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Hey there!

I grew up in North Carolina (Go Tar Heels!) and have been on staff with Cru for over 20 years. In that time I have performed in outreach bands across the country and around the world, sharing Christ with college students, soldiers going off to war, prison inmates and internationals. 

But eight years ago, while doing ministry in South Asia, God began to plant the seeds for a new chapter in my calling. I still remember sitting in a circle on the ground with several Hindu and Muslim girls on one of my trips there. As I looked into their beautiful eyes, God stirred in me a desperate desire for them to know just how much He loves them. I'd never felt that desire so strongly before.

Yet, I struggled to know how to effectively articulate that message to them in a way they could truly understand. Even though they spoke a little English, I wasn’t able to really communicate God’s love to them in their heart language; in their cultural context.  It was frustrating, to say the least. But little did I know that God was laying the groundwork at that time that would lead me to the ministry of StoryRunners.

StoryRunners exists to equip the world’s 7,000 unreached people groups to produce and share oral bible stories so that people can hear the gospel in their own (heart) language and cultural context. And get this! StoryRunners' primary focus is on the very part of the world God has been breaking my heart for over the last eight years! He makes no mistakes! 

Did you know that there are more than 3 billion people in the world who have never heard the gospel in their own language in a way that makes sense to them? In fact, even if the bible were translated into their language, they couldn't understand it because many of these people are what we call oral learners (they don't read or write or they don't learn best that way). 

So StoryRunners developed a strategy to teach the truth of God's word orally, using The Promise: 42 stories from the bible that span from creation to the return of Christ and, together, paint a picture of who Jesus is and what he has done for mankind. Each story is translated carefully and then we equip believers in and near these communities to go share the stories they've learned with others. Story groups or oral bible studies usually result and then, in many cases, churches are eventually planted! In fact, one man in West Africa used these stories to start 8 churches in his surrounding community! These are places where no one has ever seen a church, much less been a part of one. 

I absolutely love the work I get to do with StoryRunners and I would love to have you join me in that work by partnering with me prayerfully and financially! All you have to do to get started is click the "Give a gift" button at the top of this page! It's that easy. Let me know if you have questions or would like to receive my regular ministry updates. teresa.touma@cru.org

Love in Christ,

Teresa Touma