The Neverending Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a German fantasy novel by Michael Ende, first published in 1979. The standard English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was first published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several films. Most of the story takes place in the parallel world of Fantastica (Phantásien in the original German version; referred to as Fantasia in the films), a world being destroyed by the Nothing, which represents and constitutes people's lack of imagination in the real world. The first protagonist is a young warrior, who is asked by the sick Empress to set off and find the cure for their world. The other protagonist is a boy from the real world, a reader of the novel with the same title, for whom the story gradually becomes increasingly realistic. Unlike Fantastica some churches are being weakened by a lack of imagination. On the inside they appear to be asleep producing Nothing. One place this lack of imagination may be evidenced is in their evangelism and discipleship programs. Often evangelism is understood as an event that only the church staff performs during specific times and in certain locations. Discipleship is frequently described as a program that the church leadership provides for the new believers only. Without true imagination and unclouded vision for evangelism and discipleship many Christians attend weekly gatherings where Nothing takes place. This lack is not exclusive to church communities. Often the chaplain brings the same expectations to the prison environment. The results are inmates released back into the community without any concept of becoming a disciple or experiencing transformation. Many chaplaincy programs fail to have the right perspective for discipleship. Often it is understood as: (1) an event—not a process, (2) a program—not a person, and (3) a method to follow—not a mentor to model.