unpublished word journal - winter 2006

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MAKING DISCIPLES OF ORAL LEARNERSThe book by the sametitle was written byeight leading authori-ties on reaching anddiscipling those in ourworld who have cho-sen orality as theirform of communica-tion. This article con-denses the excellentpublication by high-lighting excerpts fromeach chapter. PAGE 6

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WHEN L ITERATES STOP READINGHere’s an article that addresses the shift in Amerca’s culture to being non-readers. With 58% of adults stating they never read another book afterhigh school, preachers and Bible teachers must consider their forms ofcommunication. Orality is just not for primitive natives in a jungle.PAGE 16

A COMPARISON OF BOOK CULTURES ANDORAL CULTURESHere’s a 24-point chart comparing the characteristics of Book and OralCultures. There is some good food for thought in this listing.PAGE 18

THREE POINTS AND A POEM JUSTDON’T CUT IT ANYMORE!In the good old days a preacher could prepare a topi-cal sermon and conclude it with a nice poem. Not soanymore. This article addresses the Ten Steps to tellingstories from the Bible in a successful manner. PAGE 17

EDITORIALEditor Charles Keen makes a case for the oral transmission of theScriptures. His gives three reasons for the theme of this issue. His prem-ise is Christians cannot overlook the critical need of non-readers anylonger. His editorial is followed by “Where Do We Go From Here?” …a personal testimony of his journey to become involved in giving theGospel to oral speaking peoples. PAGE 4

ORALITY – KEY ISSUESFOR THE CHURCHPastor Ken Fielder provides the church withan honest evaluation of how to deal withthe phenomenon of Orality. He gives bal-ance to the written Word of God as itrelates to the oral Word of God and givesa warning for making too little of the writtenWord. PAGE 11

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Unpublished WORDEditor – Charles KeenCirculation/Advertising – Jerry RockwellGraphic Design – the graphic edge, Lake Dallas, TXProduction/Printing – Clark’s Printing Co./Ventura, CA

The Unpublished WORD Journal is a quarterly publication of FirstBible International. All correspondence should be sent to the editorial offices at:FirstBible International, 3720 West 4th Street, Mansfield, OH 44903. Phone (419) 529-5466, Fax (419) 529-9056, email: [email protected]: www.firstbible.net. FirstBible International is a ministry of Westside Baptist Church in Mansfield, OH, Rev. Ken Fielder, pastor.

C O N T E N T S

THIS IS MY STORY. . .TH IS IS MYSONG – MAKING A CASE FORBIBLE STORYINGLarry Bennett, church planter and Bible Storyer,explains the value of Chronological Bible Storying(CBS) and its power in evangelism and discipling newbelievers. With over 600 stories in the Bible, Bennettconcludes with how the church needs to be addressingthe 4+ billion non-literates in today’s world. PAGE 13

Some of the authors and their material featured in UW Journal are not necessarily in agreement with the theological position of the UW Journal.Their writings are included because of their insight into the particular subject matter published in the UW Journal.

Can You Hear Me Now?

This issue of the UW Journal is dedicated to introduce and explain the principles of orality and

oral Scripture communication. I believe you will find it interesting and challenging.

Recently released statistics show that 71% of those in the 10/40 Window are functionally illiterate.

In other words, the area of the world where the majority of the unreached people groups are, is inhabit-

ed by people who have chosen oral transmission as their preference for communication. No serious

minded world-view Christian can overlook the necessity of including the orality of Scriptures in their mis-

sions approach. No “missions” church should consider themselves New Testament or “strategic” unless

some attention is given to reach our world with Bible storying and audio transmission of the Word of God.

With this in mind, let me offer three reasons for this reality:

First, God Himself used oral transmission for His truth for the first two thousand years. That’s one-third

of human history…from Adam to Moses. (Some argument could be put forth that Job is the exception).

All of the Bible characters in the pre-Moses era received the truth of God orally and dispersed it in the

same manner…Adam, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, etc. spoke the truth of God. Moses received the first writ-

ings of God in the form of two tablets of stone containing the 10 commandments (Deut. 9:10). Until

Moses, all great truths for time and eternity were handed down through oral transmission.

We obviously don’t know the extent of knowledge those from Adam to Moses had, but they had

enough to know of the Second Coming of Jesus. Jude 1:14,15 would suggest they knew much about

God’s plan for the ages. Whatever they knew, they learned it through oral transmission (Romans

5:13,14).Jesus’ first messages to man, His parables, His stories, His teachings were all by oral transmission.

So, here’s the key question: If God used orality as the initial effort, should we not be willing to include

it in ours?Second, we must consider oral transmission because of the great numbers who are non-readers…

either by choice or because their culture affords them no other choice. DAWN Ministries lists several

facts that require us to address this issue:

• Over 2/3 of the world (over 4 billion) receives the majority of their information through oral communication.

• Over 1/2 of the world (over 3 billion) receive only through oral transmission.

• 75% of the unreached and least-reached only receive information orally.

• In the Islamic world, over 95% of the women can only be reached by oral transmission because the

women in this culture are not taught to read.

These overwhelming statistics command our attention. Multiplied millions if given a chance, will only

hear the Good News and not read it.

Third, thousands of languages have no written form. All languages had their first introduction to God’s

Word through orality, yet in today’s world over 4,000 of our languages have yet to

be written and obviously do not have the Scriptures translated and published.

This imbalance of people not having the Word of God in their heart language

cries out for us to return to God’s original pattern of orality or oral transmission.

Look at orality from the idea of it being a tool. It may be in Bible storying,

or audio tapes and videos, or some digital form…it’s simply communicating in

their language in terms that they understand and in a way they communicate.

Keep in mind, we do not have a final preserved authority in their culture until

they have a written revelation (written transmission) in the form of a Bible.

Therefore, we need to begin working with them where they are as God

began with us. The last thing we need to do is abandon them as many have.

Where would we be if God had abandoned us before we had a written

authority? We can’t wait for the Bible to be translated to start evangeliz-

ing the unreached.

EDITORIAL COMMENT

Charles F. Keen, editor

Unpublished WORD 5 .

A Personal Testimony by Charles Keen

have been preaching for 40 years. The first thirty-five years of that was spent in pastoring onechurch, the First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio.

Through these years, my world view has gone througha slow evolutionary process. In the beginning of myministry my world view was basically my Jerusalemand a “door to door” one. I was committed to goodzealous soul winning and strongly identified with pas-tors who frequently preached on capturing your townfor Christ. I practiced that, for it is right and Scriptural.

Though I knew it was right, I also knew it wasn’t tobe the total ministry effort of the church I pastored orany New Testament church. In some way I had to dealwith Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part. So Ibecame deeply involved in world missions, raisingmillions of dollars for world evangelism, holding morethan a score of missions conferences annually, sendingmore than fifty families to the field out of our member-ship and even founding, along with Carlos Demarestand Sam Caudill, the ministry called Bearing PreciousSeed (which has and is still printing millions ofScriptures annually).

