Storytelling Testimonies

From SPARK

Introduction

New storytellers give personal accounts of their remarkable experiences as they told God's stories to others. In their own words they answer the question:

Why should I consider using Biblical Storytelling?

The reasons and the stories

Contents

I am in an area where people resist traditional means of evangelism

People are not interested in the Gospel

I feel called to plant a church but I don't know how to get started

People have trouble remembering my preaching and teaching

Believers do not tell others about Christ

My believers are not interested in studying the Bible

How can I reach the parents of the children to whom I minister?

How can I reach children with the Gospel?

How can I use stories to evangelize?

How can I minister to people who have fighting in the family?

What about couples who are barren and want a child?

Other Stories

I am in an area where people resist traditional means of evangelism

ISHWAR: After the February storytelling training, I went back home. And one day, when I was walking along the road, one family shouted, “Oh, one Christian is going there. One Christian is there.” Immediately I stopped, because I was so surprised to hear them shouting like that. So I went over to the family and asked, “What is the problem?” A girl there was sick so I prayed for her. And not only that, I also started telling the Creation story.

The man of that house, the girl’s father, was not at all interested in hearing the Good News. He shouted at his wife, “Why did you invite this kind of people into our house?” So he was shouting about it. And he was totally against hearing the Gospel. He opposed us completely.

Somehow, I was able to finish telling the creation story. I told it like this: “God formed man out of the dust. And God took so much care when He did this. He came down and took some of the dust of the earth, some of the mud — in His holy hand. And out of that dirt, He formed man in His own image, with great love. So you and I, we are the creation of God.” I finished the story and went back to my home.

And after some days, the man who had opposed me, came to see me. He called me, saying, “Oh, Christian, come out.” I was afraid because I thought, “This is the man who opposed me. When I went to his house, he was very much against me. So now he is calling me again. So maybe he is going to beat me.” So I was very much afraid. But when that man came into my house, he said to me, “Christian, tell me this same story once again.”

I started to tell him the same story. It started to touch his heart. And slowly, slowly, his entire life has changed. So he began to tell that story to others. And the story started to spread among the people. Now he has committed his life to God. And not only that, some more of his family members have now started to come. So now they People have trouble remembering my preaching and teaching.are also starting to hear the stories. So there are about 20 new people who have started to attend my church. That man’s name was Jagid.

DASRATH: After learning these stories here last month, I went home and one day I was walking through a field when I saw a Hindu family of four people who are living there. They are very Hindu — fanatical Hindu. I asked them for a drink of water. And they gave me some good water to drink. Then I asked them, “Do you want me to tell you a story?” And they replied, “Yes, we are interested in hearing that story.” So I told them the story about Creation.

They liked my Creation story very much. They said, “This creation story of yours — it is different from our own Hindu creation story. Why is it different from our story?” And so I told them, “My Creation story that I am telling — it is written in the Bible. It is a true story.” And they were very interested in hearing it. So that man (Sharmapak is his name) said, “When are you going to come back to our home again? Whenever you come by here again, we are ready to hear more such stories from you.” So they have invited me to please come and share more stories with them in the coming days. I also told the stories in my own church. The children and old people are especially influenced by the stories.
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People are not interested in the Gospel

PITAMBAR: I am doing ministry in one Hindu village. When I was going for preaching, people were not listening. I had become very discouraged about that. But after Uncle and Auntie taught us to tell the stories, whether they are Christian or non-Christians, I realized it is better to share a story, which makes it easier to approach them.

I have started to tell the stories. And now these people are listening attentively. So now I know it is a helpful benefit for doing ministry in any language. That is why I am glad to learn the stories and tell the stories.

Q. Which stories did you tell them?

A. I told them two stories: The story of creation and the story about Adam and Eve. They liked this story very much. By hearing this story, now they could realize that, yes, there is a real God, One who created and made all things. This story made them know that there is a Real God.

SUNIL: In my church there is a man who is a fellow-worker in my church. This man’s father has died. Only his mother and brother are left in his family, and they are Hindus. This man came to me and said, “My mother and brother are not respecting me. They are quarreling with me. They are not ready to listen to my messages about Christ even though I have tried to share this with them many times. But they are not able to hear and understand the message from me. So, can you please come and help me to tell them?”

