Precious Partners

Praise & Prayer Report #6, October-November 2024

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God's Grace in Tough Regions

In the last 2 years, an organization has been distributing God's Story  accompanied by the full Bible audio, mostly on audio players, in key areas of Africa. Here are some amazing results.

More than 7300 copies have been distributed including Juba Arabic, Chadian Arabic, French, English, Dinka Rek, Bari, Tigrigna, Turkana, and Arabic languages.

In Chad, those receiving the audio devices are first-generation believers, largely unfamiliar with the Bible. They have greatly appreciated God's Story as an introduction and overview of the Bible. God's Story helps them better understand the full Bible.

This past year, a partner of our ministry working in Africa gave a South Sudanese bishop an audio player with God's Story  and the audio Bible. A woman in the area heard about his audio device and began pestering him for the player. Because of her persistence, the bishop gave her his only player, not telling her it was his personal device. Sometime later, the bishop went to visit this woman. On that visit, the woman shared that she had dreamt about God's Word on the device. What's more, she became an active believer and started attending church. When our ministry partner last visited his friend, the bishop, he was able to give him a new audio player. The bishop was overjoyed! 

Our ministry partner also shared with us that another pastor told him that Bible storytelling training, along with audio Bibles have had a significant impact on the church's ministry. Our partner wrote that God's Story  is an invaluable resource to include on audio devices alongside the full Bible. It offers the unchurched and oral learners an overarching narrative of the Bible, helping them connect the many individual stories to the larger Biblical story. This approach enhances the impact of the full Bible.

Partnering with the Lutheran Braille Workers

In early February we met a gifted young lady who writes her own songs, plays banjo and other instruments. Brooke is the Director of Outreach for the Lutheran Braille Workers (the primary provider of free Braille and Large Print Bibles and other Christian materials to the blind around the world), she loves the Lord, working on her PhD, and is blind. In that meeting Brooke participated in two Bible stories, including the story of blind Bartimaeus. The impact from this story led her to completely rewrite one of her doctoral papers, and gave her an amazing understanding of how to equip and empower those she leads, most of whom are blind as well. She has since attended both an STS regular and an advanced training.

Brooke recently represented both Simply The Story and the Lutheran Braille Workers at two separate conferences in Kentucky. She wrote to tell us, "…I use and train others in STS in the service of Lutheran Braille Workers, I was amazed at the easy harmony that connected our two ministries." 

At the most recent conference Brooke had the following interaction with a pastor serving in Mexico. 

"After explaining the ministry of Lutheran Braille Workers, I demonstrated the STS method by telling a five-minute story:

"'And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?' (Exod 4:11). The conversation that followed saw this missionary's view on blindness shift from affliction to sacred calling, particularly for a young man in his home congregation. He explained that despite its best efforts to the contrary, the church had been taking care of this blind man rather than equipping him to serve God and neighbor, saying that,

"'He's part of the Body of Christ, and I realize now that we have not viewed or treated him as such.' As I explained a few ways to begin equipping and training blind individuals, the task seemed to him less daunting with the STS method and the continually increasing materials produced by Lutheran Braille Workers.

"I am far from the first blind person to be moved by Simply The Story, and based upon both my use of the method and these recent conferences, I am assured I will not be the last. I pray and believe that through Lutheran Braille Workers and other ministries, STS will be mightily used by God to bring more blind individuals to the church than ever before, and to raise many of them up as leaders, willingly led. As He proclaimed through the Prophet Isaiah, 'And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.'" (Isa 42:16)."

Girls in Asia, Flourishing!

A ministry in Asia has rescued more than 15,000 girls from sex trafficking. When this ministry's leader realized that about half of the ladies end up in the sex trade again, he went to prayer. God showed him it was a heart issue for these young women. At that point we began actively working with this organization to help address the spiritual root of the problem with God's Word using _Simply The Story_. This leader recently shared that 97% of the girls now come to faith as a result of the gospel reaching their hearts through the STS method. Many of these women go on to acquire business skills and contribute to their villages both spiritually and economically. The program this ministry has developed is replicable and available--simply contact us for more information.

