No Junior Holy Spirit

Prayer and Praise Report #3, June-July 2014 

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

Ach! Where to begin? The joys and the accompanying challenges keep rising! 

Notice this letter’s theme. The Executive Director of Church and Community Development of Awana and I discussed the value of using Bible stories to teach children. We agreed on how deeply they could go in the Word. He added, “I have never read in the Bible about a Junior Holy Spirit.”

       That really struck me. Of course! Again and again we have seen even very young children drawn to Bible stories and discovering important spiritual applications.

       For awhile, God has been nudging us to provide STS material for children’s programming. Could you pray for us as we tackle this vital area, and also could you select any areas for prayer from this newsletter that God may lead you to remember?  

To see how young children can hear from God, look at the attached moving story of a 3 year old. SimplyTheStory.org web site (right side, home page) has a great 11-min video, “Age 8 Gives Insights.”

God’s Story & Simply The Story Impact

Closed Places-Hard Places

West Africa: African instructors just led STS trainings in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the 3 countries being ravaged by Ebola. As our instructors continue to train in these regions, please pray for their safety and the eradication of this epidemic.

Tel Aviv: While rockets assailed Israel (and most attendees had family in the military), God spoke to hearts in an STS workshop. “One group discussed the story of Saul & David in the Cave (when David could have killed Saul but instead cut a piece off his robe).

       One Israeli guy began to weep because of the way he had treated his authority figure/mentor. The group prayed for and ministered to him. That is what this is all aboutthe Word of God transforming hearts toward healing and shalom.”

Unnamed Communist Country: Anyone caught with even a piece of paper with a Bible verse or Christian teaching on it is thrown into prison. A team of 11 pastors and a few of their wives secretly went to another country to learn STS. They loved learning how to remember Scripture and how to dig deeply into it in a way they and the downtrodden people in their country could understand it.

       At the end of the 5-day training, in tears, one pastor’s wife told those gathered, “My husband has always been timid to speak. I have seen him here gain a confidence and boldness to speak the Word of God. He is prepared now to go back.”

SE Asia: An instructor wrote us: “I just get a short story from one pastor in place where they is not allowed to hold /carry the Bible and say anything about Christ / Christianity. But they use the sts and tell the good news and there one monk and others excepted [Jesus].”

Ukraine: Our brothers and sisters in Ukraine face the threat of a 2^nd occupation by Russia. Should this happen, know that by God’s grace, before a possible outlawing of the Word takes place, we were able to plant the STS way to remember the Scripture and orally share it. We led two STS workshops in 2012 and advanced training in Nov 2013.

Those trained said, “My ministry was incomplete and I was praying about what to do and feel STS is the answer to that prayer.” . . .  “This is a tool to reach out to Gypsies.” . . . “Previously Bible study was superficial, and I was not getting deeper into understanding and discovery.” . . .  “STS is a powerful tool for spreading the Word.” . . . “Before I could learn 9 verses in a week and now I can learn 9 verses in 10 minutes!”. . . “STS has given me a way to get into the Word, where I had struggled to even read the Bible before.”

Ethiopia: “At the moment we are in south Ethiopia doing a workshop in one of the prisons. Yesterday, 4 prisoners committed their lives to Christ.”

Morocco: “One of my dear lady friends that I was visiting almost every Friday passed away a week before I got back to Morocco. I was very sad that I did not see her again. But one good thing happened.

 “Her daughter told me, ‘My mother was listening almost every day to the MegaVoice you gave to her.’ This lady loved to work in her yard and always carried her solar player with her, so she was listening to God’s Story and the Bible in her own language.’”

Niger: “After an STS workshop, a young man followed me for five days to get a solar player. [Player has God’s Story and Scripture on it.] Finally I gave him one. The man later took me around to SEVEN villages where this guy had formed lots of listening groups and people have received the Lord.”

Country Closed to Christianity: “For 2 years I read all of the reports of STS touching lives and multiplying around the world, but I saw very little happening where I serve. I was very discouraged. But now, 34 workshops later, I can say it is catching hold. People are understanding and responding to the Word  . . . and multiplying what they learn. In God’s time!”    

Togo: “Chad,” we will call him, is a church planter whose father was an animist priest. Chad was praying for his Dad for 15 years. His Dad was his first enemy when Chad gave his life to Jesus, and denied him as a son.

One day, after all these years of prayer, the father called and asked for Bible. Chad gave him a solar MegaVoice player and his Dad began to listen the moment he received it. Isaiah 43 came to him one night, and he came to Chad to have his questions answered about the Bible, including for help with Isaiah 43. His father then said to Chad, “I gave you life but you are older than me.” The son understood that his Dad was giving him supreme honor by saying the son knew more than the father. His father then responded to the Gospel and was crying and crying at the time of prayer/repentance.

Central Asia: In this Muslim country “A few youth now believe in Jesus, others are seeking. Christians had tried doing a Bible study, but it didn't really work” I was invited to try a story. “I told a 10-verse story of a paralysed man who was lowered through the roof. I asked for a volunteer to retell it. One of the seekers said he would. He told it far better than I had, and didn't forget hardly any of the details!  Everyone said, ‘You must have heard it before,’ but he insisted it was new to him.