I went with him to their home. After I had asked how they were doing, I told them the story of Creation. About 4 or 5 days later, I went again to their home and told them the story of Noah.

About two weeks later, I went there again. But this time they said, “We do not want to hear any more stories right now.” So I became frightened and wondered to myself, “What happened? Did I do something wrong?” They kept saying, “No, we do not want to listen to any stories. Do not tell us any more about Jesus… Just tell us what we need to do!” They kept repeating this. So I told them, “Believe in Jesus Christ.” So they accepted Christ, they believed and became ready for baptism.

The mother’s name is Phulma and the brother’s name is Madhav. Now both of them have been baptized. The first brother, the elder brother who is my fellow worker, has enrolled in Bible College.

PHELEMON: First I started to share these stories in my own house. Then after that, Uncle had given us a homework assignment to observe a storyteller in our village. I knew where there was a Hindu ashram. So I went there and heard this one man who is a storyteller and a teacher at this Hindu ashram.

After listening to him, I told him the story of Adam and Eve including the Fall — all the way through the part where God drove them out of the garden. And this story really touched this man’s life. So I gave him my address.

The next day, this Hindu teacher visited my house and he said, “Pastor, yesterday you told that story. How can I get that story book?” I said, “No, we do not have a story book like that. But we do have the Bible. All the stories are in the Bible. So if you are willing to take a Bible, you can take it.” So he purchased one Bible and took it and went back to his house. And he started to read the Bible.

Now this Hindu storyteller had a daughter who was suffering from tongue cancer. So after reading the Bible, he realized that there is a God who can heal. So he started to pray to our God. The other day, he invited me and asked me to pray for his daughter. Now she is improving and the entire family are believing in Jesus.

SANJEEB: After this training ended in February, I went back to my home village. And I started sharing these stories with different people. One day I went to a man named Govind. Even though I had spoken the gospel message to him again and again, he had never responded before. So this time, I asked him, “Do you want to hear a story?” And he responded, “Yes.” So I started to tell him several stories. And then I shared the story about how Sarah had been barren for so many years before God finally gave her a son. Then he surprised me when he asked me, “Is it a real story?” I said, “Yes, it is a real story. Why?”
He said, “Since ten years back, my wife has been unable to have any child.”
So he asked me to pray for him and then I prayed for him. And then I came back to my station.
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I feel called to plant a church but I don't know how to get started

VIJAY: I recently started ministry in a large city where you cannot distribute tracts or conduct open meetings. So I used to pray about how to start my ministry. Then I thought of starting with just my own children. And every evening from 5:00 until 7:30 PM, after they had finished their school homework, I would go outside and tell them whatever stories I learned through this storytelling program. So then, what my children did — they started to bring some of their school friends to my house. And then every evening from 5 through 7:30 PM, I would share some of these stories with the children.

One evening, I was telling the Abraham story — about how Abraham was not having any children. And when I was sharing this story about Abraham, I did not know that the Hindu man who owns the house I am renting was listening from upstairs.

This man and his wife were not having any children for many years and years. They had visited all the Hindu holy places where they prayed to have children, but without result. So, this man was also hearing when I was telling the Abraham story.

Later that evening, about 9:00 PM, he came and knocked on my door, and he said to me, “I want to talk with you.” And so I said, “Yes, what is happening?” And he said, “Earlier this evening, you were telling that story about Abraham to your children. Can you repeat that story to me?” And I told him, “Yes, surely. Shall I tell it to you only or to your family also?”
So he said, “No, No, No! I will go and call my wife, so she can also hear it.”
So I said, “Good. Go and bring her immediately.”

He brought his wife and both of them were sitting in my drawing room. I started to tell the story. After finishing the story, I thought that they would just hear it and then go away. But next Sunday, there was a miracle. Because, he brought three more of his relatives with him and now all of them have started to come regularly. So this is how I have started my ministry there. So this storytelling program is a big blessing to me.

HIRGURAM: I give thanks to God for this storytelling training program. When I returned to my mission station, I started telling these stories to many people. They are not educated; most are laborers. They are Hindus and they believe people are made in the image of monkey.