The next link in my evolving world view wasbrought on, when in my unrest, I discovered we weresending missionaries and Bibles where missionariesand Bibles already were. Like door to door soulwinning, my mission’s philosophy wasn’t wrong...it was simply not enough. God was leading me to getinvolved in the unreached people groups…sometimes called tribes, pocket people or unengagedpeoples. The Bible calls these the “uttermost” in

Acts 1:8. To fufill this burden, God lead us to foundFirstBible International under the authority of WestsideBaptist Church of Mansfield, Ohio where Rev. KenFielder is pastor. Our goals at FBI are three-fold:1) Bible Publishing/Translation, 2) Training of nationals,and 3) Church Planting.

The next and maybe final step in my mission’sjourney is to help get the Gospel to the non-literateoral speaking peoples of this world, which consti-tutes 2/3 of the 6.4 billion globally. They can’t usea Bible because they can’t read or they don’t have analphabet, dictionary or written language. But they arein our Lord’s commission to the church to reach everycreature…and that includes the oral only speakers. Thereason for this issue of the UWJ is to create awarenessamong us that they are there and we have a responsi-bility to “Go ye into all the world and preach thegospel to EVERY creature.”

I am ashamed of the fact I did not know of themand hence they have played no part in my world viewuntil recently. We must not only include them in ourmission’s philosophy but we must work toward a solu-tion to their choice to communicate orally. Though wecan give them the Gospel orally and they can be savedand even discipled into church planting…they will nothave a word perfect Bible until they can have one intheir mother tongue.

As my journey continues, I am asking God,“Where do we go from here? What else do you wantto reveal to me as I attempt to be obedient to yourmandate?” ❖

I

The following article is excerpts taken from the book, MakingDisciples of Oral Learners, authored and published by aneight person editorial committee.

1. Growing Awareness of a Global Situation

The Gospel is being proclaimed now to more peoplethan at any other time in history, yet many of those arenot really hearing it. Oral communicators are found inevery cultural group in the world and they constituteapproximately two-thirds of the world’s population!Current estimates indicate that around two-thirds of theworld’s population are oral communicators either bynecessity or by choice. To effectively communicate withthem, we must defer to their oral communication style.Our presentations must match their oral learning stylesand preferences.

By “oral learners” we mean those people who learnbest and whose lives are most likely to be transformedwhen instruction comes in oral forms. The members ofthese societies are referred to as “oral learners” or “oralcommunicators.” The oral “learner”- focus is more on

the receiving act; “communicator”-is more on the act of telling.

Those who have grown upin highly literate societies tend

to think of literacy as thenorm and oral communica-tion as a deviation. That isnot so. In summary, approx-imately two-thirds of theworld’s population lives byorality.

2. God’s Word for the Whole World

Without the presence of God’s Word there will be notrue spiritual movements. Understanding and respond-ing is still not enough for a spiritual movement. Thosewho respond need to be able to reproduce it. A Bibletranslation program that begins with the oral presenta-tion of the Bible through storying and continues with atranslation and literacy program is the most comprehen-sive strategy for communicating the Word of God in theirheart language.

We do not want our call for oral approaches to beseen as setting oral and literate approaches in opposi-tion to one another. It is not a matter of “either-or,” but“both-and.” At first orally and then in a literate mannerprovides the entire counsel of God.

3. Oral Communicators and Oral Cultures

While results of the National Adult Literacy Survey(NALS) study showed that only 4 to 6% of U.S. adultswere totally illiterate, 46 to 53% were identified asunable to function adequately in a highly literate societyor process lengthy written information adequately.

It was reported that while many adults at Level 1 (21-23%) could perform tasks involving simple texts and doc-uments, all adults scoring at that level displayed difficul-ty using certain reading, writing and computational skillsconsidered necessary for functioning in everyday life.Those at Level 2 could perform simple analysis, but wereunable to integrate information from longer texts or doc-uments or carry out mathematical skills when necessaryinformation was contained in the directions.(Interestingly enough, a majority of those at Level 1 and

almost all of those at Level2 described themselves asbeing able to read English“well” or “very well!”

The survey results fromNALS and InternationalAdult Literacy Survey

Oral communicators are foundin every cultural group in theworld and they constituteapproximately two-thirds ofthe world’s population.”

“

(IALS) suggest that there is not a simple, black-and-whitedichotomy between “literates” and “illiterates.”

It is helpful for literate cross-cultural Christian workersto be aware of different degrees of literacy. James B.Slack, describes five levels of literacy to be consideredin presenting the gospel:

• “Illiterates” cannot read or write. They have never “seen” a word – “blind to letters.”

• “Functional illiterates” have been to school but do not continue to read and write regularly after dropping out of school.

• “Semi-literates” function in a gray transitional area between oral communication and literacy.

• “Literate” learners understand and handle information such as ideas, precepts, concepts, and principles by literate means. They tend to rely on printed materials as an aid to recall.

• “Highly literate” learners usually have attended college and are often professionals in the liberal arts fields. They are thoroughly print-culture individuals.

Trying to reach the first three categories using cus-tomary means presents two major problems: Almost allmissionaries and other Christian workers are literate orhighly literate, and they communicate primarily by liter-ate means. So they use the method they have masteredto try to communicate with oral learners who do not“hear” them. They think that if they can just simplify theiroutlines and exposition oral learners can grasp whatthey are saying.

In assessing the orality of a people group, it is impor-tant to keep in mind that literacy rates often vary greatlyfrom one group to another within a single nation.Minority language groups, many of whom areunreached peoples, are less likely to be literate. Manyof them have little interest in becoming literate. Thosewho intend to work with unreached people groupswould be wise to be skeptical of governmental literacystatistics when it comes to functional literacy.

Mission groups such as the International MissionBoard (Southern Baptist Convention), Scripture In Useand others have developed materials on understandingorality and oral cultures. A selection of these is availableat www.chronologicalbiblestorying.com. In general,there is a cluster of features that oral learners have in

common in process-ing information.

4. Disciples to the Core

Syncretism is the“mixing of Christianassumptions with thoseworldview assumptionsthat are incompatiblewith Christianity so thatthe result is not biblicalChristianity.” Syncretismweakens the church, warpsnon-Christians’ understand-ing of Christianity and with-holds from God the full devo-tion and complete obediencethat is rightly due to Him. So thespiritual health and vibrancy ofChristian churches depends on devel-oping a faith that is as free from syn-cretism as possible, a faith that is both biblicaland culturally relevant. Several key elements cancontribute to disciple oral learners with a minimalamount of syncretism.

The first key element in avoiding syncretism is com-municating with people in their mother tongue – the lan-guage in which they learned their religion, values andcultural identity. They house their innermost thoughts intheir mother tongue, so it is the language through whichtheir worldview is most likely to change. They canexplain their new faith more readily to others in theirpeople group when they use the mother tongue.

A second key element in reducing syncretism is todevelop discipling resources that are worldview specific.Generic discipleship materials are insufficient. The bestdiscipling resource among oral communicators is not aprinted booklet but an obedient Christian. Oral com-municators learn by observing. Discipleship involves thedisciple spending time with the more mature believerlearning by following his or her example. The teachingis conducted more by watching and doing rather thanjust learning facts.

A third key element in discipling oral learners inorder to limit syncretism is to recognize the importanceof stories in transforming a person’s worldview. Thosestories answer four fundamental worldview questions:


8 . Unpublished WORD

Who am I? Where am I? What has gone wrong?What can be done about it?

