在故事里读书－１

两年前，朋友所服务的机构请我帮忙推荐几本书，但前提是要用比较有趣的方式来推荐。我抓破头皮也想不出好的办法，只好来编故事，可惜编故事的技巧也有限，所以就简单套了个故事的框架，把书的内容大致介绍了一下。这个故事里面介绍的两本书跟宣教有关，对于不太了解的读者来说，可能看不下去。没关系，跳过去就行了.
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The train finally pulled in the Shanghai Railway station. Tired but excited at the prospect of meeting their missionary friends from US, Peter and Jane picked up their simple luggage and walked into the cool evening. The streets were bustling with crowds and colorful neo lights flushed in from every direction the moment Jane and Peter were on the streets. They stopped temporarily to get a little oriented. But before they could take in all the happenings on the streets, they saw hands waving at them.

Shortly, John and Debbie were standing in front of them, arms stretched and ready to give them hugs.

John and Debbie have been missionaries in Shanghai for two years ministering to young professionals in various fields and industries. It has been a very difficult two-year and things are finally starting to work in the direction they have been praying for. They now have a steady number of 26 people meeting regularly in a local hotel conference room on Friday evenings and Sunday mornings. Having been best friends since their days at a renowned Christian seminary in Philadelphia back at US, the four friends, John, Debbie, Peter and Jane, though working for two different mission organizations, have come to China as missionaries almost at the same year. Peter and Jane have great passion for the college students and have started a ministry among the college students in Beijing after they received their formal calling. The couples have supported each other spiritually, emotionally and in many other ways. Each year, they would get together at least once to share their ministry experiences with each other and receive comments, feedbacks and encouragements for their future ministries.

After dinner at John and Debbie’s apartment, Jane helped Debbie serve Chinese tea and some local sweets and then they sat down to join the men in their conversation.

“So Peter, about half a year ago you told me on the phone that you came across a great teaching method after you read Thomas Boomershine’s book. What was the book called?” After everyone got comfortable, John asked Peter casually.

“Oh, the book by Boomershine is called Story Journey. It was a great reading and I started using the methods in the book with the students.” Peter said.

“I heard about Boomershine but I have not got the chance to read the book. What are the things you find useful in his book?” John has been exploring some effective teaching methods and is eager to find out more about Peter’s new discovery.

“Well, first, Boomershine argues that we need to connect our stories with God’s story so our life stories would take on greater meaning, which I find it very useful when some of the students feel quite at a loss about life and their individual existence. I would encourage them to share their stories and then help them see that their stories are not isolated and meaningless but are part of God’s story.” Peter responded.

“That sounds great. What else?”

“The book structures very well. Basically Boomershine uses a few well-chosen stories representative of each of Jesus’ life stage and use those stories to illustrate his storying techniques. At the end of the book, the reader would not only have learned about the major events in the life cycle of Jesus, but also learned the techniques to share those stories. Basically, Boomershine is for teaching God’s Word in story format and each story he uses in the book has key characters, major plots, conflicts and resolutions. I used to do a lot of topical teachings, which I am not in the least against it, but I found that some students have lost interest and stopping coming to our gatherings. Now when I do the teachings in story format, you could literally see the ears pricked up on those students.”

At this time, Jane turned to Peter and said, “I remember you also said that Boomershine advocates using the biblical story as an offering gift to the non-believing students. Right?”

“Yes, honey, Boomershine did say that and I found myself less pushy now towards the non-believing students. I present God’s story to the students as a gift and the students are more open towards that as gift-giving is a very familiar practice in Chinese culture.” Peter smiled at Jane and answered.

Seeking the right moment, John continued, “But do you think that this book of Boomershine solved all the problems you encountered in your biblical teaching?”

“Oh, not at all. When I started the book, I was actually looking for some concrete ways to help me bridge the Gospel with the Old Testament stories but Boomershine does not cover that in the book. I guess his focus is on Jesus as appeared in the New Testament only. But I would personally like to see more of a New Testament and Old Testament connection.”

“Another thing that I was looking for in the book but did not find adequately addressed is how to pick a story suitable for a particular situation and how to craft it and make it effective. I feel that Boomershine gives a lot of fish, the little stories to be used in the book but does not teach us how to fish, that is, how to craft the stories from scratches.”

