A USA
pastor, author and leader in reaching international
students attended a Simply The Story January workshop in
California, USA. The following letters chronicle his
Discovery and Use of STS in the USA.
January: Thank you for all you
did this past week, for hosting me, the training and the
friendship. I am in your debt. Although I'm not nearly at
the level of an STS trainer, I hope to pass on the
concept and technique -- as much as I can "master"
it -- to others.
Not sure how much time you have to listen to talks, etc.,
but if you want me to send you a cd of me doing a STS at
our church (I'm thinking when I begin with the adults), I
can do that. And every time I do it with kids at Awana
and/or the youth group, I'll shoot you a brief report on
how it goes. Now that I have the bigger picture and the
specificity of the questions and how they work, I'm sure
I will only improve over time.
Many thanks again. I appreciate knowing colleagues in God's
work like all of you who are stepping out with creativity,
passion and vision. I will carry my part as an advocate
as God brings opportunities my way.
Blessings to the whole crew in Hemet.
Bill
*******
February: [Bill
phoned to tell us that he used STS at a Jr. High youth
meeting. He said, "The girls stayed interested but
the boys tuned out." After inquiry it was discovered
that Bill wrote out his questions and read them! (In STS
style we show people how to tell a Bible story and ask
well thought out questions, but all without notes. This
is oral style!) After some persuading, Bill said he would
try presenting without any notes, something brand new to
him. Days later he phoned again to say, "I did it
without notes, and the kids loved it."
*******
March: Guess what I did? Something I've never done
before: I booked myself to speak on Easter Sunday at our
church without realizing that that Sunday was Easter! How
dumb is that?! Well, Easter's approaching fast and I need
to cook up something good. So I started thinking that
maybe I could do a resurrection story STS style (or as
close as I can get it).
Do you know if anyone else has done it on Easter?
Right now, I'm considering either Matt. 28:1-8 or Luke 24:1-12
or John 20:19-29. If you've got a handle on one of these,
please fill me in. I realize I'm taking a big leap of
faith on this, one because most believers come on Easter
not only with high expectations to hear something that
will really lift them up, but also because they are well
familiar with the Easter story. So I could be setting
myself up for trouble. But the more I think about it and
pray about it, I'm thinking the Lord is wanting me to
proceed. So if you've got any suggestions, I'm all ears.
Thanks! Bill
*******
We responded... All look
exciting. Although you can do a story outside of the
typical Easter sections, I am thinking this. When
tampering with traditions (traditions which can be good
and meaningful to all of us.) it may be better not to
change too much in one delivery. I have seen chapter 28
Matthew done. It had more than could be covered in one
teaching, but was good.
Any of those you selected would be great. When reviewing
them and reading through the passages I noticed how
interesting John 20:11-21 might be to use for STS.
For your introduction material: Mary went to tomb Jesus
not there, she ran told disciples. Peter and John went
and saw empty tomb then went home.
Story begins. Disciples it says in John 20:9 "For as
yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again
from the dead." They saw, but didn't truly get it, I
think. Mary didn't get it either. The empty tomb is not
enough to convince them. It was not until Mary heard
Jesus call her name that she finally believed. Why cry?
Why not cry? When from this story do we truly understand?
The facts didn't do it. It had to become personal. There
is a lot in verse 19-20 as well. Peace and being sent,
love, without knowing everything then greater love.
Acting on what becomes real to us. This is an Easter
passage not so commonly used.
*******
Bill wrote back:
OK, I went thru vs. 11-21 and got it. Saw a huge
contrast between Mary seeking (a dead) Jesus (in her mind),
but still seeking vs. the disciples cloistered up in the
sealed upper room. Jesus rewards her by revealing himself
to her first. Lots of other inconsistencies in Mary's
behavior as well, but again, she's the loyal/faithful/loving
one wanting to be near him compared to the rest. Jesus'
behavior is always gracious/kind/gentle, even to the
disciples whom he must seek out.
