Lausanne World Pulse – What Do You Think, Mr. Guttenberg? The Challenges Print Evangelism Ministries Face in Meeting the Needs of Oral Cultures

By Avery Willis and James Greenelsh
December 2012

He put away his printed books and tracts. He stopped communicating abstract theological ideas that he had learned in Bible school. He started telling the stories of the Bible to cross natural bridges into the lives of his listeners. He used stories from the Bible to bring forth truths that challenge the worldview of the people in his culture. Then he watched the Holy Spirit speak through these stories.

The fact that literate, print-oriented, missionaries from the West have missed this oral storying method for so long may be one of the single most serious tactical mistakes we have made in the last two hundred years. I grieve over all the time, energy and funding that I have personally directed toward print evangelism mission endeavors that missed the mark for oral learners.

I finally began to understand. Literacy software does not fit two-thirds of the world’s population. Until we wake up to that fact, we will continue to expend manpower and resources in less fruitful endeavors, with inadequate tools and methodology. The result of this is that we miss our audience. We miss our opportunity to effectively share the stories of faith among oral cultures.

The development of oral strategies is not meant to detract from print evangelism or Bible translation. In fact, the opposite is true. The most comprehensive strategy for communicating the word of God in the heart language of an oral culture should start with an oral approach that leads to translation and literacy. The problem is, too often we get the cart before the horse. Or worse yet, we forget the horse completely.

Rethink, Recreate, Reproduce
I am convinced that if we take the unique needs of the oral learner to heart and if we make them a priority in shaping our mission strategies then we will make monumental progress in completing the Great Commission.

We urgently need ministries willing to rethink what they are doing, ministries willing to create new tools, new methodologies and new approaches that put the needs of oral learners first. In doing so God will enable us to harness the greatest force on earth for spreading the gospel and multiplying the Church—the power of his stories reproduced by word of mouth over and over again among each unique oral culture of the world in culturally sensitive ways. We need a movement of cross-cultural Bible story experts who have the skill to train people to engage unreached oral learners with a complete set of Bible stories in the local language that are tailored to transform their unique worldview. It is cost effective, reproducible and grassroots accessible.

The goal of the International Orality Network¹ is to influence the body of Christ to disciple all oral learners. We envision nothing less than a word-of-mouth Bible storying revolution, tailored to the worldview and in the mother tongue of each oral culture of the world. This is our greatest hope for fulfilling the Great Commission among four billion people who have yet to hear the true story of salvation. It is a simple insight with world shaking possibilities.

What do you think, Mr. Guttenberg?

Endnote 
1. The International Orality Network (ION) is an alliance of mission agency leaders partnering together to make God’s Word available to all oral learners in culturally appropriate ways. ION relates to the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and is committed to providing oral strategies to communicate the gospel, make disciples, train leaders and enable church planting movements among all peoples in ways that are reproducible by oral peoples.

Avery Willis is executive director of the International Orality Network. James Greenelsh is director of International Partnerships for Harvest Media Ministry. He has written and produced documentaries for Christian organizations in fifty-five countries over the last thirty years.