GOD'S STORY ROPE

Looking back at preparations for Peru: 

I've been invited to teach in Peru in 2013.  My friend Cathy and I will be teaching the process of making story ropes to multiple women's groups in Lima and Piura. 

I've made and taught the making of story ropes since going to Rwanda and working with the genocide survivors.

 It is an effective way to process ones story - often a story that is too painful to tell, thus never been shared. 

I am presenting it a bit different this time.  I'm creating  new rope - God's Story Rope  to tell His story and how our painful stories fit into his story.  


I'm going to be creating the story rope on the face of a quilt. This is all new & I'm feeling my creative way! 

I plan to have a postcard made of this new quilt, to hand out to the seminar participants.  So in the photos I was figuring out the proportions and size to make the quilt - to fit on the Modern Postcard's Sumo size card-cut in half horizontally.  

HOPI WOMEN SHARE THEIR STORIES

2nd of 2 posts

Eva's writes about their time of sharing: 

This woman, shared about being 100% Hopi and going away to school and returning. She was very proud of her life and considered her life a success. 

Others shared much more pain. In fact we recognized that we were on holy ground as they shared losses, divorces, alcohol and addiction problems with children.

Yet somehow when we finished, there was a sense of redemption and an ability to put their 'story' in God's hands.

HOPI WOMEN SHARE THEIR STORYROPES™

2nd of 2 posts 

Eva's writes about their time of sharing: 

This woman, shared about being 100% Hopi and going away to school and returning. She was very proud of her life and considered her life a success. 

Others shared much more pain. In fact we recognized that we were on holy ground as they shared losses, divorces, alcohol and addiction problems with children.

Yet somehow when we finished, there was a sense of redemption and an ability to put their 'story' in God's hands.

STORYROPES™ ON THE HOPI RESERVATION

1st of 2 posts
My friend, Eva, told me about an outreach on a Hopi reservation near Flagstaff, Arizona in 2012.  It was there where she and her team shared the storyrope™ process at the community center with mostly older women.  

On her team was a West African woman - cutting materials as another worked on her rope.

Tomorrow continuing with more story & pictures:  
HOPI WOMEN SHARE THEIR STORIES

CONSIDERING IDENTITY AND PURPOSE

In October 2013, Holly, from TRUE Stories Ministries, helped lead a college sorority group in Northeastern Oklahoma  in a two day retreat considering identity and purpose in their lives through the tool of storyrope™.   

The girls left that weekend with a perspective of truth versus lies in the events of their lives thus far and they purposed to go forward, facing challenges and joys in their lives with a perspective of seeking Truth in the story.   

The girls were pleasantly surprised at how their relationships with each other deepened, with better understanding and love, from that storyrope™ weekend. 

Holly holding her own storyrope™ as she taught the process.

PASSING THE PROCESS ON TO OTHER STATES

In the Spring of 2013, 20 women gathered for three days in a lovely, rural Oklahoma, no-cell-service retreat center to consider His Story in their lives using storyrope™.

Since then, at least eight of those women have used storyrope™ in small groups in their respective states of TN, WA, TX, and OK.

photo of Terri teaching Storyrope™

STORYROPES™ ON THE HOPI RESERVATION

1st of 2 posts
My friend, Eva, told me about an outreach on a Hopi reservation near Flagstaff, Arizona in 2012, when she and her team shared the storyrope™ process at the community center with mostly older women. 

On her team was a West African woman (in photo) cutting materials as another worked on her rope. 

Read the rest of the story with photos in next post.

PRAYING THROUGH WOMEN'S STORIES

From Marcia's blog:
A vital part of the work I do, along with team members, is praying through women's stories as they share the art they have made. The art often reveals dark, traumatic or shameful parts of one's story. Wrong choices, words, actions are confessed. There are people to forgive, through prayer, as one's story is shared. Abusers are brought to Jesus and the work He has done on the cross. Jesus has died for each of our sins, and for every sin committed against us. Justice has been done. Payment for wrongs have been made on the cross. 

One friend recently stopped me in the middle of the parking lot. She made her storyrope™ a couple of weeks earlier. She was so excited to tell me -  "I get it now - bringing things to Jesus - and now I CAN FEEL HIS LOVE!" We hugged, and I just stood there and thanked God for His kindness, mercy and grace. read Marcia's full post

83 WOMEN AT A STORYROPE™ RETREAT

In October, 2014, TRUE Stories Ministries partnered with a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma to consider "His Story – Your Story" with a group of 83 women at a  storyrope™ day retreat. 

The large group subdivided into smaller groups to look for Jesus in their stories. 

They spent time considering how their individual stories of joy and pain that God had transformed, might be used as His platform to reach into their respective communities.   

At the conclusion of the day, all 83 ropes were hung together on God’s Storyrope™ for a visual perspective of how we need each other, as we together reflect His Great Story today. 


  

TRAINING VOLUNTEERS WORKING WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKING

This post is from Tammie in the Seattle, Washington area, pictured below.

In November 2014 I trained a team of volunteers on Storyropes™. This team is a group of volunteers working with a human trafficking non profit. They host retreats at the local Juvenile Detention Centers here in the Seattle Area.

It's been incredible to hear the stories and see the healing taking place - by these kids telling their stories. It's not written but it's a form of art using scraps of material and ribbon.  Story is so important. It's where the healing starts! Thanks Dan Allender and The Allender Center for the work you do.

The Allender Center website is an excellent resource for those working with people through personal storytelling.

HAITI: EACH OF OUR STORIES MATTER

I love this photo! My friend, Marcia, took it after she and her team taught storyrope™ workshops in Haiti. Go to Marcia's new blog, Art Engaging Story, to read about the Haitian experience using this link:  Haiti - Storyropes™

There's Marcia on the right, wearing her storyrope™in Haiti, after teaching a workshop.

