Simply the Story~

This week a team of missionaries are here to teach our pastors. They specialize in teaching the ‘Simply the Story’ Bible method which emphasizes story telling, much like Jesus did, to communicate the gospel.

For a people group that loves stories, like the Dinka, this approach to teaching is very effective. I have literally watched the pastors come alive this week, and their excitement is contagious!

No longer bogged down with complicated exegesis and theoretical applications, these pastors are laughing and clapping at how simple it can be. It’s fresh and radically liberating for them.

Yesterday, in an effort to make this method even more memorable, the pastors were given some homework. They had to create skits from selected Bible stories and act them out for us.

Instead of being studious and serious all day, these guys had a chance to hang loose and think outside the box. Their dramas were inventive and inspiring.

Pantomiming the story of Blind Bartimaeus  (Mark 10:46-52) while one of their colleagues told the story, these pastors really shined. Who would have guessed so many of them were actors? Ha ha.

I’ve rarely seen anyone so excited to receive his sight, as the pastor playing Bartimaeus! He threw his arms in the air and started jumping for joy... literally! He jumped as only a Dinka man can-- 4 feet in the air! Ha ha.

There were four skits in total. After each one, the pastors laughed and clapped enthusiastically. It was childlike and genuine. I loved it. They had such a great time watching their classmates ‘on stage’.    

May this new method of teaching help these pastors communicate the gospel in powerful and inspiring new ways. Amen!

Missionaries: Jon, Richard, Emanuel, Bromwell

And thank you Jesus for gathering these missionaries from so many places (Kenya, USA & Uganda) to bless our pastors here!

Answer to Prayer.

When I got here in June, we were treating patients but not teaching them the word of God. Crowds would start gathering early in the morning to be seen by doctors, but no one was telling them about the Greatest Physician -- Jesus!

I was told, they had wanted to do it for some time... but in all the madness of maintaining chaos, it got pushed aside. But everyone agreed, it was time to start. It happened to coincide with the start of a new teaching session for the pastors as well. “Couldn’t they teach them while we do devotions?” I asked.

Someone ran with the idea. (I’m still not sure who). But I was thrilled to see one morning two pastors standing under the massive tree in our yard, teaching the crowd about Jesus. They would even come and talk to my prenatal ladies (who sit in another spot).

So, rejoice with me in this lovely answer to prayer. I’m so excited to know that when the towns folk talk about our clinic, they will associate it with preaching and prayer.

Pray for many to hear, repent and be saved. Pray for God’s truth to go out and bring forth a harvest too great to gather in. Pray for transformed lives. Pray for revival!