Evangelist Backpack, Redesigned for a New Generation

Years ago, we introduced the evangelist backpack, which included a DVD player, solar panel, power source, and light, with optional features such as a waist-band PA system and village speaker. After thoughtful prayer and consideration, we are relaunching the evangelist backpack with significant improvements to better serve those in need.

Over the past few years as we premiered _God's Story: From Creation to Eternity_ we have valued the partnership with leaders from the local church body as well as the local villages. That combined with our historical success using the evangelist backpacks has led us to reintroduce this tool. 

We are offering two versions of the evangelist backpack. The House-to-House Backpack, with a portable tablet, power source, solar panel, and light, and the Village Backpack, which includes all the same resources except a light weight projector replaces the tablet.

For those who find themselves with opportunities to do both village and home outreach, we have a special price for the projector and tablet.

All of these versions range in price between $650 and $950. Call for more information.

If anyone would like to sponsor a backpack for any of our language premiers, please contact us or select "evangelist backpack" when donating online. We will select the appropriate version of the backpack to use based on the language and location situation.

Recording More Languages of God's Story 

A team of two of us are traveling to Central Asia this week to record 5 new languages. Please pray. The spiritual attacks started the moment we said yes. Seven recording specialists could not go for various reasons, leading us to reduce the languages from 7 to 5, and to travel with 2 recordists rather than the original 3 we planned.

Too Old? Don't think so

One of the ladies in our office continues holding signs as a way to minister to those on the streets and in cars. At more than 80 years old, we appreciate her love for people and her courage.

Thank you, dear friend

We met Alex Saks in 2006. For the last six and a half years, his voice has been heard opening and closing every Heart Pocket Podcast. He became one of our instructors traveling often to India, Mexico and other parts of Latin America blessing people with his kind demeanor and love of the Lord.

