{"id":33243,"date":"2024-01-23T07:07:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T07:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/?post_type=prayerline&p=33243"},"modified":"2024-01-22T11:15:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T11:15:23","slug":"stories-in-the-sand","status":"publish","type":"prayerline","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories in the sand"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the story he was telling: two people, in a precious relationship that had been broken, now joyfully reconciled. With an accompanying tune played on his bamboo flute, Uncle Edgar used the ancient storytelling art of sandroing<\/em> to bring home four central stories from the Gospel of Mark to students at Vanuatu\u2019s regional university campus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

The national IFES movement, Gud Nius Yunivesiti Felosip<\/em> (GNYF)<\/a>, asked Uncle Edgar to create this novel presentation of the gospel as part of their ?Huia Jisas?<\/em> outreach (\u201cWho is Jesus?\u201d in Bislama). It was one way of addressing two pressing issues: How do you help students in a culture of churchgoing to personally encounter Jesus? How do you enable students in an oral culture to engage with the Scriptures?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Vanuatu, a cluster of islands in the South Pacific, is populated by small, subsistence-farming communities, where most profess Christianity (90%+) and where the few who are involved in tertiary education (<1%) prefer to learn by hearing and talking rather than extensive study of texts. Joel Atwood, GNYF National Director, notes: \u201cMany students come to university having grown up in churches their whole lives, but they haven\u2019t looked closely at the Bible and are still unsure of who Jesus is, what he has done, and what that means for us\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

This is why GNYF strives to be intentional about sharing the gospel with friends and classmates in ways that fit their relational culture. In 2021, their ?Huia Jisas?<\/em> outreach was a Melanesian form of Uncover<\/em><\/a> (a Gospel distribution project used in many IFES movements). It not only equipped students to share stories from Mark\u2019s Gospel with other students but also went a step further: by connecting with Uncle Edgar \u2013 a local expert in sandroing<\/em> \u2013 they devised patterns to help communicate key themes of sin, forgiveness, reconciliation, and rule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Now, in 2024, the movement is organising another ?Huia Jisas? <\/em>outreach, this time using John\u2019s Gospel. Sency, a student leader at a relatively new campus group, is looking forward to it: \u201cWe want our classmates and friends to dig deeper into discovering who Jesus is. What exceeding joy to know that the God of the universe loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die for us so that anyone who believes should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). I pray that more and more young people here in Vanuatu schools, colleges, and universities will encounter Jesus and develop a personal relationship with him in daily life. What an awesome adventure it will be!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Since many student leaders are new, the first semester (February-June) will focus on training and planning; a cross-campus team will choose stories, develop the booklets, and plan events. \u201cWith John\u2019s big metaphors for who Jesus is, we could have some real fun using traditional art forms like sandroing<\/em>, weaving, and dancing,\u201d says Joel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Let\u2019s pray for students in GNYF Vanuatu:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
    \n
  • Give thanks for the creatively contextual way the gospel was presented in 2021 and pray for the student leaders as they plan ?Huia Jisas?<\/em> 2024 over coming weeks \u2013 that the Holy Spirit will give them inspiration, wisdom, and anticipation.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
  • Pray for GNYF students who are anxious about inviting friends or classmates to read the Gospel or attend talks and events. Ask the Lord to use the \u201csupport events\u201d to equip them and give them courage.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
  • Pray for the Gospel distribution and public events in late July and August \u2013 that students will engage with Scripture, encounter Jesus, and enjoy an ever-deepening relationship with him.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":33244,"template":"","area":[464,695],"theme":[],"class_list":["post-33243","prayerline","type-prayerline","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","area-south-pacific","area-vanuatu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStories in the sand · IFES Prayerline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stories in the sand · IFES Prayerline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/\",\"name\":\"Stories in the sand · IFES Prayerline\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-23T07:07:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prayerline\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories in the sand\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/\",\"name\":\"IFES\",\"description\":\"A movement of students sharing and living out the good news of Jesus Christ. Locally. Nationally. Globally.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#organization\",\"name\":\"IFES \u00b7 International Fellowship of Evangelical Students\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ifeslogo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ifeslogo.png\",\"width\":262,\"height\":262,\"caption\":\"IFES \u00b7 International Fellowship of Evangelical Students\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stories in the sand · IFES Prayerline","description":"The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stories in the sand · IFES Prayerline","og_description":"The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the","og_url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/","og_site_name":"IFES","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1920,"url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/","url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/","name":"Stories in the sand · IFES Prayerline","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-23T07:07:00+00:00","description":"The student crowd watched closely as Uncle Edgar drew his finger through the sand. The skillfully etched patterns and shapes represented characters in the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_20210922_141350823_HDR-1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/stories-in-the-sand\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prayerline","item":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories in the sand"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/","name":"IFES","description":"A movement of students sharing and living out the good news of Jesus Christ. Locally. Nationally. Globally.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#organization","name":"IFES \u00b7 International Fellowship of Evangelical Students","url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ifeslogo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ifeslogo.png","width":262,"height":262,"caption":"IFES \u00b7 International Fellowship of Evangelical Students"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/es\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayerline\/33243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/prayerline"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/prayerline"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area?post=33243"},{"taxonomy":"theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/theme?post=33243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}