When I told the story about Creation and how God made Adam and Eve, the people listened very well. They were very interested and enjoyed hearing these stories. Then one Hindu man named Ram Lal, he asked me, “It is true? This really happened?” So I shared the Gospel with them. Then, they believed. So, now many people are coming to the church. Through the storytelling I am able to reach the Hindu people too. And I’m also able to tell them how they can be set free from their bondages.
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People have trouble remembering my preaching and teaching

VIJAYPAL: Most of the people where I minister are uneducated. Before I attended this storytelling program, whatever I preached, the believers would immediately forget everything. But after completing this first training event, I started telling the message through storytelling.

After that, they easily remember the messages which I have taught in story form. Since I am now telling the stories, this is the first time they have been able to remember anything I have ever told them.

I go to one village where there is a man, a believer, who is named Mansingh. Before, Mansingh would always forget all my messages. But now that I have started telling the stories, he remembers everything. And now Mansingh is so totally blessed that he has given his whole life to God. He especially liked this one story, the story of when Noah built the Ark.

Even now, Mansingh remembers the entire story of Noah. He will tell all the details and give all the exact measurements when he tells about how high, how wide, and how long the ark was when Noah built it. So we are very happy.

SANJEEB: Another day I shared the stories with my adult education people. And then I asked them, “Really, what did you get from these stories?” And then they told me, “We used to hear your sermons and messages. But we were not getting them; we were not understanding most of those messages. But when we heard these stories, now we are getting something. We are understanding something from these stories.”

RAMESH: I am working in a village where most of the people are uneducated tribal people. There are several different tribal languages which are spoken by the people living in this village. Before, whenever I would preach a message to them, they could not understand or remember much from my previous messages.
After I attended the first storytelling training event, I started to tell them the stories we had learned here last month.

Then the people began to tell me, “Oh, pastor, previously when you used to tell us messages, we could not understand them very well and we could not remember anything from those messages. But now that you have started telling us the stories, we can keep those stories in our mind and we can remember them.” Every Sunday, I started asking the tribal people questions, and they could easily remember the answers from the stories I had told them.
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Believers do not tell others about Christ

SIDHANT: Last month after I completed the training here I went back to my mission station. The next Sunday I shared the story of Sodom and Gomorrah with my church people.

Because of some family problem, I had to return to my own village. So before I went, I appointed some good church people who can continue telling the stories. At this same time, a girl in the village had died due to some problem. Our church people went there to comfort the family. They said, “Don’t worry. It will happen to all of us, and we’ll pray for you.”

After some time, another one also died in the same house. So the church members again comforted them, saying, “Don’t worry.” Then some village people came to that house and said, “Some demon forces are working in your house and that is why the people are dying. So you have to do some animal sacrifice, like a goat or cow, or something. You have to bring it and sacrifice it.” Our church members said, “We will go and share a story so they can be comforted.”

They told them the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The church people said, “If God is willing to save the righteous people in this story, then you can be saved. If you believe on God, then you can be saved.” Those people were willing to believe in Christ. Because they came to understand that they had been honoring those demons, now those demons were beginning to kill them.

They came to believe in Jesus Christ. And whatever demonic things and demon pictures — those that they had been worshipping before — they have taken all those demonic things out from their house. And due to our believers’ encouragement and counseling, now they are attending our churches, and are ready for baptism. On April 6 and 7, we are planning to have a convention. And during that event, we are going to conduct a water baptism service for them.

Q. How many people in that family are going to be baptized?

A. At first there were eight people in that family. But then two had died. And now there are six people left in that family. And all six are now ready to be baptized during the convention.

SABAT: When I returned home from the February training, there was a ladies’ meeting where I told the story of Abraham, about his call, and I was telling it and preaching about faith. Eleven or twelve ladies were sitting there listening and afterward they went home.

There is another lady in the village named Somari who is a member of a Hindu family. Now it was almost time for Somari to deliver a child, but they were very afraid that she would have a difficult delivery, and this family could not go to get medical treatment. They were very afraid about this. Then one of the ladies who had heard me speaking at the ladies’ meeting told them, “You should call this pastor to come and pray for you. If you believe, if you have faith, then nothing bad will happen to you while you are delivering your child.” So that family listened to this lady. See, what happened: when I told the story about the call of Abraham, those ladies who were listening in that ladies’ meeting came to believe that, “Nothing is impossible for God.” They remembered that story and their faith increased.

