Earlier this year Marlene and I spent about four months in Zimbabwe helping to develop Chronological Bible Storying there. Starting in late September we plan to spend another six months there on this same mission. It is a great privilege to work with Mbonisi Malaba who leads New Creation Church in Bulawayo, along with an amazing team working together on this initiative.
CBS is a strategy to share the Great Salvation Story of the Bible through telling key stories in chronological order. In the process of telling these stories there is a strategy to evangelize, plant new churches and train workers and leaders who will be capable of continuing in this work of bringing the Gospel to their own people as well as carrying it to other regions.
Telling the stories of the Bible chronologically linked together, rather than in isolated or unconnected ways, helps the hearers understand individual stories in the light of God’s Big Story. Everyone needs to know this Great Story. It is hard to clearly understand particular points of the Bible’s message without some knowledge of the overall story that the Bible tells.
In every nation there are many oral learners, those who do not read in order to learn. In Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, it is estimated that about 60% of the population are oral learners. Telling the stories of the Bible to oral learners is particularly important since they best learn through hearing stories and maintain what they know in the form of remembered stories, proverbs and mental pictures.
We are so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to be involved in piloting this strategy of sharing the story of God’s salvation with many dear people in Zimbabwe.
