Why Michael Novelli?

Have you ever been stumped by something? You know what I’m talking about, you’ve looked at it from every angle and despite all your best efforts you just cannot figure it out. You’ve been there, right? Then it happens, just when you are about to give up someone with fresh eyes walks up and offers a common sense solution that is so simple that it makes you want to slap yourself. That’s how I feel about Michael Novelli’s book Shaped by the story. For 10 years Michael was in the trenches of youth ministry engaged in the familiar struggle of making the ancient scriptures come alive to students who just are not that interested. Then, a missionary introduced him to a unique, ancient way to engage people with the Bible called storying. Storying is a sequential telling of Bible stories followed by a time of review and dialogue. The beauty of storying is that it takes us back to the root of the text- stories about God and us. We begin to see the power of the stories when we put ourselves in the sandals of the people in the text. After implementing this method with his students Michael began to see students connect with God and His word like never before. It’s awesome to see an entire group of students transformed because God has revealed a simple common sense idea. Michael is a really humble and engaging guy and I am really glad that he is a going to be a part of Scribble sessions. If you would like more information about Michael and his ministry check out his blog at www.echothestory.com.

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