Some of the members of this Hindu family came along with this lady to my house, and called me to come and pray for Somari’s delivery. She had already heard the stories about the call of Abraham. So I prayed for her and she got faith and did not have any problems at all; she did not have a difficult delivery as she had feared. Everything was normal. Now three new people are coming to hear the stories: Somari and Ramu and Rathnama. When they come they bring this lady’s new child whom they named Santosh.
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My believers are not interested in studying the Bible

PEDAPALLIWAR: After learning these stories, I went back to my field and began telling them in cottage meetings and at church. Before that, the people were not very interested in the Word of God.

After sharing these stories, I encouraged them to read the Bible and tell Bible stories to others. So they enjoyed these stories very much. As I have visited in their homes, I have noticed that they now are very interested in reading the Bible and are wanting to discuss God’s word.

These are some of the changes I have found in my churches after telling these stories. And for me myself, also, this has been a great blessing in my preaching style and in my personal life.

VINOD: I went to another state and was asked to share the Word of God with about 150 people in a church there. So I decided to tell a story. I began to share the Creation story. First, I asked them, “What did God create on the first day?” But they were all silent. So I told them, “As believers, we must know the word of God properly.” So then I told them this story. Afterward many of them came up and said to me, “This kind of story program is a very good method to help us to know about the Bible.”
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How can I reach the parents of the children to whom I minister?

PRAKASH: I am working in a village where most of the people are rigid Hindu people. They are not at all believing in Jesus and they are not ready to take his name. And they oppose Christians.

I started conducting a small tutoring class among the children. I shared with the children the story of Cain and Abel. And that story really touched the hearts of the young children. So after that, the children went home and told that story to their own families.

Now there was a man living there who had two wives. His grown children were always fighting and arguing over how his land was going to be distributed among them. So they were not having any peace and joy in that family.

The next day, those two women came to my home and asked me to tell them that story. So I shared that story of Cain and Abel in their home. And God did a work in their lives, because that story really touched their hearts. And they started to think and discuss among themselves, “Every day, we are quarreling and arguing over this land. And there is no peace and joy in our lives.” So the next day, they came to me and said, “We don’t want this land; let them take it. But we want peace and joy in our family.”

There are many brothers in that family. And one of those brothers and his family have now started attending my church. There are five people in his family. And now these five are ready to take baptism.

DINAKARAN: For the past two years, I have been ministering in a small village. I had many people (mostly from Hindu background) who were attending church services. Though they would listen to my messages, they could not remember anything I had told them. So I was not seeing any result. I was wondering what to do.

After discussing this with my family, we had decided to open our home to provide free tutoring classes for school children. So my wife and I began to teach fifteen children, tutoring them for free. When I returned home after the February training, I began to tell the stories from the Bible to my own children, ages 3 and 5. Before, at family prayer time they did not want to sit and listen while I was delivering small messages. But since I have begun to tell the stories, now they are happy to sit and listen. Now they know all these stories, and they even know the names and everything.

Then I told the stories at cottage prayer meetings. These are all Hindu people, new people. I also told stories at Sunday worship. Each week, I would tell the next story. As I said, I started telling these stories to the children we were tutoring.

One time I asked them this question: “Children, do you know how everything was created?” The children answered that it all began with an amoeba, then gradually there was a monkey, and so forth. They were telling me this scientific evolution myth. So I told them, “No, it is not at all true. There is One God who is there. And this One God is the one who created human beings. Only because of Him, that is why we are all alive.”

The children became so enthusiastic and started to listen to the true creation story. Not only that, but they went back and brought more children to the tutoring classes. Now we have about twenty-five students attending our tutoring center.

Then the children began to tell the stories to their parents. Now the parents are starting to become interested in listening to the stories. And all of this has happened only because the children started telling the stories to others. So now my ministry has begun to grow from this. My goal is to develop a close relationship with the childrens’ families through the free tutoring classes we are providing. We already have three families who have started attending to hear the stories. They are Uma and her family, Urmila and her family, and Ekna and his family.
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How can I reach children with the Gospel?

BIBHUTI: I went to a village where no one knows Christ at all. There was no one there to listen to me, only a small girl from that village who came to me to listen. And I started to tell the stories which I learned here. And then I shared the story about Sarah, how she had been barren, but finally had a child called Isaac at the age of 90 years.