To fully develop this story to get to the personal/interpersonal,
I have 4 times as many observation Questions than
application Questions. The application Questions have the
potential to be extremely powerful, depending on what the
Spirit does as we go through the observation Questions So
due to this potential and limited time, I'm not pressing
it more than that.
Things that hit me:
1. Christ's resurrection changes negative circumstances
in our lives (a la Mary's change).
2. Christ's resurrection changes relationships ("my
brothers", "my God and your God", etc.).
3. What really blew me away was Jesus' statement about
sending us out as the Father sent him out. This
immediately follows him showing his wounds, which is
sandwiched with the 'peace to you' statements. That's how
He sends us out. Unbelievable!
So I've got at least a core of good stuff. Almost got the
story memorized too. Will be perfecting \softline that
all next week.
Appreciate the insight & training. One step I
discovered I was shortcutting was not identifying the
observations & application points first, and then
turning them into questions. Corrected it this time. Made
the process clearer and easier. I'll continue to use this
method. Lot's of fun! I'm planning on exposing our staff
to it at our staff retreat in May. We'll see how God
shows up on Resurrection Sunday! Have a great weekend.
Bill
**********
March: OK,
here's what happened yesterday at our church on
Resurrection Sunday. We had about 60 in the congregation.
We had about 10 first-time visitors, almost all of them
due to the invitations my kids extended to their peers
and co-workers. I was able to present the story (John 20:11-21)
in a very effective way. I had the whole thing down, with
the exception that I missed the part where Mary thought
Jesus was the gardener. I was able to mention that later
as an inadvertent omission. But it was a minor part, so
no harm done.
Then I asked for a volunteer. A 30-year-old sometimes
spastic woman who sits on the front row, and has brain-damage
from a car wreck when she was 18, volunteered before I
could say "no." (The only other volunteers were
kids, and I was looking for an adult.) She was already in
her wheel chair and turning around to face the audience.
Not your first choice as a volunteer. She has self-control
issues frequently. So she took the hand-held mic and
began retelling the story going all the way back to Jesus
entering into Jerusalem on a donkey! I knew I was in
trouble! She finally got around to some of the parts of
my text and finished in a couple of minutes. I thanked
her and we clapped, and then I pulled everyone back to
our story. We walked it through successfully. They all
listened well and participated in reconstructing it.
Then I began asking the observation questions. This
continued to open them up. They were making connections
not easily seen in the text. The contrast between a
seeking Mary and a frightened group of disciples holed up
in a sealed room was enlightening. So was the quality of
the Lord when he rebuked no one for their lack of faith.
By the time we got to our application questions, I would
estimate that about half of the group was verbally
engaged in the dialog. The idea of not needing to cry/weep
at horrendous times in life (like Mary, when the angels
Jesus asked her, why are you weeping?) was highlighted
when Linda, wife of one of our deacons, shared her
experiences with the Lord when her husband Bill (they're
very close friends) almost died of a very rare and
incurable disease, which is currently in remission.
It all came together. I was able to follow-up on some
questions immediately with additional ones that I had not
thought of previously with good success. Even some of our
visitors (I have no ideawhere they are spiritually) were
responding with answers -- virtually all of them correct
or good.
At one point, one such visitor gave the opposite answer
that I was looking for, but that was because I had
structured the question poorly. When I rephrased it more
appropriately, he got it. Later he apologized for the
wrong answer, and I said that it was OK, that I didn't
get them all right in the beginning either. We both
laughed.
Feedback: Of the adults that I heard from,
all were extremely affirmative except two: a friend who's
kind of AWOL spiritually, and my father-in-law Jud, who
admitted that while the Q&A approach is not his
favorite way to learn, he knows it has its merits, seeing
it works with the young people.
