Be a Part of What God is Doing in Colombia

God is moving in Colombia. Indigenous peoples are hearing the gospel and new opportunities are opening up. I wish I could be there. Until then, I can still make an impact through my prayers and by calling you to pray as well. Consider each of these prayer requests and the sacrifices and time investments they represent. God is doing things, and through our prayers we can be a part of them. 

Colombia, North Coast Indigenous – After waiting several years for God to send someone to the ED group, Roberto had the joy of being baptized in his community as a testimony. Now, Roberto’s wife wants to be baptized and possibly his brother. The three of them plan to walk for three days to a town where a Chronological Bible Storying training will be taking place this month. Roberto’s wife desires to be baptized at this meeting. Rejoice with us at the stirring of God’s Spirit in these precious people. Also, pray for them as they plan their long journey to the training for safety, guidance, and endurance. Please pray for the preparation of the hearts and minds of all that will be attending this meeting, as it is in a remote place and many will be traveling long distances. NU OF COLOMBIA (noo) - SJ is the town that national missionaries L and J live in when they are not in their jungle home. This small town offers a school for their two girls and many of the normal conveniences of a town, such as electricity, the Internet and a grocery store. SJ is also the town where most of the Nu people come when they have any medical needs. There is a very rundown house that is run by a local government agency that houses them when they come to this town. L and J spend time nearly every day visiting the Nu in this house and in the local hospital. They are often called on to translate medical instructions and to help people get the treatment that they need. Often the Nu they visit are already friends, but other times they are Nu from places that L and J only dream of visiting at this time. Visiting these Nu in town has given L and J opportunities to share the evangelistic stories with clans of Nu to which they have not had previous access. Pray for these encounters with the Nu people of different clans. Ask God to give L and J opportunities to share the Gospel, and pray that these people will become healthy and take the stories back to their clans of Nu people. Pray for open doors to the clans of Nu that have yet to hear the Gospel.

National Missionaries and the Ar People

I praise God for national missionaries. He has seen fit to call all His servants to participate in the great task of sharing the gospel, not just the select few who received special training, studied a foreign language, or who are more outgoing. All of us are part of this task. National missionaries remind me that I am just a small part of an even greater whole. As I hear more and more about missionaries from other countries, I get to rejoice that Christianity is not limited to an “American” expression. God is bringing in people from “all nations, tribes, and tongues.”

In Colombia, cross-cultural evangelism is going on as a national missionary takes some of the Ar people through the narrative of the Bible, building up to the glorious good news about Jesus Christ. Pray for his effectiveness and perseverance as he brings the message to some who have never heard.

AR OF COLOMBIA (ahr) - National missionary J continues to make monthly trips to the village of P to share the evangelistic Bible stories. The number of people who are participating in the chronological Bible storying times has grown to 18. As a result, J has divided the group into two sessions, and he is teaching in the morning and in the afternoon. Pray that the Word of God will be clearly understood and that it will bear fruit in the lives of those participating in these storying times.

Without a Written Bible

I have one prayer request from Colombia. I often take the invention of the written word for granted. Some people groups don’t have that same benefit and as a result their “Bible,” at least for the time being, consists of recorded stories and Bible passages. I can’t imagine how I would do my own study time in the word without something in print before my eyes. Perhaps this prayer request might serve as a reminder to memorize and meditate on the word, not just read it. In any case, many among the Nu people are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we ought to pray for them as they seek to be faithful to God even without His word written on paper—it’s being engraved on their hearts.

NU OF COLOMBIA (noo) - The Nu People Team writes: "The Nu people are totally oral. They do not have the ability to read and write, nor do they have a printed copy of the Bible available in their language. Their language itself is not yet written down. Some have, however, received the Gospel in oral form and they are growing in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. One of the challenges of an oral culture is to help people maintain accuracy with the oral Bible--to make sure that the stories do not change over time and with much re-telling. To do this, we will be recording the Bible stories in order to have the ability to leave an auditory version of the Bible stories in the different villages. The Nu people can then listen to the stories to maintain accuracy, and they can use the recorded stories to share with others. The recording of these stories is planned for mid-September. Please pray for the plans and preparations for this process and for the time of the actual recording."

Prayer: "If only there was... some divine word"

Talk to ten different people on the street and I wonder how many different ideas you’ll get about the Bible. To a people whose existence has largely been devoid of a Christian influence, the Bible can seem like a foreigner’s book.

