“I only want to hear stories!”

A missionary and her Taiwanese friends learn more about why stories are effective:

A-Mah (80+) is one of these friendly Taiwanese ladies, who didn’t want to offend us when we passed her tiny shop and handed her a christian magazine. She made it very clear to us that she was a committed Buddhist wouldn’t take the magazine, but she still invited us in to sit down. ‘You are good people’. Since she didn’t want the magazine I offered to tell a story. She agreed and in my limited Taiwanese I told the creation story. She listened intently and after hearing it compared it with what she knows from her Buddhist background.

A few weeks later she said, “No, I don’t want the magazine, just tell me a story.”

Last week we were too late. She was busy making her vegetarian evening meal. “Come a bit earlier next week so I can listen to another story.”

We were encouraged to find someone so eager to hear a bible story, who initially wanted to keep a distance because she is a devout Buddhist.

This has also been an encouragement to ladies visiting with me, who are now willing to practice stories in Taiwanese.

I often use stories in response to the chit chat conversation we have with ladies. Last week, a teashop lady mentioned that nowadays girls are no longer virgins when they marry. She was surprised I knew the Taiwanese word for virgin. I was surprised myself, but of course it’s in the Bible, so I told Mary and Joseph’s story how their courtship came under pressure because a premarital pregnancy. It was the first time she’d heard the Christmas story!

Used with permission from TvT.