Two young high school kids on our street, M and A, were
there, and they rode home with Jud. All they way home he
said they talked and talked about the story. They really
got it, and said they would have stayed longer to hear
more. These two boys are nowhere spiritually as far as
anyone can tell. Other young people in the audience said
virtually the same thing, as did many adults.
My 21-year-old daughter Linda said, "Dad, it was
fantastic! You should just scrub all the guest speakers
that come in and you should just do this every week! It
would be so good if you did!
People were jumping in with answers, their bodies were
into it with head nods and arm motions.
One father of 4 said, "Man, I could use this at home
with my kids in family devotions."
Two younger kids in the audience, ages 8 and 10, were
right there answering questions right along with the
adults. They're newly saved 31-year-old mother (I'm
discipling this family weekly) said, "It was great,
Bill! I loved it!"
My 16-year-old daughter Stephi said it was great except
it went a bit too long for her. Unfortunately, my other
two girls and Jenni were either teaching a Sunday School
class or holding down the nursery when a worker didn't
show up and extra kids did. So less than half my family
heard it.
My parents were there, and my mother (the more outspoken
of the two) really enjoyed it.
Anyway, the upshot is that it was a huge success. In
talking again later with the father of 4 (above), he said
when you consider Mary's background being possessed by 7
demons, etc., if you brought that into the story, it
would add even more depth. I responded that if the Bible
were taught chronologically in this STS fashion, and we
all had a base or pool of knowledge from such stories
that we all shared, then we could add such elements into
the mix, and it would have a great impact. Everyone
listening to this dialog immediately understood how this
STS would chronologicaly work and seemed to be intrigued
at that possibility.
After church a bunch of us came back to our place for
lunch, including my father-in-law Jud. In a follow-up
conversation with him, I mentioned that the difference
between this approach and a more literate approach is
that with the former, we treat the Bible less as a book
to be deciphered and dissected, and more as a record of
events lived out in the framework of historical reality.
In this framework, we begin to see events as live, with
undercurrents of parallel realities (such as the emotions
of the people involved, the spiritual connections, etc.)
to be discovered along the way. He thoroughly agreed
with me on this point.
Thus, I plan to use it more at church and to continue
exporting it as much as I can. Even though my wife hasn't
really seen me do this yet, she marvels at my flexibility
in continuing to learn ways I can teach and share the
Bible with others. It's indeed a tremendous privilege to
be able to continue learning and developing myself into
what God wants as I learn his Word better. So count me as
one of the devotees! I want to make good on your
investment in me.
Blessings, Bill
*******
Bill's Wife's
April write up in their newsletter. Bill
suddenly flew to Southern CA January 14-18 for training
in a new interactive storytelling technique that is
having a huge impact around the world. Immediately upon
his return, he began using it repeatedly with our church's
youth group and then 2 Awana (Bible) Clubs. The response:
they all loved it! He then debuted it with the adults on
Easter/Resurrection Sunday's message with the same
results. The developer of this model felt so strongly
about getting Bill there that she paid for half the cost
of the trip! That made it affordable enough for him to go.
Now he's passing it on to others. Our thinking is that
this could revolutionize Bible teaching among
international students and scholars around the country.
He will be teaching it to our staff at our retreat this
coming May.
*********
April:
I spoke again at our church in our teaching service to
the adults yesterday, and I did Martha & Mary a la
STS. Here's what happened.
Having heard me do this style of teaching last month for
Easter Sunday, they were primed. I told the story without
any errors. Then I asked for a volunteer to come up and
retell it. An International student from Haiti (a friend
of my daughter's) studying nursing came up and retold it
the almost flawlessly. She was grinning the whole time.
She had never been on stage before. Then we walked
through the story without any trouble.
After that I began asking observation questions. By this
time they were off and running. There were so many
comments and so much feedback that I could barely get in
my next question! I estimate that of a group numbering
about 50, well over half, maybe 75%, were all verbally
engaged and contributing. (Realize that our group is very
well taught in the Scripture.) Even the quieter types
were into it. And so many interesting and humorous points
came out, ones I never thought of. Like this: when I
asked what Martha could have done differently, one person
said, "She could have told Jesus to speak up! so she
could hear from the kitchen."