 “Later, as we talked about the scribes in the story who were sitting there, the volunteer concluded, 'Well, if only God can forgive sins and Jesus forgave his sins, then Jesus must be God.’  It was a good moment. I believe that discovery of truth was a result of the Holy Spirit's work in his life.”

Bahrain (Arab Peninsula): Attendees use STS in prison outreach, ministry and witnessing. The Bible Society in Bahrain devoted their whole newsletter to STS. They wrote, “Thank-you emails congested our email accounts & “STS is an unprecedented, cutting-edge and phenomenal Bible Engagement tool.”

North Africa: One believer’s Dad is a respected Muslim leader, and he heard God’s Story on the solar player several times. He decided to share it with friends. More than 60 people came to listen. Lots of questions were being asked so his Dad said, "I will ask my son." Next they had 200 people listening.

Over 15 years, the father has moved from wanting to kill his son, to making him a slave, to years later apologizing to his son for the rejection, to now saying, “Jesus is God’s Son.” But, even though he travels all over the region and plays, “this true story” for older men as they sit and drink tea, and he started attending church, he has not yet said, ”Jesus is my Saviour.”

North Africa: A church planter got to answer a lot of questions when his "cousin-brother" came to his house one day and discovered the planter’s family having devotions. He asked the planter afterwards, "How sure are you that Jesus is Son of God?" The man asked for a book to read. Instead of a book, the planter gave his cousin-brother a solar player. He listened to it for three days and then came back.

 At first he was asking the planter questions, but then he started crying. Then, before the planter had finished talking to him, the guy kneeled down to pray and receive Jesus. As a result, the man had to leave his family and family home, fleeing for his life and for a time moved in with the church planter.

Guinea: “We finished the workshop by the grace of God. We had 65 participants on the last day. God did mighty things in the lives of participants. The last day they wanted me to continue till night. I saw joy in the lives of the participants. The pastor openly said that ‘It has never happened in the history of the church that after a seminar or conference that the members were so happy like this. Most workers in the church were before hostile to each other, but STS has helped us be together.’

“There were so many testimonies at the end that I wept heavily in front of them all whilst giving my final speech. I saw love, happiness and appreciation in their faces.”

Easier Regions, But Still Needy

Taiwan: “This is the most people I have seen that have gone out during the workshop and shared a story with strangers. I saw God really move. One lady told me, ‘I have been studying the Bible for 40 years and just saw things in the Bible I have never seen before.’”

Guatemala: Email from a user of STS on short term mission trip. “The pastor has been having me do stories at every service (about 3 times a week). He loves the story telling process. He noticed that his people stay awake when I tell a story, but they fall asleep when he preaches! He has also noticed how much they interact with me-even the kids answer questions. He says, ‘They never talk with me about the Bible.’ He told me last night at supper, ‘This story-telling process is much more effective for my people than what I learned [in seminary].’ He's 72 yrs old and would love to learn to tell stories!”

West Africa: In 2014, the Lord widened and deepened the impact of Simply The Story (STS) and God’s Story. Many large ministries are asking STS instructors for training. One of these, Mercy Ships, just received STS training in Benin, the 3^rd country in which we have trained their local ground crews!

USA: In Sept we are hosting a Summit for Lead Instructors including directors from 15 countries.  Afterwards some will stay on to lead a first-timers training and Alumni Advanced training from Sept 28-Oct 3. There are still a few slots left! We need 3 more visas granted.

Answered Prayer: For a long time we have asked for prayer regarding the need for hands-on help at our Hemet headquarters. Part time help has come! More full time help is to arrive when their house in TX is sold. We still need one or two on-site staff who love web site, audio and film ministry.  Blessings,

Dorothy A. Miller

Creative Delivery of God’s Word

Prayer and Praise Report #2, February-April 2014 

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

Reports show that after discovering God’s Story and/or being trained in STS, the interest in Bible study soars! This #2 newsletter of 2014 mentions just some of the creative ways people are using these two tools. For instance, churches are using the STS oral inductive Bible study, not just for services, but as you see in the picture above, for Sunday School!

Reports on Flagship Tool, God’s Story

By God’s grace . . . we have 12 new languages waiting for final approval and 20 more new ones being translated or set to record.

UUPG We thank God for the new Bodo version for NE India. The 1.5 Million Bodo are listed as 0 percent evangelical (so they are an Unengaged Unreached People, a UUPG).We have record of 32 UPGs and UUPGs in India being reached by God’s Story. Please PRAY for yet another people- group breakthrough. In two weeks, believers wanting to reach the Bodo intend to start the showings of God’s Story.UPG. Another new, very exciting version just done is the Zuni. These Native Americans also are an unreached people (UPG). Many errors of the past have made the Zuni very wary of Christianity. In Acts 16, God sent an earthquake and opened prison gates. He unlocked the shackles of Paul and Silas and all the prisoners! PRAY for bondages of the Zuni to be broken.

