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Telling the "Old, Old Story" Starts Churches

You Can Tell The Story, Too!

missions is... telling a story (video link)

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Telling the "Old, Old Story" Starts Churches
China
After an initial training session, a YWAM OneStory team traveled to China in 2006 and settled among an unreached people group of about 70,000 members -- a people group without Christ, without a church, without any Scripture. Their mission: To help create a set of 33 Biblically accurate stories in the language of the people group, the first time they would have God's truth in their own tongue. As each story was created, it would be told and retold orally until refined to a finished version, which would then be recorded and distributed. Although the story set would not include the entire Bible, each story had been carefully selected to communicate a key aspect of God's character, Biblical principles, vital spiritual truths, and the Good News about Jesus Christ.

The YWAMers enlisted the help of several local women as "story crafters" and embarked on a systematic plan to complete the story set and to visit every village in which the group lived. With each visit, the team would pray over the village, then gather a group of listeners and recite one or more of the Bible stories, encouraging those present to learn the new stories and tell them to others.

After 2-1/2 years, the full set of Bible stories was completed. Other workers joined the YWAM team, visiting all 110 villages of the people group and telling each story numerous times. God's Word has not returned to Him empty! As people heard Biblical truth in their own language, they responded in faith, and many became followers of Jesus Christ. They were gathered into fellowships (churches), and the new believers continued to spread the stories to others. One fellowship started another, which in turn started another, which started yet another (a fourth-generation church). So far, 11 fellowships have begun! Indigenous leaders are being identified and developed, which is a promising sign for continued growth.

Orally telling stories straight from the Bible, in the language of the people, has sparked the beginning of a spontaneously self-multiplying movement to Christ in this region of China.
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You Can Tell The Story, Too!
Worldwide
"Joining a OneStory team is one of the most fruitful ways you can spend two years of your life. Not only will you bring the Word of God to those with no scripture, but it is also proving to be one of the most effective methods of starting churches among the unreached."
Gina Fadely, Int'l. Director, YWAM Frontier Missions

Whether you're a seasoned veteran seeking a break-through strategy or you want to go for a short-term stint and see big results, OneStory may be a perfect fit. Dedicate two to three years and sign on for a full OneStory project. You'll join a team, pick a people group, receive initial and ongoing training, and produce a complete set of Bible stories in the language of an ethnic people group that has had no prior access to the Word of God. You'll probably change people’s lives in this group for generations to come!

For field workers who desire to communicate God's Word more effectively, OneStory offers seminars on Bible Storying. The course includes gaining a better understanding of how oral communicators think and prefer learning, basic worldview and cultural issues in choosing Bible stories, methods for crafting stories with mother-tongue speakers, and how to lead a story session to encourage immediate replication and application. Experienced field workers can often fast-track a OneStory project, completing a Bible story set within a year's time. A number of story sets are ready for ministry use; they can be downloaded from the OneStory media website (www.onestory-media.org).

Learn more at OneStory's main website (www.ywamonestory.org), or send an e-mail to askus@onestory.org to get current training and placement options.
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