This was amazing to the little girl who was listening to me, because at this age, no one can give birth to a son or daughter. She asked, “This impossible thing — who did this thing?”
So I slowly shared with her that only Christ can do this; no other person can do these things. So she told me to tell something more about Christ. So I shared with her, and ultimately, she came to accept Jesus as her personal Savior. The girl’s name is Payanti.

ASHER: (This pastor became very emotional even to the point of crying as he told about the deep changes the stories have brought about in the life of his own young son.) In my station I always used to conduct Sunday services for the children. But I was doing it in a way that was different from how we learned to do it in the Bible story program.

When I would tell the stories in my Sunday School, my voice and face were stern like I was commanding the children. I even distributed chocolate to make them listen to the message. But they still would not sit quietly and behave and listen properly. Some would get up and walk away. And my own son was one of those who was misbehaving. He would be walking out. Or he would be pinching or hitting the other children. He was the pastor’s son, but he was misbehaving so much.

When I attended this storytelling program, I learned from Uncle and Auntie that we should have a different attitude when telling the stories. We should be careful to use the right facial expressions, the proper voice, and hand and body motions when we are telling the stories to the people. Our voice and face must show a loving attitude and we should also use action, so the people will be attracted to hear the message.

When I went home, I started telling the stories in this way to my Sunday school. I began telling all the stories we learned here, starting with the story of creation. My voice and face and attitude were different, more loving. So I was telling in this new way and all the children liked it and were eager and ready to sit quietly and listen attentively to the stories. Now they are sitting properly when I am telling the stories. The entire situation and atmosphere has changed totally.

One day, one of the children even reminded me, “O, you forgot to tell about how God made the stars.” Now as I said, I have a three-year-old son, whom I love very much. But even though he is my own son, he never used to sit and listen properly. He would be misbehaving, getting up, walking around, going here and there, pushing, hitting, pulling on the other children during children’s Sunday school. I know that often the pastor’s son is not well-disciplined, but in my heart I had a desire that my two children should be disciplined and should know God. I have been praying for my children, “Lord, give them good knowledge and discipline.”

Before that, my son would always fight with a son of a neighbor who is near to us. And I thought that was such a bad example, because he is a pastor’s son. When I was telling the story of Cain and Abel, both of them were sitting there. And both of them began crying. The tears were running down from my son’s eyes. This story really changed them.

Now that I have started telling these stories in this new way, my own son has become so proud of me. He will go and tell so many others, “Come, look. Come and see how my daddy is telling so many stories so nicely.” So he will tell them when is the next time they can hear me telling the stories and now he is bringing others to hear the stories. And he is helping me. He is ready to sit quietly and listen whenever I am telling the stories. For this change, I am very much thankful to Uncle and Auntie.

I am so grateful for this storytelling method, because it has brought such a big change and blessing to my own son, to my own family, to my church, my mission station, and all my ministry.
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How can I use stories to evangelize?

KAKASAHEB: There was a man in my village who died from cancer because he had a habit of chewing tobacco. More than 150 people came to his burial ceremony. During the ceremony, people started crying. Then they asked me to come pray at the funeral service. So I thought, “Yes, it is good for me to go pray. But maybe I can also tell some Bible story that can bring some comfort to that family.”

I told the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. I said, “At Sodom and Gomorrah the people were also burdened down with these bad habits and worldly pleasures. They were also drinking and smoking and chewing tobacco and ‘tumbuck’. These people were also having these bad habits. So because of this, God destroyed the whole city.” (One of the main reasons why he had gotten cancer was because of chewing tobacco and this tumbuck. That is the main reason why he died from cancer). Originally, there had been eight people in that man’s family. But then he died from cancer, and also another person in the family had died within a short time. Now there were only six left.

When I started sharing the word of God through this story, many people were crying, especially his family members. So I told them, “We cannot understand the language of your tears, but God can understand all those things. If you will submit your life to God, He will deliver you and really touch you and change your life.” After the prayer and the ceremony ended, I went back to my home.

The following day the family called me and said, “Yesterday you shared the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. That story really touched our hearts. So we decided to serve God only from today onwards.” On that same day, four people from that dead man’s own family decided to follow Christ. So now they are ready to be baptized.
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How can I minister to people who have fighting in the family?

