June 13, 2008
New Haircuts..
June 10, 2008
Bragging on my Husband!
Yesterday, I had the blessing of getting to go to the service at the hospital where Travis works. He was asked to start a bible study on Sunday mornings for staff, patients, and family members of patients. It is the first service ever held at the hospital in it’s 50 year history. Pretty awesome if you ask me!
He has come home with some great stories. Well, it was really cool to be apart of the gathering and see how he has such a great opportunity to minister. A woman came that was losing her father to cancer, she was visibly emotional and shaken. The time was an encouragement to her and she was able to show her emotion that she had been stuffing in as she held it together in front of her parents. Travis was able to encourage her, give her a hug and be Jesus to her in her time of need. It was also great the way he ministered to several of the staff members present. We studied the command of loving our enemies. It was cool to hear a man share about the the struggle it is to be judged because of race. The lesson how we are to love our enemies fit right in.
Travis stayed late at work do to the death of a young baby. I quickly realized what an emotionally draining job he has and yet such a powerful ministry opportunity he and the other nurses and physicians have as they care for the hurting and suffering. I saw how Travis’ gifts benefit him in his current workplace. His calm, quiet disposition and patience, his small group facilitating skills, his ability to share simple yet profound wisdom with others in a non-threatening way, and his encouraging spirit are just a few.
These are just some of the reasons why he is such a great husband and father. I told him this week, I rarely see you make mistakes in your parenting skills. He is so calm… I feel like I mess up alot. I am thankful we are a team!
June 9, 2008
Podcast…
Well, if you are bored and have some time, you might want to check out an interview I did with some Organic church folks in DFW on their website.
You can listen to it here: http://rd2em.wordpress.com/
I just shared a little bit of my journey with Christ, some things I have been learning in ministry. My thoughts about discipleship, evangelism, and other stuff.
June 7, 2008
Activity of God…
It has been a while since I have talked to my Pakistani friend across the street. In my time of prayer yesterday, I prayed that I would be able to see her soon. Well, yesterday afternoon out of the blue, she called. So I quickly went across the street for a visit. We had a great time sharing about our lives and some of her struggles. We talked about some spiritual things. She is taking me to the Indian market this week to buy the ingredients for some vegetarian curry dishes that I think Travis will like. She then shared with me that our other new neighbor just had a miscarriage. I have been wanting to meet her, so I was able to go visit her, take her some muffins and let her know I was praying for her loss. Thank you Lord for answering my prayers by sending women for me to reach out to.
Pray that my P. friend would be open to hearing some of God’s story.
June 2, 2008
What is Bible Storying…Here is an Article about Bible Storying
By Cory J. Hailey
FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–From scrolls to CD-ROMs, God’s Word has been communicated through the centuries in a variety of ways. But a method that preceded them all is being taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to help students more effectively communicate the gospel cross-culturally.
Chronological Bible storying is a technique that has been taken from missionaries working with tribes who do not have written languages and is being used to reach people even in countries that do, said David Fite, director of continuing education at the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary.
Since August 1997, Bible storying has been taught at Southwestern, usually during I-terms — one-week courses that occur between semesters. Grant Lovejoy, associate professor of preaching, has taught the course with J.O. Terry and Jim Slack, both of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Lovejoy is on sabbatical leave but is expected to teach the course as an I-term in 2000.
Storying the Bible was developed by the Florida-based New Tribes Mission, which studied how ethics and customs are passed down in tribes. Many tribes, especially those without a written language, use stories to train young people and to pass on history and culture. NTM storied the chronology in the Bible to share the gospel with these people groups.
Unlike modern expository preaching, Bible storying presents the Bible in story form without exposition. The biblical account is storied, with the tribe meeting every day to review the chronology up to that point and then to hear a new story.
Fite noted it took several months to tell the Bible story all the way through when it was first done by NTM in the Philippines.
“The excitement of the tribe grew as they wondered what would happen next,” Fite said. Often after the story was completed, the people of the tribe would end up retelling the story to others.
“People began to understand who God was, what was wrong with man and what God did about it,” Fite said. Bible storying is different from narrative preaching, in which a story is followed by or intertwined with exegesis, because the storying teacher asks questions to allow the listeners to grasp the meaning of the story themselves.
By asking questions or having listeners retell the story, the teacher leads the listeners on a journey of self-discovery, Fite said.
“There’s a great deal of confidence in the power of the Word to be understood without an exegete explaining it,” he said. Each story must be prepared in the style of the target group, whether it be drama, proverb, parable, chant, song or other art forms, and the style must be maintained within each story. Fite said the teacher must know the biblical account well but not present it as a recitation of a written story.
At a storying workshop held in Taiwan in April, Lovejoy worked with teams from Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong and mainland Asia. Many of those teams, Terry noted, are working with highly illiterate groups, hostile or resistant peoples and “those who simply prefer oral communication as a way of receiving new ideas.”
He also said that Lovejoy “did a superb job in sharing with the teams from his expertise in story crafting, word choices for sharing the Bible narratively, storying the gospel, storying the epistles and elements of using narratives in preaching.”
Later this year, Lovejoy is expected to work in India, Myanmar and Bhutan, Terry said. “All in all, I believe it will better equip Grant for his continuing role in developing theological students for the task of preaching the Good News to the ‘uttermost places,’” he said.
The course had its genesis with an interest by Lovejoy in applying Bible storying to preaching and with the desire of the then-Foreign Mission Board (now IMB) to better equip missionaries.
