Update- Dec 2008

Elizabeth Update- Dec 1, 2008

Short Version
· “If he REALLY was a living person, you should say that!” (Pan Town Workshop Update)
· “You are my senior” - (Malaysia Workshop Update)
· Calendar

Longer Version:
“If he REALLY was a living person, you should say that!” (Pan Town Workshop Update)
The 6 teams, and several consultants gathered together in Pan town for 2 weeks of intense training. This was the second training for the teams and it focuses heavily on testing the stories among those who have never heard. For one demonstration we played a recorded story of Creation in the national language. Previously, when I crafted the story with one of the participants, we thought we would simplify a lot of the story, especially the part about when God makes man. So the recorded story sounded something like this, “Then God took some of the mud/dust and formed a man like himself. After that…” I asked a tester (someone who was not familiar with the Book), what he thought “a man like himself/like God” might have looked like. He responded, “Well, we have something like that, in our temples. Just like the story said ‘God formed a man from dust that was like him’, we have forms of God made from clay in our temples, they are our statues…” He went on to ask, “Was this person a real person? If so, you should say that!” Needless to say, the demonstration showed the participants at the workshop the need to test stories with those who have never heard them to get their reaction and see what they are truly understanding from the story!!! The teams are now on their own testing their own stories. I will meet each of them starting on the 10th of December to review the testing results.
(picture: testing the story- one member from Agape team is assisting me)

“You are my senior.” (Malaysia Workshop Update)
In additional training mother-tongue South Asians in storying, part of my assignment is leading trainings in Malaysia and Thailand for One-Story cross-cultural teams. I am currently in Malaysia right now leading one such training, where all of the “students/participants” (except one) are about 10 years older than me. And yet, they view me as “their senior” because I have completed a One-Story project! While I may have some more experience than those taking the course, I am thankful that I can continue to learn right along with those I teach.
(picture: Malaysia training, yeah, I knew my teaching education degree would come in handy!)

P&P
· Praise for the workshop – both in Pan town and Malaysia.
· Praise for the enthusiasm of the teams.
· Praise for the team’s enthusiasm being contagious and giving me more motivation to press on in the work.
· Prayer for the 6 teams as they apply what they have learned to their own stories and situations.
· Prayer for good communication during my meetings with all of the teams from Dec. 10-18.

Calendar:
November- Malaysia to lead One-Story training,
December- “Pan Town” and home (USA), for a quick break at Christmas (same week as my sister’s birthday and my birthday too)!
January –March, 09 – “Pan Town” (workshop in February)
April – Thailand to lead One-Story training
May- back in Pan Town

I don’t want to end without saying a THANK YOU for your support- especially since we had Thanksgiving this month. It was just another day of training on this side of the world, but your gifts and prayers don’t go unnoticed- thank you for your generosity.

Thank you,

~ Elizabeth