Do you know how to whistle?

I know it's been a while since I've written. Honestly, there hasn't been news to write about. I spent 2 weeks in bed after suffering from sudden onset hearing loss. I spent the next two weeks doing little more than that. I've been to the doctor a couple of times and discovered the probable cause of my hearing loss (Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Sindrome). I have not been to the small town, nor to visit any of the families in our storying groups. My family and I have been going to church on Sundays. Yesterday our pastor came to visit. Many of you have written to me and told me you are praying for me. Thank you.

Now. For the news. Today I was playing with Nilson and whistling to him. I heard myself. Not much, only one tone, but I heard it. It made me smile and laugh. Actually, it was only 10 minutes ago that this happened, so you can see that I am excited. Keep praying that the Lord restore my hearing.

God bless.

Steve

Quiet Time

Today I had a CT scan done. I'll get the results in two days. Our best guess is that the cause of my hearing loss is Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Sindrome. I have experienced hearing loss in the past, twice, 10 years ago and 20 years ago. Both times, my hearing returned after a long delay. Hopefully this will happen again.

I am going to challenge myself to learn 1st and 2nd Samuel by heart during my down time.

Timeout

This morning I lost my hearing. I am completely deaf now. This happened to me 10 years ago. I was pastoring a small church in Texas and studying at East Texas Baptist University. If it follows the pattern, I will be deaf for a few months and my hearing will return. If it doesn't well, only God knows.

Right now I am taking lots of medicine and must stay in bed for a couple of weeks. I am going to miss the church retreat and the opportunity to baptize the new believers. They will likely not go to the retreat either, but we'll see.

Loaise and I have to think about this deafness and how it will affect our income and our ability to do our ministry. It's something I didn't expect. God did, so he knows what I should do. I'll spend the next two weeks in the bed praying and searching the scriptures.

God bless.
Steve

Pressed up against the wall

Yesterday was another very rainy day. I offered to give a ride to the singer's family. I had hoped to finish playing God's Story for them on the CD player. As they got into the car, it was obvious that they were stressed. They argued the entire trip. I just stayed quiet.

After arriving, I went and planned out my visits. I would first go to two of the families across the river, then go to the families on the hill and finish with the families on new street. Across the river... no one home, but I did get an idea. Everytime I cross the river in the afternoon, not far from the bridge there is a group of 8 to 10 retired men that stand around and talk the afternoon away. I believe there could be a storying opportunity there.

Well, I did go up the hill and met with 4 of our group. I told the story of when Jesus cured a woman at the synagogue on the sabbath. The story was short and they were able to tell it easily. I stepped through the story and then we began to think about the story. I had hoped to lead them in a direction of showing that obedience to God can sometimes clash with religious authority. The discussion did not go as well as I had planned. Honestly the problem was me. I kind of preached through it, instead of letting them discover the truths in the story. I only have one more meeting scheduled with them before our retreat. I don't know if they will be willing to be baptized on Feb 3rd. Pray for them. If they are willing, there will be 5 baptisms.

The families on new street were unable to meet yesterday.

To be honest, after such a big day last week, yesterday was a let down. Pray for me too. Things are going well, but I often get anxious.

New Storying Groups

Yesterday I went to a family across the river in the neighborhood we used to live in and made arrangements to begin Bible storying with them. We'd tried to incorporate this family in another group, but that group fell apart because of a dispute that Satan brought about. This was a year ago. We will begin with this family and let them invite other families to participate. We won't know how the group will work out until we get started. I will probably tell the story of creation on Friday.

Later I went to visit a family on New street. This family is in spiritual darkness. Different from the cultural catholics, this family has a mixture of beliefs that range from spiritism to worship of ancestors to folk catholicism. The husband told me he has never been interested in reading the Bible, and the wife told me she doesn't believe it. Neither of them know even the basic stories like creation. I discovered that the husband's aversion to the Bible was really an aversion to reading. I told them and their 3 young daughters a Bible story to give an example. They were captivated.

