Southern Thai Oral Bible Storying

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For language groups with oral cultures, chronological oral Bible stories are an effective way for people to engage with God’s Word. Through the Southern Thai Oral Bible Storying initiative, believers are equipped to share Bible stories in their churches and with their neighbours. In this region, the Southern Thai dialect is spoken by more than 4 million people. Christians make up a small minority in the region. 

The project is located in a district where there is no local church. The team has had to move forward without many church partnerships. Evangelism is also difficult to do in the region. With such a small community of local believers in Southern Thailand, evangelistic outreach is a challenge. The oral Bible stories are tools that any believer can use to reach out to their neighbours.

This work started in 2012, when a native Southern Thai speaker named Wassana began crafting and testing oral stories in her language. She began by forming a short set of 16 stories from the Bible, and now her team adds to them. By the end of the project, 47 stories will form a full panoramic view of  the Bible! 

The pandemic slowed progress. Nearly all workshops and gatherings were put on hold in 2021 as the pandemic hit Thailand. However, newly translated Bible stories are being crafted and tested in the community. There are also active online storying groups and one-on-one opportunities visits taking place, where the Scriptures are shared.

You can help share God’s Word with Southern Thai speakers, in their own language and help build capacity for local believers to further this work.

Due to the sensitivity of the region this project is located in, please contact development@wycliffe.ca for the latest updates on this project.

YOUR PARTNERSHIP IS KEY

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With your help, believers in Southern Thailand can provide their people with a complete panorama set of 47 oral Bible stories. Guided by an experienced  translation consultant, they will develop and approve a full overview of the Bible to increase access to Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation, based on the perspective of Southern Thai language speakers. 

Your involvement will also provide training so local Christians can share oral Bible stories with others in their community. Once completed, the full set of Bible stories will be posted on social media platforms and on the Wycliffe Thai Foundation website.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

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• People are encountering Christ. An increasing number of southern Thai speaking individuals are coming to or growing in faith through exposure to Southern Thai Bible stories and the world of missions! 
• A local church could be planted soon. There are a number of small groups in the project location which were created to test the oral Bible stories. As participants come to faith, Christian team members hope to see a church planted in the project location soon, and train its members to reach out to the wider community with oral Bible stories. The church could then use the stories in Sunday school, enabling youth to become future storytellers. 
• The project is generating curiosity. A local judge met the project leader and explained he’d had a dream: “I was dead and went to hell. There I saw many people being judged. There was a big book with the lists of the names of people. I woke up and I wanted to know more about the truth.” The project leader told the man about Jesus Christ, and the Book of Life described in the Bible. He was curious about what led her to convert to Christianity. After hearing the gospel, the man expressed that he wanted to seriously consider accepting Christ as his Saviour. Praise God! Shortly after that conversation the judge prayed to receive Jesus!

PRAYER POINTS
Pray for the five story group leaders who are working together to disciple 15 people!

OUR COMMITMENT

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• Visit the project regularly to monitor progress, address challenges and help ensure good stewardship of resources.
• Send you regular updates to keep you informed of progress, financial need and prayer requests.
• Send you an annual tax receipt for your donations.

Story: Finding a “Market” for Oral Bible Stories

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'” (Isaiah 52:7)