The Culture Shaping Power of Stories in the Koran, Torah, and the Bible.

Well told or written stories have the power to change people, communities, nations and the world. Stories have the power to bless or curse. There are stories that give an understanding of reality, and those that don't. Throughout history, we see that story telling has influenced cultures like the internet is doing today. The Greeks, Persians, Turks, Arabs, Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Jews, and many other large people groups have all evolved into what they are today partly due to the stories that were handed down from generation to generation. The ancient countries of the Middle East, North Africa and along the Silk Road have been heavily influenced by stories that are thousands of years old. The Koran (Qur'an), Torah, and Bible have some of the oldest stories that include Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael and the tribes that followed.

The one who can tell the best story in the best way can often have the biggest influence. Not only the story itself, but how it is told and how others hear it. When the printing press came into being, millions more people were impacted through this mass media. Today it's the internet which we see can tell the stories of live revolutions such as those which occurred in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011.

In the beginning of the world, 75% of the way God communicated to man was through stories. The Biblical story is that God created a world and then invited mankind to live in that world. The Bible is a story of reconciliation and redemption.

Today there is an even bigger emphasis on storytelling. People love stories. People flock to movies all over the world. From Hollywood to Bollywood, the movie industry is big business because people love to be entertained by stories. Millions of people sit in front of their TV watching daytime and evening soap operas. Many of these people are addicted. People can get absorbed into a story so deeply that they accept it as truth even if it is fiction!

For a good book on this topic, read "The Power of the Story" by Leighton Ford

Communities Around the World: First Stop the Silk Road.

The Silk Road is the land between China and Europe. Traders crossed back and forth over this land for thousands of years. Most of the people of the Silk Road are Muslims. However 70 years of Marxist propaganda in Central Asia left little formal knowledge of Islam, so for many people only the folk superstitions survived. Many Turks, for example, pride themselves on their liberal interpretation of Islam. Turkish aspirations to join the European Union have fostered the desire for more freedoms. Religious nationalism still results in the persecution of religious minorities, such as Christians. Iran opposes the West in the name of Islam, but disillusionment with the regime has led to great interest in other faiths, especially Christianity. Where there is war and poverty, Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise and strengthening. Iraq is on the verge of further unrest once the Americans completely pull out the end of 2011.

The Turks

The Turks were nomadic peoples who burst out of the steppes of Central Asia and astonished the world as they captured Baghdad and Constantinople. Now the languages and cultures of the Turks of Turkey, the Azeris of Azerbaijan, the Turkmen, the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgys and Uighurs of Northwest China are closely related, with a shared feeling of kinship.

The Persians

The Persians were the first to dominate this region. Darius' empire spread from the Aegean Sea to the Pamir Mountains. Persian language and culture and their early conversion to Islam impacted the lives of everyone under their influence. Today, the people of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan are proud of their Persian heritage, its poetry and its carpets.

The Muslim peoples of the Silk Road related themselves back to Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Many are disillusioned with hypocrisy and corruption. They are tired of poverty and hopelessness. There is a cry in their hearts for righteousness, peace and acceptance from God.

Here is an excellent resource for reading more about peace with God or Allah in your own language.