will cost them. Some wanted to accept God’s grace, but were afraid; one man would not because he feared his wife would leave him. Also, one of our gospel presentations was interrupted briefly when a witchdoctor found that his son had left his cattle duties to listen to our message. Still, the gospel moved forward today: my team saw many from these two villages receive the free gift of salvation available in Christ. And I finally learned how to crack that whip like a pro…sort of. (Story by Marcus Toussaint)
We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sadly our trip is almost over as we will work all day Thursday & then a half day Friday & head back to Addis. We will spend Saturday in Addis Ababa doing our debrief & relaxing & then early Sunday morning get on a plane to come home.

Tuesday's Update- Open hearts to the "Good News"

What an incredible opportunity today was. We were able to go to a village several miles off of the beaten path. After a couple of clown car instances of all the translators, disciple makers, and other men in the car getting out to push the van out of the mud we finally reached a beautiful area and stopped the car and walked another mile up to a small village. As we walked to our meeting place, we continued to gather a larger and larger crowd. In all we probably had over 100 people come to play soccer (futbol), Frisbee, have their fingernails painted (including the men J), kids playing duck, duck, goose and singing songs. But most importantly they all heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We had several really neat stories today. One of the best was with Kimberly Scheidegger who, through what started as one simple conversation, had the opportunity to share with the entire extended family of one of our disciple makers. Solomon one of our disciple makers lived in the village that we were in and had invited his sister to come and hear what we had to say. His sister invited Kim and one of our interpreters to come to her hut to meet her mother Mara. Mara had heard the story of Christ in the past and had been praying about her decision and today was the day that she was ready to make it. As Kimberly sat down she was ready to pray the prayer. They prayed and we welcomed a new sister into the kingdom and one that was the mother of our disciple maker Solomon, how cool is that? The cool part is that God was not finished. Mara invited Kimberly into her hut for traditional Ethiopian coffee and so that she could share with the rest of her family including Solomon’s sister, his father, grandmother, and eventually the husband of Solomon’s sister. After a good time of question and answer, the sister and husband both came to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior as well. Solomon had himself quite a day, and was beaming from ear to ear as we left today. The Lord moved in people’s hearts today in this village and this humble man now has over 30 people that he is going to have the chance to disciple. Just another amazing day in Ethiopia!!! Story by Dave Kimball
Here is what our typical day looks like:
7:00 am breakfast, 7:45 devotional, 8:15 leave in vans for mission site, build relationships & share Christ all morning, 12:00 lunch at the mission site, build relationships & share Christ all afternoon, 3:30 leave for hotel ( 1 ½ bumpy van drive), 6:00 dinner, 7:30 group share time & daily debrief
The team is healthy & everyone is excited about what God will do in us & through us tomorrow.