Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 27

Telling God’s Story to the Sweater People

she got tired the voice of another
woman would continue, then
another woman, and then another.
This lasted for three days.

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her own words. She then went back
to the other girls and told them the
stories. They pointed out if there
was anything confusing in the story
that needed to be explained.

My Sweater talk was not very good,
but Rubina told me they were singing
At the end of our time, we had
about the man’s life. It was like an
all of the girls helping us with the
oral obituary, but more
Bible stories. They helped
I thought to
us record 47 stories from
about feelings than facts.
myself, This
The song talked about the
the Bible in chronological
is what life
hopelessness of his wife, that
order from Creation to the
without Christ
his daughter would never
formation of the Church.
sounds like.
find a husband now because
Rabia, my teammate’s
there was no dowry to be given, and
teacher, helped her back-translate
the stories (which is when the
that the family had no reason to go
teacher listens to the story and
on. A few weeks later the daughter
then tells it back to us in English).
came to Rubina’s house while I was
there. Her face looked hopeless and
My teammate then typed it out in
sad. I told her about my dad dying
English. If there were any mistakes,
a few years before. I shared with her
that God would take care of her like
we worked on the story again with
he took care of me, but it seemed to
Rubina or the other girls. Our desire
be no comfort to her. Rubina’s mom
was to make sure every story was
just held this poor girl in her arms.
biblically accurate, understandable
to the common person, and easy
A few days later the girl died for no
to retell. Rubina’s family loved the
apparent reason, possibly just from
a broken heart. The songs of sorrow
stories from the Bible and one night
began again. I thought to myself,
I watched as she shared the story
This is what life without Christ
of the woman who washed Jesus’s
sounds like.
feet with her tears. When her father
heard this story, he cried. Rubina’s
Rubina helped us pick out stories
mother, who had no education,
from the Bible that would give hope
also shared the stories her daughter
to the Sweater People. She listened
taught her with Muslim neighbors.
to a Bible recorded in a trade
language and we read it to her in
When we felt ready, we went out
English. Then, she told the story in
to test the stories with different