It was very encouraging meeting up with Piet Murre who is a Professor of Education at Driestar Christian University, Gouda in the Netherlands. I met him in 2009 in Holland. He came with another lecturer from Driestar and four students who are training to be teachers.
We spent a good two hours talking about storytelling and the RealityBites pedagogy. I outlined the Mafia conference we deliver and how evil can be understood in, at least, five different ways (Hindu, Buddhist, Materialist, Pagan and Christian). I explained how a government inspector marked the conference as ‘outstanding’ and that the material provoked the students to ask great questions about both Jesus and the differences between Buddhism, Materialism and Christianity. They seemed impressed and wanted to know more. I then told them about my experiences of talking about the Christian faith in ways that do not activate disdain and ‘shutters crashing down’. I told them how rat worship, although strange and wacky, can lead to very fruitful and enjoyable conversations about the incarnation and idolatry. I further noted that conversations about karma and reincarnation can also be very profitable. I told them a story about a guru, Yogananda who claimed to have lived in a diamond and then later was embodied as William the Conquerer. I pointed out that humour and imagination are vital in the effective communication of the Christian faith. It is easy to contrast resurrection hope with reincarnation if you have a good story.The Dutch students pointed out that belief in karma was popular in the Netherlands and that these ‘speech acts’ were spot on.
We then had an excellent conversation about modernism, postmodernism and new age mindsets and how vital it is to engage with these worldviews if we are to talk meaningfully and credibly about the Christian faith. Piet Murre encouraged me to produce a resource that would focus on which stories to deploy when talking to a relativist or a materialist etc. He said this would be a very helpful resource for Christian teachers in the Netherlands.
I was delighted that all the students and the lecturers bought copies of my book. Piet told me that my approach was ‘novel’ and this was very encouraging.
Mark is a lively storyteller and the author of four books, including The Spy, the Rat and the Bed of Nails: Creative Ways of Talking about Christian Faith. His work is focused on storytelling and how this can help us to communicate the Christian faith. He has written many articles for the Baptist Times, RE Today, Youthscape, Direction magazine and the Christian Teachers Journal.
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- The Inspiring Story of Catherine Booth and the Model Match Factory - July 1, 2024