Another point I never thought of was what the disciples
might have thought when Martha came out and told Jesus
what to do. We went with that, and one insightful and
knowledgeable friend said, "The disciples missed so
much of what Jesus said. They heard Jesus talk all the
time. They were with Jesus all the time. They had seen so
many different responses to him that Martha's little fit
probably didn't even register to them. They were more
interested in getting the food." [Humm? Do we know
that from the story?]
After 45 minutes, and most of my application questions
still not asked, I knew it was time to quit. But I also
knew that we could have gone on easily for another 45
minutes. The discussion intensity never let up. The only
complaints I heard were that I didn't call on them enough
when their hands were raised. But that was because so
many hands were raised that time wouldn't let me
acknowledge them all!
Afterward I went up to 2 fellows who were there for the
first time. The first was the son of Wycliffe Bible
Translator missionaries. His mother grew up in our church.
He's in his early 20's and absolutely loved it. He was
familiar with this general kind of storytelling, having
come across it through his parents. He said he'd be back
for more.
Another first-time visitor was an older man from Jamaica.
I didn't know him, but I knew the Jamaican lady he sat
with. I asked him how he enjoyed the service, and -- get
this -- he gave me a big hug! After he released me, he
said with sparkling eyes and a grin from ear to ear,
"Fantastic!! It was amazing. So clear! I could
understand everything! Thank you, thank you." I
think he is a brother in the Lord; he appeared to be.
A week from tomorrow, I'll be doing STS at another church's
youth group. The group leader told me that the average
reading level of his group is about 4th grade. "No
problem," I told him. "It won't matter." I
told him how it works, and he is very interested in
seeing it. Stay tuned.
On another note, before I went to church yesterday, an
email came in inviting me to go to the country of XXX to
speak at a huge Christian University: I think taking STS
to them would be wise. Would you be interested and/or
able to join me in going there?
******
May: Here's
the latest So. Fla. update. First, at the end of the
month we will be having our InterFACE staff retreat near
Washington, DC. Most of our staff will be there. I will
have 90 minutes to debut STS. I'll do a story and then
debrief with them.
Second,
immediately following that is the ACMI Conference. This
was to be the first ACMI in over 15 years that I had no
speaking responsibilities, that is until today. I just
got an email confirming they want me to do a workshop to
fill a vacancy. It will be in the largest (general
session) room at McLean Bible Church! I suggested 2
possibilities:
(1) a repeat of my keynote talk from last year's ACMI
introducing the Generational Model (Recon) for ISM, or
(2) an introduction to STS. They chose the latter.
Following are my workshop title and description:
=============
Workshop title: Bible stories like never before
Workshop description: Tired of seeing that glazed over
look on students' faces when they're in a monologuish
Bible study? Hit the wall with a literate approach to the
Bible? Want to see the Bible come alive like never before?
Want internationals to energetically interact and
remember Bible stories after only one session? Then this
workshop is for you. Bill introduces a brand new
interactive Bible storying approach that is sweeping the
globe. Close your Bible and get into it all over again.
Introductory manual available via email.
============
I wrote it in a deliberately provocative manner. I will
clearly state that I am not an STS certified trainer, but
I am a growing practitioner.
Third, that lady in church that wants to
do an STS style story at our next Awana Bible Club is
going with Bartimaeus instead of Nicodemus. She's
learning the story now. I'll be working with her. I'll
let you know how it goes.
Fourth, my father-in-law (nearly 80)
called me today. If you remember, he's one of only 2 who
gave me "not-quite-positive" feedback after I
debuted STS on Easter Sunday back in March. Everyone else
said, "More! More! More!" Anyway, some older
men get together on Tuesdays in the snack shop area of
the thrift store owned by the other pastor in our church.