Jungle UPG. Among the unreached aborigines who live on the Andaman Islands, there is a people group called the Nicobarese After many years of challenges, our India Director finally was able to set up a God’s Story recording for these reclusive, unreached, jungle people. After the team recorded 1/4 of the 80-minute program, the narrator, one of a few saved Nicobarese, became very ill and the recording had to be suspended. Word just came to us today that the Nicobarese are listening to that 20 minutes of audio (Creation to Abraham), no music or sound effects, no visuals, just a Bible storyteller retelling Scripture.

Amazingly, from hearing God's message, the jungle people are coming to Jesus, a lot of them!

The Bishop of Andaman Islands sent a message, "Thank You God's Story people for bringing Creation to the promise of God to Abraham." PRAY for these remote people who are discovering God’s love.

Creative Delivery. From the beginning of God’s Story, people were not sure in what category to place it. The art is simple classic, which makes it timeless. Some people like to use the audio and let people picture the story in their minds while others use the “movie” as a way to draw people to hear the message.

A sweet letter came today from a New Tribes missionary at home in USA due to ill health. “I really liked the God's Story DVD a lot. In fact it is the best I have seen out there. I took art in Community College many years ago so am sensitive about how art is done. I usually like real detailed things, but this was so good as you could avoid really picturing Jesus (Which I have heard is important with Mus.lims.) There was such a feeling of action because of the kind of pictures and what ever you did to make them seem to move.”

Since the start of The God’s Story Project, we at the project have enjoyed partnerships with the Body of Christ. Just these last few months, missionaries with various organizations have asked about partnering on 15 new language versions of God’s Story.

Reports on Simply The Story

We also enjoy creative partnerships on STS. The highly successful ministry documented in

Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale, works with 100,000 church planters in N. Africa. They saw that the unique oral method of deep Bible study taught by STS could be a valuable asset to their church planters. They invited African STS instructors to train their leaders in Cote d’Ivoire.

One of the participants was 75 years old. He said, “I'm so happy because the process of STS makes me a better disciple, because even with God's Word we are supposed to always be learning.” He added, "In my many years of ministry, I have never seen such levels of maturity in the Word and in lifestyle as I have seen with STS users and particularly in this class--not even in my 4 years of Bible college." PRAY for even deeper understating and application of God's message to spread like a wild fire among those trained and to others yet to be trained in Africa.

Mercy Ships Finds Creative Ways to Share. The ship adopted STS in Guinea. Since then, they invited STS instructors to come join them again, this time in Congo-Brazza. We trained Congolese ground crew there and led an advanced training on the ship. Since that time, they have developed multiple ways to minister using interactive Bible stories on the shore in churches, outreaches and the land hospital. Due to there being 450 people on the ship committed to medical tasks, they decided to post a calendar. Anyone telling stories lists the date and time on the ward or deck, so crew members can find a time to join in. PRAY for body and soul healing.

Brings Believers Together. A wonderful Thai brother in the USA discovered STS. What this shy man learned prompted him to become an ordained pastor and establish a church that uses STS.

He called today from Thailand where he went to lead a large workshop in the Thai language. He excitedly reported, “STS is helping the Body of Christ serve together. Seventeen people, who we have previously trained, came from many cities for the week to help as staff. They represent eleven different denominations!” The Thai people, on an average, read very little. PRAY for them to be touched by hearing the Word of God.

Wonderfully, when people who treasure the Word of God come together to study using STS (so they stay in one passage at a time) the Lord leads them to discover truths and new information on which they can agree.

In North Sudan, Simply the Story workshops continue. This is not an easy place to serve. How is this for replication? Two years ago, instructors we trained in the USA, trained a man in Africa, who trained others in his country, who now go to N. Sudan to train Sudanese, who in turn help train fellow Sudanese! These Sudanese train other Sudanese, and then select a few attendees to go to new locations to serve as provisional instructors.

One person selected told the story of Paul and Silas to those learning STS, presumably all Christians. After much discussion STS style, the storyteller felt led to say, “The jailor asked for salvation because he discovered he needed to get saved, and I say if you know you are a sinner and haven't yet received the salvation of God, and you know you need it, then you have to stand and ask for salvation and I will pray for your salvation.” Ten out of 35 trainees stood and prayed with the storyteller . . . a 17- year old Sudanese girl! PRAY for the Holy Spirit to anoint people (even the youth and women) to carry God's Word to difficult places.

Out of the Safe Box! A lady I’ll call “Lee” attended an STS workshop. She was like many Christians who serve mostly within the structure of an organized church or missions setting and use preplanned outlines and notes. After the STS training, Lee, who had not done much witnessing to strangers in the marketplace of life or taught without notes, stated, “This is terrifying. I want to do it, I think it is right, but it seems like ‘free falling.’” Within one month, reports from this lady flooded our inbox.