About 40 to 50 percent of the students in the course are missionaries, Fite said. The classes introduce the students to storying and how it is applied in various settings like church starts, home Bible studies and preaching, as well as the mission field. Storying is also being used in groups, including those in the United States, that have low levels of literacy or limited Bible knowledge.
“Everybody loves a story,” Fite said. In addition, storying can be used where it is disadvantageous or even dangerous to have a Bible, such as in the Middle East. Fite, a former missionary to Cuba, recalled that when he was a prisoner after Fidel Castro came to power, services would consist of Bible stories, simply because it wasn’t possible to have a Bible.
Sitting in a circle, the Christians would watch for guards and change the subject whenever there was the possibility of being overheard. For Fite, Bible storying has given him a new appreciation of how Bible stories have been passed down. Much of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament existed in oral form for many years before they were ever written.
While modern preachers and teachers tend to embellish biblical accounts, the people of that day passed those accounts down in a very firm, trustworthy fashion, said Fite, much like the tribes who are hearing the Word today pass their customs and stories down in an unaltered fashion. Terry noted this approach to witnessing does more than just reach the tribes of today. While they may never have a written copy of the Scripture, he said, “they can have a functional oral Bible that will serve them well to evangelize, disciple and train emerging leadership among their own people.”
June 2, 2008
Bible Storying Class
Wow, the Bible Storying Class was great. I learned so much and had a great time with the new friends I made. We had the joy of having one couple over to our home one night, Cheech and Ruth from MO. They were such kind and authentic people. They also did house church ministry and had 5 kids. Their God stories were so beautiful, I hope our paths cross again.
J.O. Terry and Dr. Daniel Sanchez taught the classes all week. I was greatly encouraged by their teaching and the stories they shared. We learned about many things; the importance of Worldview, understanding oral learners, which stories to share and how etc… I especially enjoyed the Life stories session. We heard examples of people ministering by listening to people’s stories, sharing part of their own story, and then connecting it to God’s story as a testimony to others.
I was really impressed by all of the resources that J.O. Terry and others had created to help those ministering through storying the bible. J.O. Terry was willing to give the resources to us for free via cd. These resources took years to create I am sure and he was willing to distribute them for free. How rare is that these days! I believe God’s word and anything to help share it with others should be free or at least only cost what the production fee would be. I am always inspired by people like musician Keith Green who felt led to give all of his C.D.’s away for free.
I have been challenged to be in God’s word more. I realized how I don’t know the old testament stories very well. I am going to go back through the old testament and focus on the God’s story from creation to revelations. It is remarkable God’s plan from the beginning to reconcile us to God through the sacrificial lamb, his son Jesus Christ. Pray with me that God will send me someone to share God’s story with.
Again if you haven’t seen the EE-Taow video on Youtube, you have to check it out. It is incredible, only 20 minutes long. Watch what happened after 3 months of storying the bible with an entire village in Papau New Gunea.
Here is a link to some of the free resources. They are downloadable.
http://www.wsaresourcesite.org/Topics/storying.htm
June 2, 2008
Pictures from Colorado!
May 31, 2008
We’re Back!
We had a fantastic time in Colorado… it was so relaxing. We spent several days in Aurora, Colorado with friends from Kingdom Building Ministries. We had a blast spending time with Dwight and Dawn Robertson the president of KBM and their children Dara and Dreyson. We had cook outs with them and watched movies, just enjoying being in their company. They are spiritual mentors of ours and we were very blessed to have them speak into our lives and invite us to their home. We even hit a memorial day sale at the Goodwill!
We then headed to the mountains for 3 days. We stayed in a friend’s condo in Dillon, CO. We spent our days swimming in the pool, hiking, went to visit a gold mine, went to a Children’s museum and we ate alot of junk. There were many other things to do but not enough time. It would be a blast to bike with the kids when they get a little older. It was the off season in the mountains, pretty chilly at night. Skiing was still available at Arapahoe Basin. It was nice because it wasn’t busy at all, we felt like we had the town to ourselves. What a treat! It made me want to move to Colorado. God’s creation is truly incredible.
The kids did really well on the drive up and back. We drove for 15 1/2 hours straight yesterday.. the children got restless… but we made it. They were troopers and so was Travis. He drove the whole way and I climbed back and forth from the front seat to the back, being squished between the back two carseats to put on movies, pass out snacks, feed and entertain the baby, stop any fighting etc… Travis and I decided that a hitchhiker wouldn’t last 10 miles with us… he would be asking for us to let him out to walk the rest of the way! 
We had lots of good talks about our future and wanting to leave a lasting legacy for Christ.
Dwight loaned us a good book that encouraged some deep conversation called: “Walking With Arthur: Finding God on My Way to New York” by: James O’Donnell I highly recommend it as well. It will get you thinking about your life and if your are living it to the fullest for Christ.
Great Memories!
May 23, 2008
Isabella’s Graduation
We have had a crazy busy week. I’m taking the class at the seminary from 8-5 every day this week. It has been really great, met some awesome folks from all over the U.S. and the world. Missionaries flew in from Kenya, Ghana, Philippines, Venezuela, and many others.
Yesterday, Isabella Graduated from Kindergarten. It was such a special service, I didn’t think I would be so emotional seeing your little girl in the cap and gown just imaging them in 12 years graduating from High School.
Tomorrow we leave for Colorado to spend some time with friends at Kingdom Building Ministry and then to spend a couple of days relaxing with our children in the mountains. We will post again when we return.
Blessings,
Beth
