WHAT is the hope of reaching the four billion persons who are oral learners? What is the hope for getting God's word to the speakers of the four thousand languages still without His word? 3

The answer comes from Jesus' own model: "…with many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand" (Mk. 4:33 NIV, emphasis added). In fact, the passage goes on to say: "He did not say anything to them without using a parable" (Mk. 4:34a NIV). Jesus chose his teaching style to match his listeners' capacities. So should we. Jesus used familiar oral means that they understood. So can we.

One straightforward way to communicate to oral learners in a way they will understand is for them to hear the stories of the Bible in an oral, sequential pattern that they can absorb and remember. The communication of stories in this way has come to be referred to as "chronological Bible storying." It is a proclamation of God's word in a culturally relevant way that oral learners can understand and respond to.

A "storying" approach to ministry involves selecting and crafting stories that convey the essential biblical message, in a way that is sensitive to the worldview of the receptor society. The stories are faithful to the biblical text, and at the same time told in a natural, compelling manner in the heart language. They are expressed in the manner in which that society conveys a treasured, true story. The process also is done in a way that facilitates the hearers in processing the story in a culturally relevant way‑normally involving some sort of discussion about or interaction with the story.

Without the presence of God's word there will be no true spiritual movements. Without God's word, an incipient movement will ultimately collapse, splinter, fall prey to cults, or face syncretism with existing local beliefs and practices. Unbelievers need Christians to provide His word in culturally appropriate formats in order for them to understand it and respond to it, but understanding and responding is still not enough for a spiritual movement. Those who respond need to be able to reproduce it‑to share it themselves with others who can, in turn, share it with others, with this pattern being repeated many times over. A spiritual movement of this sort can provide a foundation for faith, witness, and church life. For this to happen in an oral society and involve the majority of those oral communicators who will likely remain oral communicators for their lifetime, the process will have to be an oral one for evangelism, discipleship, leader training and church planting. Because of the communication and learning styles of oral communicators, reflecting their thought and decision making processes, this should be primarily through narrative presentations of God's word.

This does not mean that we discourage literacy or neglect literates. Experience shows that once oral learners accept the gospel, some will have the desire and persistence to become literate in order to read the Bible for themselves. The development of oral strategies is not a deterrent to translating the Bible into every language. In fact, the opposite is true. These burgeoning church planting movements that result from an oral proclamation will need the whole counsel of God. Requiring non‑Christians to learn to read just so that they can consider the Christian faith puts unnecessary obstacles in their path.

3 Statistics as of Sep. 30, 2004 from Wycliffe International indicate 4558 languages without any of the Bible, out of the 6913 languages currently spoken in the world (see Ethnologue, 15th ed.). Dec. 31, 2003 statistics from the United Bible Societies indicate only 2355 languages have some or all of the Bible. Of these, only 414 have an adequate Bible, 1068 have an adequate New Testament, and 873 have at least one book of the Bible (see http://www.biblesociety.org/latestnews/latest273‑slr2003stats.html).