Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries (ATSIM) have recently launched a series of 30 PowerPoint Bible lessons in easy English, especially illustrated for indigenous Australian audiences.
Titled ” The Bible says…”, the PowerPoint series was created as an evangelism resource for indigenous communities.
“A picture tells a thousand words. These new illustrated PowerPoints will be very attractive for indigenous audiences for whom English is not their first language,” said recently retired ATSIM remote area senior pastor Don Fehlberg.
The series is the end-product of several years of teamwork by ATSIM supporters. The project started with Finke (NT) Bible workers Mancel and Jubilee Dougherty, who developed the initial series. Pastor Fehlberg and his wife Eileen helped translate the original lessons into easy English, and the content was illustrated by Graham and Dianne Weir, who have extensive experience creating illustrated PowerPoints for Pastor Mark Finley’s “Search for Certainty” series.
To give the illustrations a real-life feel, Pastor Fehlberg’s photos of first nation peoples were used along with artwork produced for ATSIM a few years ago by Australian Adventist artist Phil McKay.
“This is a great resource that will benefit ATSIM throughout Australia. The presentations are user-friendly, and they are effective in communicating the Bible truths,” said Australian Union Conference (AUC) ATSIM director Pastor Darren Garlett.
Already using the new resource to lead a Bible study group, Port Hedland Adventist Church (WA) elder Albert Gerry recommends the study guides to anyone who wants to give Bible studies. “It has been a lot easier to present, and those who were studying found it easy to follow and go through the Bible study guides, even with very little understanding of the Bible. A great resource,” he said.
Pastor Fehlberg highlights that even though the resource was purposefully designed with indigenous Australians in mind, it can be equally useful for anyone who wants to give Bible studies to people who don’t have English as their first language.
“Anyone with the ability to connect a computer to a home TV can use these free resources to win souls,” he said.
To request a free download link to the 30-lesson PowerPoint series, contact gmw@westnet.com.au.