Alex graduated from this world to be with our Lord and Savior on November 1, 2024. Please be praying for his family and all those who love and miss him. Thank you, friend, for being a blessing to so many.

~~~

We are a partner supported ministry. Thank you to all our praying partners, ministry partners, and our donor partners. May the Lord bless your Christmas and New Years with friends and family.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director

In Prison with Praise

Praise & Prayer Report #5, August-September 2024

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In Prison with Praise.

In September one of our leaders shared a Bible story in a prison in East Africa. Three men gave their lives to the Lord after hearing and discussing the story of Hagar and the Angel in Genesis 16:7-14. As a result, the chaplain opened the door for an STS training the following week. Praise the Lord for these amazing opportunities. Doors are opening in the prisons throughout East Africa for Simply The Story.

Jesus said in Luke 4:18-19 that he was sent “…to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, …”

 Premiering God’s Love in Congo Brazza.

A team of God’s Story leaders are currently premiering several languages in Congo Brazza. As a result of the premiere of the Suundi and Kaamba languages, 334 people gave  their lives to the Lord. We were not surprised when the projector and speakers had problems during the Kaamba premiere. The local pastors remain committed to bring the messages of God’s Story and the Bible to other villages where Kaamba is spoken. Praise the Lord for seeds being planted, people being saved, and the changes we know will occur in the villages as a result!

People Withstand ‘health wealth prosperity’ message in Africa.

The health, wealth and prosperity message seems to permeate many churches throughout Africa.  A few of our leaders have been sharing that by training people in Simply The Story, many people are able to withstand messages like this and other unBiblical issues they may come across.  In one conversation with a couple of our leaders, we discussed Psalm 1.

It says in Psalm 1:3 that the one who meditates on the law of the Lord “... shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Many people simply focus on the word “prosper.”. However, we discussed that there was fruit. Does this specific tree eat its own fruit? Of course not! So, who gets to enjoy this prosperous tree’s fruit?  Others! And, of course, we know what happens to the seeds.

India - The Harvest is Plenty!

A Sadhu represents a Hindu holy man or ascetic in India. They renounce worldly attachments and material possessions to pursue a life of spiritual devotion and self-realization. Sadhus can be found at various Hindu temples throughout India.  I was stunned to hear that a Sadhu who oversees a well-known temple received a Megavoice solar audio player with God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity from another Sadhu. The man who received the player even asked for instruction on how to use the player. The Lord drew this man who had shunned material possessions to the one possession with the power to show him the way to true life through Jesus

Our Indian brothers and sisters in Christ as prayer warriors. They shine as lights in the darkness of a nation filled with temples, shrines, and idols. We praise the Lord for these people. Our leader in India recently told me  that more than 500 believers there  pray for this ministry 24 hours a day, every day. We know that God’s grace propels us forward thanks to the many who pray!

Please pray for our leaders in India. In the past month, three leaders there have gone to be with the Lord. Pray especially for their families. Pray for the many teams throughout India that continue to lead training. Pray also for STS Oral Bible Schools in India to continue to grow by God’s grace.

Israel Update.

One year ago, Israel was brutally attacked and hostages taken by the  terrorist group Hamas. What’s happened since this attack has been tragic for both Israelis and the innocent civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and surrounding countries. We had planned our first STS advanced training in Israel for the third week of September. However, in August we postponed this training until next summer.

A dear pastor friend, Dave, had planned to attend that training. He and I prayed about whether he should keep his ticket or cancel. The Lord led him to go. What ensued was God ordained. At a place near the Jaffa gate in Jerusalem, an Indian couple asked Pastor Dave to take their picture. They saw Dave’s hat which has the STS logo and the words, “Ask me for a story”. The couple shared that they had attended an STS training in another Middle Eastern country known to have a migrant worker population. They said, “Thank the people of STS.”

Pastor Dave shared Bible stories with many people throughout his time in Israel. One woman in particular was in need of encouragement. Through the Bible story she gained a deeper understanding of God and an answer to her prayers.

As a result of Dave’s trip, several organizations are now open and ready for training. Please pray for us as we consider how to adjust our training to the needs of Israel during this difficult time.

Other items for Prayer.

Our team has been preparing to return to Brazil for more advanced and regular trainings. Reports from Brazil are that Bible stories are being used everywhere with great effectiveness. Pray that the Word will impact many Brazilians for God’s glory. Pray also for our team as they prepare to invest deeply in the people of Brazil.

Western North Carolina has been ravaged by the rains from Hurricane Helene. Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand and Nepal have also suffered massive flooding. Please pray for the people in these areas impacted by the storms.

Heart Pocket Podcast

