“Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, He never spoke to them without using such parables.” (Matthew 13:34 NLT). Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He walked the Judean hillsides over 2,000 years ago telling Stories and Parables as He captured the attention of his immediate audience.

We just released our 2024 Annual Report and it is full of Stories of transformation and impact as we see the Great Commission being fulfilled among oral culture communities around the world. Our trusted partners across Asia and Africa reported 26,410 Bridges training participants, 39,359 New Believers and 4,670 new churches planted in just this year alone! This brings our cumulative total of reported churches planted among oral cultures through oral Scripture engagement, from 1997 through 2024, to 115,319. It also brings our cumulative total of New Believers to 579,946! There are so many who were lost before, but have now been reached and engaged with the Gospel. All for your Glory, Lord! We are seeking to advance your Gospel until all have been reached. Read on for two of our featured Stories and other highlights from 2024.

This is the time of year when we compile all our international partner field reports from around the harvest fields of Africa and Asia from the past year. Our Bridges partners and their networks of leaders work diligently at reporting on their NGO/network activities and send us their year-end impact reports. We receive hundreds of stories of transformation each year and the process is quite laborsome. It is not easy to decide which ones, out of the hundreds we receive, to feature in our 2024 Annual Report.

The SIU Board of Directors has adopted a “Care and Integrity of the Leader” standard recommended by the ECFA (Evangelical Council for Accountability). As a part of this, the board recently took me through a performance review. It was a good thorough evaluation. It brought many good things to light, as well as some things I need to work on as a leader. Constructive feedback is hard to hear sometimes. However, it is much appreciated, and I receive it with an open heart and mind. The Lord does this with His chosen leaders, correcting and rebuking when necessary because HE loves us! One story in particular stands out to me.

“What kind of IMPACT will we see if we donation to Scriptures in Use?” You may be thinking something like this as you consider where to make your year-end giving. We hear this question quite often as we raise funds to equip indigenous leaders through SIU Bridges training events in Africa, Asia, and around the world. “What IMPACT will my gift have?” When I answer this question, I often tell people that they will not find a better return on ministry (ROI for the business-oriented types) than SIU. I’ve been in the international missions/ministry environment for over 23 years. Let me explain why I say this.