Geschichten, wie Gott Frauen begegnet

Stories of how God meets women

A personal highlight during my training courses is creating a story set. A story set consists of 4-10 stories, which are either told one after the other or build on each other visit after visit. A group of women once compiled the following stories with my methodical support. I later added various other things and added a panorama/summary.

Abraham, Sarah and Hagar Gen 16:1-16

Hagar and Ishmael must leave Gen 21:1-21

Ruth

Hannah's desire to have children 1 Samuel 1+2,18-21

David and Bathsheba 2 Samuel 11:1-27

David and Nathan 2 Samuel 12:1-25, the two stories belong together

Job's wife

A song of praise for the energetic woman Proverbs 31:10-31

Mary and Martha and the resurrection of Lazarus Luke 10:38-42; John 10, you can also focus only on the first story, emphasis on Martha is not focused.

The woman at the well John 4:5-19:25-30:42

The woman who anointed Jesus Luke 7:36-50

Miracle for a woman and a daughter Luke 8:40-53, you can also leave out the part about the raising of the daughter

The unshakeable faith of a foreign woman Matthew 15:21-28

Women as witnesses of Jesus' death and resurrection Luke 23:26-56, Mark 16:1-7, Luke 24:36-47

Priscilla

Panorama of how women encounter God

Ideas:

Isaac & Rebecca's relationships influencing Esau & Jacob Genesis 25:19-34; 27; 28

Rachel & Leah's struggle for the love of a man Genesis 29; 30:1-24;

Jacob's preferential treatment of his children Genesis 38

In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material with formulated stories in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page, page 233, but this will change. Otherwise, check the table of contents under "Marriage and Family Focus: How God meets women" The photo was taken by https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.

Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Look at this woman! When I entered your home, you didn’t wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You refused me the customary kiss of greeting, but she has kissed my feet again and again. – Slide 10

Panorama of how women encounter God

In the beginning, God created man and woman in his image and likeness. They had a perfect personal relationship with God until they disobeyed God, the relationship broke down and disobedience and sin entered the world. Despite our imperfect and sinful lives, God wants to restore this relationship with us. He desires a personal relationship with you and wants to meet you in every phase of your life. He sees you and loves you. We see this so often in Scripture, where true stories show God's true love for us.

Let me give you a few examples. Hagar, a maidservant of Sarah and Abraham, gave birth to Abraham when Sarah was unable to have a child. That is why she was sent to a foreign land, and it was very difficult for her. God heard her cries and saw her pain and blessed her and her child.

We also see in the story of Hannah how she wept year after year and begged God to bless her with a son because she had no children. Although she and her husband were very religious, they remained childless. One day, Hannah promised God in prayer that she would give him a son if he gave her one. God answered her prayer and blessed her with a son.

Then God sent Jesus as our Savior to show us the true way to God. He was born of the Virgin Mary. God sent angels to tell Mary and her fiancé Joseph who Jesus was. Although she was afraid, she trusted that God would take care of her. After Jesus' birth, many people came to see him, but the king at the time wanted to kill him, but God protected Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus.

Jesus came and performed many miracles and forgave sins to point us to God. There was a woman with a hemorrhage whom no doctor had been able to help for 12 years. But when she heard that Jesus was in town, she pushed her way through the crowd, touched the hem of his garment and was instantly healed.

In another story, a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery was brought before Jesus. The religious leaders were determined to condemn the woman and stone her to death. Although according to the law both the man and the woman were to be condemned, only the woman was brought to be stoned. Jesus said to the group: "Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone. None of them could throw the first stone, so each of them went, starting with the oldest. Jesus said to the woman, "None of your accusers has remained, and I do not condemn you; go in peace and sin no more."

In another situation, when Jesus was in the house of a religious leader and everyone felt uncomfortable, a sinful woman came to Jesus. The woman had a bottle of expensive perfume with her and poured it on Jesus because it was traditional to anoint and honor him with it. The woman wept at Jesus' feet because she had so much sin in her life and only Jesus could forgive her. The crowd was amazed at her behavior, but Jesus said to her: "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you.

I like these true stories because Jesus came to give the unseen the feeling of being seen and the unheard the feeling of being heard. He came to heal us physically, emotionally and spiritually by taking away the burdens and sins that separate us from God. He is the Savior who had to die for our sins, rose from the dead and can establish a personal relationship with God in his name. He invites us.

