A Father’s Day story
John Walsh, an American storyteller, took a storying team to Thailand. Someone had prearranged for the team to share at a Buddhist school. To their disappointment, when they met the principal she said, “No, no! The team can’t teach our children. We’ve changed our mind. I’m sorry to cause you to come all this way for nothing, but last week we had an American pastor speak in our general assembly. He tried to get all of our children to become Christians. We decided right then we didn’t want anymore American Christians speaking to our children. I’m sorry. Your team can’t come here.”
Well, there was no more to be said. So the team sat there and visited politely with the principal, hoping to lessen the tension of the meeting. They discovered that there was no school the next day because it was the king’s birthday. The day was called ‘Father’s Day’ since the king was considered the nation’s father. The students would be absent, but the teachers would still be present at the school. John said, “Would you like me to teach your teachers how to tell stories? I promise I will keep it secular and not talk about Christianity.”
The principal said, “Oh, you would do that, even after I’ve cancelled your program?”
John replied, “Yes, I would be honored.”
The next day John taught the teachers basic storytelling techniques to improve their skills. The group laughed and had a good time, but they also applied themselves to learning what John was teaching. By the end of the day, they were all friends. The teachers had worked hard, and John admired their dedication to their profession.
Then one teacher spoke up. “This is Father’s Day,” she said. “Tell us a story about a father.” Immediately the rest chimed in and begged for ‘a father story’. John said, “Well, I have a story about a father, but it’s a Bible story, and I said I wouldn’t…” The principal interrupted him. “Oh, it’s all right to tell us a Bible story,” she said. “These are teachers, not children.” So John told them about Abraham and how God gave him and Sarah a child in their old age. John then taught the teachers hand gestures to help them remember the story.
After the group was dismissed, the principal pulled John aside. “If I let you teach our children to tell a Bible story, would it be like that one?”
“If you like that story, I’ll make sure the team teaches that very story. And I guarantee you we will do nothing but teach the children to tell the story.” He went over the exact details of how the classes would go. Every teacher would help with the lesson. They would then send slips of paper home with the children so parents could sign that their child told the story at least twice outside of school.
Over the next three days, the team taught the ‘birth of Isaac’ story to more than a thousand students in grades three through six. Each student went home and told the story at least twice. More than a thousand Thai children and teachers experienced a great cross-cultural exchange with American Christian storytellers. And more than three thousand people listened to a Bible story they’d never heard before. The school wrote a letter of recommendation about what happened that week. They commended the team on what they’d done, and they encouraged other schools to take advantage of this opportunity if it was ever offered to them.
Story used with permission of John Walsh and quoted in “Telling the Gospel Through Story”. There are a great many stories on his Bible Telling Stories website. He has been a significant influence in my life since 2009.
