I Have Decided To Follow Jesus

Stories are a primary way that African peoples pass on the history and values of their culture. Stories about Jesus communicate the gospel very effectively in Africa.

Jerry* began telling stories about Jesus to people in his village after participating in part 1 of a project to prepare Bible stories in his native language. Two young men, both Muslims, loved the stories, and came with Jerry to part 2 of the project, to help prepare more stories.

One of the men, Jim*, was very touched by the stories he was hearing. One day his mother called and asked him why he was not working on his farm. He told her that he was in a training and learning stories about Jesus. Jim's mother asked him, “You aren’t becoming a Christian, are you?” “I’m learning so much about Jesus,” he responded, “And I am thinking about it.” “Don’t come back,” his mother replied. “If you do then I will not accept you!”

A few days later Jim’s father called him, furious that he wanted to become a Christian. Jim answered, “Father, you have made decisions for me all my life, but now I am a father with my own children, and it is time for me to make my own decision. I want to follow Jesus.” Afterwards, Jim told the other story-tellers, “If we want to follow Jesus, we just have to be bold and do it!”

Soon after that, his father called and said that because Jim had decided to follow Jesus, he would take away his wife and children. This threat disheartened Jim, but other story-tellers encouraged him, and he returned home with a smile on his face and confidence in Jesus.

The second young man that Jerry brought was Ahmad*. At first,Ahmad felt overwhelmed. Then he was asked to tell the story of Peter and John healing the crippled man in the name of Jesus. Other story-tellers worked hard to coach him. He told the story with great animation and was very excited to make a studio recording of the story.

During the Story Festival at the end of the training, Ahmad told the story of Jesus giving the Great Commission. He later said, “One of the best things I learned is that the way Jesus went up to heaven is the same way He is coming back. He is coming back to save the whole world. ”When asked why some people reject Jesus, Ahmad said, “It’s because they don’t really know Him. If they really knew Him, they wouldn’t reject him. I know for sure that I will be with Him in heaven someday, because Jesus is my Savior.”

After the training, Ahmad and Jim were both taken by their families to the police, where they were accused of becoming Christians, and other false charges. Persecution had begun and we began to pray. A few days later, the two new brothers were released, and the man who brought the false charges against them was himself been arrested for fraud.

*Names changed for security reasons

 W&E mentor local Christians in preparing Bible stories in the common, every-day language of their people, and train them to use the stories in story discussion groups with their family, friends and neighbors .