Western media and culture has created a ‘narrative’ against the Christian faith.  They like to pull our faith down.

As a result they tell bad stories about the church – but not the good. What this overlooks is the fact that:

  • …there are tens of thousands of good stories for every bad
  • …the bad stories exist because people weren’t Christian enough (the problem isn’t with Christianity)
  • …Christianity has, without a doubt – as a result of Jesus teachings, brought more good to this planet than any other thing.

To defend your faith the simple reality is this: If you knew a few more stories from your history – you’d have an amazing defence – and one that is easy to use, because it requires nothing more than the relaying of true stories!

To help, the Hope Project deliberately researched and summarised more than 50 key stories from our cultural history. The result is a resource that really is a gift!!!

  • Some stories are from our bicultural history – like the stories of chiefs Te Pahi and Ruatara that reflect the fact that Christianity was invited to NZ (not imposed)
  • Some are from our wider history – going back to England, and earlier.

…and some of these stories are as short as 80 words long to read sometimes – while still giving you a fact from history that is relevant to our context today!

 

Here is how to access these resources for you and your youth group

1. The booklets

  • View online at HopeProject.co.nz/ebooks
  • Order copies FOR FREE (as many as you like of each booklet) via AllTogether.co.nz/shop

2.  Download the studies to go with them

  • Find them (free downloads) at https://alltogether.co.nz/sermons-studies/

 

When you and your youth know these stories you will…

…FEEL MORE CONFIDENT – because you will be reassured that your faith really is amazing. It’s changed the world for good!

…BE MORE CONFIDENT – because when your faith is attacked, you’ll have stories of things that happened in our history that you can tell that push back against their unfair (and often untrue – or at least highly unbalanced) criticisms.

 

Beyond playing games and having light discussions – how about equipping yourself and your youth to truly thrive in THIS environment.

 

I put to you that you will struggle to do this if you don’t know these kinds of stories from our cultural history.

They are really, really important – because arguing with people rarely proves a point these days, while telling a story can cut through completely (and is memorable)!

 

Jesus told parables (stories) for a reasons.

Not all content you look at is equal. Some really is more relevant. This is highly relevant – and if you learn these stories, they will be useful in truly meaningful ways for the rest of your life!

  • It’s all free – including booklets posted to you.
  • We hope this helps.