I will begin Chronological Bible Storying with this family right away. I plan to include 2 other families with this group. One family is a Christian and baptized, but go to church infrequently because they have to go to a city an hour away. Another is a traditionally catholic family that is questioning some of the religious traditions. They are interested in learning the Bible. I will organize a day and time on Friday.

Finally the singer's family. This has been a very resistant family, but I've been giving rides to them to and from the big city. During these one-hour car rides, I've talked with them and even told a Bible story. Yesterday, I put my copy of God's Story in the CD player and let it play during the trip. The wife, the most resistant, was excited to be hearing the Bible. "I've never heard this before" she kept saying. This family is closing their store in the city and will be staying together in Tabuleiro beginning in February. I will begin storying with them then. May God save this family.

Salvation on the Hill

Since the last post I've been to the small town twice. On Friday I went to meet with Lu, who had missed our meeting on Wednesday and I told him the stories he missed. I also went and talked to people who have participated in our past Bible studies (both oral and literate) and talked with them about our baptisms on February 3rd.

Yesterday, I returned to the families on the hill. Most were present. No news from the man who left his wife. I told the story of Jesus and Nicodemos from John 3. After I told the story, they asked me to tell it again. This is becoming habit, and in my mind, not a bad thing. We then stepped through the story, in other words, I asked them to tell it back to me in parts and asked questions at the parts they might have had trouble remembering.

Once the story was told I asked them some simple questions. (below they are listed, as I remember them) Once the discussion time was nearly over, I asked the group if they wanted to be born again. They all enthusiasticly said yes. We prayed and they confessed their sins and asked God to forgive them through Jesus. So, now 5 people in the families on the hill have received Jesus. I will continue storying with them leading up to baptism on February 3rd. Pray that Satan be left powerless against this family group.

• Why do you think Nicodemos went to see Jesus?
  
• Why do you think he went at night?
• What did Jesus guarantee to him was true?
• Did Nicodemus understand? Do you?
• How did Jesus explain what it means to be born again?
  
• What did he compare it to?
• Did Nicodemus understand that? Do you?
• Jesus compared himself to a snake, did you understand that part of the story?
• (I quickly told that OT story) Now do you understand?
• How is Jesus like the snake?
  
• (I retold John 3:16) Do you understand this verse?
• What about light and dark, when do people commit more crimes?
• Who is the light that God sent to the world?
• What kind of person avoids God's light, who is attracted to it?
  

January 10th, 2008

Last night I went back to the families on the hill for the first time in 3 weeks. I was very anxious to get back to storying with this group and to call one of the young men to begin acompanying me and learning to story. Upon arriving, I noticed this man was not in the home with his wife, and so I asked about him. This young man, during the last 3 weeks, cheated on his wife and left her to be with another woman. The devil has attacked this family network hard.

I told the story of Jesus' miracle at the wedding at Cana and we had a very powerful discusion about the story, though I am not sure that I will write much about it in this post. After the storying session was over and we finished our prayer time, I left the small town and went to the next town about 20 minutes away and found this young man in the house of the other woman. I ask him to come out and take a walk with me. I spent half and hour talking to him and used 3 bible stories to show him how he had sinned and how he can repent, and what will happen if he doesn't. I told him to take a decision and I prayed with him. Then I left. I do not know what happened afterwards.

This has been really disappointing for me and horrible for De and their family. Pray that this young man would repent and turn to God.

December 21st, 2007

Earlier this week, my trip into the small town was cancelled. Those that I was planning to meet were unable to keep the evening free with all that is happening at the end of the year.

So, we're done for the year with Bible storying and will restart in early January.

Merry Christmas.

December 18th, 2007

Well, last night was our last bible storying session with the family in the big city. In order to draw a close to our stories, I went back and told a simple story from Matthew 13, Jesus telling the story of the sower and his explaining of the story. We followed the same pattern we always followed. I told the story, they retold it to me, we stepped through it with questions about the story, then we had a discussion of meaning and application.

