In working with people on an issue of behavior change, be it social, moral, or in development, three stories are essential:

1. what they have to tell us: their story
2. what we want to tell them: our story
3. what we want them to learn of God’s story

These are separate stories and we must make them intersect. To bring about changes in understanding and eventually in behavior, we must find links between these stories. These links will permit the interchange of ideas and the transmission of knowledge, values, and beliefs that can result in positive behavior change.

Originally Published: Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Vol. 42, #1, pages 44 – 50.