Okay, I’ll do it, but I don’t think it will work and the only story I remember is the “Jars of Oil” story. So I turned to passenger seated next to me. All I could think to say was, “I’ve just been to a storytelling conference. Can I practice a story on you?” She said “sure.” While I was telling the story I kept thinking, What’s the point of telling this story to her? When I was done, before I could ask any questions, the passenger started telling ME what the story had spoken to her! I didn’t do anything!

Lee taught a Sunday School class . . . without notes. Afterwards, a seasoned Christian in her 80s told her,” I have read this story many, many times and I can honestly tell you that I have never seen some of the things in this story that I saw today. I really enjoyed this class."

See another insightful report Lee sent about her mission trip “free fall”, called Scary Decision on the Eve of Service. If you want to make copies of Lee’s to give to friends, go to our web site search feature, upper right corner, and type in “Scary Decision” PRAY that more will boldly speak of You.

Church Planted. “Two months ago we started a new church in Mbanaa. It has a population of about 300 persons who are mainly Dagombas from the Upper West Region of Ghana. They are subsistent farmers and the predominant religion is traditional worship and Islam. Though making disciples was slow in the beginning, the CPM and STS principles came in handy and have proven to be effective ministry tools that facilitated sharing the gospel - especially in regions where most of the indigenous are unlearned.” PRAY for the new believers in the church plants coming from STS.

Creative Radio. One ex-Muzm told a Bible story on radio . . . in a dominant Muslim country. The early responses were very positive. Even two months later, a muz.im man went to a church and told the pastor of the church how he had heard the story on radio. The man stated simply, “Now I believe.” That pastor happened to know the radio storyteller, so he contacted the storyteller and told him about the wonderful impact on that one man’s life. PRAY for the storyteller’s safety and for God to open radio opportunities as He wills.

The Parade-The Graduation.

These photos show everyone’s excitement about the graduates who have learned and can teach 296 Bible stories. We gathered information on the Oral Bible Schools. To find and make copies of this report, Special STS and OBS Report, to go search feature on our web site.

As of April, 2014, we counted 80 schools in 11 countries. The Home Bible Schools (HBS) number well over 1,000.

A typical HBS starts with a mixture of believers and seekers. Those who gather commit to learning the same 296 Bible stories done by the OBSs. Most attendees come to faith and the HBS develops into a local house church. The details and testimonies in the report amazed us! PRAY for the new army being raised up that they will live by what they proclaim.

We have just a few openings left in our June advanced training at Bethel at our Hemet headquarters. Also, we are set to be part of a conference in late July in Phoenix about reaching refugees. Anyone need an STS workshop while we are there?

Blessings, Dorothy A. Miller

You Decide

Prayer & Praise Report #1, November–December 2014 

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

By God’s grace, 2013 ended with over 300 Oral Bible Schools (OBS) in 11 countries and the completion of 23 new languages of God’s Story. But, counting the quantity of schools, new language versions of God’s Story or the number of Simply The Story workshops means nothing unless we see results of people coming to Jesus, maturing in the faith and reaching out to others in Great Commission obedience. 

Here are some reports.  Are there results? You decide.

Simply The Story. This photo from India shows people practicing telling each other short Bible stories. By their faces do you think they are enjoying this? But is there any eternal value? You decide.    

    “STS training style is very new to some main line churches and they were amazed to see how the Lord speaks to them through going deep in His WORD using STS style.”

    “One evening during the workshop, newly trained storytellers went out into the surrounding areas and told Bible stories.

31 new souls came to the Lord during evening outreach / practical ministry.

     “One lady said she is a Christian last 27 years, but she never experienced like these 3 days on how the Holy Spirit of God worked in her life and she did not get an opportunity to share God’s word to anybody in her entire Christian life. She led 13 new souls to Christ in these 3 days and she was very very happy.”

More in India.  But does this multiply? “Nishanth, a non Christian had high fever since 4 years, he has spent lot of money but nothing was happened. Someone told him “there is a prayer meeting” He thought this is a prayer meeting, so he came to the STS workshop one hour late. I was telling Martha Mary Story and leading the group asking many questions to discover spiritual observation and then make Spiritual personal application in STS style.

 “God touched this man and healed him and his body became cool and he was praising God but he does not know how to say thanks to Jesus. He shared his story during tea break (what was happened to him during personal application time) and we all praise God and we prayed for Him and he has requested us asking shall I continue to learn stories? Nishanth said, “Because all my family members are non believers so I have to learn some stories and I want to share these life giving stories to my family members.’  We welcomed him. He was there till the end and he paid money for the Lunch and blessed some extra money to the local organizers. Local pastor was surprised through seeing this miracle.

 “Yesterday I called him and he told me that he shared Bible story (first Martha Mary, later Zacchaeus) to his entire family. (He is the father / head of this house). 6 people came to the Lord and he is happy to share stories of God to his neighbors. He was asking us to pray for him and for his family. He has a small business and now he came forward to provide a hall (building) to conduct regular Bible Study through using STS style.

 “This evening will the first Bible study in that hall. Please remember them in your prayer. 12 people will be attending 3 times (2 hours each time) a week regularly. It is an OBS. Local Pastor now he is a very good and willing to lead this team.

