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Remember what we were told in Crafting the Story - were constantly to be aware that we literates have our own way of telling stories. Primarily oral communicators have their own way as well. It could even be dierent in dierent parts of a country. We need to be able to tell the story as close to the way that they would tell a story, as we can. For instance, in Western Africa, if you listen to local story tellers, you may nd that 50-70% of the story is sung, not told. Some places in West and Southern Africa will even use drums when they tell the story. So we want to be very aware. Telling might include singing. Telling might include
drumming. Telling may include ways in which they tell their stories - and not only may, but we hope, it will.
We want to remember that were trying to tell the story as close as possible to the way in which they would.
As literates telling the story, we are always plagued by the temptation to teach. We are tempted to give an aside here and go into teaching mode there. As we tell the story, we are to stick to the story, remembering the integrity of the text, and were to tell the story as weve prepared it - no modernisations, no asides and no digressions into exposition. One of our colleagues often uses the term here no story interuptus. So be aware, were not to interrupt the story as we are prone to do. In essence, as we tell the story, we need to remember that were giving them an oral Bible. Thats why we are so concerned about telling the story, telling it with integrity, sticking to the text, no asides and no digressions. We are giving them an oral Bible. This is to be uppermost in our concern as we tell the story. We dont want to re-write Gods Word; we dont want to change it in the telling of the story. Were to be very sensitive and careful about this. This is why we should follow the chronology very carefully - this is why it is called chronological Bible storying! It is a title that was chosen to set it apart from other forms of story-telling and narrative presentations. This is chronological Bible storying, where we tell the stories as a part of a story session, setting that story apart and alone as a told story that approximates Gods Word. This is how we are giving them an oral Bible. There are other forms of storying - story-telling, narrative preaching, etc... - but their forms are based on literacy. They assume literacy and that the listeners already have Gods written Word available to them. Chronological Bible storying is based on the premise of telling the story as close to the biblical story as possible, telling it in a way they would tell it. They will memorise it, and they will have an oral Bible with which they can be a minister in any way they want to be, as God calls them, whether they ever learn to read and write or not. So this is telling the story to give them an oral Bible. But isnt there any discussion? Is there any room for the people to ask questions? Yes, there is. In part 5 we will discuss The Role of Dialogue in the Storying Session.
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