October and November podcasts include interviews with Lori who uses STS with children and women, Brooke who ministers in the blind community, and others. If you have not heard Larry Dinkins and his amazing Scripture memory podcast, you can find him in September 2024 episodes.  Listen to more podcasts at www.HeartPocket.org.

We continue to add more God’s Story languages to our website for people to watch and to our YouTube station. Share these links with others.

Thank you all for your prayers and love for the nations.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director

Open Doors in North Africa

Praise & Prayer Report #4, June-July 2024

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Open Doors in North Africa

When Satan chooses to steal, kill and destroy, people eventually know that their religion offers no hope. People need the hope that only comes from Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said the harvest is plenty; it’s the laborers that are few.

God’s Story and Simply The Story (STS) have been making their way across north Africa in incredible ways. In many of these countries across north Africa, people are coming together in STS Oral Bible Schools.

The excitement from the realized freedom in Christ has caused many others to want this same freedom.

Please pray for the believers across these difficult countries as they face persecution, arrest, and even death. Also pray for our leaders in this region, who have an amazing plan in place.

Mexico Kids Listen to God’s Story

While on a mission trip in Mexico, building a home for a family with meager means, one of the short-termers gave a MegaVoice solar audio player with God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity to the family’s children aged 6, 7, and 8, to listen to. None of them had ever heard any stories from the Bible before. The children loved the 80-minute program so much that they listened to it over and over and often asked the missionary to share more Bible stories.

The children would walk around with the solar player listening to Bible stories throughout the day. Other mothers and neighbors were thrilled to receive their own player.

The missionary wrote, “These three children do not attend school, cannot read, and they spend most days wandering the streets together. Three of the five kids wanted to pray and thank God for His forgiveness and grace.” They gladly accepted the solar player as a gift.

Uganda: A Country Growing in the Lord

We have not reported on the STS Oral Bible Schools in the refugee camps of East Africa for some time. Rest assured; they continue strong!

Teams are hosting children at the refugee centers in Kenya and Uganda. The children learn Bible stories and get to discuss what the Lord is showing them. They dig together!  What a change for these children, especially in Uganda, from 20 years ago when Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army would take the children and have them do unimaginable things. Now, God gives these children the Hope they need for all eternity.

God's Story continues to be shown alongside the Jesus Film. Both films serve a unique purpose and have a different impact. God's Story lays a necessary foundation to who Jesus is and why He came. This reduces and often eliminates syncretism where people add Jesus to their other gods. After laying this foundation, the Jesus Film presents much greater detail of Jesus' life from the book of Luke.

Even though we have 457 languages of God's Story completed, we need more help. We have languages waiting to be completed in Ethiopia, S. and N. Sudan, Nigeria and elsewhere. Many of these translation projects remain unfunded. As well, we are working as fast as possible to raise recording teams throughout Africa.

These recording teams focus on more than just the technical aspects of recording the God’s Story audio, they also spend time in many of the Bible passages with the translators and narrators. This gives the language teams an in-depth understanding of God's character, as well as enhances the quality and accuracy of the final recording.

When we premiere a new translation of God's Story, we also provide Bible recordings (if available), organize a Simply The Story training and provide other gospel resources. We often find that people in remote villages had no idea that the Bible was available in their language!                                                       Click here to donate.

God's Story Recording in Cameroon.

We praise the Lord for our recording team in Cameroon who are almost done recording 6 languages.  

African Missionary in the USA

Recently one of our African leaders was returning home from the Simply The Story International Office. While waiting for his flight at LAX, he spoke to a newly-wed couple from Canada on their way to their honeymoon. After sharing and discussing the Blind Bartimaeus story, this couple accepted Christ. This couple was so excited about their new found faith, they looked for a way to return home early so they could start growing in the Lord.

STS Reaches Madagascar

Our instructor on Mercy Ships continues raising others with STS skills throughout various places of Africa. Recently they told stories to the children of Madagascar.

The instructor forwarded this praise report from another STS trained day crew (edited slightly for better understanding). "I visited a family which had a problem yesterday. Instead of preaching, I did STS from the story of Jesus Walking on the Sea. We was 6 persons, and every one enjoyed it.

"The feedback is that the STS is very powerfull. This familly seems separated from Jesus, then they begin to have a big problem. But after hearing and discussing the story, they belived in Jesus and put their life under his hand. They took out of the story that their life was like the boat against the wind, but Jesus is coming and take care of them if they trust in him. They told also that they are like Peter, if they belive in him, they can walk on the sea like Jesus."