It includes WW2 vets who are not believers and some other
local guys.
On the phone today he said, "Bill, I wanted you to
know that ever since you started telling stories at
church, at our men's meeting [in the store] we keep
coming back to discuss the latest story you told [at
church]. I know guys like you who teach and preach often
wonder if any of it is sticking. Well, I can tell you
this is. Frankly, I've never seen anything like it. We
really get into it, and it's surprising how many more
things we find! And I wanted you to know that it's having
an impact.
You know, when you first started this I told you that it
wasn't my favorite way to learn. But now.... I like it. I
like what it does." I thanked him for the update and
affirmation and said that itcan't be bad when a bunch of
guys sit around discussing the Scriptures. He totally
agreed.
Lastly, my most recent STS presentation
at church was Jacob & Esau. One of the points we
discovered was that while Isaac and Rebecka prayed in the
story, they obviously didn't pray together. In the
audience was a newly saved married couple with 3 kids
that Jenni and I have been discipling on Thursday nights.
When they eat meals, they kind of eat in shifts and
everyone prays over the food individually. So when they
heard that Isaac and Rebecka didn't pray together and saw
the favoritism that followed in the life of their family,
they looked at each other and said, "We have to
start praying together at meals!" STS rolls on!
Have a great weekend.
********
Sue, the
woman whom I helped prepare to do the blind Bartimaeus
story, did very well. I sat there listening as I imagined
you would have. She did a good job. I encouraged her
along the way and afterwards, hoping she'll want to do it
again. If so, I think I could begin giving her more tips.
The kids liked the story and they paid attention.
Second, I heard back from the youth group
leader of the other church. That was the all-minority,
most-from-dysfunctional-family-backgrounds and poor
readers group. That was the same one that one female
suggested that Martha could have just served "mac
& cheese" when I did Mary & Martha. That was
April 29 , exactly 4 weeks ago. The youth group leader
said last last week that the kids were still talking
about it and want me to come back! They're working on a
date now.
Bill
*********
June: My
workshop at ACMI on the new interactive storytelling
model went superbly. About 50 attended. The model was
enthusiastically received. We had lots of laughs as I
first did the Martha & Mary story and then debriefed
afterward and fielded questions. One came from the
statement: Martha went from cooking in the kitchen to
"stewing"!
We all had a great time and the interaction was excellent.
In fact, one fellow afterward, who was not in our
workshop, told me, "Bill, I wasn't in your workshop,
but in the room next door. I heard all the laughter and
wished I was in there with you."
A bunch of people came up to me after the workshop and
later during the conference to tell me how great it was
and that they would checking out the STS website and
trying it out with their students.
One younger female off to my left in the Q&A part
said she loved the model but didn't think she could do it
because my presentation was so smooth and professional
and entertaining. I asked her if she minded telling me
how old she was. She said she was 20.
I said, "When I was your age I thought the same
thing when I listened to good speakers who were older. In
my first stint as a Sunday School teacher of 1st-3rd
graders I held the Bible right in front of my face
because I was too nervous to look at the 20 kids in the
room. I trembled as I spoke because I was so self-conscious.
I told her the last thing I could ever do was to do
public speaking, especially preaching. "Do you see
where I've come from?" I asked her. Then I
encouraged her not to look at me as her finished product,
but that she should step up and try it and do what she
could, and ask God to help her grow in her skill level.
God would take her where he wanted, whether or not it
ever looked like me.
Several people remarked to me later how much they
appreciated hearing my background in this area. Thanks to
all of you who prayed. I definitely sensed the work of
God in our midst. ...
*********
June:
Here's a short STS update. It's brief because my travel
schedule is a major crunch till July 4th. Two Sunday's
ago I did the Centurion story from Matt. 8 a la STS. Wow,
what a powerful story! The story's main point is the man's
faith, so exemplary that Jesus said it was greater than
anything he had found in the whole nation of Israel.