Wie Gott Kindern begegnet

How God meets children

During my training sessions, the participants always develop a story set for their particular context. These story sets are always a personal highlight for me, because I am often very richly gifted and discover many new treasures in God's Word. A story set consists of 4-10 stories, which are either told one after the other or build on each other visit after visit. parents once suggested the following set:

Stories for children about how God meets children

God talks to Samuel 1 Samuel 3:1-19

David's election as king 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Naaman of Syria in Elisha 2 Kings 5:1-15, possible lid: The young girl in captivity or slavery had such great faith

Miracle for a woman and a daughter Luke 8:40-53

Who is Jesus? Matthew 14:14-33 With small additions from John 6:1-13; possible lid: Jesus uses the gift of a perhaps twelve-year-old to feed many people and he himself is also fed.

The authority of Jesus Mark 9:2-29; possible lid: a boy burdened by demons is set free

Jesus and the children Luke 18:15-17

The work of Jesus' friends Acts 16:12-40;17:1 possible cover: a young girl burdened by demons is set free

I tell many of these stories over and over again. The following story moves me the most:

Naaman of Syria with Elisha 2 Kings 5:1-15

There was Naaman, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian king's army. He had led his troops to many glorious victories. He was a great hero, even in the eyes of the king, but he was a leper. The Syrians had invaded the land of the descendants of Abraham, and among their captives was a little girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid. One day the little girl said to her mistress, "I wish my master would go to the prophet in the land of the descendants of Abraham. He would cure him of his leprosy!" Naaman told the king what the little girl had said. "Go to the prophet," said the king. "I will send you a letter of recommendation that you can deliver to the king of the descendants of Abraham." Naaman set off, bringing gifts with him: 20,000 euros in silver, 60,000 euros in gold and ten robes. The letter to the king of the descendents of Abraham said: "The man who brings this letter is my servant Naaman; I want you to cure him of his leprosy." When the king of Abraham's descendants read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "This man is sending me a leper to cure him. Am I God, that I can kill and give life? He's just looking for an excuse to attack us again." But when the prophet Elisha heard of the king of the descendents of Abraham's distress, he sent him this message: "Why are you so angry? Send Naaman to me and he will find out that there is a true prophet of God here among the descendants of Abraham." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to tell him to wash in the Jordan seven times and he would be cured of all traces of his leprosy! But Naaman was furious and went away." Look," he said, "I thought he would at least come out and talk to me! I expected him to run his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren't the rivers in Syria better than all the rivers here among the descendants of Abraham put together? If I need rivers, I'll wash myself at home and get rid of my leprosy". So he left in a rage. But his servants tried to reason with him, saying, "If the prophet had told you to do something great, wouldn't you have done it? You should obey him when he says, 'Go and wash and you will be healed'." So Naaman went down to the Jordan and immersed himself seven times, as the prophet had told him. And his flesh became like that of a little child, and he was healed! Then he and his whole group returned to the Prophet; they stood humbly before him, and Naaman said, "At last I know that there is no God in the whole world except among the descendants of Abraham."

I am deeply moved by how this slave girl had the courage to say: "I wish my master would go to the prophet in the land of the descendants of Abraham. He would cure him of his leprosy!"

In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page page 231, but this will change. Otherwise look in the table of contents under "Stories for children, how God meets children". The photo is from https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.

