In the different nations I have traveled I have found that one thing connects all of humanity, and that is stories. The story ranges from fairy tails and myths and legends to origin stories and comedies in mundane life. Some stories are purely factual giving the exact context needed to understand the thought process behind each decision made, and why it was the right one. Others paint a world with their words that you get lost in for hours with no restraint. In my time in Ywam I have found that stories are a currency, something to trade around the coffee table or to give freely to those who are just joining the world of travel and have empty pockets.
In the summer of 2019 the importance of "the story" became overwhelming as I sat in a classroom in the heat of Greek summer, with people who's stories were coming out in broken english attempts or through a translator. All the while I continued in vocabulary and pronunciation and the seemingly mundane basics of the english language in hopes to help students reach their goals in learning the english language. In my last days my favorite student put down the flash cards and told me a story. She told me the story of her first marriage and her favorite job. She told me the story of hope in the midst of a hopeless situation. She did this all in the english she had learned and for the first time without a translator. I sat there in awe of this women as her story flowed out of her mouth and filled the room. The significance of this is that she gets to chose who hears her story and how they hear her story.
In 2020, when the world shut down, there was lots of time for story telling. over FaceTime or socially distance walks, friends would gather and tell stories of the times they missed having or even of the things they did to stay sane and safe.
In the summer of 2019 the importance of "the story" became overwhelming as I sat in a classroom in the heat of Greek summer, with people who's stories were coming out in broken english attempts or through a translator. All the while I continued in vocabulary and pronunciation and the seemingly mundane basics of the english language in hopes to help students reach their goals in learning the english language. In my last days my favorite student put down the flash cards and told me a story. She told me the story of her first marriage and her favorite job. She told me the story of hope in the midst of a hopeless situation. She did this all in the english she had learned and for the first time without a translator. I sat there in awe of this women as her story flowed out of her mouth and filled the room. The significance of this is that she gets to chose who hears her story and how they hear her story.
In Montana, I heard the story from my Cambodian sister about how her and her fiancé came to fall in love and how the lord led them to each other. we laughed at how the first time he asked her out she needed to ask someone his name because she could not remember. I was enthralled to be able to picture exactly where they were standing and having conversations, knowing the buildings and the cafe near the campus, I could picture the whole thing.
In 2021The world started to open up again and I found myself and 11 others on an island in the Caribbean, walking from house to house sharing stories of a man who walked the earth years and years ago. We told his story of healing the sick and broken, of including the outcast, and of mourning with those who mourned. We told the story of him wanting to be in relationship with each person, wanting to take away any shame and guilt they carried and free them from their sins. He wanted to call them family.
Some stories have the power to heal our hearts and to mend things in us that we didn't even know were broken. Some stories bring us back to places that bring us peace and comfort. Some stories make us cringe to think about. But all stories connect us. As I walk this earth and as I continue on the journey set before me, I pray I never forget to ask those around me to tell me a story.
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