But we know better. The Bible is not merely a book like The Farmer’s Almanac is a book. It is God’s word given to us. Socrates is credited with saying, “If only there was a firmer foundation upon which to sail, perhaps some divine word.” When people see the Bible as God’s word, they are on the right path.

Consider that as you pray for the Ar of Colombia and the national missionary who’s trying to share God’s glorious word with them.

AR OF COLOMBIA (ahr). National missionary J is traveling once a month to a community of Ar people called P. He is sharing the Gospel through stories. During a recent trip, he shared the first story about where the Bible comes from and what the Bible is. The Ar people in this community responded, "We never knew that the Bible is not a white man's book, but it is God's Word to us!" Pray that each time J travels to this community and shares more stories, the Ar people in community P will clearly understand the Gospel message and will then be willing to take it to other Ar people.

Praying for the Pa (Colombia)

Sometimes we can get lost in curriculum and books in our effort to disciple others and teach them the faith. Yet Bible truth has often been taught through stories, and stories are how we often learn best. The letters of the New Testament expound on the implications of the stories contained in the four Gospels. The truth of a risen Savior is the foundation of everything else in the Christian walk.

Pray for believers and missionaries in Colombia. Pray for the Pa. The prayer request today is not any different than what we should already be praying for our own churches. May God be glorified.

PA OF COLOMBIA (pah). The national missionaries serving among the Pa people have many new opportunities to meet with families and to begin sharing the Gospel message through stories. Pray for the message to be heard and received and for lives to be changed by the Gospel. Pray also for the spiritual growth of those who are already believers.

An 83-year-old Sister in Christ

I did some chronological Bible storying last year with a couple that Hannah and I know. The basic premise is this: most of the Bible is narrative. We teach our children primarily through stories because... it's natural. It work well. It's memorable for those little guys and gals who can't read and don't have much in the way of education. If that works so well for kids, why not try it with adults. After all, if my post here is just a couple of paragraphs, the odds of someone reading it through is rather slim. People are not normally big on reading.

Chronological Bible storying is good because parents can do it with their children. Jesus taught largely through parables, and His methods have been quite effective over the centuries. More and more missionaries are using this method with primarily oral learners, people who don't read or write, either by preference, or by education. Please pray for this 83-year-old sister in Christ who is using stories to share the gospel in a non-threatening way.

May God be glorified.

PA OF COLOMBIA (pah). C is an 83-year-old woman who has been attending chronological Bible storying times with H and D over the past few months. She was recently admitted to the hospital with a ruptured appendix. This woman's seven children and grandchildren (who were previously opposed to her studying the Bible with H and D) asked H to come to the hospital to begin telling the stories to them. He has been praying with and ministering to C and her family. Pray that C will make a decision to give control of her life to Christ and that the family will also be open to the Gospel message. (HT)

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"For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s." (Rom. 14:8, ESV)

Book Review: The Whole Bible Story by Dr. William H. Marty

Dr. William H. Marty's book The Whole Bible Story attempts to provide a summary of the historical elements of the Bible, from Creation through the end of the book of Acts. Some things, like Levitical law, the Old Testament poetry, and the New Testament letters were left out, since the book is not a summary of the Bible, but a summary of everything that happens in the Bible. Think of it as a kind of like a detailed plot synopsis.

The book was easy to read and it didn't take long to get through some of the more... drawn out sections of Scripture (there are are no begats). Since the book looks at the Bible historically instead of book by book, Kings and Chronicles was combined, as were the four gospels. For people unfamiliar with the events occurring between King David and the end of the captivity, that section would be extremely helpful in developing a chronological understanding of the Bible, kind of like what a harmony of the Gospels does for the New Testament.

The book itself was very detailed, including much of the story and leaving little out. I do some chronological Bible storying as a discipleship tool and we frequently discuss what was left out in the telling. Here very little was left out, although the book gets more and less detailed in various sections.

