'Storytelling – sharing the gospel with passion and power', by Martin Goldsmith (Inter Varsity Press, 2014, 185 pages, RRP £8.99).

Everybody loves a good story – and the Bible has so many of them which have stood the test of time and are loved by believers young and old. Jesus often used stories to relay deep biblical truths – his parables spoke about everyday events but gave them a new meaning and purpose.

This is an exciting and easy-to-read book from Martin Goldsmith who has been a missionary in many different cultures in South East Asia and who has been involved in teaching others on mission at All Nations Christian College from its inception. He is passionate about evangelistic outreach – and wants to help others reach out too wherever they are.

Martin is a Jewish Christian who trained as a Russian interpreter before going onto the mission field with his wife, who is also a prolific communicator. He is well experienced in getting the message across in a variety of different ways and particularly when straight preaching of the Gospel is difficult – or may even be prohibited.

This book is full of stories from his own experience of evangelism, but he also emphasises the need to understand the purpose in telling these stories. Martin not only tells many personal stories but he also encourages the reader to delve into their own experiences so that they can pass on the deep messages of the faith to others. He helps the reader to communicate effectively with people who do not think in quite the same way as they do, and to build up fruitful relationships.

In this book he also takes the next step in helping anyone delve more deeply into the faith as he is a past master in encouraging people to think through the issues themselves. He learnt this from the methods of Jesus who often responded to a question from an enquirer by asking the enquirer a question – a very Jewish method of teaching.

Altogether an encouraging book which is a joy to read – not just once but time and time again.