STS Trains in Benin

Several trainings took place in Benin over the past month with the goal to raise instructors. We thank the Lord for the team that worked tirelessly to see these advanced and regular trainings to fruition in South, Central and North Benin.

Coming up on Heart Pocket Podcast (HeartPocket.org)

• Darlene shares from her 50+ years of experience leading successful children’s ministries.
• Carol describes literate learners trying to teach oral learners and not reinventing the wheel.
• Larry goes in-depth on how he remembers all 1189 chapters of the Bible, and so much more.

Thank you all for your prayers and love for the nations.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director

Spiritual Freedom

Praise & Prayer Report #3, April-May 2024

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Wanted: God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity

Our God’s Story workshop leader recently returned from recording 7 languages in West Africa. Even though the team goes to record God’s Story, our leader shared the impact these workshops are having on the translators, narrators, and those around the team.

The guest house where the teams stayed is owned by a lady. The team prayed for this woman as well as others and invited several people to join them for worship on last the Sunday our God’s Story team was there. The Word of God was shared, our team prayed for people and the entire guest house of 8 people accepted Christ. A couple of the people were freed from being demon possessed and all were encouraged.

Later, people told the team of a specific spirit that controlled the place prior to the people being freed to worship Christ. Reports have come in that some are going to church by guest house where our team stayed.

We have known for years that any team working on translating or recording God’s Story requires extra focused prayer. Many have shared with us over the years that they have been astonished by the spiritual attacks with God’s Story above what they normally face. These challenges still occur.

Our recording specialists continually run into issues during the scenes where Satan, in the form of a serpent talks to the woman in the garden of Eden. All of their equipment works well before they get to these scenes. Only at this section does the equipment begin to crackle giving unusable recordings. When our leader swapped his equipment with another recordist to try the same section, he had issues at that spot as well. The teams endure and eventually record the parts that expose Satan as the liar that he really is. After that spot in the script, their equipment again records with little to no issues. Please pray for all the teams around the world working on God’s Story languages.

Sometimes, translators are encouraged to do God’s Story without totally understanding the program or its value. One such team recently came to translate in West Africa just to see what God’s Story really was. During translation and recording times, the project still was not clear to one of the translators. Only during the review, the translator told our leader to stop. The translator shared that he had done other translations, and yet in this short time with God’s Story, he finally realized what God had used him to accomplish. The time with God’s Story had greatly impacted him. Listening to God’s Story during the review time allowed several parts in the Bible that he had read several times in the past to finally become clear to him. He plans to use God’s Story to reach many in the community. The translator also knows there are many in the community who do not understand the Bible, and God’s Story will help these people.

Spiritual Rehab

We have realized that for life changes to take place, the Word of God has to penetrate past the mind and into the heart. We see that engagement with the Lord through His Word helps people apply what He says. The power of God has opened doors for us to conduct Simply The Story training in prisons, rehab centers and more. One workshop took place at a rehabilitation center recently in Kenya. Participants are recovering from substance and drug abuse. One person shared this impact story.

“The one leper story [Mark 1:40-45] has impacted my life a lot. I am from xxx and I have been just like that leper. I could not be with other people because of my condition. I have been in the same problem of rejection from friends and even family members to an extent of bringing me to this rehabilitation center. I was not willing come here. “I see Jesus showed love and mercy to that leper, I am now ready to work on myself so as never to do drug’s again because i want to believe in Jesus. I know he loves me and has good plans for me.

“Again, the story of bent woman, how she was healed after so many years. I’ve wasted more that 20 years because of drugs. I believe that this is the time of my transformation.”

A 2033 Goal!

In Congo Brazza, one STS leader has been helping to fulfill a church’s plan to reach the whole country by 2033. That will be 2000 years of evangelism across the world. The church sent out 30 trained STS evangelists to proclaim the Gospel recently. They chose Simply The Story as one of their main tools to go from house to house. These storytellers went to the mission field, and 300 people accepted Christ. The church met recently to discuss discipling these new believers. The plan was to teach the people to learn and quote verses and to learn the Ten Commandments.

This STS leader, familiar also with the power of God’s Story, encouraged the church to use God’s Story to help disciple these young believers by going through each story. This would give the people a clear understanding of the overview or meta-narrative of the Scriptures. People find this method very powerful because many do not read, write, or have the same understanding as the church. Pray for this church to raise the evangelists to reach the lost across their country.