Calling him "Lord" twice, when, being a
military man committed to Rome, was high risk behavior,
because Caesar was his Lord. Even with a Jewish crowd in
hearing distance, he had no qualms or reservations
calling Jesus "Lord," a betrayal that could
have had him killed. And this for a mere servant, no less?
What a compassionate man!
Of course, we also realized that Jesus flushed all this
out of him by responding in the way he did: "I will
come and heal him." Clearly, the Centurion didn't
want to Jesus to be ceremonially defiled (we had these
and other points included in the intro). And we also
realized that Jesus' emphasis was all about the Centurion's
faith rather than the tremendous miracle he did in
healing the servant. What does that say about all the die-hard
seekers wanting this miracle or that sign today?
What amazes the Savior is our confidence in Him like the
Centurion's. The story had a profound effect on our
adults.
This Sunday, after I return from Atlanta, I will do it
again among a Chinese congregation of adults, college-aged
and high school kids. Stay tuned! And thanks again
Bill
********
July: After
3 separate trips in June, here is a little update for STS.
In June I attened the National Leadership Summit in
Atlanta, GA at Chic-Fil-A's international HQ. This
gathering of 160 youth, school and ministry leaders came
to hear the latest research re Gen Y (aka Millennials/
Mosaics). Speakers included nationally known ministry
leaders, Christian futurist Leonard Sweet, and Chic-Fil-A
researchers/leaders.
During Q&A times, I heard youth pastors express
struggles & difficulties in either teaching Bible to
youth and/or keeping them interested in Bible study. I
noted them and then sought them out at breaks, telling
them about STS and giving them the website address. For
the ones I was able to describe the method to, all were
extremely impressed and said they'd get on the site
pronto.
Perhaps for the first time, late last month I was able to
use an STS story (the Centurion) cross-culturally with a
Sunday school class at a Chinese Baptist Church in the
area. It was a combined class of students from middle
& high school, college, and adults. I thought it went
over fairly well, but the following email from one of the
Sunday school teachers (a male) confirmed it.
He sent it to the friend who invited me to speak.
" I thought his lesson was superb. I've never been
so fully immersed in a Bible study before. The amount of
knowledge that he brought was refreshing and it truly
demonstrated God's abundant blessing of wisdom. I would
hope that he could come back and speak to us again.
Everyone that I've talked to had nothing but good things
to say about him. They were inspired by how thorough he
was and the deeper implications that weren't spelled out
in the Bible. I also think the student leaders, including
myself, would also greatly benefit from observing and
learning his method of Bible study. Please invite him
back!"
Bill
***********
August:
OK, after being out of town the last 3 weeks, here's an
update re STS. 2 trips, 2 groups, 2 stories, 2 outcomes.
The first trip was a 10-day cross-cultural, cross-country
sightseeing bus trip with 31 int'l students and scholars
out in the western parts of the US. Twenty-eight
were ethnic Chinese, all but 2 from China. The
other 3 were Spanish speakers from Mexico (1) and
Colombia (2). I have done this kind of trip before,
so I know what to expect. Our goal during this trip
is talk about all kinds of things in the hopes that we
can share the gospel in natural conversations.
This group was clearly the most secularist group I've
ever been with, which surprised me. A great many of
the Chinese over the years have been very open to
spiritual conversations. Not this group!
While we drove, they were far too busy burning hour after
hour playing a card game named Killer (aka, Mafia, in
some circles). Anyway, our group/tour leader builds
in some history talks that include spiritual references,
but they fell mostly flat. You could see it in
their faces. They were polite as Chinese usually
are, but not connecting.