 “In the year 2010 we had training here and 8 leaders took the challenge to reach their groups through using STS method. Praise God for their dedication, all 8 were good in STS, 4 came to help in this training and they gave this report.

• 298 new souls came to the Lord through using God’s word in STS way.
• 76 water baptisms took place in the last 2 and ½ year through TGSP tools.
• 3 new House Churches has been planted in that area.

They need our prayers, big opposition is there in that area.”  [Did I neglect to mention that that this is a non conversion state? It is against the law to “convert” anyone to Jesus. It is one year in jail for doing so.] Are lives really changing? Are believers multiplying and are teachers replicating themselves? You decide.

Africa.  This multiplication is happening all over the world. This pastor’s wife graduated from an OBS last year. Now she has 296 stories and Bible passages in her memory (her ”Heart Pocket.”) She urges all people to attend an OBS because she has become a great counsellor at her church using STS.

Mentoring and Multiplication.  Patrick, a young pastor in Kenya with a small church, came to an STS training. He loved this style of gleaning from the Bible and of ministering that way, so he learned everything and became an instructor. He trained all of his elders how to use stories to evangelize and disciple. His members grew in depth and the church grew in size. Then, from new converts, they have started a new church in another region. It now is exploding in size. “85% are new converts.” 

Patrick is sometimes on the road 6 weeks at a time, leading workshops, planting more OBSs and training leaders. His church is his income. When asked, “Don’t your members resent you being gone so much?” he responded, “No. They see themselves as part of the ministry and they are supporting and sending me out to multiply.”

Patrick begins a weekly radio program in Kenya tomorrow. He will tell Bible stories and discuss them with a live audience and phone lines will be open so listeners can interact. Please pray for this outreach as the other countries doing radio are seeing powerful results. We just heard from one of leaders in the Philippines who weekly does two, two-hour radio programs. Each week, during the programs and afterwards, they receive 1,300 text messages and scores of phone calls. Pastors who listen in are reporting a change in their lives and the lives of their flocks. They are experiencing a reformation as they come back to the Bible as the basis for what they believe and teach.  

Only The Gifted? But maybe just a few can learn large blocks of Scripture? Again, you decide. Check this story next story, Out of Babe's Mouth. (It’s on the STS home page, right side, DVDs. Feel free to send the link to friends.)

Out of Babe's Mouth: Jonah by 4 year old

Daniel is lively and silly like a four-year old should be.  But as well, his family sees Daniel as having a spiritual nature that needs to be nurtured. Every evening Daniel's father reads a small portion of the Bible to him, and then father and son discuss it together.

Awhile back, Dad decided to ask Daniel to tell the story back to him, and what you see in this film is the result.  The filming was done at an Advanced STS Training. This was the first time anyone outside of the four-year-old's family had heard Daniel tell the whole story. After Daniel finished telling this story, you will hear Grandma ask Daniel a few questions about the story. Of course, it is wonderful that this child is learning a complete Bible story, but one might wonder if this young child has any understanding of the meaning of the words he is saying.  You decide for yourself. 

Could other fathers and mothers and grandparents follow this example and seed into the lives of the precious little ones whom God entrusts to them?  Of course, and some are doing that. May many more see the value of investing in the very young while their clay is soft.

You may notice that this 4-year old boy tells the complete story of chapters 1 and 2 from the book of Jonah - 27 verses!

Daniel's dad explained to us that that at first he had been reading to Daniel out of a Children's Bible. The dad said, “When I was young, the stories that had been read to me out of a Children's Bible impressed me and stuck in my mind.  But I noticed that, at times, as an adult, I was confused, as my strongest memory was the content of those shortened, simplified stories that had been read to me. Sometimes, I still have to sort out and relearn information as the words from the children's version had been imprinted on my mind when I was young."

So this dad decided he really preferred to read to Daniel out of the full Bible. He stated, "I want Daniel to learn and remember the complete story so he will not be confused when he grows up, as happened to me. I go slowly and discuss the content and high level words that Daniel does not yet know. This way I am both educating our son in vocabulary and talking with him about spiritual truth from the Bible." 

This was one dad's decision … but perhaps the reasons for this dad's decision parallel our reasons in STS for teaching villagers and the uneducated complete, unedited Bible stories?  

The next photo shows a 2-year old watching and listening to this storyteller. This was the 3rd time that day she stopped her play to listen.  

Oh, by the way, that the small storyteller in Out of Babe’s Mouth does more than tell his story in the safety of a Christian setting. On his own, in secular social gatherings, he has asked adults, ”Would you like to hear a story?” They always say yes and afterwards he may even ask them a question about the story.  Is it just this child? No. There are others near to his age who do the same. Is learning Bible stories producing fruit? Is this something you can do? You decide.

God’s Story.  How hard is it to use? Does it reach anyone? If a child can do it, can I?

Sunday, after church, a pretty little girl with long black hair strolled up to me and announced, "Remember me!" I didn't. 