CHINA: HAPPY, JOYFUL GUYS !

Recently Peggy Sperling took another team to China.  On the trip, she did storyropes™ with this group of men, friends from a large group. 

She sent me this photo plus description, with permission to share.

Look at their smiling, joyful faces! 

She wrote, "the guys were telling their stories, sharing and in this case just laughing!" 

There was much to pray for after making the storyropes™ & sharing their stories.

INDIA: TRUSTING GOD FOR LIFE TRANSFORMATIONS

Cathy shares her experience in India - 2nd of 2 posts.

"I was VERY pleased with the outcome, believing there will be follow up and life transformations that began in the Story Rope process. One pastor's wife really got it and will lead her women to more and deeper."

At the end of the workshop, the women were invited to put their story rope on God's story rope, affirming that they are each loved by God and part of His story.  For both posts click: Cathy does StoryRopes in India

INDIA - HUNGRY FOR TRUTH IN STORY

Cathy talks about her story rope experience in India - 1st of 2 posts:

"Generally the women of India are hungry for Truth in the Story. Breaking thru the traditions and lies of their belief system takes time." 

"I taught God's Story with the great wedding coming soon. Also I taught that in the many, many gods in the world, there is only ONE God who LOVES each woman AND calls her by name."

"The strategy I used was to identify key women, strong in the Word and in prayer and then spend a day with them before we brought together a group of 100 women."

"I prepared them to facilitate small groups of 4-6 women within the large group in listening to each others stories, pray over each others stories and then asking them to follow up with those women in days/weeks to come."

Cathy and I (Marge) worked together in Peru. Look for all 1-SR Peru posts in right index

PARIS: SHE HAD A GLOW ABOUT HER

Final Paris Story Rope Post.  For Martha and I it was very late by now, but for the French, the night was young!  

One of our new friends stayed a little longer.

I was delighted to hear that she is from the country that inspired the art on my lap - I happened to bring it along on the trip.  

She had a glow about her.  How did she get to Paris? What was her family like? What was her story?  

Holding her rope and moving her hand from ribbon to ribbon, she told us her story.  Yes, indeed.  God was in her amazing story. Big hugs!  

She left soon after. In my concern for her safety riding the metro so late, I was told it was not an issue. The metro would be crowded with people, even now in the early hours of the new morning.  

After a little more clean-up, our host graciously walked Martha and I back to our hostel and we said good night. It had been a great evening of making new friends and building relationships around the coffee table - beginning with desserts and ending with stories. 

For all Paris Story Rope posts.

PARIS: JUST NOT ENOUGH TIME

By now it was very late. The evening was coming to a close and we had heard only one story. This happens. 

The elderly madame was getting ready to leave.  She had lived a long time. I wished I had heard her story. She had worked intently on her story rope. What was her story? I would not get to hear it.  

I sat with her a few minutes at the end. The madame spoke only French so with limited translation available, I told her I was so glad she came.  I gave her postcards of the quilts I had shown the group. The cards would be a token of thanks for coming and a remembrance of our evening together. 

I love hearing the stories of the elderly. They have lived through so much history. I still regret that I missed her story.
For all posts: Story Ropes in Paris.

PARIS: TONIGHT SHE WOULD SLEEP IN PEACE

That evening one of our new friends held up her finished story rope and excitedly started to tell her story BUT she began in the middle of her rope!  Now that she had everyone's attention, they stopped working on their ropes and encouraged her to begin at the beginning. She did and ended her story in tears.

Then with a big smile and sigh of relief, she said that she would be able to sleep that night for the first time in a very long time.  Not only did she tell her story but she recognized that God was with her on that long difficult life journey. The burden of keeping her story hidden for many years was lifted. Tonight she would sleep in peace.  All Paris StoryRope posts

It is a privilege to teach the story rope to women around the world and observe how God works through this simple hands-on process to bring about the beginning of healing. That was so evident in the story above.

PARIS: THOUGHTFUL • SLOW • DELIBERATE PROCESS

The women worked quietly around the coffee table • thinking about their stories• cutting a length of ribbon off the spool or picking up a button representing something or someone in their story • tying the ribbon or button on their length of fabric 'rope' • moving on to the next memory in their story. 

Making story ropes was a thoughtful, slow, deliberate process on this late Parisian evening.

PARIS: RIBBONS & BUTTONS ON THE COFFEE TABLE

Creating began around the coffee table.  What stories did those ribbons & buttons represent? This group represented different nationalities, each on a very different life path and somehow they all landed in Paris. It was getting late. Would there be time for their stories? to be continued. click for all 3 PARIS posts

PARIS: TELLING MY STORY

Fall 2012  continued from 1st post
After sharing several quilts, I brought out my StoryRope. With it I told my own story - very transparently - for that is key.

As I touched each ribbon, fabric strip and button, I shared what each represented:  • being raised in a volatile alcholic home • artistic talent • early depression • the importance of the ocean • becoming a Christ-follower • more depression • college art education major • marriage • children • more depression • a friend dying suddenly • going into a very long deep depression • and on... 

As I moved down the rope telling my story, Martha noticed how the women leaned forward, one shook her head-seeming to identify with my struggles.

I finished up with the very slow process of getting better and how God brought beauty out of ashes: I discovered art-quiltmaking - giving rise to a new purpose - taking me all over the world - sharing my art and story and helping others to find God in their dark, hopeless stories too and  teaching others how to do this.

At this point of the evening, our friend, the hostess, suggested they all make story ropes! Plates and cups were removed and out came fabric strips, ribbons and scissors. 
To be continued.......