August 5, 2002
Story cloth adapted for volunteers
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--On a mission trip to Gambia, West Africa, last year, Dale McCleskey used a story cloth to teach the gospel. Since returning home, he has worked overtime to create a simplified story cloth tool for other short-term missions volunteers to use.
___A story cloth contains a series of drawings missionaries use to help tell Bible stories in cultures where most learning transpires through story-telling rather than writing.
___"Telling stories is a way to go to a group of people, mostly in non-literate cultures, and talk to them about God and the gospel," said McCleskey, an editor in adult ministry publishing at LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. "Stories build a foundation for people to understand the gospel."
___The story cloth McCleskey and other volunteers used in work with the Mandinka people last year was developed by a missionary in Nigeria.
___"The story cloth was enormously well received," McCleskey said. "We were amazed at how hungry the people were to hear. These were people who had never heard a Christian explain the gospel at all."
___The LifeWay editor realized, however, that the story cloth could be more useful if streamlined for short-term mission trips.
___So once back in Nashville, Tenn., he set to work on a new story cloth, paring back more difficult stories and concentrating on basics. He collaborated with Rick Burton, a graphic design specialist at LifeWay.
___The result is a story cloth that can be used by short-term volunteers in any gospel presentation.
___For more information on the story cloth, contact McCleskey at (615) 251-3670 or dmccles@lifeway.com.
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