Order to Chaos - A Conversational Bible Study

What does a future eclipse in Egypt have to do with boldness in sharing Good News?

It’s our desire to always be ready to give an answer of the hope that is within us without ‘manufacturing opportunities’ out of our own strength. We want to be walking in step with Him and His plans for us as we seek to sensitively and boldly share what He is teaching us with others.  “...Do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 11:11b-12) Despite this passage, about two weeks ago, I found myself frozen in ‘worry mode’. “Do I open my mouth or keep it closed?”

Neither of us can remember when we started walking together in the early morning six days a week, but Lola and I have consistently done so since at least 2008. That’s a LOT of hours of potential and realized conversation logged! We get to ask each other questions, share what’s on our hearts as we navigate the ups and downs of life. I’ve taken advantage of her as a language and cultural informant for the Lola and Rachel in 2021 on a morning walk benefit of myself, my family, and others serving here. She’s such an amazing resource with a wealth of knowledge. I’ve also used her as a sounding board in finding ‘just the right words’ when working on Stories from the Word, forming questions, and trying to practice for meaningful conversations SimplyTheStory.org style.

Going over Biblical content is NOT something that Lola likes to do. She’s very helpful, but God’s Word stirs her emotions in ways she does not like. At times she is downright disgusted with me for what she sees as ‘blind faith’. In her worldview, God is not fair. She does not approve of some of His decisions and frankly feels that she could do a better job in controlling life on planet earth than He does. She cringes whenever I bring up anything spiritually related. (Do you have any friends/relatives whose reactions are similar?)

Lola LOVES stargazing... Not my thing. (It makes me dizzy to crane my neck for a view!) Our city has grown to a population of over a million and it frustrates her that she can no longer see stars like she once could in the village in which she was raised.

A recent early morning conversation totally upended my understanding of how God brings Central Asians to Himself. I’ve thought that those who were not practicing Islam were much closer (on the continuum) to becoming believers than those who were confident, practicing Muslims. Lola said, “I haven’t yet been a good Muslim. How could I ever consider becoming a Christian before walking the path that my father prayed I would someday take?” Talk about a heart-breaking moment. I prayed. I asked the Lord for wisdom. I did not clearly hear His voice one way or another.

The next Tuesday morning, out of the blue, Lola tells me she wants me to go with her to Egypt for ten days in 2027 to experience a six minute “Eclipse of the Century.” She thinks it will be really cool to get to see stars clearly during the day. Her mom had never forgotten how as a preschooler she had witnessed animals going crazy during an eclipse of less than 2 minutes! The thought of being in Egypt at such a time of potential chaos did not appeal to me in the least! But then it clicked! Chaos!

In a Simply The Story study from Genesis Chapter 1 the day before, my friends and I were struck with how God had made the sun and moon to rule the day and the night. To some degree, the sun and moon brought order, the decrease of chaos. This time it was Lola who had brought up a spiritual topic without even realizing it! At that moment I opened my mouth and He filled it with praise for His amazing power and majesty and timing! It was crystal clear to me that He was the One opening the door for me to testify. So thankful that He is faithful to fill our mouths with what He wants us to share and when. I did not have to in any way 'twist the ‘conversation’ nor ‘manipulate the circumstances'. The Lord had orchestrated the 'right' passage at the 'right' moment, placing those verses on my schedule, mind, and tongue. He gave me the green light to speak. I couldn’t keep silent. I want to praise His name for clearly answering my prayer (and yours)!

No. That day I did not share ‘the whole Gospel’ but I don’t think Lola can ever go back to looking at the Heavens in the same way. I am trusting that He will use the beauty, majesty, and order in His Creation to not only impress her, but to move her (eventually) to her knees in recognition of the One who loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem her, to bring her into a right relationship with Himself.

Would you please (continue) to pray that the One who is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9b) would (continue to) draw Lola to Himself, to reveal Himself?

A Missionary Embraces Simply The Story

When I first heard of oral Bible teaching, I was not at all interested. I reasoned that we can’t build a strong church - rooted in the Scriptures - from telling children’s Bible stories. But when I was in the States at a missions conference, I stayed with a couple that teaches oral Bible skills all over the world. I peppered them with all kinds of questions, and even traveled with them so I could video a training session they were giving that weekend.

I have a strong commitment that the church, as well as individual believers, be grounded in the Word of God. One cannot merely be familiar with Scripture truths; he/she has to inductively exegete God’s Word, and correctly divide the Word of Truth. Anything less than this is opening believers to syncretism and a whole host of problems.

My absolute commitment to inductive study and responsible exegesis has only increased over the years. It has not waned with the idea of oral Bible teaching, it has only increased.

I was struck with the possibilities of doing inductive, exegetical study in an oral fashion. Could it be possible? And, why would it be necessary?

First, why is it necessary? All the people who teach oral Bible skills provide their CDs and their video clips of testimonies that do a far better job than can I of explaining the necessity of oral Bible teaching.

