No Darkness At All
From SPARK
One-sentence summary
Big book story of North African boy, that emphasizes salvation and witnessing.
Description
No Darkness At All is the story of a North African boy named Hamid, and his physically blind sister. Both children live in spiritual darkness. Hamid turns to the “Light of the World” Jesus, and chooses to return to his village to witness to his new faith.
The illustrated story has five chapters, 40 pictures and extra activities. Activities include an object lesson, a map on the back inside cover and a glossary of unfamiliar words to be defined.
- Re-thinking the story
- Gospel emphasis
- Missions thrust
- Wordless Book is also used in conjunction with this story.
- See http://berean.org/bibleteacher/wb.html for an explanation of the Wordless Book.
All five chapters emphasize salvation and witnessing. Each chapter ends with an invitation to believe in Christ.
Considerations
- This five part story is an adaptation of the story Star of Light, by Patricia St. John. It was published by Scripture Union in England and used by arrangement with them.
- The chapters are exciting and will catch the attention of children.
- The pictures are large 10”x14” and are easy to see.
- A few simple colors are used.
- Most pictures illustrate a single scene. However page 22 shows three different ideas: heaven, the birth of Jesus and the death and resurrection of Jesus. This might be confusing.
- Page 24 shows disembodied hands picking up eggs.
- Pages 13 and 14 include a glossary of unfamiliar words used in the story. They are meant to be cut out and displayed as needed.
- The inside back cover has a large map of Africa showing the outline of the countries and identifying Morocco, where the story takes place.
- An object lesson follows the story.
- On page 14 there is some confusion about whether it is Hamid's father or step-father who would be searching.
- Page 29 reveals a big gap in this story for suddenly a baby and its mother is introduced.
- Page 36 tells about buying a child and this may cause misunderstanding.
- On page 38 the Englishman steals Hamid against the wishes of his step-father. This may cause misunderstanding.
- A missionary nurse and an English family are important characters in the story.
- The people are not all western in appearance and many have dark skin.
- The introduction is directed towards listeners who are believers. If the story is translated for use in other countries (especially where Muslim beliefs are strong) the introduction will need to be rewritten.
- At times the story seems to belittle people. For example in chapter one at the conclusion the teacher is instructed to say “we all feel sorry for Hamid, and especially for little Kinza.”
- In some language groups special explanation will need to be provided when the story mentions cars and other modern western conveniences.
Limitations
Guidelines for Use
- This story is meant to be told in five different sessions. It is useful in a group setting such as a classroom, Sunday School, Bible club or camp.
- It is in big book form but pages could be separated to use as a flipchart.
Where to Obtain
Link to Producer or Source Organization
Cost
Producer/Owners
Author/Artist/Producer
Patricia St John c 1953
Current copyright owner
Bible Visuals International (BVI)
Other Information
BVI allows missionaries to publish their materials in another language without a royalty payment. Full freedom is given to change idioms when translating. BVI does not expect a word for word translation. Those who wabt to publish translations are given free black and white pictures or negatives, when necessary, for printing.
- Contact Bible Visuals International – Another group may already be translating and/or publishing this material in your language. To avoid duplication, please check with BVI.
- Provide the following information:
- Your name, address and that of your mission.
- The language in which you wish to translate.
- The title(s)you plan to translate.
- How you will use the translated material.
- Whether you plan to print the text with illustrations and if you need black and white pictures or negatives for printing.
- Translated texts may be accepted on computer disk. Contact BVI for instructions.
Reviewed by
Vida, VMS
Date
2008
