Too old to change?

In a Philippine province, the adults weren’t open to hearing Bible stories. “It’s too late for us. We’re too old to change, but our children can attend your Bible story clubs.”

The two missionaries and some local believers opened many such groups. They thought carefully about how to do conduct them. In the end, each club meeting included songs, the telling of a Bible story, the children’s retelling of the story, the children’s acting out the story, and a discussion of the story.

Finally, the children were given a card with a black and white line drawing on it that had to do with the day’s Bible story. The cards were one-quarter the size of an A4 piece of paper. The children colored the picture and wrote a greeting to their parents inside it. Then they took the cards home and gave them to their parents as proof that they’d attended the club.

Almost inevitably as the parent received the card, they asked, “What’s this picture about?” So the children told the day’s story to their parents.

Over time, the stories had a positive impact on several children. Their change in behavior impressed their parents. Some of those parents told the missionaries, “Maybe it’s not too late for me after all. Could you tell Bible stories to my entire household?”

Used with permission of AS.