Wright argues that this is why Jesus so often told sto-ries, particularly parables. Jesus intended them to chal-lenge the existing Jewish worldview and to provide analternative picture of reality that Jesus called “the king-dom of God” or “kingdom of heaven.”

When their core stories are not challenged andreplaced, the traditional mythology will continue andmay over time infuse the Christian practices with mean-ings from the traditional religion.

A fourth key element in order to avoid syncretism isto provide a recorded “oral Bible” for each peoplegroup in their language. This is a recorded set of sto-ries, biblically accurate and told in the worldview con-text. At this point the “oral Bible” may be the only scrip-tural resource available to oral learners. At some futuretime when written Bible translation is completed, then itcould be recorded to provide a standard point of refer-ence.

In an “oral Bible,” the stories are communicated innatural, live situations by mother tongue “storyers” fromthe people group, using the mannerisms and storytellingtechniques which are appropriate to that people group.The Bible stories are checked to ensure biblical accura-cy before recording takes place.

In summary, those of us who seek to make disciplesof oral learners will want them to understand biblicaltruth and live obedient lives as free from syncretism aspossible. We can increase the likelihood of that hap-pening when we disciple in the mother tongue, useworldview-specific approaches instead of generic ones,utilize biblical stories extensively and work with mother-tongue speakers to produce an “oral Bible” that pro-vides a reliable repository of biblical truth.

5. Reproducibility, Reproducibility, Reproducibility

Many people accept the idea that an oral approachlike chronological Bible storying may be appropriate toinitial evangelism, but they wonder whether a storying

approach is viable for a sustained, indigenous-ledchurch planting movement. Is it adequate for sustaineddiscipleship among second, third and successive gener-ations and for leadership development in the church?

For a spiritual movement to be engaged, we mustconsciously choose strategies that oral learners can eas-ily reproduce. We must constantly evaluate whether weare modeling the kind of disciples we want the learnersto become. When the gospel is communicated to anoral learner in a way that shows dependence on writtenor recorded presentation, it inhibits this reproducibility.

The Santal people have no written history and donot rely on written documents for evidence or for credi-bility. They presented the gospel using oral methods,including stories, visual aids, dramas, songs, andtestimonies.

Deaf communities have many of the same featuresthat characterize oral communicators. They are insteada correlation of ways of processing that are common toface-to-face, highly relational societies. The correlationof ways of processing and communicating involve con-crete (rather than abstract) notions; sequential (ratherthan random) expression of events; and relational (asopposed to individualist) contexts.

The professor concluded that the training processhas successfully achieved its goals of enabling studentsto tell a large number of biblical stories accurately, tohave a good understanding of those stories and the the-ology that they convey, and to have an eagerness toshare the Christian message.

Discipling oral communicators involves identifyingwhat the new believers need to know and do and thencommunicating these truths using appropriate methods.Discipleship is not just what one does but who one is –a new creature in Christ. Discipling involves having thedisciple do all of the preceding plus being held account-able to report back.

Oral communicators are more dependent on rela-tionships in communication than literate learners are. Sothe spiritual life and modeling of the messenger is cru-cial. Making disciples of oral communicators requiresmaintaining a loving relationship with the ones beingdiscipled. Disciplers help oral communicators acquirebiblical truth through appropriate oral means and guidethem to obey it.

Discipling oral communicators should lead directly tochurch planting as new converts come together incovenant communities of believers to carry out the func-tions of the church. Disciples grow best when, from the

In an ‘oral Bible,’ the storiesare communicated in natural,live situations by mothertongue ‘storyers’ from thepeople group...”

“


beginning of their Christian experience, they takeresponsibility for evangelizing, nurturing new converts,establishing new works and overseeing the developmentof their own converts.

A summarization of the storying approach from theCD series, Following Jesus: Making Disciples of OralLearners, specifies a ten-step process toward making dis-ciples of primary oral learners with reproducibility as theimportant culminating step:

• Identify the biblical principle that you want to communicate – simply and clearly.

• Evaluate the worldview issues of the chosen people group.

• Consider worldview – the bridges, barriers, and gaps.

• Select the biblical stories that are needed to communicate the biblical principle.

• Plan (craft) the story and plan the dialogue that is going to follow the story, focusing on the task to be accomplished.

• Communicate the story in a culturally appropriate way, using narrative, song, object lessons, and other forms.

• Apply the principle by facilitating dialogue with the group, helping them to discover the meaning and application of the story to their own lives.

• Obey the discovered principles by implementa-tion steps to be taken by the individuals.

• Accountability – establish accountability between group members by mutual and reciprocal commit-ments to implement the biblical principle in the conduct of their personal lives between members of the group, their families and other personal relationships.

• Reproduce – encourage the group to reproduce the biblical principle, first by demonstrating the principle in their own “witness of life” then in sharing the principle with others.

6. When Literates Stop Reading

Two-thirds of the world’s people can’t, won’t, ordon’t read and write. The bulk of this article has focusedon those who can’t. This part will focus on those whodon’t. These are the ones who choose to learn by oralmethods as opposed to literate ones, in spite of theirliteracy. These people are known as secondary orallearners. James B. Slack defines “secondary oral learn-ers” as “people who have become literate because oftheir job or schooling, but prefer to be entertained, learnand communicate by oral means.”

Consider the following statistics:

• 58% of the U.S. adult population never read another bookafter high school.

• 42% of U.S. university graduates never read another book.

• Adults in the U.S. spend four hours per day watching TV, three hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.

• British teenagers’ pleasure reading declined by about a thirdfrom 1991-1998.

• In Denmark one-third of adults do not do any significantamount of reading.

• More than half the adults in the Netherlands hardly ever reada book.

• Dutch 12 year old school children spend, on average, less thanhalf an hour a week reading in their leisure time.

“Reading and writing are clearly dying arts,”Professor Jim Dater of the University of Hawaii said,“something which fewer in the world are doing.” “Mostpeople in the world, even most of the literate people inthe world in fact, do not get much of their ideas aboutthe world from reading. They get them from watchingtelevision, going to the movies, listening to the radio,and other forms of audio-visual communication.”

Executive Summary

From the time of the Gutenberg Bible, Christianity“has walked on literate feet” and has directly or indi-rectly required literacy of others. However, two-thirds ofall people in the world are oral communicators – thosewho can’t, don’t or won’t learn through literate means.Four billion in our world are at risk of a Christ-less eter-nity unless literate Christians make significant changes inevangelism, discipleship, leader training and churchplanting. (See Glossary of Terms on the next page). ❖

Two-thirds of the world’s peo-ple can’t, won’t, or don’t readand write.”

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1 0 . Unpublished WORD

Glossary for Making Disciples of Oral Learnersaliteracy – A lack of interest in or enjoyment of reading.

barriers – The aspects of a culture, circumstances, or religionthat hinder a listener in hearing, understanding, or actingupon the message of the Gospel.

ethnography – A description of a culture. A description of thebehavior and lifestyle of a people – a community, society, orethnic group.

evangelical – An evangelical Christian is a person whobelieves that Jesus Christ is the sole source of salvation throughfaith in Him, has personal faith and conversion with regener-ation by the Holy Spirit, recognizes the inspired Word of Godas the only basis for faith and Christian living, and is commit-ted to biblical preaching and evangelism that brings others tofaith in Jesus Christ.

orality – Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is illiterate(non-literate, preliterate) or has an oral preference (can’t, won’tor don’t read and write.) The quality or state of being oral.

