Jungle Doctor Fables

From SPARK

One-sentence summary

Children's stories that explain the Good News using African fables.

Description

The twelve stories in this book introduce and explain the Bible message. Animals are used to tell the stories. The stories are good for evangelizing and discipling children.

The author, Dr. Paul White, served as a medical missionary for many years in Tanganyika (now called Tanzania). He was known as the Jungle Doctor. Dr. White used fables to teach spiritual truths. The stories are enjoyable for children and adults. They help children understand the Christian life.

Prologue: The Deadly Thing – Recovering patients sit outside the hospital in the shade, and talk about their fears of lions, snakes, and rhinos. Daudi, the African dispenser of medicines, says they should fear the mosquito, the tick and the fly, but the deadliest, most dangerous thing, is sin.
The Great Wall – a great wall separates animals from the best part of the jungle; the part that has deep shade and green trees, a great lake and small streams. The animals unsuccessfully try to climb this wall on their own. But there was no way through, under, over, or around. The name of the wall is SIN. Sin is a wall that separates us from God. But He has given us a way through.
Death Trap!- Perembi, the hunter, set a trap to catch a monkey for his dinner. The trap was an oil tin with a small hole at the top. Peanuts were dropped inside. Toto the monkey came by and reached in and grabbed the peanuts. With a fist full of peanuts he could not get his hand out of the hole. He was advised to drop the peanuts, but he refused. The hunter knocks him out and puts him in a bag. The name of the trap is SIN. You can't get away from this trap if you cling to things.
Safe as Poison – Nzoka the cobra steals eggs from the son of Perembi, the hunter. The snake's wife warns him that he will be caught and killed. But Nzoka keeps stealing eggs. He becomes less watchful. Perembi and his son set a trap. They catch and kill the snake. Daudi explains that, “You can't sin and get away with it. Your sin will find you out (be discovered)!”
You Can't Do It By Yourself – M'gogo asks Daudi the way out of sin. He has a fear of it. Daudi tells him he can't save himself, but he should listen to the story and keep the words within his mind. Two monkeys play with a coconut near a quicksand bog (waterhole that has sinking sand). One monkey is caught in the sand. The other monkey tells him to pull himself out by his strong whiskers. But he sinks deeper and deeper, and is finally sucked under. The name of the bog is SIN. It is easy to get into sin, but you can't get out by yourself. You must believe in Jesus, and he will pull you out of the bog of sin.
The Monkey Who Didn't Believe in Crocodiles – A young monkey is warned of the dangers of crocodiles who lurk at the river. He doesn't listen to the warnings and goes close to the water. The crocodile catches and eats him. God's Book warns us that, “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
The Small Wisdom of Feeding Vultures – A foolish monkey is fascinated by unclean vultures, by their sharp beaks, their featherless necks and the curve of their dangerous claws. When no one was looking he threw food to a vulture. Then his conscience warned him it was wrong, so he chased it away. Next day there were two vultures, and he threw food to them. From above the thorn bush, Twiga, the giraffe saw it all. He knew that those who fed vultures would get into trouble. More vultures came and began to attack the monkey. They pecked at his eyes, his body, and his limbs. The squawking of the vultures blocked out the monkey's screams. Daudi explains that unclean thoughts are fed by what you see, by what you read, by what you hear, and by the way you speak. If you starve them, they go away. Enjoy them, and they stay with you and ruin your life.
Keep Them Flying – Vultures roosting in Nyani's family's tree have left behind lice. Twiga, the giraffe, suggests that Nyani can't help them flying over his tree, but he can keep them from roosting. Nyani collected stones. He kept them in the hollow tree limb. He used them to scare away the vultures. Daudi waits while the lesson becomes clear to his listeners. The lesson is this: To be tempted by Satan is not sin, but to stop and listen, and act on the temptation, is a sin.