“Do you find what Boomershine says work with the Chinese students in general?” John asked further.

“Well, I have to say that most of the students like the stories as they are used to sitting down and listen. But if used in a different cultural context, say, a Chinese minority group who enjoys dancing and singing more, that would be a challenge. But again, Boomershine’s method is only one of the ways to convey God’s Word to others and it is definitely not the only way out there.” Peter sipped some tea and commented.

“Wow, that was great. Now that you’ve got my curiosity up, I will have to find a copy and read it myself. Thanks for sharing that with us!” John said with eagerness and sincerity.

At that time, the phone range and Debbie went to answer it. The three friends tried to be quiet so they just sat there comfortably sipping their tea and munching on some of Debbie’s delicious disserts.

When Debbie came back, she said, “Guess what? The caller is Mr. Wang, one of our co-workers in the fellowship. John and I were also trying some storytelling method in our gathering among the professionals who work in those high-rise office buildings you see out the window there. But we just started last week after we read Trevor McIIwain’s book. I don’t know why we didn’t know about this book while we were back at the seminary. The book was recommended to us by another missionary based in the Philippines. We were not sure about how people would respond to our switch of teaching technique but Mr. Wang just told us all the people he spoke with so far wanted more. Isn’t that wonderful and encouraging?”

Hearing that, John sat up and asked, “What did they say? Which part do they like? Oh, I will have to call Mr. Wang back and find out more! This IS indeed exciting!”

Peter and Jane, having got a little idea of what they were talking about, asked almost simultaneously, “How come we never hear you talk about that? How long do you plan to keep it from us?”

John said apologetically, “I meant to tell you when you called and saying you would come this week, but as I just got the book and have used the method only once, I was not sure of the result and did not know where and how to start. Now that Debbie has mentioned that, I will tell you more about what I have learned so far.”

“First the book we got hold of is the first volume of a series called Building on Firm Foundations by Trevor McIIwain. So far I have agreed with everything he said. In the Foreword by Richard Sollis, he shared the background and the merits of the book but also warned the readers not to take what is written in the book and try to apply to every people group. It acknowledges the needs to make adjustments to accommodate such variables as culture, education, age, existing biblical knowledge, time availability, and so on. That itself is a sign for a multi-cultural understanding and a good reading ahead.”

Sipping some tea, John continued, “McIIwain believes firmly that a solid biblical foundation must be laid in order for a believer to mature and bridge the gap between professing the truth and possessing the truth. He uses biblical stories but his story format emphasis the Old Testament as the foundation for further understanding of the New Testament. Plus, McIIwain points out the urgent need to teach the people God’s Big Story rather than bits and pieces of some biblical stories. Otherwise, there would be great danger for erroneous re-interpretation, misunderstanding and misapplication.”

“That was a great point. I think I would add that part in my stories to the students. They have to see that all the biblical stories I have told them fall under the big umbrella of God’s Story of Salvation for man. I am quite glad that you shared that with us.” Peter observed. “Now go on. What else that has impressed you?”

“I thought so too. Especially now that there are so many cultic practices throughout China and those cult leaders all claim to have the best understanding of the Bible. Our teaching strategies have to be adapted to meet all those emerging challenges. That is why I like very much the feasible strategies McIIwain proposed in his book. For non- and new believers, he would recommend where to start in the Bible, for middle level believers, he has recommendations and for mature believers he has strategies accordingly. Best of all, what he writes in his book has all been tested in the mission field so he knows what he is talking about. I just wish that he would have some sample stories recorded on a CD using the techniques he has written so we could have a better idea of how all the theories are played out. But as I said earlier, Debbie and I have just started and there are still a lot to be learned in our ministry. We are excited to try more and pray that this teaching model would work out very well with our Chinese group here.” John said thoughtfully.

“I think it would be a boost if we could combine what Boomershine says with McIIwain’s strategies. How about I come up with something like an outline from Boomershine’s book and you sum up McIIwain’s and we will see how to make our own adaptations? Yours would be with the professionals and mine would be with the students.” Peter proposed excitedly.

“Sure. That would work with us. I have to say that God prompted you to visit us for a reason and I now know what the reason is. Before we turn in, why don’t we all have a word of prayer! And Jane, could you lead?”

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