The constellation of characteristics (cognitive, communicational,and relational) that is typical of cultures that function orally.

See http://www.chronologicalbiblestorying.com/MANUAL/sectionx.htm for “109 Characteristics of Oral and LiterateCommunicators.”

receptor language – In translation, this is the language one istranslating into, not from. Opposite of source language.“Receptor’ is similar to ‘target.’

secondary oral communicators – People who depend onelectronic audio and visual communications (multimedia).

source/source language – In translation, this is the languageone is translating from, not into (for example, New TestamentGreek.) Opposite of receptor or target language.

storyer - The person who uses the storying method to evan-gelize, disciple or strengthen the church.

worldview – The way a specific people view the worldaround them.

• 71% of those in the 10/40 Window are functionally illiterate.

• Over 2/3 of the world (over 4 billion) receivesthe majority of their information through oralcommunication.

• Over 1/2 of the world (over 3 billion) receiveonly through oral transmission.

• 75% of the unreached and least-reached onlyreceive information orally.

• In the Islamic world, over 95% of the womencan only be reached by oral transmissionbecause the women in this culture are nottaught to read.

• Over 4,000 of our languages have yet to bewritten.

• Oral communicators (by choice or by necessity)are found in every cultural group in the world.

• "Illiterates" cannot read or write. They havenever "seen" a word "blind to letters."

• 75% of the unreached/least reached onlyreceive information orally.

• "Functional illiterates" have been to school butdo not continue to read and write regularlyafter dropping out of school.

• "Semi-literates" function in a gray transitionalarea between oral communication and literacy.

• "Literate" learners understand and handleinformation such as ideas, precepts, concepts,and principles by literate means. They tend torely on printed materials as an aid to recall.

• "Highly literate" learners usually have attended college and are often professionals in the liberal arts fields. They are thoroughlyprint-culture individuals.

• 58% of the U.S. adult population never readanother book after high school.

• 42% of U.S. university graduates never readanother book.

• Adults in the U.S. spend four hours per daywatching TV, three hours listening to the radioand 14 minutes reading magazines.


Facts from this Issue

have designed this issue of theUnpublished WORD Journal toexpose and explore the great need

for reaching the peoples in our world who arewithout a written language. They are our respon-sibility as given in the Great Commission(s). Wehave learned some alarming facts (a fact sheet canbe seen on page 10 as to their numbers andneeds). As strange as it may sound, we havelearned that they do not need the written Wordbecause they don’t have a written language, alpha-bet or dictionary.

I thank God He is bringing their existence toour attention and I pray we will find within ourranks some churches that will feel as burdened toreach them as we feel burdened to reach the liter-ate. To reach them we will have to develop newmethodologies and extend our translation efforts toinclude bringing an unwritten language into writtenform, or partner with those who are ahead of us inthese efforts.

Let me share some areas of which I believe weneed to be aware. Dr. Fred Schindler preaches asermon about the lights of the dashboard of yourcar that indicate you may have a problem. Theyare called warning lights. This issue is a warninglight for us.

Though I admit to being a novice in the oralityfield, I am doing more than a fair amount ofresearch. Sometimes a novice who has not yetdeveloped entrenched thinking and tunnel visioncan be more objective and have more peripheralvision than the veteran and scholar. Hence, hereare my warnings:

1. We have adequately diagnosed the prob-lem. There is an abundance of informationalresources in the form of papers, books, web sites,manuals, seminars, etc. Should we not move onfrom describing the problem to solving it? Wheredo we go to receive materials and training tobecome part of the solution? Among fundamental-ists, with the exception of Baptist Bible Translatorsof Bowie, Texas, we have no one working withover 2 billion oral only speakers. Even amongthose who have been addressing the orality prob-lem for years, we do not see an increase in labor-ers as we get increase in light. Solomon said “ofmaking many books there is no end.” Isn’t it time

Unpublished WORD 1 1 .

SOME KEY ISSUES FOR THE CHURCH TO CONSIDER AS ITDISCOVERS AND RESPONDS

TO THE ORALITY ISSUE

We

by Pastor Ken Fielder, Westside Baptist Church, Manfield, Ohio

Carlos Demarest was a dedicated and faithful servant to the spread of the Gospel andespecially the spread of God’s Word. He, along with Charles Keen and Sam Caudill, underthe authority of First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio founded Bearing Precious Seed. Godused Carlos to instill in hearts of pastors and laymen a vision for local church Biblepublication that has now resulted in thousands of missionaries getting the Word of Godfor free distribution. Many consider him as the catalyst for local churches owning their

responsibility in Bible publication. Carlos and all of his family love the Scriptures and have always madethe distribution of the Bible a priority in their ministry. He went to be with the Lord in 1999…yet hislegacy lives on. This foundation is to honor his life and ministry.

The Carlos Demarest Foundation is an effort to establish a fundamental ministry that will underwrite thetranslating of the Bible. The foundation has been initially endowed with a grant of $70,000 for thepurpose of assisting ministries, colleges and students in Bible translation efforts. To receive informationabout the foundation visit the website: www.firstbible.net. Other information regarding how to contributeto the Carlos Demarest Foundation may be obtained by emailing: [email protected]

Carlos Demarest

to convert our writing on the subject to working in thefields which are white unto harvest?

2. It seems we have not put enough emphasis oncuring the illiterate problem and have developed only away through chronological Bible storying and othermethods to reach them. I admit we need to do theabove in order to serve the immediate need of reachingthe lost and discipling the believer, but the big picture isto get them the written Word of God in their tongue.

I say that for two reasons: First, the Bible example.God started out in His communication effort with oralcommunication from Adam to Moses. But He went on towritten communication from Moses to John the Apostle.It took Him a long time, 1600 years, and it will take usa long time too. But it is unnatural and overlooks theBible pattern to have no plan to relieve them from bothan inferior as well as unnatural form of Divine commu-nication.

Oral communication is inferior compared to the writ-ten form. This brings me to the second reason we shouldwork as diligently to cure their illiteracy as we worked indiscovering it: Until they have the Bible in written form,they do not have the Word of God which is able to buildthem up in the most holy faith as their final authority. Atbest they have a paraphrase or a verbal dynamic equiv-

alent. Thank God they can have that much, but I don’tthink we should be satisfied with only that much. In addi-tion to them not having the preserved words of God untilit is in written form is the problem of the story beingchanged over the years as the storyer changes. We allknow verbal communication is a weak way for truth totravel.

3. The final “warning”: I detect that we are notchallenging the man in a literate culture choosing to gethis information, especially his divine information orally.God spent a lot of time getting it to him in written form,men spilled their blood so he could have it, and it is thehighest and best way to get the divine information.Instead of supporting him in his laziness and unspiritualapproach, let’s bring him to repentance and get him outof a lethargic mindset into one of gratefulness and obe-dience to search the Scriptures daily.