Geschichtenset für Muslime

Story set for Muslims

Again and again I am asked how to share the "Good News" with Muslims using a simple set. This is a suggestion as a starting point. Please remember that you can always adapt such a set to suit the person you are talking to or the target group. If you have half an hour or a whole hour, for example, you can tell them all one after the other. Just as often, however, I only tell one or two stories in several different conversations. You will find all of the following stories ready to download in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles". As the numbering changes over time, please go to the table of contents and search for "Story set for Muslims", at the moment it is no. 106
A conversation starts by building a relationship, you get to know each other briefly, talk about Islam and fasting. Then I ask the question: "Can I tell you an interesting story about fasting from the Prophet Isa?" I tell the story in simple German: Two men praying Luke 18:9-14. Many people will know the story under "The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple". Depending on the situation, I use the following as a cover or personal confession: "So I also believe that Jesus answers my prayers for forgiveness of my guilt. What do you think about that?" Or: "I am glad that Jesus sees my heart! How do you see that?"
If there is plenty of time, I will use the following story as the next one "The first disobedience against God Genesis 3:1-24". I emphasize afterwards that because of a single disobedience, the personal relationship with God has been destroyed to this day, even for us humans today. How can I manage to become righteous before God with good deeds?
Then I tell Abraham Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6. Lid: I am happy that I have a personal relationship with God, that I talk to him like with a family member. What does that look like in your life? Do you also have such a personal relationship?
Next story: God puts Abraham to the test Genesis 22:1-19. "Who provided the sacrificial lamb?" Muslims almost always answer that the sacrifice was given by God. This is then the template for the next story.
The deliverance of Abraham's descendants by Moses Exodus 12:1-33, Deuteronomy 18:15
Again and again I come across postmodern Muslims who say that all religions lead to God. That's why I have the following lid: only those who were in the house and under the protection of the blood were spared from judgment. It was no use saying, "I am an Egyptian who says all religions lead to God." "Remember, God makes the rules not you. What do you think about that?"
Now comes the Message of Hope Isaiah 52:13-53:12. A very brief summary of this story is recommended here. Again the question: What do you think about it?
As the last or penultimate story I use Jesus' baptism Luke 3:1-3, 10-22 Matthew 3:7-9, 13-15, John 1:29. I end the story with the cover: "I believe that Jesus is the sacrificial lamb of God who died and rose again as a sacrificial lamb for my disobedience, just as our common prophet Jachia (Arabic name for John the Baptist) said. What do you think about this?" You have to realize that this can come across as a serious provocation. Here you can see who is a seeker and who is not.
I use as a finish: The story of the prodigal sons Luke 15:11-32
Lid: "I believe that God welcomes us like a father welcomes his son. What do you think about this story?" Due to time constraints, the second part of the story about the second son can be omitted.
I always use stories to filter out who is really interested in spiritual conversation. "Who is seeking?" Anyone who has listened so far may find it worthwhile to spend a lot of time with more stories.
All stories are formulated in my manual and come with lots of tips. Especially for a storyteller with not so much experience, it can be worth learning and retelling a story every week.
I will also be introducing more story sets in my next blog posts, so it's worth coming back to the blog. A warm invitation to my Training in German and English.

Finally, a helpful table with Arabic names that I like to use in my stories:

Arabic Bible part names

When talking to Muslims, it is recommended that the story is concluded with the sentence: This story is really true and it is written in the Taurat/Zabur or Indshil.

English Arabic
History books of Moses Taurat
Psalms/Wisdom literature Zabur
New Testament Injil

If you want to know which biblical stories appear in the Koran and how, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_narratives_in_the_Quran

 

Arabic terminology

When talking to Muslims, it can be very helpful to use the Arabic names of biblical characters. For example, John the Baptist is called Yahya in Arabic. Yahya is important to many Muslims, but they do not know John the Baptist. The table also lists other important names that do not appear here.

 

 

English Arabic
Abel Habil
Abraham Ibrahim
Adam Adam
Egypt Misr or Misir
Evil spirit / unclean spirit Jinn
David Dawud
Elia Ilyas
Eva Hawa (pronounced Hauwa)
James (Latin form of Jacob) Jakub
Isaiah Aschaja or Schaja
Jesus Isa
John the Baptist Yahya (pronounced Jachia)
Joseph Jususf
Cain Qabil
Mary Maryam
Moses Musa
Noah Nuh
Solomon Suleiman
Samuel Samuil
Samaria El-sa-mi-ria
Satan Shaitan
Impure spirit/evil spirit Jinn
Gemeinde und Menschen mit Behinderung

The church and people with disabilities

During my training sessions, the participants always work on a story set for their particular context. These story sets are always a personal highlight for me, as I am often very richly rewarded and discover many new treasures in God's Word. A story set consists of 4-10 stories, which are either told one after the other or build on each other visit after visit. What does this look like in practice? Physiotherapists working somewhere in Asia took part in a training course. Disabled children or adults are considered a disgrace and are often hidden away. As a result, they do not receive the support they actually need. These physiotherapists travel to the villages and visit the families. Depending on the disability, they perform exercises or treatments and teach the parents how to repeat them. Afterwards, they sit together for a cup of tea or usually for a meal. During each visit, they tell one of the stories from the following set:

Creation of the world Gen 1-2 Possible conclusion: All people are created in the image of God, including people with disabilities.

The first disobedience against God Genesis 3:1-24 Focus: Through the disobedience of man, suffering also came into the world.

David and Mephibosheth 2 Samuel 9:1-13 Focus: King David has given all the land back to a severely disabled man and Mefi-Bosheth is a daily guest at the royal table.

Jesus heals a man born blind John 9:1-9 Possible conclusion: "The purpose of disability is not punishment for individual sins, but the glory of God."

Seeing the weak Luke 14:1.7-14 Focus: Jesus sees the suffering of the weak.

The story of the prodigal sons Luke 15:11-32 All are welcome with God, even people who are supposed to be a disgrace or shame.