Out on a Limb – Nyani the monkey had a very fine jungle knife. It was his special pride, and it was very sharp. Often he warned the small monkeys of his family tree. “Do not touch this knife!” Now, Tabu was a small monkey with little wisdom. He waited for his uncle Nyani to be doing something else. Then he touched the knife. His tail curled gently around the handle, and a thrill passed through his body. His tail tightened, and by accident, the knife came loose; so he carried it up to a higher limb. Then he tells Twiga that he can cut through the limb with this great knife and the strength of his arm. Wham! He struck. Wham! Chips flew. Twiga warns that he is on the wrong side of the cutting. But Tabu is too busy to listen, and continues to cut. Suddenly, a crack, and Tabu drops the knife and retreats further out on the limb. Twiga calls to him to change his direction and go to the safe side. Tabu shivered as the limb cracked again. “Change your mind, then change your direction, it's the only way”, Twiga warns. But Tabu is too frightened to move. A big crack, the limb broke, and Tabu fell on a great stone and lay still. Daudi warns the listeners, “You, too, are out on a limb on the wrong side of the cut place. The Book says to change your mind—that means repent. Change your direction—that means be converted, and your sins will be blotted out!”
Why God Sent Jesus – Daudi's dog dug up his garden no matter how much he explained, scolded, punished, or rewarded. There was no way to communicate with it unless Daudi became a dog. Just so, God has found man. Explanations, scoldings, punishments, and rewards did not give men understanding. So God sent his son Jesus to become a man, so he could communicate with men.
Little Leopards Become Big Leopards – Perembi, the Hunter, is searching for a leopard to kill. Leopard skins were worth many cows at the market place. A leopard is found and successfully killed. It was a mother, and its baby was nearby. Perembi took the baby home as a pet for his children. The village chief was not happy! He warned, “Little leopards become big leopards, and big leopards kill.” Perembi ignored the advise. The leopard grew and was kind to children until. . .one day the leopard tasted blood. Then its true nature became evident and Perembi himself was killed by the leopard. The chief fought the leopard and was badly wounded, but the leopard lay dead. Daudi, the story-teller, explained that the leopard represented sin, and the chief represented Jesus.
The Milk in the Coconut – M'gogo tells Daudi of his dream of the five little monkeys of small wisdom who died because of disbelief. He explains that he finally understood the word ‘repent'. He asked Jesus to blot out his many sins. As Jesus did it, M'gogo seemed to see the scars on the body of Jesus, and realized the cost of the cross. M'gogo now has great happiness and joy, for he is “out of the trap, out of the bog, out of danger, through the door, and on the right side of the wall.” Daudi reminds him that his soul must grow. M'gogo must feed it daily. He must heed the words of the Bible and hide them in his heart. Life is like a coconut. Do not chew the shell when inside you can find meat and milk.

Considerations

These stories have no western influences. The storytellers are an African dispenser of medicines, named Daudi, and the wood carver, Yohanna. Both tell stories to boys who are at the hospital for treatment.
The setting is the African nation of Tanganyika (now called Tanzania).
Black and white line drawings help add interest to the stories.
Some of these drawings show just portions of the animals. This could cause a problem for children who are not visually literate. Explanations would need to be given.
The sketches could be used as a flipchart to be shown as the story is told.
Children are fascinated by these stories.
The stories would be very useful on audio-cassettes.
The stories would be useful as radio stories.

Limitations

Guidelines for Use

Where to Obtain

Link to Producer or Source Organization

These stories are no longer available in book form as they are out of print. However they are available on the following web site: Sarah's Ministry Princess Publishers

Cost

Producer/Owners

Author/Artist/Producer

Paul White

Current copyright owner

A series of 12 full-color Jungle Fables Comic books are available from: Paul White Productions

Other Information

The two books, Jungle Doctor Meets Mongoose and Jungle Doctor's Rhino Rumblings, as well as the comics, are available from: Paul White Productions

If you are interested in translating any of these stories for a minority language, contact Paul White Productions. Working together you will make a Creative Commons License agreement.

Reviewed by

Date