(this story has more power if you recognize the role of women in this
culture, and also the current context of a lot of violence against
women. For this woman to speak took courage in multiple ways)
This is from the Oral Bible Storying work in the Sepik:
Susan is a pastor's wife in the remote Kwomtari area of Sandaun
Province. She has always been soft spoken and quiet during gatherings as
she listens to others speak and express opinions. Susan is humble and
submissive in her attitude and behaviour. She is however illiterate. Why
was she selected as one of the Oral Bible Storytelling team members from
the Kwomtari community? Susan has a deep faith in God but has been
frustrated by her inability to read and therefore participate fully in
leading the women's fellowship group or even sharing Bible stories with
her children. It was for this reason she was chosen but God had a much
bigger picture in mind.
After the first OBS workshop Susan began to share her stories first with
her family and then with the ladies' fellowship group in her village.
The other women on the committee however were not pleased. They felt
Susan was trying to put herself forward, to make a name for herself.
They were literate and Susan was not so she should keep to her place.
Her husband seeking to shield his wife forbade her to tell the stories
outside of the home. Just recently over 150 women attended a regional
women's meeting. There was opportunity to clarify the goal of the OBS
method. When the stories in God's Word, become part of the heart and
mind of a person, whether literate or illiterate, they come alive and
impact lives. Susan, a woman once shy and lacking in confidence, opened
the devotional time by telling a Bible story. The ladies listened
spellbound.
Susan's husband found another way to encourage his wife. If you travel
to the Kwomtari area you may witness Susan telling a Bible story during
the church service and her husband then following her by preaching his
sermon based on the message contained in the story she just told.
Together they are planning an outreach trip to other Kwomtari villages
and beyond.
Yes, God had something special in mind for the Kwomtari and he used a
most unlikely person to deliver it.
