Category Archives: Story

The power of story

Posted on April 19, 2018 by
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A tragic story, told well

Posted on April 6, 2018 by

Vanity Fair has published an incredible, haunting account about the ill-fated cargo ship El Faro. The ship sank during a 2015 Caribbean hurricane, and all 33 people aboard drowned. …the ship was found resting upright on a sandy plain 15,400 … Continue reading →

Posted in Reporting, Story, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Common themes reduce cultural distance

Posted on February 1, 2018 by

Effective stories can result from simply spotting familiar themes in unfamiliar cultures. For a Seed Company-engaged project in Guatemala, Bible translators provided quick, personal stories about Scripture-related conversations with friends. Here’s one: One day, Jakalteko translator Josefa was talking with … Continue reading →

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Civilization and graphic design

Posted on January 16, 2018 by

    This graphic represents not only one of my favorite quotes, but also what you can create in five minutes on a website called canva.com. It’s kind of a layman’s substitute for PhotoShop and InDesign. Not nearly as versatile … Continue reading →

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A Writer’s Mission

Posted on March 10, 2015 by

Quick: What’s the goal in any story we write about ministry? Show readers what God is doing in a particular place? Further the mission of Bible translation? Further the Great Commission? Engage people? Inspire more prayer and funding for a … Continue reading →

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Wonder in a Butterfly’s Wings

Posted on February 16, 2015 by

This is a blue morpho butterfly, native to Central and South America. My wife and I spent part of Saturday at Texas Discovery Gardens, next to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The gardens’ featured attraction is the two-story Butterfly House and … Continue reading →

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Glimpses of home

Posted on December 9, 2014 by

Christmastime brings a great reminder of one of the most impactful story elements: surprise. C.S. Lewis loved the term sehnsucht. The German word has no English equivalent. Roughly, it means a longing “to find the place where all beauty came from.” … Continue reading →

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