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EAST AFRICA--IMB missionary Stan Wafler recently conducted a workshop in which participants from the Keliko people of southern Sudan heard 30 stories from the Bible--from creation to Pentecost—within a week. He relates the following:

“On Sept. 24 at about 4 a.m. we had a mild earthquake tremor. I learned that the Keliko word for this is something like “Did-did-did-did,” and usually is accompanied by hand signals of shaking. I put this into my story when I told about the earthquake at the time of the death of Jesus.

“On Sept. 26 we finished the stories. We came to the trials of Jesus and then His death and there was a heavy silence over the group. Even as the storyteller, I was once moved to tears. We were just stunned thinking of all the prophets said had come true. Then we were stunned by the injustice of it all, the dishonesty of the high priest, the shouts of ‘Crucify Him’ from the crowd. We discussed the physical pain of Jesus and what it must have been like and then we pondered His spiritual pain. How can a holy God take on the sin and punishment of unholy sinners? God hates sin, and sin brings separation from God in each of the stories. But Jesus was willing to accept this on our behalf.”

Afterward, workshop participant Se talked about the blessing of God’s love for the Keliko during an informal time of praise. Aware of the current funding crisis within the IMB, he reflected on the fact that they were still able to have these workshops. “Why are we the ones to get these stories when they are unknown to others?” he asked the group. Se also thanked God for the impact the stories could have on the Keliko people: “If these stories were told here the glory of God would shine brightly here.”