The mechanic knows why the lights are on and howto fix the problem. The driver only knows they are onand should be observant enough to bring it to the atten-tion of the mechanic. I am the driver with little knowl-edge. The scholar and missiologist is the mechanic whoknows what to do to correct the problem pointed out bythe driver who sees the warning lights. Let the driver andmechanic partner together in solution. ❖


Announces the Establishment of the

Carlos Demarest Foundation

All of us can recall singingthe great old hymn, “BlessedAssurance.” It is the doxology

for most Baptist churches.I love the chorus when welift our voices to proclaim,“THIS IS MY STORY.” It’s thestory of Jesus…the stories inour Bible…the story of God’s

redemption for mankind.Wow! What a story! In the21st century, it’s that old,old story that is needed.

All mission leaders agree that pub-lishing a Bible for every unreachedpeople group in their heart language,is a major component to fulfilling theGreat Commission. But among the6,000 ethno-linguistic peoples count-ed as unreached, oral communicators(illiterates and functionally illiterates)comprise over 70% of the population.Adding to this dilemma, the dialects ofthe 3,000 least-reached peoples havenever been reduced to written form.Among the 10,821 commonly identi-fied ethno-linguistic peoples of theworld, only 400 have the entire Biblein their heart language.

Do we wait until all the lan-guages/dialects have been translatedand a Bible printed before we attemptto evangelize them? According toWycliffe Bible Translators it will takeuntil 2038 before a translation will bein progress in every language group.

The answer is obvious. The GreatCommission compels us to go to everypeople group, as quickly and efficient-ly as possible. If the unreached are tohear, understand, remember andreproduce the Gospel in their heartlanguage, their primary hope for pro-

By Larry Bennett

Making a Case for Bible Storying



cessing God’s Word is an Oral Bible gainedthrough Chronological Bible Storying.

Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) is accurate-ly telling the stories of the Bible in chronologicalorder beginning with Genesis and culminating withthe cross. Its goal is for the gospel to be presentedthrough Storying with the aim of evangelizing, dis-cipling, planting a church and training leadersamong a target people. A people group who can-not read and write is considered an oral communi-cator. The Stories are translated with the hope ofbeing culturally and worldview specific in order tobring about a life change.

For decades missionariesministering to unreached peoplegroups who primarily communi-cate through oral means havebeen using western methods intheir approach to evangelism.What they have discovered isthat evangelistic preachingalone was not penetrating thehearts. There seemed to be a missing link in beingable to connect the gospel with the oral culture ofthe people they were attempting to evangelize. Inmany cases CBS helped identify that missing linkand created a bridge to their heart.

CBS is not a new, novel invention of a missio-logical think tank. It’s a method that was used byJesus and the Apostles to convey spiritual truth.Reading through Scripture you see the gospelunfold most often in story form. After the resurrec-tion the risen Jesus was walking with two discipleson the Emmaus Road. The Scripture says, “Andbeginning at Moses and all the prophets, heexpounded unto them in all the scriptures, the thingsconcerning himself.” Jesus started with the OldTestament events and tied them to the cross and theresurrection. We see the same approach withStephen just before he was stoned and then Paul inhis public discourse as he ties the gospel story backto the prophets. It is estimated that over 60-70% ofthe Scripture is in a narrative format. The Bible is astory - the story of God and man.

Field missionaries working among oral culturesare realizing that just because the people can’t readand write, it does not prevent them from clearlyunderstanding the gospel story. They are discover-ing that nearly every people group has some formof storytelling that is an intricate part of their culture.

This point is clearly illustrated in the popular mis-sion video produced by New Tribes Mission calledEE-Taow! The Mouk Story. The story chronicles howCBS, developed by missionary Mark Zook,changed the lives of the Mouk people in Papua,New Guinea. Mark took several months to method-ically tell and illustrate the stories of the Bible begin-

ning with Genesis and culminat-ing with the cross. When thegospel story was presented,nearly the whole tribe repentedand trusted Christ. Through theprocess of telling the stories ofthe Bible this tribe of illiteratepeople understood their needfor a Savior. Through CBS Mark

created an Oral Bible that enabled everyone tohear, understand and believe.

The power of this method of evangelism is deep-er than “everybody loves a good story.” It is tied tothe fact that the theme of Scripture is redemption.The redemptive story of salvation is clearly seenthroughout the Bible. CBS is the art of telling thatredemptive story starting with the Genesis accountof creation and continuing through to the death,burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It isthe process of allowing the hearer to experiencehow all of Scripture links together to tell of God’slove and provision for their sin.

When a culture that is void of any exposure tothe Scripture, hears Bible stories in a methodicaland chronological sequence, the story of the crossmakes perfect sense. One of the amazing aspectsof this approach is when the gospel story is told inthis manner, cultural parallels are discovered. Godhas built into the stories of the Bible certain elementsthat allow the hearer in any culture to identify withone or more characters. We are hearing reports of

“For decades missionaries

ministering to unreached

people groups who primarily

communicate through oral

means have been using

western methods in their

approach to evangelism.”

missionaries discovering the cultural key to reach-ing a certain people group through CBS.

An Oral BibleThe process of CBS produces an Oral Bible by

grouping together appropriate Bible stories. Its goalis for the gospel to be presented through storyingwith the aim of evangelizing, discipling, plantinga church and training leaders among a targetpeople who cannot read and write – an oral com-municator.

The Oral Bible is most often presented in theform of tracks and phases. To complete both phas-es would include about 600 Bible stories. There aretwo phases. Phase one is theChurch Planting. The tracks with-in this phase include;Evangelism, Discipleship, ChurchPlanting, Leadership Training andEnd Times. Phase two is theChurch Strengthening Phase.The tracks within this phaseinclude: Completing theRemainder of Bible Stories, BibleDoctrines, Training Lay Pastors and Leaders. Eachtrack begins with Genesis and moves chronologi-cally through the Bible.

Jim Bowman, director of Scriptures in Use,states that “Oral Bible Storytelling is relevant toworld evangelization in the following ways”:

• Over 2/3 of the world’s population (4+ billion) receive the majority of their information through oral communication.

• 75% of the unreached/least reached only receive information orally.

• In the Islamic world, over 95% of all women can only be reached through oral communication.

• Traditional Western models of communication among the unreached are typically relevant only to the 10% literate elite. The Oral Bible model speaks directly through and to the 90%.

• It is based on a replication model that is low dollar per person for primary

training, which allows the individual to actually begin effectively “telling the story” of the Good News.

• Turns defeated marginalized, yet highly potential semi-literate believers into powerful evangelists/disciplers with great impact, a sense of fulfillment, personal value and new hope.

• Can accelerate Bible translation in languages that are predominantly oral cultures. (Wycliffe: 98% of future, new translations will require an oral component)

• CBS is cross-culturally sensitive and allows breakthroughs to the core of the culture – powered by concrete specifics rather than abstract ideas.

ConclusionWorld Missions has experi-

enced unprecedented growth inthe last 15-20 years.

There is a sense of anticipation that we cancomplete the task within our lifetime. All the toolsare in place; technology, training, accessibility toclosed countries through technical trades, linguisticskills, churches worldwide mobilizing to pray andmomentum. We can now add to our arsenal ofspiritual weapons the tool of the Oral Bible throughChronological Storying.

