The middle-aged man smiles and makes a quick bow of greeting to the small audience. He reaches into his left coat pocket and pulls out some cards.
Ben Lim's* eyes twinkle as he shuffles the cards. He fans them out in his hands and tells a random person in the crowd to "Pick a card ... Pick any card!"
A hush falls over the audience as a young Chinese man pulls one of the cards from Ben's hands. Ben instructs him to look at it but not to show anyone. Then, Ben asks him to act out the picture on the card. The young man gets down on all fours, puffs out his chest and roars.
"LION!" the group screams in unison.
Ben smiles and grabs the card. He flips it over for everyone to see. It's the ace of clubs -- but with a picture of three lions surrounding a man at the bottom of a den.
"Anyone know a story about a lion?" the Christian worker in East Asia asks. "No? Then, let me tell you the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den."
That's when God's Word falls on ears that are hearing for the first time. Ben, a master storyteller, takes the audience through the trials of walking by faith and not sight.
The rise and fall of his voice depicts emotions and fears when confronted with problems (like hungry lions waiting to devour). His peaceful cadence and soft, confident tone assures that God is always present when we have problems and call on Him.
The story ends and everyone looks at Ben, waiting for another. He smiles and fans the cards out again. In his hands are 51 more pictures depicting the Old Testament. Another set of cards in his pocket has 52 stories from the New Testament. Keep reading
The cultural context is a major factor in determining which approach to use--this approach or the approach described in the following article.
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