The African Acts 8:26-39 Focus: The eunuch was castrated and becomes a follower of Jesus.

My personal favorite story from this set is David and Mephibosheth 2 Samuel 9:1-13

After David became king, he thought of his deceased friend Jonathan, the son of the former king Saul. David began to find out if any of Saul's family were still alive. He was determined to keep the promise he had made to Jonathan to do him good. One of his servants remembered that one of Jonathan's sons, Mephibosheth, was still alive. When he was a child, his nurse had accidentally dropped him while fleeing, and since then he had been paralyzed in both feet and could no longer walk. King David had him brought to him from a town some distance away. When Mephibosheth arrived at the royal court, he bowed before King David. David reassured him: "You needn't be afraid. Your father was my best friend, and I want to do you good. I will give you back all the fields that belonged to your grandfather Saul. You will eat at my table every day as my guest. Mefibosheth bowed again and asked: "What have I done to deserve this? I am worth as little as a dead dog." Then King David publicly declared, "I give all the possessions of King Saul to his grandson Mephibosheth.” King David treated Mephibosheth very well, even though he could have killed him. And so Mephibosheth ate with King David every day. This is a true story from the Holy Scriptures. Possible lid: What I like about this story is that King David treated a disabled person like a royal child.

Think about the effect this story has on parents who have only ever heard it: Disabled children are a disgrace and shame.

In future blog posts, I will also present a story set from time to time. You can find all the material in my handbook "Stories and Oral Bibles" under https://www.fivefingerfood.org/en_us/download/. As my handbook continues to grow, I can only give the current page page 171, but this will change. Otherwise look in the table of contents under "The church and people with disabilities". The photo is from https://www.freebibleimages.org, a free super resource for Bible photos or drawings.

