Eighteen individuals were baptized in the month leading up to Christmas! All of them had been introduced to the gospel through the chronological Bible storytelling that the house church in Quezon province focuses on and teaches all their members, even the children, to participate in. You can read about the beginning of this house church, initiated through the witness and Bible storytelling of one faithful lady, Lea, here.

Lea’s husband, Arnel, leads the house church, while a ministry group led by missionary Steve Deal’s assistant pastor, Jeselou, tries to make the trip from Lipa City each week to encourage and teach. For six months this past year, from March to August, the team from Lipa City was prevented by Covid restrictions from travelling to Quezon. Lea and Arnel continued to meet daily with their group to read the Bible, teach, and pray together. They developed seven 2-3 person teams who go out three times a week into their village and neighboring villages sharing the gospel message through Bible storytelling. Despite being a congregation of fairly new believers, they persevered and thrived, grounded in the Bible’s redemptive story. Arnel has begun studying a Bible course for pastors. Pray that God would lead in his training and prepare him to care well for this church.

When Jeselou and his team were able to go back in September they found a growing group eager to be fed. On one recent occasion, he arrived there on Saturday night, and they immediately asked for a Bible study. They started at 9 p.m. and continued until 3 a.m., peppering him with question after question. The group loves to learn the chronological Bible stories so they can retell them to others. They are not ashamed of their faith and eagerly share it with family and friends. Steve Deal says, “These believers are so exciting to be around. We warm ourselves by the "fire" of their enthusiasm to learn more of GOD's Word.”

Their passion for sharing their faith has given this house church a vision beyond themselves. They are now asking if they can start a church in another area that their Bible storytelling teams are going to. What a joy to see the Holy Spirit use the simple telling of events from The Story of Hope to bring about many genuine faith responses and change so many lives

If you would like to learn how to use The Story of Hope in evangelism with people from all different worldviews or would like to learn the powerful impact of telling Bible stories, consider attending the Good Soil Basic and BibleStorying seminars being offered the week of May 10-14 this year at ABWE headquarters. You can learn more about them here:
Good Soil Basic and BibleStorying Training