Still, my guess was that she was part of our church’s Christian school elementary that had heard my God's Story presentation the last week of school. So I smiled knowingly and said, "You were in the assembly where I told about God's Story, right?"

She grinned and then a valid, personal get-acquainted time began. Her name is “Maria”, a third grader, with an Anglo dad and, I think, a Filipino mom. We had asked the children to pray about who they could deliver the Gospel to using an audio version of God's Story. We gifted 157 children with the language of their choice in audio.

"Did God show you who to give your God's Story to?"

She said, "Yes, but he is giving it back."  "Oh," I responded, but in an effort to encourage her (and myself, too, I suppose) I added, "Then you can give it to someone else and it can still touch someone’s life.  She nodded in agreement.

"So," I probed, "Did the person you gave it to say anything about what he heard on the CD?"

 “Yes,” Maria responded in a matter of fact tone. “And what did he say?” I asked. 

 “Oh, he said they all prayed the prayer at the end and asked Jesus to save them.”

Of course I bubbled over with excitement, much more excitement than she was showing.  Perhaps she had naturally expected the outreach to bring fruit?

I have observed that when children (and even baby believers) give out God’s Word, they do so with great trust, and very often God graciously shows them His power. Whether it is because they act with fresh faith, or whether God knows that they need quick reinforcement, I am not certain.  But I am reminded too that Jesus said in Matt 18:3 “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Full trust in God and His Word, the trust of a child. Can we do this?  You decide.

I thank God for your prayers and support.

Dorothy A. Miller

It is Life

Prayer & Praise Report #4, September-October 2013 

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

To stop and assemble the highlights of all the Lord has done in the last three months overwhelmed me. I wanted to tell you everything, such as hearing about children finding Jesus, or a note from a short term team in Haiti who gave a solar player with God’s Story to Grandma Seyemo, “who cannot read,” or a report from Morocco, “My son and a group went to the surrounding villages playing the GS in restaurants and shops and as he played it, the men came and heard it and after had many questions!” So much to share!

Yesterday Help Came! Then this amazing report arrived. (I attached it to this letter.) In one newsletter, John, our Kenyan Director who serves in Ethiopia captured all we do. So I am using his newsletter! His explosive ministry of evangelism and discipleship and MULTIPLICATION is typical of what is happening with many TGSP country leaders. Lots of photos.

John’s report tells of believers in Unreached People Groups (UPGs) becoming empowered with the tools of God‘s Story and Simply The Story, believers who, in turn, are seeing their own people respond to the Gospel. See impact of solar players, and testimonies from Oral Bible School graduates. Read all of what a former mslm, now a believer, who is a member of a UPG, said about her ministry, “… allow the women to discover God, His love and forgiveness, by themselves as we discuss the story and ask questions …”  

Please Pray.  “E” is in a Philippine city where gov army is fighting mus rebels who are attempting to take over the city. “Pray that we will finish the workshop safe.” Notice: His focus is to finish, not to run!

Quick View of June-August. Hosted 6-week Comprehensive Leadership Training in Hemet … STS Oral Bible Schools in world now number over 300 … After Egyptian house churches adopted STS, in 1 ½  years they went from 5,000 to now 9,000 churches … Hundreds of STS workshops took place, some in new countries, France and Congo … Country leaders who helped produce God’s Story are sending reports of UPGs impacted by God’s Story or STS. Oh my! The first was from India, and it listed 30 people groups reached! It gave a journal of how many were saved and the number of added ministries now working among the people … the book of Acts continues.

Join Us. We are taking registrations for Oct 14-25, advanced STS training. Join us at Bethel, the conference building God opened for us near our headquarters in Hemet, CA. Consider coming for one or two weeks of intense deep STS Bible discussion and personal STS coaching. Jackson leads (and will let me teach too!) Andrea may just make a cameo spot as she is immersed in web and tech projects. Finally, we may see a new beautiful GS web site. And, in the next few months we hope to have up a huge ministry site that is to stream over 300 GS languages, (video and audio) and STS stories and training material.

Please Pray. I need God’s wisdom and stamina for many speaking engagements. In the next 3 weeks we go to the International Orality Network conference in Saint Louis, then on to a workshop. After that we fly to Colorado Springs to film STS children’s stories for TV programming in multiple nations, and lastly to TX to train staff at the Mercy Ships headquarters.

Our God responded to your prayers and gifts. Thank you!

Dorothy A. Miller     

Unreached People Groups Deliver Gospel

Praise & Prayer Report #3, June-August 2013

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Dear Friend of God’s Story,

To stop and assemble the highlights of all the Lord has done in the last three months overwhelmed me. I wanted to tell you everything, such as hearing about children finding Jesus, or a note from a short term team in Haiti who gave a solar player with God’s Story to Grandma Seyemo, “who cannot read,” or a report from Morocco, “My son and a group went to the surrounding villages playing the GS in restaurants and shops and as he played it, the men came and heard it and after had many questions!” So much to share!

Yesterday Help Came! Then this amazing report arrived. (I attached it to this letter.) In one newsletter, John, our Kenyan Director who serves in Ethiopia captured all we do. So I am using his newsletter! His explosive ministry of evangelism and discipleship and MULTIPLICATION is typical of what is happening with many TGSP country leaders. 