Spiritual Freedom

In Guinea during Ramadan, one Bible storyteller from a large ministry shared the blind Bartimaeus story from Mark 10. A strong Muslim man stood and said, “You know what Jesus has done? It’s the same thing your ministry has done with us. You could have come and given money and left, but instead your ministry and Jesus are giving us sight.”

Mozambique Excitement

A growing instructor in STS shared a great report from training in Mozambique. “We didn't know how many people we would have, but we averaged 50 people per day….People from 4 different churches were represented.

“It was exciting to see people get excited about using their new tool right away and asking for help for how to use it in their ministries. Several people used it with children's ministry on Saturday and Sunday... A few of the pastors used it this past week also….

“One boy in my tribe barely looked up or said anything during our preparation. His whole demeanor was kind of cured with a sense of insecurity. When I asked who wanted to tell the story he said he wanted to. He wasn't presenting until the next day so he had time to prepare. We reviewed the next day and he presented. He did a great job! When I was coaching him he had a big smile on his face and it looked like he had just got a boost of confidence…

“The hot topic at church yesterday was telling stories:) How easy, practical, and fun it is!”

STS + Flannel graph = Discipleship

As 3 STS workshops combined with flannel graph training took place, another man who has more than 100 older people that come regularly to learn stories in the STS way wrote, “YES. I NEED. MOST USEFUL TO [location left out for security reasons] OLDAGE CHURCH FAMILY, THEY UNDERSTAND WELL WORD OF GOD BY SHOWING PUCTURES. YOU PLEASE COME TO […] AND SPEND TIME WITH MY OLDAGE PEOPLE AND PREACH WORD OF GOD BY SHOWING PICTURES. SEND ME ONE KIT FOR […]”

Languages Upgraded or Mastered Recently

Chothe, Fur, and Mongolian have been completed and upgraded. Please contact us if you want to help sponsor languages or request a language to be upgraded.

Heart Pocket Podcasts Recently and Coming Up at www.HeartPocket.org

In a recent podcast, Zev describes life in Israel for the past several months. Wilma shares the impact of STS in her life. Kelly gives insights for doing Bible stories with children and the impact of STS on outreach. Teresa has fun with A Little Mango in a Big World. Doranne and John make retirement fun with ministry!

If you are interested in joining a Bible storytelling time with Simply The Story, please let us know. We have one Ministry That Multiplies session started online in English and plan to have more. Our first online English Oral Bible School has started.

Thank you all for your prayers and love for the nations.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director  

People Hear & Believe

Praise & Prayer Report # 2, February-March 2024

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God’s Story Premieres

For the month of February and a little into March our leader in Ghana, along with a God’s Story team, premiered 6 languages in several regions throughout Ghana. The Kamara and Anum Boso (Gua), have no known Scripture in their language except God’s Story: From Creation to Eternity. The Choruba (a dialect of Gonja) and Kplang language have only God’s Story and some GRN recordings. Two languages groups, Choruba and Kamara, are considered unreached people groups.

Our leader shared regarding the Choruba, “The chiefs and elders were excited to have GS done in their language. They never thought their people could be remembered.” The Kamara people were excited to have God’s Story in their own language for the first time.

After the Nankani premiere in Ghana, the team went to a restaurant to eat. The woman who spoke Nankani was so excited to hear God’s Story; she now wants to use the video at her restaurant.

In Congo Brazzaville, our leader led a team to show Ombamba in 5 villages. This again is another language that has only God’s Story and GRN recordings available for the people.

This people stayed unreached due to ethnic and language barriers.

They are discriminated against because they are from Gabon. Local missionaries have been sent to the villages preaching and teaching in the other languages, not Ombamba. This discrimination occurred for many years and has kept local churches from being planted in these villages. As a result, these

people have remained bound to their traditions and false gods.

God’s Story in Ombamba is the first material about God they have received in over 90 years. Testimonies from the showings of Ombamba God's Story in 5 villages include the following.

(Google translated from French) “It is appropriate to point out that wherever the film was shown, we noted that populations not reached by churches have an acute thirst for the  word of God. Another observation made is that the unreached and the Christians have finally found a reliable tool of communication, which is this film in the Ombamba language.

“All levels (children, young people, adults and the elderly) were very happy to follow God's message in their mother tongue. Moments of happiness and emotion (such as the moments when people agreed to follow Jesus Christ and abandon their sins and the moments of prayer of the sick) crowned this tour.

“The involvement of notables from each village in the success of this projection widely opens the doors for us in future projections…. People testified that they enjoyed watching this film which is in their Ombamba language.”

The report continued, “They understood the message well … they had joy at finally having biblical support in their Ombamba language.”

They now scheduled other film screening sessions and are requesting a video projector

