Storying Group

As a follow up to the last post, I am so happy to announce that I have now met three times with the same group of 8 women (and their children).  We spend our time baking American goodies or making a craft, followed by me telling a Bible story, followed by them telling me a legend or story that they believe, and finally followed by eating lunch together.

So far, I have told the stories of the creation of the spirit world, the creation of the world, and the fall of man.  I tell the story through one time, then I ask them to repeat it back to me (as a group effort), and then I ask what they think of the story/if they've heard it before/if they believe anything similar.  This last week, I had the group of children that was there act out the story as the women told it back to me and I really think the visual helped them to remember the story better.

I'm hearing all kinds of things about what they believe - some legends their grandparents taught them (such as demons who come and steal whatever body part of yours that has jewelry or makeup on it and mix it up in a big cauldron in hell) and some beliefs they legitimately hold (such as you always need to have at least one black chicken because it brings good luck and protects all your other chickens).  I'm definitely learning a lot and looking for ways to bridge the gap between the gospel truth and their traditions.

For lunch, there is always rice, beans, pasta, some sort of 'salad', farofa, sometimes vegetables, and meat.  The meat could be fish, chicken, bull, or even a giant kind of lizard!  Most of the time, it is chicken that they have killed by hand for me that morning :)  And we have juice made from the fruit in the trees in their yards, and many times coconut water (straight from the coconut) as a treat.  It's always good, but sometimes I have to say the missionary prayer of, "Lord, I'll get it down if you can keep it down!" haha.

We are going one to two times per week and I am planning on starting to meet with another smaller group of ladies in another part of the village this coming Wednesday.  (Like anywhere, there are cliques and groups, so I will start my storying set and crafts in a second home).  Thanks for all your prayers and support!  I'm hopeful things are starting to take off :)