There is no doubt that Satan thought by keepingthe majority of the world functionally illiterate hewould defeat the Church in their quest to evangelizethe world. God always has a plan for every obsta-cle of the enemy. Producing the Oral Bible throughCBS allows any culture, at any level of literacy, inany formal or informal setting, to clearly and pow-erfully proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. ❖

Larry Bennett is the founder and director of NewDimensions International in Elijay, Georgia and is activelyinvolved in Bible Storying training of missionaries andnationals in the 10/40 Window. His email address is:[email protected]


“There is a sense of

anticipation that we can

complete the task within

our lifetime. All the tools

are in place; technology,

training, accessibility

to closed countries...”


Recall the statement earlier in this issue that two-thirdsof the world’s people can’t, won’t, or don’t read andwrite. The bulk of this issue has focused on those whocan’t. This article will focus on those who don’t. Theseare those who choose to learn by oral methods asopposed to literate ones, in spite of their literacy. Thesepeople are known as secondary oral learners.

A report from a mega city in a southern state in theU.S. last year stated that over 60% of the graduatingseniors for public high school stated, “I will never pickup another book again.” In other words, they plan tocommunicate and/or learn orally, by digital means, andthe television.

Some define these “secondary oral learners” as“people who have become literate because of their jobor schooling, but prefer to be entertained, learn andcommunicate by oral means.” Walter Ong, father of themodern orality movement, says, “I style the orality of aculture totally untouched by writing or print, ‘primaryorality.’ It is ‘primary’ by contrast with the ‘secondary

orality’ of present-day high-technology culture, in whicha new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, televisionand other electronic devices that depend for their exis-tence and functioning on writing and print.”

It is becoming increasingly evident that many ofthese same characteristics are as descriptive of second-ary oral learners as they are of primary oral learners. Assuch, the effectiveness of our communication is depend-ent on what we do with this knowledge.

Our purpose is to call missions-minded Christians toexplore ways to be more effective in communicatingwith secondary oral learners in reaching them for Christ,helping them grow and mobilizing them to involvementin ministry.

Why is it important to do this? A 2004 study report-ed that “literary reading in America is not only decliningrapidly among all groups, but the rate of decline hasaccelerated, especially among the young.” This reflectsa “massive shift toward electronic media for entertain-ment and information.” Numerous western societies areseeing similar shifts toward electronic media and theaccompanying secondary orality.

Consider the following statistics:

• 58% of the U. S. adult population never read another book after high school.

• 42% of U. S. university graduates never read another book.

• Adults in the U. S. spend four hours per day watching TV, three hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines.

• British teenagers’ pleasure reading declined by about a third from 1991-1998.

• In Denmark one-third of adults do not do any significant amount of reading.

The average church needs to evaluate how they planto reach this generation for the cause of Christ. Oralityis not a method of communicating that primitive nativesin a jungle somewhere on the other side of the worldneed…it could be those young people in your churchand neighborhood. ❖

Three Points and a PoemJust Don’t Cut it Anymore!Chronological Bible Storying is changing Christian com-munication forever. Emphasis on oral learning prefer-ences is the next wave of mission advance. Nearly 70%of the world’s population – and 50% of the USA’spopulation – desire a non-literate approach to learningand decision-making.

Preachers need to take note. Sermons can be inef-fective if attention is not given to communicating contexteffectively. For instance, the beloved “three points and apoem” is dead! The programming recorded and distrib-uted by many Christian ministries should take note. Theyare not off the hook just because they do not use print.

Literate preachers must give thought to their audi-ences. If we are serious about actually communicatingwith the lost and discipling spiritually – reproducingbelievers… then “orality” will supercede relatively inef-fective literate approaches. Have you ever listened to asermon where the speaker used an illustration to sub-stantiate his point or principle? Then months or yearslater you can recall the story used as an illustration butprobably don’t have a clue as to what the point was.

Orality appeals to more than non-literates, but alsoto functionally illiterates, post-literates, and even post-moderns. People who do not read regularly, have onlya tenth grade education or less… or have been taughtby rote memorization…or are attracted to ChronologicalBible Storying. Key advantages for oral learners arememorization, retention, reproducibility, and culturalappropriateness. They live it as compared to exposition.So our preaching has to connect with real life.

Today throughout our world, there are non-literateswho are pastors that teach and minister and plant

churches effectively as a non-literate. Just memorizingBible stories is not enough. Oral learners must harvestthe Bible truth from the presentations. Real life applica-tions are within the oral context. Often preachers com-plain about the disconnect between what they preachand their church members’ lifestyles. Storying is theanswer. Storying is based on Bible principles thataddress theology and practical, real life issues. Many ofthe barriers to faith and righteous living can be overcomeby using storying as the method of communication.

Storying can also reinforce positive bridges to thegospel’s acceptance and application. Dialogue, discus-sion, repetition, and even drama or singing the storiesaid in retention and re-telling. Here are ten steps thathave been identified by missiologists as critical to story-ing’s effectivenss. The ages-old approach to communi-cating Bible truths can be new once again. Much of thisis applicable to pastors who preach to their congrega-tions each week.

Storying in Ten Steps

1. Select a biblical principle and make sure it is clearand simple.

2. Consider the worldview issues of a chosen peoplegroup so that we know how to choose the correctstories and how to tell those stories.

3. Identify the pertinent bridges and barriers and gapsin the worldview of that chosen people group so wewill know how to address them.

4. Select the biblical stories that need to be communi-cated to get this principle or concept across in theirworld-view.

5. Craft the story and plan the dialog that is going tofollow the story so that they learn how this biblicalstory addresses a critical world-view that they have.

6. Tell the story in a culturally-appropriate way (includ-ing narrative, dance, song or object lessons).

7. Facilitate the dialog that will help them discover thetruths and applications, usually by asking questions.

8. Guide the group to obey the biblical principle so thatit can be lived out in their lives in practical ways.

9. Establish accountability within the group to helpeach other obey the biblical principle

10.Encourage the group to reproduce all of this bymodeling the principles in their own life and thentelling the stories to other people.

Ten Steps courtesy of “Following Jesus” series atwww.FJseries.org ❖



Book Cultures

1. Learn by reading studying, examining, classifying,comparing, analyzing.

2. Think and talk about concepts and principles.

3. Manage knowledge in abstract, complicated, scientific categories.

4. Seek to discover new information.

5. Value innovative solutions.

6. Understand things abstractly like the pieces of a puzzle.

7. See things in parts.

8. Ask and answer direct questions.

9. Feel the need to define words and concepts.

10.Do not like repetition since material missed can bereread.

11.Use charts, diagrams, and lists to explain message.

12.Learn and retain knowledge as general principles.

13.Speak and write about their own feelings.

14.Arrive at conclusions by logic.

15.Organize the sermon or oratory with a logical pro-gression of thoughts.

16.Tend to communicate one-to-one.

17.Learn mostly alone.

18.Tend to use a subtle verbal style.

19.Prefer realistic characters and the struggle to reacha goal.

20.Use their hands little since gestures are not writtenor read.

21.Use informal, casual, or spontaneous verbalexchange.

22.Are affected by the content of what they read.