to show God’s Story more. The people want training in oral communication (STS) to spread the word of God.

“In view of the above, the screening of the film story of God from creation to eternity has just sparked a spiritual awakening in the villages mentioned above. The success of this tour is the work of the Almighty. May all glory be given to him in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We remain humbled and blessed to hear the incredible reception people have to God’s Story. Pray for all these people to know the true resurrected risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

Raising Instructors in Peru

STS instructors Andrew and his wife Sheryl recently traveled to Peru to train others. They are raising 3 ladies from Lima to be STS trainers and to be able to tell God’s stories with power and conviction. The team then traveled to a small city in a jungle area of Peru and worked with a small congregation from the ethnic group known as the Shipibos. Most of them spoke Spanish well, but at times they needed to use translators.

Andrew writes, “The people were encouraged and enjoyed the training, and the pastor learned a new and dynamic way to share the Word of God with his congregation.”

“One miracle … the pastor told us that it was the rainy season, and if it were to rain, the roads would turn to mud, and no one would be able to make it to the church for the training. We asked the Lord to hold back the rain during the day between 4:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

So…God held back the rain every day for ten days . . . Until the day we left for the airport, and then it rained cats and dogs from 2:00 PM onward!”

YWAM & STS in Brazil

What happens when YWAM contacts you and says they want Simply The Story training in several places throughout Brazil? Well, you block out a month, round up a team of STS instructors and travel to a few places in the country and teach anyone and everyone who is hungry to learn. One of these opportunities included

training those working among the indigenous people.

Several Portuguese speakers are well on their way to becoming instructors; praise the Lord! We need to fulfill the requests that are coming in from Mozambique, as well as Brazil, for STS.

India Laws Verses God Almighty

Our leader in India shared Bible stories in a prison recently. They heard Blind Bartimeaus (Mark 10:46-­‐52) and the One Leper (Mark 1:40-­‐45). Many of the prisoners saw that the leper did not obey the law of the land or the Word of Jesus. These prisoners saw themselves as doing the same as the leper and cried despite the fact that many are in prison only for political reasons or not being able to speak the language. More than 600 prisoners heard God’s Word.

The growth of STS in India is beyond measure. Our leader can count at least 10 generations of instructors and receives at least 300 to 400 messages a day regarding the impact of the ministry.

One leader among a tribal group who has been in ministry for 20 years said that because of STS he has grown closer to God and is leading many others to Christ because people

remember the Bible stories. Just in that tribal group they are seeing the 3rd and even 4th generation of instructors. This leader sent his gratitude in tears to our leader via a message recording.

Our leader said to me, "Planting seed is easy. Seeing it to fruit is not."

Items for Prayer

In April one of our leaders will be recording a God's Story language of an unreached people group in Central Asia and leading an STS workshop. The people are a Roma (Gypsy) people group and the Bible has not been  translated  into  their language. In  fact, God’s Story will be the very first item  of any kind produced in their language. Please  pray for the   translator and the young man we are asking to narrate. Pray for protection – physically and spiritually – as they prepare to record.

In April we have an online Assistant Instructor training along with a regular in-­person training in Kentucky April 12-­‐14. An advanced and a regular training will be at our Hemet California headquarters in July. For more information, go to our website, www.SimplyTheStory.org.

A God’s Story recording team is preparing to be in Benin to record 8 languages. Pray for the story tellers, translation teams, and recording team.

We thank God for the Advanced and Full STS training in Hemet, CA recently. The results can be heard on Heart Pocket Podcast (www.HeartPocket.org).

Thank you all for praying for our leaders, the trainings, languages, and the ministry. Thank you also for the gracious donations that help us get the Word of God out.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP) Executive Director

“It’s Terrible…"

Praise & Prayer Report #1, December & January 2024

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“It’s Terrible in the camp of the enemy

Our leader just returned from premiering several languages of God’s Story in Cameroon. He said, “It’s Terrible in the camp of the enemy.“  “What?” I asked.  He continued saying, ”Souls are being saved so it’s terrible for the enemy!” speaking about the spiritual impact God’s Story has been having. Even the spiritual leaders, elders, and dignitaries are coming to the Lord.

Rejoicing in spontaneous dance and song in the Lord.

How to get an Audience with the King.

In some African cultures, the King, or village chief, is sought out to get permissions to show God’s Story to the whole village. During the recent premiers, our leader met with several kings and received authorization to show God’s Storybecause they saw what we do and the value for the whole village. The kings often come to the showings as well because it honors the people, the king, and their language. In one instance, the Muslim king invited the pastors to premier God's Story in front of his house and asked for prayer for his village. He received his copy of God’s Story and also translated the testimonies of those that were healed. Yet he did not want to be seen in the church.

