Cultures Around the World | top of page |

There is a new approach to reaching the many people groups around the world. We now understand that people not only learn differently, but need time to learn and understand God’s complete story before they are ready to commit their entire life (body, soul, background, family traditions, and social standing) to Christ.

In time, we will feature some of the excellent Bible storying programs already being used in many countries. These have been crafted for a particular people group. They are a result of years of study to determine exactly which stories were needed to better relate to the culture.

Most of these programs are purely evangelistic in nature, so they go from Creation to the Resurrection very quickly (usually less than forty stories – sometimes as few as twelve). BibleTelling is designed to also be a discipleship program. There are 72 lessons going from Creation to the Resurrection, and many of these contain more than one story.

As a Biblical Training Course, BibleTelling has several strengths:
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1. BibleTelling presents its stories in a “telling format.” Most Bible storying programs take a complex written story from the Bible and make it into a simpler written story. This is a good step in the right direction, but does not go far enough. A written story, no matter how simple, still tends to be memorized. It is important to start with a story that is in a telling format.
   
2. BibleTelling can be learned without memorizing.
   The uniqueness of BibleTelling is its storyboards. These are mental pictures and hand gestures, which help a person visualize the essence of the story. People should be able to tell a Bible story in the same way they can tell what they had for breakfast. They see a mental picture of the story, and tell what they see. Stories learned through storyboards are remembered longer and told more passionately.
   
3. BibleTelling provides activities that help a person personalize the story. Missionaries want their people to learn the stories, but they also want the stories to become personally meaningful. This is only accomplished when people communicate the story in their most enjoyable way of expression. This moves the Biblical story down from the head and firmly implants it into the heart.
   
   Each BibleTelling lesson provides activities ideas that encourage people to personalize the stories. This is called multi-dimensional learning.
   
   

   Drama Music Poetry Art Crafts Research Writing

   Games Foods Storytelling Pantomime Demonstration Sign Language Discussion/Debate

   Outdoors/Nature Logic/Math Group Interaction Outlines/Charts/Graphs Construction/Building Physical Movement Character Analysis

   
   

1. People tend to follow a pattern. They start by using one of the easiest activities provided in the book. Quickly they will move to the more difficult ones that look interesting to them. Finally they will ignore the list completely and develop their own ideas.
   
2. BibleTelling can easily be transferred from one person to the next. When a teacher teaches a people a story with storyboards and activities, the learners can easily go out and teach it to someone else. The teachers has not only given the class a story, he/she has given them tools for ministry.
   
3. BibleTelling provides written materials that relate to analytical thinkers. We have found that the most highly educated people respond to BibleTelling in a very positive way. This is especially true of those whose entire profession is predominantly a “left brain” function. BibleTelling provides an interesting way for them to experience learning that is unique and exciting.
   
4. BibleTelling can be used in Bible Colleges and Seminaries. Young nationals (both men and women) go to Bible College and Christian Seminaries to receive tools they can use with their people. BibleTelling gives them something practical and useable in their entire future ministry.
   
5. BibleTelling improves a person’s confidence in front of people. In addition to learning the Bible, people also learn communication skills. Wherever BibleTelling is used, the leaders tell us, “Our people are becoming more confident when they get up in front of a group and speak.” “They are volunteering more to lead a group meeting.” “They are more eager to get involved with ministry.”

Missionary Training

Knowing how to tell stories is a valuable skill for missionary candidates. We have assembled a storytelling package to help those going to the mission field. It aids with presentation skills, pastoral sermons, Bible research, and working with those in “story cultures.” This is everything needed for developing missionary storytelling skills.

Short Term Missions | top of page |

More and more churches are sending people to the mission field to help with the work there. They accomplish a large number of tasks, including construction work, medical assistance, distribution of food, and giving out Christian materials. BibleTelling now gives these short term missionaries an opportunity to learn Bible stories for the purpose of using them in other countries.

The opportunities are tremendous, and the need is becoming greater. BibleTelling gives church members a way to prepare for a growing need on the mission field.

Here is one example:

There are some regions of the world where churches cannot afford formal pastoral training. These pastors have few sermons and know very little about the Bible. Short-term missionaries can learn a large number of Bible stories, and practice telling them accurately. They can then go to other countries and teach these stories to national pastors, who then go back to their churches and teach them to their people.