Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – The Role of Partnership in Oral Evangelism: A Case Study in India

By S. D. Ponraj
October 2006

Christians in Bihar State are seeking to reach the more than seventy percent non-literate oral population with the gospel.

The Challenge
Reaching the seventy percent non-literate oral population with the gospel in Bihar State, India has always been a problem. Indeed, of the ninety million people who live there, only 0.06% are Christians. For years evangelists and missionaries have been struggling over this issue, not knowing how to solve the problem of communication. In the process many were discouraged and some have even left the field.

The Beginning of Partnership
The Lord, in his sovereign grace, opened up an opportunity in 1998 when we were introduced to one of the most powerful methods of communicating the gospel to oral cultures. A three-day intensive seminar known as “Communication Bridges to Oral Cultures” was conducted by Scripture In Use (SIU) ministry. This seminar made all the difference in the church planting program in Bihar. Through this training the grassroots church planters and missionaries in the region have learned the methods of effective communication of the gospel to the majority population of Bihar State. Since 1998 we have trained over three thousand Grass Roots Church Planters (GRCPs) and church and mission leaders who are now part of fifteen church planting movements spread across twenty-five different districts in Bihar.

A Bible School for Oral Learners in Partnership with Indigenous Missions
Later we felt the need for training new believers not only in “the method” but also in “the message” of communication to oral cultures. In 2004 we opened a six-month residential oral section as part of the Bihar School of Evangelism in Patna, Bihar. People wondered how there could be a Bible School for non-literates; many pastors and mission leaders hesitated to send their students. However, through the Bihar Out-Reach Network (BORN) we built a partnership with the indigenous missions of Bihar. These mission leaders had confidence in BORN and sent their students to the Oral Bible School.

The students found the Oral Bible School an effective way of learning the Bible. While there they learned the Bible, biblical doctrines and church planting skills using different methods of oral communication. While the students in the regular Bible School learned everything through the lecture method, the students in the oral section learned via storytelling, singing, drama, dance, memorization and audio and video cassettes.

The oral section of the Bible School became the most effective tool among other schools in producing grassroots church planters for the church planting movements in Bihar. So far we have trained over one hundred men and women who are working as full time GRCPs.

Rev. S. D. Ponraj is general secretary and founder of BORN (Bihar Out-Reach Network). He has partnered with Scripture In Use (SIU) ministry since 1998.