Many times over the past ten years, we have reported how CSM materials are being used in ways that we had not imagined when we created the content. We first wrote our books and recorded our stories primarily for new English readers and to make them highly ‘translatable’. The books are now in 47 languages and our stories are about to be translated into American Sign Language.

But other ministries have found the books a useful tool in ways that we had not considered. Local drug and alcohol rehab programs are using to books to help their clients get grounded in biblical principles and develop a Christian worldview. Churches are using the material as supplements to teach English to immigrants and refugees. Children’s ministries are using the ‘little book’ as a means of catechizing their young people. And one of our books is being used as a seminary text to train pastors in West Africa.

Two years ago, we received a request from a group of Seniors Care facilities in Canada to help them use the Simple Stories book to help provide devotional material in their Memory Care area. Dr. Daryl Busby serves as chaplain for multiple facilities in British Columbia, Canada. Here is a portion of his latest update:

With the excellent support and input from our recreation team and Director, we have reformatted the stories for residents with sight limitations—of which many have a need. Also, we have kept their dementia needs in mind.
Now…

1. The stories are formatted in at least 26 point font, using a simple font type. 

2. Then, we have broken them down into a paragraph or two per page so that the number of words on a page does not overwhelm them. 

3. This page breakdown helps them also because, we invite those with reading abilities to read out loud one or two pages at a time. We thought about including photos on some pages, but decided not to. We want them to feel like this is reading a book—which they used to do all the time.

4. Then, we talk about some of the questions in the back of the book (eg. who is in the story etc.) 

This has provided an excellent “pick it up and do” activity throughout the year. Thank you

We are always thankful and humbled to hear about the ways God is using our material. As we continue to build our inventory of new work, it is our prayer that God will continue to use what we do in ways that we would not have imagined.