Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Best of 2014: Favorite Story

This second part of sharing last year's ministry highlights (click here to read Part 1) is about the OneStory project.

What Happened

Fernando trained Alex and Wilber, two college-age men, to craft oral Bible stories in the Garífuna language. (Read more oral Bible stories here.) These stories are to be used for evangelism and discipleship in Garífuna communities.

Fernando, Alex, and Wilber have crafted about 20 Bible stories, many having to do with families (read on for an example). Like many families around the world, Garífunas are experiencing great challenges with family disintegration and separation. Family support and unity has been key in Garífuna history. It is common for family members to help each other economically, as well as share living spaces and food. For these reasons, Alex (left in the picture) and Wilber (right) felt that this theme would be particularly effective in ministering to those who would hear the stories.



Joseph's Forgiveness

Alex was particularly impacted as he worked on the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers. The story goes that his brothers were jealous how much their father loved him, and so they sold him into slavery. Later, Joseph's forgiveness enabled the restoration of the family's unity.

Crafting a story requires being immersed in the biblical text and exegetical materials, documenting the story, and testing it with other native speakers. During this extensive process, the story spoke to Alex's heart, and he felt it would challenge and help other Garífuna people and their families be reconciled and reunited through forgiveness, as well.

Alex has actively participated in church from when he was little, but working on the story project led him to dig deeper into Scripture, gain fresh insights, and consider how God's Word could meet urgent needs of those he knows. Praise God for the power of His Word and for His Holy Spirit working through this project.

What Now?

Goals for the OneStory project this year:
  • Finish the story set (they are only a few stories away from reaching this).
  • Complete the revision process with the help of a consultant.
  • Record the stories and make them available to pastors and leaders.
  • Train and establish story fellowship groups in Garífuna communities.
  • Begin working on another set with a new theme.
Please pray for them in this important work!

Coming up next in Part 3: Stories, Questions & Fellowship (about how stories are used for evangelism and discipleship)

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