The Story of the Story Cloths
It’s been said, “When God is in your plans, plan BIG.” In 2004, God gave Bob Calvert, an IMB missionary to the Maasai in Kenya, the idea of placing chronological Bible stories on a story cloth to reach the Maasai. He never dreamed that the Story Cloths would eventually be used worldwide.
Bob shared his idea for using stories from Genesis through the Gospels with John Shepherd, the founder of Calvary Road Ministries, who also was working among the Maasai of Kenya. John then found Greg Jackson, a graphic designer, and Jim Lewis, a graphic artist, and the story cloth idea became a reality. Thanks to several of the CRM church partnerships, several thousand copies of the first Story Cloth—the Creation to Christ Story Cloth—were printed. In 2004, a short-term mission team utilized this Story Cloth to reach Maasai for Christ in the Kenyan bush. Over 400 Maasai came to Christ that week.
Before he passed away, John Shepherd finished the work on our second Story Cloth covering the Book of Acts. The Acts Story Cloth is used to disciple new Christian pastors and teachers about the historic spread of the Gospel, evangelism, church planting, what church should look like, and the persecution they most likely will endure. Our short-term mission teams and national “boots on the ground” partners regularly use both Story Cloths to train church leaders in North and East Africa to carry out the work for which they have been called.
Over the years, several hundred African schoolteachers have been trained to use the Story Cloths in their classrooms, which many national and local governments encourage unlike in America. The Story Cloths are used to teach the Bible, as well as help children to learn math, science, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Our short-term mission teams are currently working in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Zambia, and India helping indigenous missionaries and pastors use both Story Cloths for evangelism and discipleship. In fact, the summary book for the first Story Cloth has been translated into Mandarin, Bemba, Spanish, and Congolese French, Sudanese Arabic, Fur, Swahili, and Maasai. Since 2004, over 600,000 people have received a first-time gospel witness through those trained and resourced by CRM teams. The Story Cloths are also being used in various ministries in the United States, including Sunday School classes, small group and home Bible studies, children’s and youth ministries, nursing homes, and other outreach ministries.
After being trained to use the first Story Cloth, one volunteer said, “For the first time in my life, I understand what the Bible is all about.” What she realized was that the Old Testament is a progressive revelation of how God intended to send us the Savior even as He created the world and put Adam and Eve into it. When they disobeyed God’s command, God said to the woman, in pain she would bear children and to Adam that from the dust he came and to the dust he must return. But, to the tempter, He revealed One would come from the seed of the woman whom Satan would bruise His heel, but He would crush his head. God’s plan of salvation was revealed in the story of Noah and in the choice of Abraham who offered a substitute sacrifice for his only son whom he loved. God worked through Jacob, Joseph and Moses to fulfill the promise of sending the Savior. He continued to reveal the plan of redemption through the kings and the prophets, who foretold of a virgin bearing a Child, who would be born in Bethlehem and bear our sins. The Gospels are the story of Jesus being born, His ministry, His sacrificial death for us, and His resurrection. Before ascending to Heaven, Jesus commanded His followers to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit with which they would be His witnesses to the whole world until He returns.
Our short-term mission teams are currently working in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Zambia, and India helping indigenous missionaries and pastors use both Story Cloths for evangelism and discipleship. In fact, the summary book for the first Story Cloth has been translated into Mandarin, Bemba, Spanish, and Congolese French, Sudanese Arabic, Fur, Swahili, and Maasai. Since 2004, over 600,000 people have received a first-time gospel witness through those trained and resourced by CRM teams. The Story Cloths are also being used in various ministries in the United States, including Sunday School classes, small group and home Bible studies, children’s and youth ministries, nursing homes, and other outreach ministries.
After being trained to use the first Story Cloth, one volunteer said, “For the first time in my life, I understand what the Bible is all about.” What she realized was that the Old Testament is a progressive revelation of how God intended to send us the Savior even as He created the world and put Adam and Eve into it. When they disobeyed God’s command, God said to the woman, in pain she would bear children and to Adam that from the dust he came and to the dust he must return. But, to the tempter, He revealed One would come from the seed of the woman whom Satan would bruise His heel, but He would crush his head. God’s plan of salvation was revealed in the story of Noah and in the choice of Abraham who offered a substitute sacrifice for his only son whom he loved. God worked through Jacob, Joseph and Moses to fulfill the promise of sending the Savior. He continued to reveal the plan of redemption through the kings and the prophets, who foretold of a virgin bearing a Child, who would be born in Bethlehem and bear our sins. The Gospels are the story of Jesus being born, His ministry, His sacrificial death for us, and His resurrection. Before ascending to Heaven, Jesus commanded His followers to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit with which they would be His witnesses to the whole world until He returns.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;"