We talked about what happens to people after they hear God's message. They really identified with rocky soil, but were afraid of that as well. They wanted to be good soil. We talked about what their lives would be like in the future if they based on each type of soil. Hopefully, this family will be obedient and reproduce. Only God knows right now.

We are going to leave the discipleship of this family to the care of another Christian family and we will start new storying groups in January. We will check up with this family from time to time, but our meetings will no longer be weekly. I will post when they are baptized. They have an opportunity at the end of the year. We'll see.

Tomorrow I will go to the small town.

December 14th, 2007

On Wednesday I went to the families on the hill in the small town. It was the second to last meeting we will have this year. We met in De's house and this was a change. Lu, in the wheelchair, had to be pushed up and around the hill from his house to attend. This family is glad to do this, though it is hard, hard work.

I told, after reviewing the birth story of Jesus, the story of the baptism and the story of the temptation of Jesus. Since I had told the stories recently and they were fresh in my mind, I didn't spend much time preparing for the discussion. Big mistake. Fortunately, God's Word has its own power and the Holy Spirit uses it to change people. Still, I found myself meandering a lot in our discussion time. I remembered things we should have talked about after having moved on to other parts of the story. Anyone who is doing storying needs to realize that fresh preparation is key to the dynamic of the study. They learned the stories and retold them well. That is key. This group is also very close to faith.

On the way home, I gave a ride to the family of a man who is a folk singer. He is a friend of mine and I have been offering steadily to tell them the Bible. His wife is strongly culturally catholic. She has politely but firmly resisted any attempt to talk about God. Well, the trip takes about an hour and it was really late, so I offered to tell a story as I drove to help pass the time. I told the long version of the Christmas story. It took about half and hour and they were all amazed at the story. I believe the door has been opened, so pray that the singer's family can begin to learn the Bible.

December 11th, 2007

Last night, Loaise and I went to the family in the city for the second to last meeting of the year with them. I told the story of Paul and Silas being arrested, beaten and thrown in Jail and subsequently leading the jailer to Christ. After we reviewed and talked through the story. We continued to talk about baptism using the example from the story. I am pressing them to act in obedience.

One comment I'd make at this point from my experience with them is this: When we started the series, one of the women offered coffee to the group and we all accepted. Over time this turned into a light snack and lately a heavy snack. Every week, it takes a little longer to get started. While the time together is nice, it is a burden on the host, because she is preparing more and more each week. It is a burden on the storying session, because we either finish very late or have a shorter time story the bible. I am going to suggest that our future groups avoid going beyond coffee as a hospitality.

December 10th, 2007

This journal update is more of an announcement than anything. A couple of things: With the end of the year coming up, people's schedules are changing rapidly. My posting will be a little less frequent until January.

Currently, we are discipling the family in the big city and encouraging them to be baptized and to join a local church. The families on the hill in the small town are now hearing and learning stories about Jesus. Our meeting will now be on Wednesdays and no longer on Tuesdays. The target date for them to be baptized and form a church is Mardi-Gras. (That is the biggest holiday here in Brazil. Our church has rented a campground and will host a retreat during that weekend. Our goal is to baptize this group on that weekend and commission the church.)

For those of you who are printing out this journal there is a way to get an ink-friendly version of the posts. Look on your browser for this symbol:

Click on it and you will get a page of just the text of this journal without the pictures and background. This works for anyone's blog. If you can't find the symbol in your browser, click on the one in this text. It should work.

We are still planning to start 3 more storying groups in the small town, there are many who are interested, but getting them organized always proves to be a challenge.

December 5th, 2007

Yesterday, I returned to the small town and met again with the families on the hill. We did not meet with the family in the big city on Monday. They were travelling.

After having set the stage by storying through a good portion of the Old Testament, I began the story of Jesus. This was the 4th time I've told the birth story of Christ for a group, and not only was it easier to prepare, I told it in a way that was much more interesting and full of life. The more you tell a story, the more it becomes part of you.