ISHWAR: As I was going away from that house,Other Stories the Holy Spirit inspired me to speak to another man. So I told him, “Brother, Jesus loves you.” And he said, “What is love? I don’t know what this is.” So I told him the story of Cain and Abel.

Now three brothers live in that man’s house, and two of them are always fighting with each other. So I started to tell him the story of Cain and Abel.
After hearing it, he did not want me to leave or even go home. So I gave him my phone number and address.

The very next day he came to my home and asked me to tell the story to him again. So I told him that same story again. That story really touched his life. And now there is no quarreling or fighting in his house. And he is ready to come to the Lord.

SATISH: In my village there are two ladies who were always fighting with one another. So I told them the story of Cain and Abel. Now, they are reconciled and are loving toward each other. I also told the Creation and Fall stories to some in my own family who are not yet saved.

I told the story of Babel to some young men who are in Bible School. Though they are finishing their Bible school training, they had no desire to go out to serve among others. They wanted to stay and minister only in their own home villages. So I told them this story about how God made the different languages, and he purposely wanted to send people out all over the earth. Since God did this, then we should be willing to go out to share God’s word with others in other places — even with those who speak different languages.

When they heard this, then these three Bible school boys were really touched and their thinking was changed. So now they have become willing to go wherever God may send them. Their names are Pradeep, Deepak, and Thomas.

I went and told the stories to one family who had been celebrating the Muslim holiday of Id. They were sacrificing a goat in the name of Isaac. So I told them that story from the Bible, how God provided a ram to take the place of Isaac. They liked that story very much. Now they are wanting to hear more of the stories.
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What about couples who are barren and want a child?

BHASKAR: In my field there is a man named Champalal who has a wife named Ramanan. Though they got married about six or seven years ago they still have not been able to have any children. So they asked me, “What will we do about this?” So I told them the story about Abraham and how God gave him a son Isaac when he was 100 years old.

After hearing that story, then Champalal said to me, “Before, I have been thinking I will take a second wife, so I can get a child through her.” So then I told him, “What if there were two men — two husbands — for only one wife? Then what would you do? How would you feel if that was the situation?” So then he became quiet as he was thinking about that. So now they have begun to believe. And I prayed for them to have a child. And I believe these people will leave their Hindu beliefs and come to Christ.
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Other Stories

RAJAT: One day after I attended the storytelling training, my wife and I were both in bed. The room was totally dark. Suddenly, my wife cried out very loudly. So I woke up and reached out and touched her. I spoke to her but she could not rise. I could not make her get up. In that moment, the Lord brought faith into my heart, and I remembered the story from the life of Elijah — the time that Elijah laid down on that boy and breathed into his mouth. So I did the same thing. And when I breathed into my wife’s mouth, then suddenly, she gasped very loudly. And then she began to breathe again.

These stories are such a blessing to me. I have been telling them to both the old and young in Sunday School. So now they have come to realize that God is the only God, the real God.

JAYESH: I am a pastor of three small congregations. When I was going to preach, I told them about the words God said to Abraham, how he promised to bless Abraham. Four ladies were there who were so discouraged because they were in a distressed condition. After telling the story I asked them, “What about you all, you seem to be very discouraged.” They said, “We have not received our monthly payment. It is so late, we have nothing to eat in the house.” So I shared with them about how God blessed Abraham. Then I prayed for them. After praying, the next day they got the blessings of God and their money came!

AJITH: I give God much thanks for this storytelling program. I told the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in a small village. After finishing the story, some people really realized that in the middle of these worldly pleasures and pressures, everything will pass away in one minute. When God comes, it will all change in one instant.

As a result, four people accepted Christ, and now they are attending regularly. The men are named Ashur and Suresh. And there were two women, one of whom is named Laxmi. But I forgot the name of the other woman.

AMRUTH: I went to a village where I told the creation story to some of the educated people including a chemist who works at a pharmacy/medical shop. When I started to tell this story, they asked me many questions. That man said, “No, no, that is not true that God created man and everything else.” But then I said, “If it is not true, then why has evolution not happened again and again?”
So now at last this man has come to know Who made man, and which god is the Real God.