Another lady played God’s Story for a king, and he asked for his own player. This 68 year old king was thrilled to receive his own Megavoice solar audio player. The king listened for 8 days to the player. Then he shared the player and God’s Story with those close to him. People in the village got curious, so the king played it on a loud speaker. Finally, the king built a place where people could come listen every evening. It is now a natural event every evening and people even run from market place to listen to the God’s Story.

People have heard it several times and are not tired of it.  A church has now been planted and the king, who the people call pastor, is asking for a pastor. Our ministry is now preparing for an STS training with this village and others.

Our leader continued, “Bandits attacked neighboring villages of this king. Yet they will not come to king’s village because they say God is with them” (speaking of the king’s village).

What Language to Speak?

The people of Cameroon are caught between a rock, a hard place, and the fire due to different languages!  The battles rage between those who speak English, those who speak French and those who only want Islamic languages spoken (such as Fulfulde, Arabic, etc).  

By the leading of the Holy Spirit, our leader asked many people, “Where does language come from?”  The people did not have an answer.

Through the tower of Babel story and Rev 7:9, (“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb…”) our language premier leader allows people to discover the preciousness of their language.  After realizing the value of his own language, one village leader told the people to speak in their own language. As a result, many find God’s Story and any Bible portions in their language even more valuable than before! 

For one specific language premier of God’s Story, the original governor limited our leader from showing God’s Story. After seeing spiritual fruit, the governor changed his mind and even organized a premier launching at the governor‘s place as if it was his language. Now this governor wants God’s Story in his own language on the list for the next recording. Praise the Lord. 

The same results are happening where we premier languages. Let’s rejoice together in our Lord’s mercy.

God’s Story + Scriptures + Solar Players = Access

We learned recently that there are Scriptures available in some of the languages we premiered. However, in the remote villages where God’s Story goes, the people do not have access to those Scriptures. Internet is limited and people do not know how to find the available Bible passages either.  When we premier God’s Story, we include as much Bible on the Megavoice solar players and micro SD cards as possible. As a result, we discovered that we are bringing the tools to the people rather than waiting for the people to find the tools. Our language teams are creating access to the Gospel by making Scripture available in remote places. We call this “Project Access.”

Pastors and Leaders “We need more!”

People often use Whatsapp to communicate globally because the text messages and calls are free of phone charges. A person only needs a data connection.  So when one pastor called our leader in West Africa with a country-to-country direct call, he knew it was important.

A pastor calling exclaimed, “The tools are working! We need more!” He continued to share that the tools we left in his country are adding value to what they are doing. Here is how.

A few months ago, a team of God’s Story recording specialists and leaders traveled to Congo Brazza to record several languages and premiere a handful of other God’s Story languages recorded in 2022. In the few months of those God’s Story languages being used throughout the country, we have received multiple reports of impact and need.

The team that premieres the languages has been doing this for many years in several countries and continues to maximize the use of these tools for each language. They often plan with pastors, leaders, and village chiefs when and how to premiere each language. Our team learns what tools are used most throughout the country with each language. In some areas the God’s Story language needs to have more DVDs, and in other areas we need more microSDs, and in many remote areas, the Megavoice solar audio players work best. (Click to learn more)

When a new language of God's Story is premiered in a country, this event allows us to begin the spread of this wonderful tool across the country. Pastors, leaders, evangelists and whole villages are invited to attend the premiere. Each of these leaders who attends the premiere is given God's Story resources, DVDs, microSD cards and Megavoice players. These leaders become God’s ambassadors and take God's Story across their country. They share the resources our teams provide with other leaders who were unable to attend the premiere. Too often the demand for these resources outstrips our limited ability to provide.

We receive calls from people working among the blind, people in remote areas, rebel groups (yes, rebel leaders have called us), prison ministries, and others asking for more tools. 

Wish to help with God’s Story Premieres? (https://oralbibleresources.com/shopcart/donate.htm, select God’s StoryPremiere). 

Prayer Needs

Pray for our India team traveling soon to Sri Lanka. There is no food and no fuel in this country, along with government issues. Our team is going to see needs and how to help. They will also conduct an advanced workshop. They will also see how the 2 Oral Bible Schools planted several years ago have multiplied.

Several teams are traveling for Simply The Story training and God’s Story launchings in Europe, Latin America, West and East Africa and Asia.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)

Executive Director