John’s report tells of believers in Unreached People Groups (UPGs) becoming empowered with the tools of God‘s Story and Simply The Story, believers who, in turn, are seeing their own people respond to the Gospel. See impact of solar players, and testimonies from Oral Bible School graduates. Read all of what a former mslm, now a believer, who is a member of a UPG, said about her ministry, “… allow the women to discover God, His love and forgiveness, by themselves as we discuss the story and ask questions …”  

Please Pray.  “E” is in a Philippine city where gov army is fighting mus rebels who are attempting to take over the city. “Pray that we will finish the workshop safe.” Notice: His focus is to finish, not to run!

Quick View of June-August. Hosted 6-week Comprehensive Leadership Training in Hemet … STS Oral Bible Schools in world now number over 300 … After Egyptian house churches adopted STS, in 1 ½  years they went from 5,000 to now 9,000 churches … Hundreds of STS workshops took place, some in new countries, France and Congo … Country leaders who helped produce God’s Story are sending reports of UPGs impacted by God’s Story or STS. Oh my! The first was from India, and it listed 30 people groups reached! It gave a journal of how many were saved and the number of added ministries now working among the people … the book of Acts continues.

Join Us. We are taking registrations for Oct 14-25, advanced STS training. Join us at Bethel, the conference building God opened for us near our headquarters in Hemet, CA. Consider coming for one or two weeks of intense deep STS Bible discussion and personal STS coaching. Jackson leads (and will let me teach too!) Andrea may just make a cameo spot as she is immersed in web and tech projects. Finally, we may see a new beautiful GS web site. And, in the next few months we hope to have up a huge ministry site that is to stream over 300 GS languages, (video and audio) and STS stories and training material.

Please Pray. I need God’s wisdom and stamina for many speaking engagements. In the next 3 weeks we go to the International Orality Network conference in Saint Louis, then on to a workshop. After that we fly to Colorado Springs to film STS children’s stories for TV programming in multiple nations, and lastly to TX to train staff at the Mercy Ships headquarters.

Our God responded to your prayers and gifts. Thank you!

Dorothy A. Miller     

Tipping Point

Praise & Prayer Report #2, February-May 2013

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Dear Friend of God’s Story & Simply The Story (STS),

Celebration!!!!  For 12 years, time after time, we started, stalled and crashed on one God’s Story language production. It has been our biggest battle. Now, finally, by God’s grace Urdu for Pakistan is completed! PLEASE pray for wide distribution and impact in a nation so greatly needing to know the love of Jesus. In addition we finished God’s Story in Ruyankole-nyn and Runyoro-nyo for Uganda; Asante Twi-aka, Nawuri-naw and Ligbi-lig for Ghana; Iraqw-irk, Sukuma-suk, Haya-hay, Sumbwa-suw and Luo-luo for Tanzania; Tase Naga (Mosang)-nst and Rajasthani (Marwari)-rwr for India. Over 20 more soon to be announced.   

GOD’S STORY  Villager in Sudan With MegaVoice, Solar Player
Western worker reports, “We've been showing the movie God's Story and many people have the script already memorized. This picture shows some of the Persons of Peace being trained to disciple others. God bless you.”

Tipping Point Has Come

For a long time we have gone to conferences and done vision castings to let people know about God’s Story and Simply The Story. Now? Oh my! Since January this year, the interest in and use of these tools has skyrocketed.

Explosion!! We had asked for prayer on Egypt. We know that country is in upheaval politically and socially. But, by God's grace, in these trying times, God is again responding to the spiritual cries of those in Egypt. Look what God has done. God’s Story in Egyptian is complete. In Spring and Fall of 2012, we trained core groups of storytellers in Egypt who are now training others. Most of their 5,000 house churches began doing their Bible teaching using STS and they are doing missions to other Arabic speaking countries … not usual for Egyptians, they tell us. Incredibly, by the end of 2012, their 5,000 churches increased to 7,000.

A Sweet God’s Story Response. Call to USA office: ‘We used the Creation section in God’s Story for our home Bible study class. Our grandsons, ages 5 & 8, came to visit. The 5-year-old is afraid of God. My wife decided to play a DVD for the boys, and since God’s Story was still in the player, she thought she would see if they would watch some of it. They did. In fact, they watched the whole 80-minutes! Afterward they announced, ‘We prayed the prayer at the end.” That night as we put them to bed, the 5-year-old said, “I’m not afraid of God any more.”

SIMPLY THE STORY

Body and Spirit Care. This amazing hospital ship of Mercy Ships stays at ports in 3^rd world countries for maybe a year. Two years ago, a ship staff-member attended an STS workshop in USA.

After that staffer used STS for devotions on the ship, the leadership asked us to train 70 Africans who minister as ship ground-crew. [Ask me for the amazing newsletter sent to us from a pastor in Guinea, Africa who was one of those trained.]

