In an article entitled, ‘Bible heroine crosses cultures’ Bible Society’s recent supporters newsletter has a wonderful story of the Bible and mission in action. They recently co-funded a production of the story of Ruth that was used to engage with asylum communities in the UK:
It started when Bible Society’s Arts Development Officer Luke Walton suggested to a theatre company the possibility of exploring the Old Testament story.
‘We didn’t know the story of Ruth,’ said No Nonsense Theatre’s Artistic co-Director Lisa O’Hanlon. ‘The first time we read the biblical account we weren’t enthusiastic at all. Yet when we explored the Jewish history and looked at the Christian perspective, it became clear many women share her story today.
‘But it wasn’t until we involved the asylum community that this story really came to life. As the women who’d been forced to flee their own countries walked past our picture board portraying famine, grief, displacement and alienation, they each remarked, “That’s my story”.
It’s a beautiful account of some of the ways in which the Bible can build bridges, express human experience, and connect. Here is a link to the whole article: Bible Heroine Crosses Cultures article
The book of Ruth is a remarkable one. I just recently reread this book, and there are some strong messages there, most notably that of God’s sovereignty.
Hi there,
Thanks for the great blog. I’m in Melbourne training for cross cultural mission with CMS (cms.org.au) and am currently thinking about mission in Ruth.
I’d appreciate the opportunity to read that article: ‘Bible Heroine Crosses Cultures’ if you had a pdf you could email me? That link is dead.
Cheers,
John