I was surprised to see that Job was absent from the book. This is the one biggest absence in the book. I know Job is poetry and reads like an epic, but most people would agree that Job actually existed before or during the time of Abraham. Its absence leaves a significant hole in what would otherwise be a complete summary of the Bible. Other content that was missing include:

• the story of Judah and Tamar, in Genesis;
• Aaron's sons, and the death they suffered for offering "strange fire" to God;
• Shimei, who cursed David when Absalom attempted a coup, was not mentioned until he was killed by Solomon;
• though the events of the book of Ezra were mentioned, Ezra himself was missing until he comes back again (with a minor role) in the book of Nehemiah;
• Ezekiel wasn't mentioned at all, and few of the other prophets (besides Jonah and Daniel) were mentioned at any length. Most received a sentence pointing out that they served during the reign of King so-and-so.

Here is a general summary of the book's level of detail:

• Genesis through Judges was covered in significant detail (with that one exception noted above).
• Starting in Samuel and going on through the time of the Kings, the story became much less detailed compared to the first section. A few stories were covered in more detail, like the ministry of Jonah.
• Starting in the exile, the prophet Daniel and his life was very detailed. It even included a summary of his visions and prophecies. Esther and Nehemiah were likewise detailed.
• The Gospels and Acts were covered in detail much like the book of Genesis. Some of the parables were left out, but when you consider that the book is primarily historical, this is understandable. Once the author got to the New Testament he began quoting Old Testament prophecies and some New Testament passages verbatim, which was a change in style compared to his treatment of the Old Testament.

Though he is a professor at Moody, Marty didn't add his own interpretation to the passages. I was bothered that he said some people consider the flood to have been localized instead of global. I wasn't sure why he felt the need to bring it up since he didn't mention anything that typically goes along with creation (e.g. evolution, young-earth, day-age theory, etc.).

There were two errors I saw in the book:

• Marty erroneously mentions that Jesus is flogged twice.
• There is an error in geography where he mentions Paul stopping in a city in mainland Greece, when in actuality it was in Italy.

Overall, the book, as I said above, is an excellent chronological summary of the Bible. For new believers, or even seasoned believers who could use a little clarification of the events as they unfolded, this would be an excellent tool to use in small groups or even one-on-one discipleship.

For a PDF the first two chapters covering all of Genesis, click here.

To buy the book on Amazon, click here.

For another helpful resource on Bible storying, check out my review of Truth that Sticks by Avery T. Willis.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BethanyHouse Publishers as part of the blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Daniel and the Lion's Den

Last night our Hispanic men’s Bible Study covered Daniel 6. That is the famous “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” chapter, and one that many people have heard since they were kids. It can be easy to skim over familiar passages without pausing to think and digest what is really being said.

As we went over the passage we had some very insightful questions and answers, ones that I hadn’t considered much when reading through the passage. Perhaps the best comment I heard was from Anibal, who said, “Daniel left that lion’s den the same way he went in.”

This is profound. When Daniel heard about a law that denied him the right to pray to God for thirty days, he didn’t change his habits or pattern of living. He remained faithful and steadfast. He was humble before his God. The next day, when he should have been long gone, devoured by the lions, he was alive. He was still humble and proclaimed his innocence of wrongdoing to the king.

There are going to be times in our lives when we will face many diverse trials. This year is no exception. There will be pain, suffering, loss, and death. But when these times come, I want my relationship with God to be strong so that I can say, when the trouble is past, I left that storm the same way I went in.

Book Review: Truth that Sticks by Avery T. Willis Jr. and Mark Snowden

Truth that Sticks is an excellent primer on telling Bible stories as a primary discipleship method. It has certainly peaked my interest. Although America is a highly literate nation, people prefer to learn via other methods and means of communication than just the printed word or one-way lecturing.

I was at first concerned they were trying to downplay preaching and Bible reading, but instead Willis and Snowden highly affirm both. The sermon cannot serve as the only way people hear about Bible truths. Bible storying takes the first century methodology of Jesus and allows it to work in 21^st century hearts and minds. It actually encourages Bible reading (think of the Bereans in the book of Acts) and paying closer attention to the preached word. The book also addresses the whole discipleship process, centered on believers’ growth in spiritual maturity, which terminates with disciple-producing disciples, not merely students.

I largely minister with and to first and second generation Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., many of whom have a low literacy rate not only in English, but in Spanish as well. I’ve already begun exploring the other resources mentioned in the book and plan to begin storying in the next few weeks.  And the book was so helpful, I’m going to read it through again.

To buy the book, visit NavPress.com (direct link).

For a sample chapter, click here.

For additional reviews of the book on Amazon, click here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."