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February 01, 2006
Storytelling
Dear Friends and Family,
We've had a quiet but good couple of days. No one has tried to throw us off the compound in at least two weeks. (sorry if that's a little sarcastic but my sense of humor runs that way). Would you like to hear what a normal day is like?
Yesteday Bev went on rounds in the morning while I held some meetings with a group of workers we are sending off to Dem Monsuer in the morning. They are the remnant of the block program and are going to be making blocks for the SP school project.
Then, I walked around town with a guy looking for one of the workers. On the way, I found some new bikes we had purchased at Peter Mangyel's compound, so I took pictures to show our supporters. We found the worker at his new job at the GOAL compound (it's an Irish NGO).
While there, I stopped in and got the news from them. The director invited us to a big BBQ. Parched and hot, I walked back to the compound for an absolutely delicious lunch of lentil soup and bread.
We rested a bit after lunch, then I wrote emails and prepared for my Bible study while Bev and Jen Gresham went to a 4pm nurses' meeting. The meeting ran so long that the nurses did not come to the Bible Study at 6pm! So, I was at the football (soccer) field with my storytelling pictures all alone.
I sat down on the broken concrete "bleachers" and pulled out the storytelling pictures. Immediately ten Funyj guys surrounded me wanting to see what the pictures were. They are nearly 100% culturally Muslim. They kept demanding to see the pictures, so I pulled out picture 1 and in my broken Arabic started to talk about who Moses was and how he had written down God's word. They seemed intrigued to finally see what Moses looked like - surely they knew it was just a drawing. In the drawing, Moses is writing on a scroll in Hebrew. I always turn the picture upside down so they can see the writing goes from right to left, just like Arabic. I think it helps the Bible to seem a little more real to Arabic speakers.
Now there were 20 guys around me. Even guys who were playing football were looking at us as they ran by. I kept teaching, but I could not find the right words so I waved a spectator over. His name was Jacob Tut, a Nuer guy who is a teacher as well as the only electrician in town. He was happy to translate into Arabic for me as well as reporting what the guys were saying.
We taught the stories of Adam & Eve and Cain & Abel. One point they really got was about the clothes. In the beginning, they were naked but not ashamed. Then, they became ashamed and made their own clothes. Then God killed an animal and clothed them Himself. The point is that Sin makes us ashamed so we need God to clothe us.
One moment really stands out in my mind. I asked, "Did God still love Cain after he killed his brother?" They had to think about that one. I wondered what was going on in their minds as they pondered a God who is both Love and Justice at the same time.
Ironically, many of the guys lost interest when the call to prayer rang out from the mosque. One of the older guys stood up as if to leave, and most of the others stopped listening to the story. Slowly they all left, and the storytelling was over.
It's like that almost every time we have storytelling in public now. People are, and I am not minimizing this, absolutely fascinated. They want to listen. They listen despite being serious followers of another religion. They know I am a Christian and still they come. If you could please pray for us as we try to take the storytelling up the next level. Please ask God to provide a good Sudanese Bible teacher who is committed and can teach in Arabic. That is our vision for this ministry.
Thank you dear friends. Let us hear from you!
Chris and Beverly Crowder
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* SIM by Prayer *
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Published at February 1, 2006 09:45 AM
