Latest Stories – August 2023 – Bumper Summer Holiday Edition

Harvest is coming

Alternatively, you might like to do ‘Story 24: Naomi and Ruth’ as the story itself includes the barley harvest. The accompanying assembly script focuses on God’s love and loyalty, just as we remember God’s provision as the harvest comes in.  

Highlights of the year

The year ahead

We are looking forward to connecting with Storytellers at events throughout the year, showcasing highlights from the tour. Look out for an event coming to your area and if you would like to host one, please send an email to [email protected]

We are so pleased to have a number of training sessions set up for the autumn term with some sessions already fully booked!

Autumn term 2023

• Thirty face-to-face sessions – over two hundred bookings so far
• Nineteen Zoom training sessions with two hundred bookings
• Five Trainer the Trainer sessions to update fifteen volunteer trainers

A thank you to our volunteer trainers

We pray doors will open for them in the coming year; that they will overcome any barriers they may face; and that they will see OtB flourish in their area.

As you know, the past few months have seen a lot of change. In essence OtB is still the same, a storytelling ministry that shares Bible stories with children, but new materials and the introduction of a membership scheme has meant volunteer trainers have needed an OtB update. This has resulted in a wonderful opportunity to re-engage with our volunteer trainers, see how everyone is, and take that OtB spark – which has been burning throughout the last few challenging years – and say, let’s go out again and get everyone excited about the new programme. We pray God will continue to bless them and renew their strength as they go out and deliver OtB training over the coming year. 

Storyteller news

A blessed evening in Bagillt

Ruth Holden, Training and Development Officer, Mid and North West England

On a lovely summer’s evening I walked up the hill to St Mary’s and St Peter’s Church, Bagillt. Impressive trees lined the path and the inside of the church was no less striking. I was there for a youth and children’s marketplace and information event, organised by the Mission Area Youth and Children's Worker along with the Diocesan Youth and Children Officer. 

It was such an amazing evening. Several people came to highlight resources for children and young people. I had some great conversations and met several people who are passionate about OtB. The aim of the event was to grow youth and children’s work in a sustainable way – to start small and avoid burnout. It was encouraging to hear how OtB is part of that vision, with the hope of exploring it more next year when roots have been established and inroads made. I was impressed by the wise words I heard and the heart for sharing the good news with young people.  

Afterwards, I was thinking about how important it is to support our youth and children’s workers. They give so much, in what can be a very tough job. We need to encourage them. If you have a youth and children’s worker in your church, benefice, or mission area, please share OtB with them. Let them know how it’s going. I’m sure they’d be encouraged to hear all your stories and to know what good work is taking place.

Open the Book beyond primary school

Over a year ago, Kristin from Bible Society told me about a pilot project she had been running in a secondary school where she had trained a team to go into local primary schools to do Open the Book assemblies. Since we had developed a great relationship with the new chaplain at the local Catholic secondary school, this seemed like an ideal opportunity to pursue further. 

After a two-hour training session, during which three of the young people left saying it really wasn’t for them, a group of twelve young people began leading Open the Book assemblies in two local feeder schools. We have rehearsals for two one-hour lessons in the week beforehand and then each group of six leads the assembly in different schools on a Thursday or Friday morning. The primary schools have loved it because it has strengthened the relationship between the feeder schools and the secondary school where most of the children go. The young people have loved it too, although I’m not sure it’s for all the same reasons I would have liked! And the secondary school have also been so supportive that we are about to train a further team of 15 for another 4 schools in September. 

We have learned a lot from the first year of doing this. We have decided, that due to demand (over 30 young people applied to be on the team this year), where possible we will select young people who have a belief, go to church or who are sympathetic to the Bible stories they will be telling. We want to pray together as a team and we want to talk more about the stories we are sharing and their meaning. 

We have planned all the dates for the whole year, so we aren’t rushing to fit things in around schools’ busy schedules. We have booked the minibus so that we can get the teams from one school to another quickly without having to walk. We are planning which assemblies to do – we do one per half-term – for the whole year, thinking carefully about linking the themes, so there’s a better sense of coherence despite there being gaps between each assembly. Finally, we are looking forward to the simplicity of the new material.

Please pray for us. Pray that the young people’s interest in the Bible will grow, and pray that the schools will enjoy the assemblies and want to know more. Please pray that this work will add to what Christians are trying to do throughout the city to share the good news with those who haven’t heard it. Thank you.

Open the Book – a reason to go to school!

An Open the book team in Barrow-in-Furness arrived to do an assembly and passed a mum who was having difficulty getting her child into school. The child clearly did not want to go in that morning. Suddenly the child noticed the Open the Book team and changed their attitude immediately, saying, ‘Come on Mum, I’ve got to get in’.

The Power of prayer

Resources

We are pleased to offer our full members a 15 per cent discount for the Good News Bible – Children’s Rainbow Edition and a 20 per cent discount for the Good News Bible – Family Edition. 

Get your discount codes in the members area now

In Africa, you can fully fund the work of one team for a year. In Latin America, you can bring the Open the Book experience to children with disabilities. Whichever you choose, with a donation of £200, you can give hundreds of primary school children an awesome grounding in God’s word.

You can also support Open the Book overseas without sponsoring a team, but by giving an amount of your choice.

Sponsor a team