A major turning point came, I think, with a report at the 2004 Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism meetings, that documented the overwhelming percentage of people in the world that are oral learners- even in highly “literate” societies, like the U.K. or the U.S. This is even more acute in places where people are not highly literate.

For 17 years our team has been working in the field. We have taken a very oral approach to evangelism—we use no literature at all—our teammates learn, memorize and give an oral gospel presentation. As a result, we have seen phenomenal results; many, many people have put their faith in Christ.

When we did follow up, however, we immediately switched to a very literate approach. We provided believers with a Bible, and met with them to read, study and learn how to inductively study the Scriptures. With this follow up approach, we were hitting our heads against a wall. New believers languished. They were not growing in their faith, had grown cold, and backslidden.

In one village we entered, about 20 people made genuine commitments to Christ. We emphasized reading the Scriptures, showing them how to inductively read it for themselves, as well as spending personal time with them, sharing our lives.

Today, none of them are what you’d call “following hard after Christ.” Many of them wanted to, but after all this time it’s like they never really took in God’s Word. It didn’t sink in. I don’t think the reading and studies ever got through to them at all.

What’s more—they never took the Scriptures and shared it with others. How in the world will we ever reach the unreached if those we minister to do not minister to others?

Teaching the Bible orally has, I believe, fundamental advantages. First, many people absorb Bible truths in a way that they wouldn’t when we try to get them to read it. Secondly, people are much more likely to share these truths with others—this is the ultimate “reproducible ministry.”

Another advantage for closed areas of the world is that people are not as likely to get in trouble with the authorities. I could go on, but again, all the CDs and video clips have been put together to show the strategic nature of this approach.

The second question is the most important to me, “Is it possible to teach the Word inductively and exegetically in an oral fashion?”

Many organizations have some kind of division that promotes and teaches oral Bible learning. Most of them are members of the International Orality Network (ION). And there are a few organizations that specifically specialize in oral Bible teaching. I looked at several, got their materials, watched their videos, etc.

I went to the home office of one and I asked them, “Who out of all the organizations is the best in teaching how to teach the Bible orally? And they said the organization “STS” or Simply the Story. I looked on their website, got their materials, and could see that there really was a difference.

The thing I liked most about them was that they actually teach inductively in oral form. They are as close to exegetical, oral, Bible study as you can get. I knew I found what I was looking for. Through Skype, I started talking with them.

Early in November we had two instructors come from Simply the Story, and they led training sessions for five days. The first two days were for trainers (people we selected from our team) and then the next three days those who had just been trained, trained the rest of our team with the help of the STS instructors. This has given us tremendous momentum in the mission as we’ve now started to incorporate this method in our mission work.

We started using this immediately, and I am really pleased with the reports of how it has been going. This does not mean that we’ve stopped teaching inductive, exegetical studies of the written Word. Ha! Far from it; this is still crucial.

But what we are doing orally 1) fits well with our studies in the written Word, it does not replace them, 2) reaches many people who can’t, or don’t read, 3) is something that the rank and file people can do well, (we are mobilizing the laity), 4) is able to be shared far easier with others beyond those whom we minister directly to, i.e. it spreads, 5) is perhaps the safest way the Word can be prolific in a closed country, 6) is not dependent on any outside funds, devices or other resources! It is the most reproducible mission’s strategy around.

Again, as I said, I looked into a lot of different organizations’ variants of this, but many of them weren’t really telling the Bible in oral form. Simply the Story really emphasizes telling the Bible accurately—taking a single passage of Scripture and verbalizing it in way that is not an off-the-wall paraphrase—so that what you are sharing really is the Word, the oral Word, in the same way we read the written Word.

The written Word of God is the Canon, it is the source. We must teach it and how to accurately interpret it. But, from the written Word we get the oral Word. When we teach the Bible orally, we have the Bible open to show that it is from the Bible, the written Word. So, we show people that Scripture is the source.

In the early church, men read from the Scriptures and people listened. When Paul sent his letters, he asked that it be read aloud. I was struck with a question in one of the CDs I picked up: “What percentage of people in the first century could read or write—at a time when “3000 were added unto their number” in a single day? The answer, I was told, was about 5%.

Biblical accuracy is one reason I liked Simply the Story. But the other is that they also teach people how to learn inductively. After the story is given, they ask people inductive questions about what they just heard. They get the people to verbalize observations, they ask questions to help them form accurate interpretations, and they get them to see for themselves how it applies in their own lives.

This really is a tremendous tool, well developed, and skillfully taught.

- Missionary Among Unreached People in Limited Access Country

Simply The Story and God's Story Result in Churches Being Planted

In Côte d'Ivoire, after the launching of the new Klah Dan God's Story translation in two villages and an Simply The Story workshop, attendees from the workshop took the new Klah Dan God’s Story to Guinea, which shares a border with Côte d'Ivoire near these villages. So many Klah people came to faith in Jesus that churches were planted near the border and in Guinea among the Klah people, most of whom are Muslims.