Then our group leader asked me to do an STS story at the
little "Chapel of the Resurrection" in the
basin of the Tetons National Park in Wyoming. This
little building, which seats about 50 people, is an old,
log cabin-looking structure with a huge picture window
behind the altar that perfectly frames the Tetons in the
background. Absolutely beautiful! I don't
know how anyone could really pay attention to a speaker
with such a stunning view. This was the setting for
me to do a story, so I did Mary & Martha because (1)
it was short, (2) I didn't have much time (only about 10
minutes), and (3) it didn't require much prior
theological/biblical knowledge. I was concerned
that other stories I could have used needed more such
information. Even "Lord" might be a
stretch for these guys. As I said, this group was
really clueless and interested even less.
So I told them Mary and Martha. One male student
volunteered to regurgitate as best he could, and he did a
great job. Then we rebuilt the story scene by scene.
After that, we piled back into the bus because another
group was waiting outside to come in.
Some of them who heard me as they stood by the doorway
complimented me for my storytelling skills. Back on
board the bus on our way to the town of Jackson, I got on
the bus's microphone and asked the observation questions.
This generated very good interaction, and their facial
expressions exposed deep thinking with what they heard.
I was already debating within myself if I should push the
application questions on them, but arriving in Jackson as
soon as I finished the observation questions solved that:
no time left.
While M&M was the best inroad we made with them
spiritually, not one of them asked any follow-up
questions with me later on. And we had another 5
days left to travel! Like I said, they were a
spiritually disinterested bunch. Either way, STS
made the biggest spiritual dent.
After a 5 days of catching up back home, I jumped on a
plane for NYC (LaGuardia), ultimately headed for western
Massachusetts where I was the featured speaker to a group
of primarily Christian int'l students, scholars and
residents, about 38 in all (not including staff who
brought them). We were at a Christian retreat
center in the New England woods for a week. I had 5
plenary sessions, 2 workshops and a Sunday worship "service".
I did the Centurion and Jesus (STS) for Sunday AM and
Mary and Martha for one workshop, finishing early enough
to explain some of the details of STS, including the
website. The Centurion took them by storm. Wildly
positive raving reviews!
Africans, Asians, North and South Americans, all saying
the same things: "I saw so many new things in that
story!" "I know that story by heart, but
now I /really/ know it!" "How did you get
so many things out of that story?" etc.
When I asked about the two "Lord's" in the
Centurion's life (Jesus & Caesar), and asked if
anyone wanted to share a struggle in that area and how it
was resolved, I was not prepared for the answer I got.
A married Chinese student told with great detail of his
struggle about joining the Communist Party to get into
the more prestigious universities in Beijing. He
interviewed various Party leaders and concluded that
Party membership was more like a club than a political
machine. So he joined and went to a very good
school. Only later did he find out that Party
leaders lied to him. Then he felt regret.
Along the way he found Christ as his Savior (and Lord!)
and had a dilemma. He said he resolved it by
quitting the Party, but he still had some regrets, having
trusted the word of man rather than the Word of God.
Either way, his outspokenness was clear indication that
he served only one Lord now! Amen!
Mary and Martha got similar positive results but with a
different slant. Several of the int'ls were older
and had done some considerable hosting over the years.
So it was easy to see who the "Martha's" were
in the audience! They defended her like OJ Simpson's
"Dream Team" of defense lawyers! It
almost got out of hand. Finally I said, "Listen,
everyone, I'm not here to do a hit job on Martha, OK?.
All we're doing is looking at characters in the Bible and
learning from their good and
not-so-good decisions." That helped them
regain their focus and we moved on.
Anyway, many said they wanted to try the STS method in
Bible study situations they were involved with back home.
One woman from Singapore said she wants to start a school
for younger children when she returns and planned to
include STS Bible stories as part of the curricula.
My prayer for the retreat was that God would clearly work
in our midst. That definitely occurred, as by the
time I had only given 4 of my 8 talks, retreat planners
were already talking to me about returning to speak next
year! Int'ls there favorably echoed their idea.
So God answered prayer, and STS was a key part of the
very positive response we saw.
Bill
To
Be Continued:
|