Bekehrungswege von Muslimen

Conversion paths of Muslims

In his doctoral thesis Coming to Faith in Christ: Case studies of Muslims in Kenya Reinhold Strähler has described four fascinating ways how Muslims find Jesus (Dissertation for download). If you tell stories to Muslims, as in this case, then you also have a goal in mind. That's why I think it's important to think about how Muslims, for example, can find Jesus and which stories fit in with this.
I have quoted the four ways here.
1. intellectual path: Miriam's path
As the daughter of a highly educated and respected family in Iraq, all paths were open to Miriam. Her career path from university to an academic career was a given, just as Islam was a natural part of her life and defined her identity. During her school years, a religious campaign began in which Islam was emphasised more strongly and the entire Koran was covered in class. Her family had little contact with Christians. As an educated and cosmopolitan family, they did have an Arabic Bible at home, but Miriam found the language difficult and the content incomprehensible.
When Miriam was 24 years old, her family moved to Germany and a new phase in her life began. She was fascinated by the completely different society and the associated freedoms and opportunities. The western image of women particularly appealed to her. She continued her studies and moved away from home, which is actually unthinkable for an unmarried woman from the Orient. But experiencing the great freedoms also showed her the challenges involved. It was not easy to keep her head above water with various jobs. The advance of the ‘Islamic State’ in her home country was a great burden for her. She needed people with whom she could talk about her longing for peace.
A German acquaintance criticised Muhammad, which made Miriam angry and even led her to defend suicide bombers. She got to know Korean Christians in her student hall of residence and attended their church services for eight years. She understood little of the content, as the topics discussed there were not geared towards people with a Muslim background. In an Arabic Bible that she received, she felt lost without guidance. She was bothered by the language, but read it again and again. At the time, she was watching Christian TV programmes with their religious and comparative religious debates. But at some point she had enough of it because her faith was always being attacked and ridiculed.
Miriam was looking for God, but didn't know where to look or who to pray to. She read a lot and followed many debates. At some point, she was so exhausted that she cried out to Jesus and asked for a sign. That night she had a dream in which she was on a sinking ship, but not sinking herself. She woke up terrified and deeply comforted at the same time. She prayed and thanked Jesus for saving her. After this dramatic experience, she received a Bible in a more comprehensible Arabic translation and began to understand more and more about the Christian faith. Through a German pastor, she came into contact with an Arabic church and was baptised there in 2017
2. Way of changing attitudes: Abdi's story
Abdi wuchs in einer dörflichen Umgebung in Kenia auf, die stark vom Islam geprägt ist und wo Christen als verachtete Minderheit gelten. Als Kind und Jugendlicher hatte er deshalb keine klare Vorstellung über den christlichen Glauben. »Wir kannten nur die eine Seite der Medaille«, erklärt er zu seiner Situation damals. Nach Beendigung der Sekundarstufe zog Abdi nach Nairobi, da seine Schwester schon in der Hauptstadt lebte. Durch sie kam er in Kontakt mit ausländischen Christen. Abdi war gerne mit ihnen zusammen, beim gemeinsamen Fußballspiel, bei Mahlzeiten und den Gesprächen über religiöse Themen. Nach und nach realisierte Abdi, dass die Bibel wertvolle Wahrheiten enthält, und er begann, diesen zu vertrauen.
Abdi had been brought up as a strict Muslim. He was not always enthusiastic about the religious rites, but he liked the communal aspect of Islam. For his own people, the Christian faith did not exist; they saw Christians as lost people. But when Abdi met such people in Nairobi, his attitude towards Christians changed dramatically. The love he experienced from them overwhelmed him. ‘The love that these Christians have for each other and even for members of other religions is what sparked my interest.’ This love made him realise that there was ‘another side to the coin’. For about two years, Abdi was in contact with these Christians, observed their lives and learnt a lot from them about the teachings of the Bible. Then he was ready to decide to follow Jesus Christ himself.
3. Mystical path: Vahid's story
Vahid is an electrical engineer and - like his wife Elham - comes from a wealthy middle-class family in Iran. Belief in God played no role for him. Rather, he had a critical attitude towards Islamic demands. Two and a half weeks after his wedding in 2013, his father died. As a result, Vahid became depressed and afraid of death, and his appetite for life dwindled. He fell into a deep crisis and felt like he was sinking into a swamp. In October 2016, an Iranian friend who lives in the USA visited the couple. She is a Christian. Vahid took her up on her offer to pray for him. During the prayer, Vahid experienced a sudden sense of relief and felt healed afterwards.
This profound emotional experience led to a cognitive examination of the Christian faith. The couple began to read the Bible together and search for information on the Internet. During a visit to France, they attended a Christian church service for the first time in their lives. On their return to Iran in March 2017, they came across a television program on the Christian channel Sat-7. At the end of the program, the speaker encouraged the listeners to entrust their lives to Jesus Christ and turn to him in faith. The couple did this with a prayer. During another visit to Germany in June 2017, they were baptized in a Persian church.
4 The solution-seeking path: Julia's story
Julia grew up in Iran in a liberal, cosmopolitan family. Her father only read the Koran at the request of his devout mother, and stopped reading it after her death. Julia's parents had a happy and rather unusual marriage before the Islamic revolution. Her mother was westernized in her dress and behavior. Julia's father commuted back and forth between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula as part of his work. He had American work colleagues there, some of whom were Christians. He learnt a lot about the Christian faith from them and eventually described himself as a Christian, but without ever officially converting to the Christian faith and being baptized. At home, he told his family a lot about what he had learnt about the Christian faith. Julia grew up with the example of her freedom-loving mother and free-thinking father and adopted their attitude, including their love of the Christian faith.
After graduating, Julia also went to work on the Arabian Peninsula. Three years later, she married out of necessity. Her father was in debt at the time and an acquaintance from Iran offered him a large bride wealth if Julia would marry his son. Julia agreed to the marriage for her father's sake. It soon became apparent that her husband was violent. He began to beat Julia. His family had a very conservative and restrictive attitude towards women's rights and so Julia was forced to wear a veil, even in the presence of her brothers-in-law, although this is actually unusual in Islam. Her husband became more and more suspicious and increasingly harassed his wife. Life became a living hell for her. The children, who had been born in the meantime, were also beaten by their father for the slightest neglect. At the same time, her husband had affairs with other women.
Her husband's religious fanaticism and his violence caused Julia to hate Islam. She began to search for Christian content on the internet. She was particularly fascinated by Jesus‘ miracles, his love for his enemies and his humility, such as the way he washed his disciples’ feet. She longed for an alternative to the narrowness of her life, to the violence and hypocrisy of people who pretended to be pious but behaved completely differently. Gradually, she became convinced that the Christian faith was the right path for her. She went to the family court twice, but only experienced rejection there. So Julia made plans to escape.
The opportunity arose when she visited her sister, who lived in Germany. After some pleading, her husband agreed to a visit. Once in Germany, Julia took the opportunity to go to the police with her children and apply for asylum. Her husband was furious, but as Julia had not told her sister, she was unable to help find Julia. While she was still in the initial reception centre in Heidelberg, Julia sought contact with a Christian church. She was later baptised in an Arabic-speaking church in Stuttgart.
Which paths do you know? Do you know any other ways? What could such paths look like for secular Germans? Why don't you write down different spiritual paths and send them to me via the Contact. Under Training you will find all the information you need to register for a training course

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