We wish all peoples had the written translation of the Scripture in their heart language. But, for the illiterate, written Scripture is not accessible even if it is available in their own language. On the other hand, a Bible translation program that begins with the oral presentation of the Bible through storying and continues with a translation and literacy program is the most comprehensive strategy for communicating the word of God in their heart language. It offers a viable possibility of making disciples of oral learners while at the same time providing the whole counsel of God.

We do not want our call for oral approaches to be seen as setting oral and literate approaches in opposition to one another. It is not a matter of "either or," but "both and." Again, the Bible itself gives the model. There are examples throughout the Scriptures where both the written word of God and the spoken word of God are given prominence, often side by side. For example, Moses wrote down the words of the Law (Deut. 31 33). God instructed him to write the words down in a song. God also instructed him to teach the song to the Israelites so that they would always have it in their hearts and on their lips and always remember it.

Similarly in today's world, we envision a systemic approach to evangelism, discipleship, church planting and leadership development that can involve oral, audio, audio visual media and print. A systemic, sequential approach with a society of largely oral communicators, for example, might begin with oral Bible storying. It could then possibly begin to involve audio and radio presentations of these same oral stories and other audio and radio products of a broader array based on translated biblical material. 4 In some cases primary visual products may be produced and effectively used.5 Then the process in some situations may move on to the preparation and distribution of audio visual products based on translation of further biblical material.6 Throughout the approach the undergirding process of Bible translation, at first orally and then in a literate manner, provides the entire counsel of God.

In a sequential approach like this, the first biblical stories we use focus very intently on the unique cultural perspective of the people. Specificity to that culture is crucial in order for them to understand the gospel well and embrace Christ. The same will be true of the stories we use in initial discipleship. Later stages in the strategy will give them ever larger portions of the Bible; at that point our focus will have shifted from cultural specificity to providing complete books of the Bible, a New Testament and finally the whole Bible.

God's word has transforming impact on people's lives when we present it in ways that they can understand it. For example, missionaries worked for twenty five years with the Tiv tribe in central Nigeria and saw only twenty five baptized believers as a result.7 That is an average of one believer per year of ministry. Their medium of communication was preaching, which they had learned in Bible school was the proper way to evangelize.

Then some young Tiv Christians set the gospel story to musical chants, the indigenous medium of communication. Almost immediately the gospel began to spread like wildfire and soon a quarter million Tivs were worshipping Jesus. The Tivs were not as resistant as the missionaries had thought. A change in method brought abundant fruit. Prior to this the gospel had been "proclaimed," but it had not been heard! The communication strategy chosen had not spoken to the heart of the people. This story underscores that groups may not be necessarily unresponsive, but have not yet received the gospel in their learning style. Where traditional literate methods have failed to reach people, appropriate oral strategies have succeeded.

4 Examples of some of these sorts of audio and radio presentations in vernacular languages include Global Recordings Network's various Scripture resources; the JESUS Film audio versions; Lives of the Prophets, Life of Jesus and Lives of the Apostles audio versions; Faith Comes by Hearing dramatized recordings of the New Testament; and the Radio Bible, which consists of 365 fifteen minute broadcasts of stories from the Old and New Testaments. These are described in the Resources section.

5 Examples of primary visual products can include print illustrations and booklets depicting scenes from Bible stories and products like Deaf Missions visual recordings.

6 Examples of audio visual products are the JESUS Film and related Genesis and Luke videos; God's Story; and The Hope.

7 This story is taken from C. Peter Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth (Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1987), 91-92.