In Burkina Faso, after a Simply The Story workshop in 2019, the youth in the churches decided to go tell stories in the villages around the area. People listened to the Bible stories and also came to evening showings of God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity in the Moore language. As a result, many churches were planted in the nearby villages. 

Developing Leaders with STS

Simply The Story equips people with the skills of Bible storytelling and discussion leading. These new storytellers are also able to reproduce what they have learned in others. The STS training model allows for exponential growth in leadership. Learners are equipped with skills for discipleship and evangelism.

Many of those  trained through STS have experienced meaningful levels of transformation as a result. The impact on their lives makes them even more ready to be strong leaders in their church and community.

Those who are already leaders in ministry find they are even better equipped to raise up new leaders. The skills they learn impact their lives at both individual and community levels. The STS method allows leaders to engage literate and non-literate members of the community with a dynamic, oral teaching model that transforms lives and grows leaders.

Wednesday Nights with the Go-Getters

Our church has a robust ministry to those with special needs, from children to adults. I have had multiple opportunities to lead Bible story discussions using Simply The Story with a large group of special needs adults. These times of ministry are some of my favorite. The group is animated and engaged the entire time. While we might assume that cognitive challenges would result in an inability to think deeply about spiritual issues, this has been proven wrong to me during these story times. 

The last time I shared a story with this group I was brought almost to tears by the response of a young woman to one my questions. While I don't recall the story or the specific point she made, I do remember that I had never thought about that part of the story in the way she mentioned. No one had ever said what she said.

The following Sunday, after the worship service, as I was leaving the sanctuary, one of the participants in the story that week saw me and recognized me as the storyteller from Wednesday evening. She experienced great joy when I, too, recognized her. She then told me about the story we had discussed. 

These experiences bring fresh meaning to Jesus' words about childlike faith. That sort of faith is not childish, it is simple, pure and honest.

Stories Slip Behind Locked Doors and Into Locked Hearts

I just had the opportunity to go to a youth prison for the third year in a row. On the previous visits I had told a story. These youth are tough, mostly gang members. The answer to this one question is important to me ... "What is the long-term effect of these stories on the young men?"

This return trip offered an opportunity to see how God might answer my prayer to know if the story style of ministering to these hard core youths was making any impact. 

Just before going to the group of about 15 youths who would hear my story this time, the host took me with him as he stopped at a different area of this lock-up facility. This host is part of a group that ministers weekly to these juvenile offenders. A young man "Jack,' I will call him, was going to be released the next day. This prisoner and the host wanted to meet to say "goodbye" to each other. As we approached, Jack looked at me and said, "Hey, I remember you."

We three sat down to talk and I began to ask some questions. I wanted to know what Jack remembered from the storytelling the year before, and perhaps find out if the story had any long range impact. So I asked him, if he remembered what I had talked about. He said, "You told a story," Then, before I could ask if he remembered what story I told, Jack started to retell the story of Genesis 35:1-5. Then he said, "That story kept me thinking about what idols might be in my life that I'm still hiding."

I was astounded. 

AM, USA

A day after this prison letter came to us, a note from India arrived. An Indian pastor who uses STS Bible storytelling wrote … "In recent past, I had been invited to speak to teens in a Youth Camp. In the middle of my discourse, I asked, 'How many of you know the 'Ten Commandments by heart?'

"There were many teens present, but not a single person could raise hand. Almost all these teens have come from Christian homes and some whose parents are active in ministry. I was surprised to witness blank response!

"After the message, I discussed with the coordinator and expressed my regret to him. We can't simply blame the children; the reason for lack of understanding of God's word in present day youth is due to lack of effective Christian parenting at homes as well as us in ministry. I thank God for Simply The Story which teaches us how to keep God's WORD in our heart pocket …"

[Notice the contrast in the church kids, believers who could not remember the Ten Commandments and this teenage believer who as a prisoner a year later was still remembering and being affected by the story he heard one time!]

But What Did They Remember?

Modavador G's use of stories to minister in a particular high security prison was a new experience for him. But after only three times of ministering there, something significant occurred. 

A fourth visit to this prison was a time of celebrating the upcoming release of three Christian inmates. After various chaplains preached to 90 inmates, three soon-to-be-released inmates came forward to give their goodbye testimonies. These prisoners had been ministered to for years by chaplains and visiting speakers. The first inmate told this. "God showed me stuff in the Martha/Mary story that is going with me to the outside." (Then he shared specifically the parts in the story that impacted him.) 

The next prisoner testified, "That glass of oil story helped me and I will never forget it." (The inmate then told the part in the Elisha story that touched him, about God's care for the widow.) 

The last man shared this. "That King David story was about me." Testimony as told to us by Modavador G SC, USA 

After all the years of preaching and teaching that Christians had given these prisoners, in their goodbye testimonies, three for three, mentioned the impact specific Bible stories had had on them. These inmates even remembered the story content and ways the stories had impacted them.

Contact us if you would like to connect directly with Modavador G on the use of story for evangelism and discipleship with inmates, or on his Holy Hip Hop, Spoken Word version of God's Story: From Creation to Eternity.