Tibetans share Bible stories with family and friends
9/30/2007 10:28:12 PM
  
By Dea Davidson
Oblivious to the 30 people backing her into a corner of a Tibetan restaurant, the young believer focused on telling Bible stories to a young mother.
“When she was teaching, she didn’t know how many people were listening,” “Jackie Reynolds” said. “She was so in the Spirit that an earthquake could (have happened) and she would (have) still (told) the stories.”
"Ruth” is a Chinese believer partnering with the Reynolds family and their team to reach Tibetans through Bible storying. These national believers are passionate about sharing Jesus with small Tibetan people groups. Many have never heard His name in their remote villages.
Tibetans are a people bound by Tibetan Buddhism. Their language has no written form or formal alphabet. They are oral learners – those who can’t, don’t or won’t learn through literate means. Oral learners, which make up approximately two-thirds of the world’s population, learn best through stories, narratives, proverbs and songs.
“Before we had stories, we didn’t have a good tool to share,” Ruth said. “Through the stories, they can hear for the first time that God created them and loves them, and Jesus died on the cross for them. It puts the whole thing together. If Tibetans just hear about Jesus, He’s just another Buddha to them.”
Partnering with churches is both an encouragement and a multiplication of witnesses for the Reynolds team. Churches are beginning to see the Tibetan people as their mission field.
“Because we have so many believers, I’m praying they will form churches under the leadership of the Holy Spirit,” Reynolds says. “They need to bear one another’s burdens, and they do that naturally in church. If they do that, they will learn they don’t have to stand alone.”
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