3rd and 4th generation African STS instructors led the Guinea workshop! Mercy Ships saw the effectiveness of Scripture delivered by STS on the Guineans (mostly all Muslims) so they asked us to do the same training in July for 115 ground-crew in their next port, the Congo.

This humbling note just came in. “Our President and founder, Don Stephens, fully endorsed the STS method of storytelling to over 600 international staff 2 weeks ago and has communicated his desire for storytelling to be Mercy Ships’ primary form of evangelism in Africa."

Pioneers of Ghana, part of a front-line world missionary organization, invited William, our Director in Togo, to bring a team to Ghana to lead an STS workshop. Check their web site report! “Last Sunday I also used the method in Church. I was very surprised with the in-depth questions that came up.” “Please pray with us that all churches being pastored would be able to have leaders who can teach and use the oral tools to reach other villages.” and more.

NEW STRATEGIES (STS and God’s Story)

County Planting Hits the Target. As we develop tools, the Lord is showing us innovative ways to combine them to most effectively and efficiently use funds and human resources. Our latest strategy, Country Planting, hands off God’s Story, STS, recording of Bible stories and Oral Bible Schools to leaders of vision in regions and in whole countries. Those newly equipped leaders take on the responsibility to minister and train people in their regions.

Our Director in Ethiopia states, Country Planting targets local leaders to take up ownership of the STS process. This is the only way we can see propagation and continuance for the process. I've seem this in Gurage. The last time I was Gurage, the church leaders said to me: "Now this (STS) is not your method again, it is ours. Even if you go back to your Country and don't come to us again, we will continue with STS, we will use it in our ministries and teach it in every village". What a joy that filled my heart!

As I'm writing this, I'm in the Oromo region for an advanced training with our first OBS Alumni. They had this to tell me this evening, "We need OBS in every village;, we are ready to take this everywhere for our people.  We are now waiting for you to give us guidance on how to do it. We need to multiply this everywhere in Oromo region; we are ready to do it."  

I think ownership happened in these two places and Country Planting should help us hear more of this from different places. CP can and will bring about decentralization that will lead to more effectiveness (fruitfulness).

India: New Tool Tested. [We filmed a few STS stories in various world languages calling them Interactive Discovery of the Bible (IDB) We sent them out on DVD to many leaders to be tested. A man received a copy of a copy of the DVD with the story, Fall in the Garden, Gen 3.]

Our India director met this man, Evangelist Ganganna, at an STS workshop. The man shared: “Sir through this God’s message 62 new souls came to our fellowship and now we have started 2 Bible study fellowships. I thank God for this story; it is very powerful and effective in our village ministry. 97% of our people are non-literates, I tried several literate ways to present the God’s message but it was not that much effective. But after I got this DVD, our village people started to show interest to listen and responded to the Word of God. We have made 30 more DVDs of this message and we have given to all our neighboring villages, everybody liked and dozens of new souls are joining in our worship services just because of this IDB from God’s Story Project.”

Notice Age Range and Interest. Storyteller in Ireland just learned STS. Part of the workshop training was ministering in a church.

HA! For several years an instructor in Ireland tried to introduce STS to the pastor of a lively evangelical church. One day this pastor brought a missionary to a workshop to “show him” this new oral training. HA! That day, the pastor discovered STS for himself! Then, a few weeks later, that pastor phoned the instructor. It seems the pastor had told two stories in his church meetings.

The next day, he visited a guy who had strong feelings against church and pastors and a bunch of other things (!). That man's son, who had heard the pastor deliver the second story (Zacchaeus) the night before, was also present. When the dad heard the pastor mention “storytelling at church” he seemed open. The man said he didn't know who Zacchaeus was and showed interest in hearing the story. The pastor wisely asked the son to tell him the Zacchaeus story.

So … in review … this untrained (in STS) pastor does two stories in his church, from ONLY one morning in a workshop … then the son (who heard the story at church) is telling the story he heard to his not-friendly-to-church Dad!!!  After some initial discomfort (at the suggestion) the son told the story to his Dad. The pastor said, “I had an encounter with the Lord in that moment as I watched the Bible story deliver the Gospel to the anti-Gospel, anti-pastor, anti-to-many-things person in a way that NO ONE had ever been able to reach the man before!”

Upcoming. Keep checking our STS web site, lower right side, for upcoming workshops. HELP! We have not found a September host church yet in Saint Louis for our annual workshop that follows the International Orality Network conference. We need assistance in finding a venue.

June 24 starts our 6-week Comprehensive STS Leadership Training at CA headquarters. Graduates of these trainings in USA and Africa have been going out and conquering in the name of Jesus! This class is filled, but we are taking applications for the fall class. Starting July 22, we host Alumni Advanced and Standard Workshops (5 & 2 ½ day options) next door to our headquarters. Do join us. Come meet and fellowship in person with our Egyptian, Indian and West African Directors.

Yes! Interest Hit the Tipping Point! AND now staff at headquarters is “tipping over’ trying to field the interest! Please pray for all in letter AND for hands-on assistance in what God is blessing.

Dorothy A. Miller