David Parks

The writing of Arman’s Freedom included a consistent struggle between artist and missiologist. There are many lessons that I wanted to use the book to teach, but whenever I felt like an obvious lesson would compromise the readability and enjoyment of the story, I chose art. And I don’t regret it.

I didn’t know for sure that goal was accomplished, however, until my masters level students read it. My fear that the lessons would be too obvious (therefore, making the story too “preachy”) were quelled when it became clear they had missed some of the missiological truths illustrated in the book. While it may sound weird to read that I was glad they hadn’t caught everything I intended, you should realize that this is what has made the follow-up discussions so exciting and energizing. It has been a very rewarding experience to watch the lights come on during class.

While it’s easy for me to use the story to teach everything from worldview to shame/honor gospel, I realize it may not be as obvious even to those who are teaching missions. This is why I’ve written a Missions Study Companion for Arman’s Freedom. It is my great hope that this guide can equip leaders (from lay church leaders to missions professors) to teach missiology in a fresh and compelling way.

The companion is organized as follows:

• Chapter one: Reflection questions for each chapter. This is a guide to give to students before reading Arman’s Freedom. The questions are designed to draw their attention to certain details that would be good to remember without slowing down the story. Some questions are open-ended and designed to simply make them think. You may want to use some of these questions in your group discussions. See chapter 5.
• Chapter two: Worldview. UPDATE! This was easily the longest section of the study companion. I had included a paper I wrote to help ascertain a person’s worldview. The lessons came together with the exercise of “mapping” the worldview of Arman. I’m happy to say that I have signed a contract with B&H Academic that will explain and develop this worldview mapping tool! Unfortunately, this means I had to take this portion out of the study companion. Be on the lookout for Heart Worldviews and Traditional Religions (or whatever title we decide on) in June of 2027!
• Chapter three: Shame / Honor Gospel. Even if you’re familiar with the missiological discussions around shame/honor gospel, you may not catch how I’ve attempted to use the story to illustrate these beautiful truths. This section will help you to know where I’m going with it and how to use it for teaching and discussions.
• Chapter four: Redemptive Analogies and a C.S. Lewis connection. You have most likely learned about how to find “redemptive analogies” already present in other cultures to teach scriptural truths in culturally relevant ways. In this section I explain how the central metaphor in Arman’s Freedom is both a redemptive analogy and directly inspired by a story in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis.
• Chapter five: Lesson Outline suggestions. Many of you would rather just organize your reading and discussion in a way that fits your class or book study. My guess is that most who use this for a missions-related class will organize it themselves. Others, including those who will use Arman’s Freedom as a stand-alone book study, will benefit from the four lesson outlines provided.

FREE DOWNLOAD FOR ARMAN’S FREEDOM STUDY COMPANION

For teachers and leaders using the Arman’s Freedom Study Companion, you will need to give your students the chapter-by-chapter reflection questions. The attachment below is to make it convenient to send or print off the questions. Either download the document below or just send them the link to this page.