This story has been corrected from its broadcast. The young boy in the story is the son of a tribal chief in Pakistan, not the son of an imam. His father was able to instruct the imam to play Christian content from the mosque loud speakers.
Middle East/Near East (MNN) — God sends hope into the unrest of the Middle East and Near East today through a simple tool called “Storytellers” for kids.
These devices from Keys for Kids are handheld players loaded with audio Bibles and more. They’ve been translated in Urdu, Pashto and soon to be Farsi to reach entire communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and beyond!
Greg Yoder says they’ve heard incredible stories from distributions just this year. “Where we’re actually seeing not just kids coming to faith in Christ, not only memorizing Scripture, not only memorizing the stories, but adults being able to see the simplicity of what it means to follow Jesus Christ and want that in their own lives.”
In recent years, one player somehow reached the son of a tribal chief in Pakistan. He was notorious as a bad, troublemaking boy, but two days after he started listening, his dad said, “What is going on with you? You’re now a nice kid. What is going on?”
(Photo of a boy in Pakistan with a Storyteller courtesy of Keys for Kids Ministries)
His son said, “I know Jesus.”
“What do you mean you ‘know Jesus’?”
After his son started playing the storyteller for him, the chief then ordered 200 more players for other village kids. After the kids began to change, he instructed the imam to play the devotional content from the village mosque loud speaker. The village began to change!
There’s another layer! Not only Muslims but also Christians need the encouragement and content on these audio players.
“The pastors and evangelists and lay leaders in this area of the world are saying they’re game changers, not just for evangelism, but for discipleship, because some of these pastors are learning more about the Bible than they’d ever known before,” says Yoder.
“Since most of these pastors haven’t been Christians for very long — Muslim background believers — they’re learning as if they were a child learning about Scripture.”
Today Keys for Kids is raising funds for thousands of players to load with content in Pashto, Urdu and soon Farsi. The opportunity is urgent, and the potential for impact is incredible!
“Those two languages (Pashto and Urdu) need 10,000 units right now. Then, the Farsi translation project has already been started,” Yoder says.
“We’re being told by pastors, especially in Pakistan, that they could use 3,000 units a month.”
Find your place in this story! Join the campaign with Keys for Kids to reach families in the Middle East and beyond with the hope of Jesus.
Header photo: Ameen, the son of a tribal leader in Pakistan, had a reputation as a rude and rebellious boy. However, his actions and attitude began to change after receiving a Storyteller. (Photo, caption courtesy of Keys for Kids)