23.Have talents in written forms of language and liter-ature.

24. Do not participate in verbal contests but perhapswrite well.

A COMPARISON OF BOOK CULTURES AND ORAL CULTURESOral Cultures

1. Learn by observing, imitating, listening, repeatingand memorizing. Learn through proverbs, sayings,stories, songs and expressions.

2. Think and talk about events.

3. Use stories of human action to store, organize andcommunicate information.

4. Value and learn information handed down from thepast.

5. Value traditional solutions.

6. Understand things in their own context and according to the people involved.

7. See things as a whole, in their totality.

8. Avoid asking and answering direct questions.

9. Are uninterested in definitions since the contextbrings the meaning.

10.Appreciate repetition in case something wasmissed the first time.

11.Use symbols and stories to explain a message.

12.Learn and retain knowledge in relation to real and imagined events of life.

13.Think and talk about people and events they know.

14.Make decisions based on experience.

15. Illustrate sermons, exhortations and oratory withevents.

16.Tend to communicate in groups.

17.Learn mostly through interaction with other people.

18.Have a verbal style that can be dramatic andexaggerated.

19.Tend to use strong or heavy characters and toemphasize a struggle against an enemy.

20.Express themselves with their hands.

21.Use ritual and formal verbal exchange.

22.Are affected by the sound of what they hear.

23.Are talented in oral art such as song and poetry.

24.Participate in verbal contests, excelling in praise,insults, and riddles.

Prepared as Report 52 by DAWN Ministries

many ways, the gospel writer Luke isthe most fascinating of all the Bibleauthors. He is the only non-Apostolic

gospel writer, yet he wrote the majority of the NewTestament… 52 chapters (John wrote 50). He tiedwith Matthew for the longest book in the NewTestament with 28 chapters each, Matthew/Acts.

Luke was the most educated of the Bible writers.This is obvious and proven since as a medical doc-tor he deals more extensively with the virginbirth…a medical marvel plus his use of medicalterms in Acts. But what makes him so fascinatingisn’t the fact he was non-Apostolic, nor the amounthe wrote, nor the career level he occupied as physi-cian…but that he is the writer with the most Gentilecontent to his writings.

Matthew, one of the three synoptic writers,deals with how Jesus relates to Israel back throughAbraham, the father of the Jews. Luke traces Hisgenealogy back to Adam, a Gentile. He wroteboth of these books to a Gentile friend, Theophilus.He saw the incarnation in Luke 2 for all men, notjust Israel. He records many events in the life ofJesus which put the Gentiles in a good light. Theten lepers were healed, and one returned to givethanks. When the Priest and the Levite (Jews)passed by the man wounded and robbed, theGood Samaritan, a half-breed Jew/Gentile, serv-iced his need…making the Samaritan the heroover the Jews in both incidents.

Keep in mind, the Jews had no dealing with theSamaritans, but Luke puts them in a different light.He even makes them look better than the nine Jewswho didn’t return after being healed or two whopassed by on the other side. He wrote of thewidow of Zarapath whom God sustained in famine

and Naaman, the Syrian, whom God healed, bothGentiles. He records how Jesus protected theSamaritans upon whom James and John wanted topray down fire. Luke tells of the healing of theCenturion’s son, a Roman Gentile. He records thetraining of the seventy which was the number forGentiles as twelve is for the Jews.

Luke seldom quotes from the Old Testament,which would be unfamiliar to the Gentile world,and he often replaced Jewish words with Gentileones. A good example of this is the word “Master”instead of “Rabbi.” He centers his ministry at thechurch at Antioch, a Gentile city, from which hetracked Paul, the Apostle, to the Gentiles into ahundred different Gentile cities.

The other gospel writers, for the most part, nevermentioned most of these Gentile events though theyknew of them. The reasons are both human anddivine. From the divine point of view, they didn’tmention them because the Bible is divinely inspiredand the Holy Ghost did not lead them to includethose events in their writings. From the human pointof view, we write/speak of those things that haveinterest or value to us. God’s love for the Gentileswas important to Luke.

In his book on Acts, John Stott, shows us howLuke was a theologian, diplomat and historian. Atheologian in dealing with the doctrinal areas of hisministry, a historian as he chronicles the growth andspread of the church thirty years in four differentprovinces, and a diplomat when he shows howPaul tried to mesh Christianity and Judaism under aworld of Roman rule. We would have to admit theGentiles in Jesus’ and Paul’s day had a friend inhigh places….Luke, the fascinating, non-apostolicApostle. Yeah, Luke! ❖

by Charles Keen

In


Someone once stated that you will be the same person youare today ten years from now except for the books that youread and the people that you meet. There is some truth in thisstatement. The Pastors Book Club is designed to do threethings: Give book reviews from the staff of the UW Journal,recommend good books on the subject of missions, and pro-vide a convenient way for pastors to purchase these booksat reasonable prices. FirstBible International and the UWJournal do not necessarily endorse any author, ministry, ororganization associated with books recommended for sale.The books are offered as a source of information andencouragement.

The books below can be purchased by calling the toll free number for Keen Publications at 1-888-747-1611. Please note that shipping and handling is not included in the prices listed below.

Title Author Price PublisherA Concise History of the Christian World Mission .....Herbert J. Kane ................$20.00 ........Baker BooksHudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret ..............................Dr. Howard Taylor ................6.99 ........Moody PressLords of the Earth ..................................................Don Richardson ..................11.99 ........YWAMPeace Child ..........................................................Don Richardson ..................11.99 ........YWAMMissions in the Old Testament.................................Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. ............11.99 ........Baker BooksMissions on the Way .............................................Charles Van Engen .............22.40 ........Baker BooksThe Attributes of God, 2 volumes ............................A. W. Tozer .......................13.99 ........Christian PublicationsThe Pursuit of God.................................................A. W. Tozer .......................13.99 ........Christian PublicationsTo the Golden Shore..............................................Courtney Anderson .............17.00 ........Judson PressYour Church Can Excel in Global Giving .................Donald A. Jensen..................9.99 ........Send the LightLet Us Give...........................................................Arthur E. Ball........................8.99 ........Kregel PublicationsA Biblical Theology of Missions ..............................Peters, George W. ..............19.99 ........Moody Publishers Biblical Bible Translators ........................................Turner, Charles ...................19.99 ........Sovereign Grace PublishersC. T. Studd, Cricketer & Pioneer..............................Norman Grubb...................17.98 ........Christian Literature CrusadeGlobal Missiology for the 21st Century....................William Taylor ....................40.00 ........World Evangelism Press (YWAM)Key to Missionary Problems....................................Andrew Murray ....................8.99 ........Christian Literature CrusadeMissionary Methods, St Paul’s and Ours ..................Roland Allen ......................14.00 ........EerdmansMissions in the Third Millennium .............................Stan Guthrie.......................17.99 ........Send the LightOperation World...................................................Johnstone ...........................17.99 ........Send The LightPeople Raising ......................................................William Dillon ....................16.99 ........Moody PressRun With The Vision ..............................................Stearns ..............................14.99 ........Bethany House Publishers (Baker)Spiritual Secrets ....................................................Hudson Taylor ......................6.99 ........Moody PublishersTraining of the Twelve ............................................A. B. Bruce ........................19.99 ........Kregel PublicationsVanishing Ministry, The ..........................................Woodrow Kroll ...................11.99 ........Kregel PublicationsPower Through Prayer............................................E. M. Bounds .......................4.00 ........Missionary CrusaderThe Prayer-Shaped Disciple ....................................Dan Crawford ....................17.95 ........Hendrickson PublishersHe Is Worthy ........................................................Charles Keen......................11.00 ........Keen PublicationsThinking Outside the Box .......................................Charles Keen......................11.00 ........Keen Publications

The following are a list we recommend but not available for order, these may be found through used book dealers or on the internet.