Q. Is he coming to the meetings?

A. No, he is not coming to the meetings. But he is coming to my home. He is very interested, but he is not saved yet.

PRABASH: After returning home last month, first I told the stories to my wife. Then I told them to the little children in Sunday School. But this time, I did not tell like I was angry; instead, I told with love, as we had learned from Uncle and Auntie a good model for how to tell stories in an attractive way. In the field where I am working, there are many non-literate tribal people who speak many different tribal languages there in those villages.

I also told the stories to some Hindu people. They liked the stories very much and they believed the stories. Many believed. They especially liked the story of Noah, where I told about how the sin had increased so much on the earth that God became angry and destroyed the people. I also sang a song. They wanted me to tell it to them again and again. Now there are five people coming and believing. One man is named Sukru. And one sister is named Jimtee.

THIRUPATHI: In one place I told some of the Bible stories before I showed the Jesus Film. Some of the people were more interested in hearing the stories than in watching the movie! I told them the stories of Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood, and Sodom and Gomorrah. I told them how the people were sinning, and as their sin continued to rise on the earth, then God became angry at their sin. So then God destroyed those who were sinning. I encouraged them to have faith. As a result, four people believed. They feared and then they trusted God. They are Kiramay, Sujata, Kumarsingh, and one other.

JITENDRA: There are so many different languages being spoken in my field, I was wondering how to start with the storytelling. So I called four men for training, so I could teach the stories to them. These four men speak three different tribal languages.

I started by telling the Creation story, how and why God made man. Now one of the four men that came for training is a Hindu. His name is Subhas Harijan. He is an outcaste. He began to listen to the stories as I was telling them. Somehow the stories were touching his heart — in his heart, he was feeling something through hearing the stories. And he was wanting to hear more and more of them.

Now Subhas Harijan is understanding the stories. And he is regularly walking the two kilometers from his village to my church. He is also reading his Bible, and he is telling these stories to others.

SHANKAR: After learning these stories, I went back to my field and started telling them in many places: in homes, villages, at cottage meetings, at church. I told the stories in many different villages.

The people like the stories very much. They are happy to hear the stories. I told all the stories, starting with the creation story. The people understand these stories. They came to see and accept that these stories are truth. I can see that these stories are helping my church to grow. The names of some of the new people who are now listening to the stories are Anil, Abiraj, and Amarsingh.

JONAH: My name is Jonah. The stories I learned here, I shared with the people, and some have also accepted Christ by hearing these stories. Some Christians told me, “You should not tell stories.” I replied, “This story is a true instrument; it really happened.” Some English people were there. They came to listen so I shared the stories with them. And I also shared with one man who is a Buddhist guru. His name is Rama Krishna. He wears the Buddhist garment. So I told him the stories.

After hearing the stories, especially the Creation story about how everything was created, he said, “There is some difference between my book and your book.” And he accepted that my story — the story from the Bible — is the true story. Now he wants to hear more stories from me. But I needed to leave so I could come here for this training session. So after finishing this week of training I will go back there and will share more stories with this Buddhist guru, Rama Krishna.

SANGRAM: After leaving here last month, I went home and started telling the stories in many places. I went to one street where there are seven or eight people living. They are all Buddhists. But they were nominal, because they believe in evolution and do not even really believe in a god.

After distributing the tracts, I began to tell them the stories. When they heard the story of Creation and Adam and Eve, then they became very interested. Before, these people had been believing the evolution myth started by Darwin. So they believed that monkeys evolved from amoebas. And that is how man evolved. But then they came to realize that I was telling them the true Creation story. So they became very interested and took my phone number and contact information. And now they are coming to my home to listen to more stories.

BHIM SINGH: I began telling the stories, Creation, the languages at Babel, etc., to the children in my church. Afterward, I quized them a bit through doing skits and asking them questions. I have not seen very much difference in them yet. But I can tell that they are understanding the stories better than my prior teachings. And they are more interested in hearing the stories. And there seems to be a difference in their lives after hearing the stories.

There is one believer in my church whose name is Mala. Mala and his wife have been barren and unable to have any children for the past seven or eight years. So I told them the story of Abraham and how God gave them Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old. So somehow he believed. He said, “O.K., you please pray for us.” So, now I have prayed for them and they are believing for a child.
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