Conversational Use of STS
Part of what we teach attendees in STS workshops is how to tell stories in natural settings, spontaneous witnessing. We STS instructors love hearing from people who attend a workshop and then step out in faith and share stories in their circles of influence.
We even teach how to tell 5-minute STS stories. For these, the storyteller will give a short introduction to set up a story, and then tell a 2 or 3 verse segment out of that Bible story.
Questions are asked about the story. But each time care is taken to repeat a part of the story in the question, so that the hearer of the story has an opportunity to hear the content of the story twice. Lastly a couple of questions are asked about the story that will invite the person (or persons) hearing the story to make some personal applications. It works, and can be very effective.
The testimonies we offer here are about using stories in a conversational way, just interacting with people. They are but a few of the hundreds coming to our headquarters. Who knows how many people are actually telling these stories in their circles of influence?
Testimonies of Conversational Stories Being Told
I was out with two friends doing a treasure hunt. That's where we ask God for clues as to where to go and who He wants us to talk to and what they might need prayer for. We write down what God impresses on us. Then, when we encounter those situations and make those divine appointments, we actually show the people our list (treasure map.) That alone ministers to people. Then we pray for them and share about God.
Anyway on this day, our “clues” led us to a shopping center where there was a nail salon and two Asian ladies were outside. I decided I would tell them a story and shared One Leper from Mark chapter 1. (I had to tell them what leprosy was since they had never heard of it.) When I got to the part about Jesus touching the leper, they both gasped and when at the part about the leper being cleansed, they both gasped again.
After I finished, they asked me, "How do you know these things?" I realized that for all they knew this could have been something I saw a man named Jesus do yesterday. I explained how I had previously searched to know who God was, and discovered that He was Jesus and His stories are all written in a book called the Bible, and He still heals today.
One of the ladies' names, Rose, was on my treasure map. I explained how we had asked God who we should look for and heard the name “Rose.” We asked Rose if she needed God to heal anything and she said her hands hurt from giving massages all day. We prayed and the pain went away.
We asked the other lady if she had any pain. She said, “yes, my neck and shoulder.” We showed her that those two things were also on our treasure map. We prayed for her and her pain also left. They both hugged us and thanked us profusely.
I told them I would bring them the book about Jesus in Vietnamese, which I ordered. And I also ordered God's Story for them. I can't wait to go back and give them these gifts. What a great day! What a great God we serve! So thankful I get to be a part of bringing His blessings and goodness to people. Yea, God!
Gayle, CA
Shared a Story Where?
”I love telling Bible stories with anyone, anywhere. Since God wrote the Scriptures for everyone, I see good reason to share Scriptures with everyone, regardless of whether they are saved or unsaved. But this time, I missed seeing our circumstance as an opportunity.
While in Copenhagen, much to my surprise, Henry abruptly decided to tell the Blind Bartimaeus story to everyone on the train car! Henry finished just before the train arrived at the next stop. A man waiting for the doors to open yelled out, "Hey, don't you know we're heathens?"
“I yelled back, ‘Don't heathens like a good story too?’"
“Everyone laughed. (Guess that shows they were listening!)”
A. M. CA, USA
Bones
”After my time at the Hemet STS Training, one of the tools I became aware of is the 5-minute Story, which was used for evangelizing. I immediately took it to heart and started thinking of different situations in which to start practicing this new evangelistic strategy.
“I had a Bone Density test scheduled the following week, so I began to ponder different stories in the Bible that had to do with bones. Well, it was a no brainer as I immediately thought of Ezekiel 37 about the ‘Dry Bones.’ This story was perfect!
“I prayed and asked the Lord for the opportunity to share this story with someone at my Kaiser appointment. I also asked a few other friends to pray for me. Somehow I thought that it would take place in the waiting room, but after only a few minutes, my name was called. So that didn’t work.
"Well, as I was laying on the table wearing the funny looking cotton medical gown and chatting with the lady technician who was running the huge x-ray machine ... it dawned on me that she was the one!
“So, I shared with her how I was curious if there were any stories in the Bible about bones, and that I came across a very interesting one. I asked her, ‘Would you like to hear it?’
“She immediately said, ‘Yes.’
“I purposely waited to ask her about the story, until we were near the end of the bone density test, so she wouldn't be distracted from my test numbers!
“Anyway, I proceeded to share the story and, before I finished, she was standing next to me (I’m still laying down on the table) waiting to hear the end of my story. She responded with a big, “Wow, that was a great story!”
“I concluded how the dry dead bones were in that condition because they had lost all hope in life and that God’s spirit breathed life and hope back into them.
“After my test was done, my technician went on to share with me about her life, for about 10 minutes.”
Jeri Prest CA, USA
Even on the Phone!
“After presenting a 45-minute STS interactive story for the Sunday morning church service in Nairobi, Kenya, I challenged those in the congregation to “Go out this week and tell that story to others!”
“The following Sunday we found ourselves back in the same church. So, before I told another story, I asked if any who heard last week’s story had told it to anyone. Maybe twelve of the seventy-five present raised their hands. Oddly, the pastor’s wife, who was sitting on the front row, kept raising her hand up and then down again. So I laughed and asked her, ‘What does your hand going up and down mean?‘
“She responded, ’Well I didn’t tell a story to anyone in person, but I did tell one on the phone to a lady. Does that count?’
“’Sure,’ I responded. ‘And how did it work, telling a story over the phone?’
“’Well, she ended up praying and asking Jesus to be her Savior.’
“Yes,’ I assured her, ‘that really counts.’”
D.M. US
Go to home page,
Pick Your Spot for many more examples of witnessing. Also see
Evangelism | Sample Conversational Use of STS | Family Outreach |
Practicals
Witnessing