I told the story in small parts, as it is found both in Matthew and Luke. My real goal for the night was to enable everyone who participated to be able to tell the story of the birth of Jesus well. It is getting close to Christmas time and this story is one that can be naturally told. I am going to challenge each of them to tell the story at least 5 times before Christmas. We had a lot of fun telling and repeating the story many times last night.

Our discussion roamed a bit, while they interacted with the story. A lot of questions they asked and answered had to do with the differences in the authentic biblical story and the popular versions of the Christmas story.

One other interesting exchange was this: I asked them if anyone noticed from the story anything special or miraculous about the birth of Jesus. Some mentioned the star that appeared, others the angels, someone mentioned the prophecy, but no one mentioned the virgin birth. I asked them if they thought it was special that Jesus was born of a virgin. Then it hit them. Wow! They talked about the story and agreed that this was a big miracle. I then asked '"them if Mary continued to be a virgin after the birth of Jesus. The all immediately replied "Yes!" Then one woman's eyes got big and she exclaimed "Wait, no! Remember the story. Joseph didn't have relations with Mary until after the baby was born." They all thought that was very interesting, since Mary is to them "The Virgin Mary"

I'd never really seen it before, but in Brazilian folk theology, the concept of "The Virgin Mary" is that Mary's virginity shows Mary's purity and Mary's virtue, not that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Last night, for the group, the emphasis was placed back onto Christ.

December 2nd, 2007

This morning I finished my sermon series on Jesus. I told as a single narrative from the moment Judas went to meet with the religious leaders to plan to deliver Jesus up to the moment that Jesus was taken up into Heaven in Acts 1.

I really enjoyed the chance to tell Bible narrative as a sermon for the past 4 weeks. I am glad to be getting a break for a while. Many of the church members asked me how I could remember such a big story and wondered if I have a super memory. I told them that I actually don't have a great memory, but that I learned the big story as a series of small stories that are only about 2-3 minutes long each. Then when it is time to tell the big story, I string the stories together as a narrative.

After the new year, I will begin a group within this church. I will help them to learn Bible stories, learn to tell them, learn to teach others to learn them and tell them, and learn how to lead people to think through the stories as they hear them, as a form of Bible study.

November 28th, 2007

What a night last night! I went back to the small town, to the families on the hill. At first only men came. There were 5 of us, all men. This looks so different than most home Bible studies, because usually women and children are more interested. Often in this culture, religion is seen as a thing for women and kids. If a man, a head of the family, begins to seek after God, however, that's when you see real transformation take place within the family.

Well, the men arrived first. That was great. Some of the women came later. Two of them were not well, and stayed at home. Our story was from 2 Kings 22. It was the story of Josiah. He was a good king of Judah and sought to repair the temple. When the High Priest informed him that the Book of the Law was found and he heard it read to him. He cried, sought the Lord, and went about a great religious reform in the country, destroying all the idols and recommitting himself and all the people to keep God's covenant.

I told half of the story and some more people arrived, so I started again from the beginning. After telling the story, I asked the group to retell it. The first half was told without flaw, but the second half was a little confused. I stepped through the story with them and made sure everyone got it. We then began to talk about it.

I had really planed to focus the discussion on the need for God's word in our lives, but the Spirit moved in another direction. They could not stop talking about Josiah destroying all the idols, and even household gods. They discussed amongst themselves whether or not their home altars with saints on them would have been destroyed by Josiah and determined that they would have.

This group is anxious to hear about Jesus. I will tell the essential stories of Jesus, but I believe they are ready and anxious to hear, believe and repent. I won't need to take them through a very long series of stories of Jesus, like I did for the family in the big city.

Well, one other thought. The second podcast was released by Story4All. It is the continuation of my conversation with Bryan Thompson. You can listen to the interview here part 1 and here part 2. You can download a copy of the document on storying that we discuss here document.