Evangelism through stories
Storytelling using pictures can grab people’s attention
A picture paints a thousand words.
So the famous idiom goes. I still remember a young passionate Christian friend of mine telling me that when he saw a picture of Jesus in his school textbook, he knew that Jesus was his Saviour and decided to follow him.
How it came to be
As an English teacher and missionary, I have learnt how pictures can both engage an audience as well as produce language. Storytelling can be an effective way of improving students’ fluency. One day I came across a textbook based on pictures which contained unusual and surprising yet true stories. It later occurred to me that the Bible is the most compelling and true story we have. One of our English teachers is also an illustrator, and so we started along the road of creating 10 biblically-based illustrated stories called Stories of Hope to introduce pre-believers to Christ.
I still remember how intrigued one young learner was at our English school two years ago as we pulled out the stories one by one and how he became captivated by the person of Christ. After devouring that story set, we then passed him the animated Bible, and he started working through other animated stories. It was such fun to start our English lessons with Bible stories each week. This young man eventually gave his life to Christ and started his own journey of personally connecting with their Saviour.
The Bible says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7–8 NIV).
Such simple illustrated stories lead the reader to ask more, seek more, and, God willing, knock on the door!
How we’ve used it
Pictures evoke a sense of wonder and mystery. They create questions in the reader’s mind. That is precisely part of the vision of Stories of Hope. We want those who see these stories to be compelled by the person and character of Christ. We want them to see the Bible as a book they can’t put down as they are drawn to both a hope-giving Saviour and message.
More recently, we have started to gather with university students and formed a Stories of Hope discussion group. Each week, we have been able to bring out another beautiful facet of the gospel. I love it when I see revelation coming to the reader simply as they look at the stories, reflect on them, and start a journey of asking and seeking for more revelation.
We have found Stories of Hope to not only be a powerful tool for pre-believers but also as a way of activating the church to start Bible studies with unbelievers. This bilingual resource is so simple that we are now training each member of our church to be able to disciple others using it. In doing so, the church is developing good Bible reading skills as well as confidence that they can disciple others. As a pastor, one of my greatest joys is seeing the church growing in their ability to lead others as they move to a more empowered and active role in the church.
It’s so simple. They:
- Share the story using the pictures.
- Read the story.
- Retell the story.
- Ask three inductive Bible questions:
- What do you learn about God?
- What do you learn about people?
- What is your response?
It is my prayer that such stories utilising pictures will lead to the truth of the gospel going deep into the participants’ hearts so that they might turn and believe and then take these stories to their own communities. Japan needs a wave of disciple-making, and it is my hope resources such as Stories of Hope can be used to see this come about.
How you can use it
Here are some simple ways you can start using these kinds of stories:
- Start a Stories of Hope study group in English or Japanese or perhaps a mix of both. Starting with an understanding of God as creator and God’s desire for relationship with mankind will help build a stronger foundation of understanding of the gospel for the participants each week.
- Use it as a tool for teaching English and sharing the gospel at the same time. Why not offer 10 free English lessons as a way of connecting with Japanese people?
- Give it out during outreach.
- Use it as a discipleship tool to empower your church to move into actively sharing stories with others. As shown above, this is a tool that will motivate the church to read the Bible well. It is also a simple process believers can use to disciple others as they teach them to do the same.
Get a free PDF or order your own physical copies now at: https://communitychurchnagoya.jp/connect-mission-support/resources/
Photos submitted by author