The Hope at Hand: National and World Revivalfor the 21st Century...............................................David Bryant................out of print ........Baker BooksTerritorial Spirits and World Evangelization ..............Chuck Lowe .................out of print ........Mentor/OMFPraying Hyde: Apostle of Prayer .............................E. G. Carr, Ed..............out of print ........Bridge-LogosPraying Hyde........................................................Basil Miller ..................out of print ........Ambassador-EmeraldPrayer ..................................................................O. Hallsby...................out of print ........Augsburg

Recommended Books For Sale


Tell the Story - A Primer ofChronological Bible StoryingBy Steve Evans, Grant Lovejoy, Jim Slack, and J.O. TerryPublished by: International Center for Excellence

in LeadershipRockville, Virginia

Making Disciples of Oral LearnersAuthored by an eight man committee

Published by: The International Orality Network

Storying the BibleBy Jackson Day

Published by: Bible Storytelling ProjectAshville, Alabama

Chronological Approach SeminarCassette TapesBy Trevor McIlwain

Published by: New Tribes Missions

Recommended website for Oral Transmission of theScripture is: www.oralbible.com

Suggested Reading…Books About Orality and Bible StoryingUse the following resources to learn more about Bible storying. FirstBible International does not endorse theseauthors or their doctrinal positions, but their books on this subject can serve as a resource for any pastor orteacher.

The Librarian’s Choice

FROM JERUSALEM TO IRIAN JAYAby Ruth Tucker

ZONDERVAN, 1945

This is a general history ofmissions based upon biog-raphical sketches ofChristian leadership. It isan intriguing mixture ofpersonality, history and missions achievement.If you are a reader that has a hard time stayingwith a history time line or have a challenge keep-ing interested when history gets mired down indates, places and details, this is the book for you.Tucker had adopted God’s pattern of narrativewriting using the lives of men like Adam, Moses,Elijah, David, Jesus and Paul to carry His histori-cal message. She carries her story line on thebacks of men like Polycarp, Zinzendorf,Adoniram Judson, Alexander Duff, Hudson Taylorand C.T. Studd. It is scholarship, without dryness,at its best. Tucker has woven Bible, ancient andmodern history into one flowing tapestry. DavidM. Howard said “this is history at its best.” RalphWinters called it “the most moving book everwritten.” Warren W. Webster said, “it is afascinating story by a careful historian.” We willbe excited to hear your book review after youread it. It is the Librarian’s choice.


FirstBible International has several valuableresources that will aid the pastor and church tomobilize their people for missions. Some of thesecome at no cost and will be shipped free ofcharge. If any of the items below are needed, youmay order them online at www.firstbible.net.

He Is Worthy - Dr. Keen haspublished his second book on hismost passionate subject…mis-sions. Entitled, He is Worthy, thebook is a compilation of notes,readings, and messages and iswritten for both pastors and lay-men. Published in paper-backform, He is Worthy addresses theultimate reason for doing mis-sions…the glory of God.Everything from the GreatCommission to personal respon-

sibility is discussed in the eleven chapters of this much-awaited book.Rev. 5:9 comes to life as Keen addresses God gathering worshippersfrom “every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” Theforeword by Dr. Raymond Barber highly recommends the publicationfor every leader in the local church. $11.00 (plus shipping).

KIDS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!Involve the children in your church ina missions project that will send theWord of God around the world.Many times children are overlookedwhen churches plan their programsfor world evangelism. Here a handycoin holder for kids is provided toyou free. Each coin folder holds$5.00 in quarters and serves as aneasy way for children to sendScriptures. These are great for usein Sunday School, Vacation BibleSchool, and your Church BusMinistry. They provide the oppor-tunity to Spread the Word Kidsand to be a part of all that Godis doing in our world today.

1-2-3-PRAY. Few realizethat two minutes a day canchange the world. Use thishandy monthly prayer programto pray each day for threeunreached people groups resid-ing in the 10/40 Window. It’sas easy as 1,2,3…that’s oneminute, two times a day, for threegroups. A brief profile of eachpeople group is included eachmonth with the guide. Jesus said,“Pray ye the Lord of the harvest,that he will send forth labour-ers…”(Matthew 9:38). Theguides can be received viaemail. Sign up online atwww.firstbible.net. Free.

Thinking Outside the Box.This book will challenge you tothink biblically about missionsinstead of according to tradi-tional missionary concepts.Over 5,000 copies were soldin its first year of publication.Any church that wants tobegin to think “globally” aboutmissions needs to read thisbook. This nine chapter publi-cation has a foreword writtenby Dr. Tom Malone. Price$11.00 (plus shipping).

Prayer Calendar. FirstBible International offers a prayercalendar that has several unreached people groups to pray foreach day of the year. The calendar can be downloaded fromwww.firstbible.net. This is available at no cost to you.

Unpublished WORDThis quarterly publicationis receiving unprecedent-ed acceptance and is con-sidered a valuable toolfor fundamentalists whenshaping their missionsprogram for local church-es. It not only informs,challenges and moti-vates readers, but it isalso on the “cuttingedge” of world evange-lization in the 21stcentury. One readerremarked, “the currentstatistics published ineach issue make it amust-have reading forme.” UnpublishedWORD Journal isoffered free to pas-tors, missionaries andfull-time Christianworkers as available

to US residents. Others mayobtain the publication at the modest cost of

$20.00 per year. Call 1-888-747-1611 to place yourorder. It can be downloaded free from the website: www.firstbible.net

3720 West 4th StreetMansfield, OH 44903

A Fundamental Approachto the 10/40 Window

Here’s a program that will not only involve thestudents in your Christian school, VBS, andSunday School in an exciting competitiveway...but it will get them personally engaged inspreading the Word of God. You Can Do It! Let’sSpread The Word! is designed to capture theinterest of kids and launch them into somethingstrategic and meaningful.

With colorful tools such as posters, stickers, coinfolders, and brochures, the program is easy topromote and implement. Just imagine your kidsover a specific 30-day period putting stickers onthe poster for every country in the 10/40Window...and being excited about it whilechallenging each other in a fun way.

Each coin folder holds $5.00 in quartersand when filled can provide a Bible (or insome cases Scripture portions) to some-one who has never had a copy ofGod’s Word. Children get excitedabout giving a Bible to someone onthe other side of the world who hasnever had one.

Order your materials todayby calling 1-586-566-3825or order online atwww.firstbible.net. They are free!

Newly Released Christian School,VBS, Sunday School Program

unpublished word journal - winter 2006

Documents

uw journal

bible teachers

bible storyer

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characteristics of book

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