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EAST AFRICA--Using chronological Bible storying, IMB missionary Stan Wafler is helping the Keliko of southern Sudan confront ongoing spiritism within their culture. During a recent storying workshop Stan presented the Scriptures by telling 30 stories in one week. One of the stories was that of Saul and the witch of Endor, taken from 1 Samuel 28.

“I asked them if the Keliko people worship God, and they said, ‘Everyone here worships God.’ But then I asked them if Saul was really trusting God in this story—I could tell that spirits of the dead play a big role in Keliko culture. They said, ‘No, he was not. This is almost the same thing our people are doing. But our people don’t know this story so they don’t realize God is not pleased with them.”

Next, Stan told the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, which once againbrought up the issue of worshiping more than one god.

“They could see from that story that the Keliko people are acting sinfully before God,” Stan explained. “Even though they worship God, at times they still listen to and obey the spirits, and sometimes even go to the witch doctors for advice and healing.”

When they came to the story of Jesus driving the spirits from the Gadarene demoniac, participants took note of the people's fear when they saw the power of Jesus.

“They saw how the evil spirits destroyed the pigs and then continued their work of deceiving the people in the town. I think this is where they realized the deception that the evil spirits are doing among their own people. This was a sobering realization.”

After this story, there was a “strange quietness” in the group, Stan related. “I asked them some questions but they were quiet. They said, ‘We are just thinking about the story, and it has made us all quiet.’ I really felt the power of the Holy Spirit in this quietness. They asked, ‘How can we help our people if we know this is true?’ I asked if their people know the stories, and they said ‘No.’ I told them it will be very hard for people to realize how they are being deceived without knowing the stories.”

Stan later asked the men in the group to tell how the 30 stories had impacted their relationship with God. One man, JB, said that his wife is troubled by evil spirits which she cannot control, and sometimes speaks with voices that are not her own. Julius said his wife is a believer, but “doesn’t know much about the Bible,” Stan said. “He wants to teach the stories to her.”

Another man, BM, said he had a vision the week before of a council of evil spirits who came to meet him. “They told him not to come to the workshops,” Stan related. “Then that same night he was awakened twice by a voice that said, ‘God cannot be defeated by Satan.’ The same voice then told Bullen to read Romans 8.”