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Orality is a multi-faceted phenomenon that has drawn the attention of writers in many disciplines. Historians, biblical scholars, linguists, psychologists, educators, students of folk tales, communications experts, business consultants, professional storytellers, missionaries, and leaders of emerging churches: all of these and more have written about the phenomenon we refer to as orality. See the bibliography
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Glossary for Orality and Bible Storying
* Bible storying A generic term which includes the many forms of telling Bible stories, of which Chronological Bible Storying is the main format. Single stories related to ministry needs, thematic story clusters in teaching and preaching, and even storying which begins with the story of Jesus are sometimes used, according to need and strategy. * ethnography A description of a culture. A description of the behavior and lifestyle of a people -- a community, society, or ethnic group. The aim in ethnography is to understand another way of life from the ‘insider’s’ point of view. Rather than studying people, ethnography means learning from people. An enquiry into the culture, life, and lifestyles of a specific ethnolinguistic people group. A traditional term for ‘worldview’. * orality Almost two-thirds of the world’s population is illiterate (non-literate, preliterate) or has an oral preference (can’t, won’t or don’t read and write.) The quality or state of being oral. The constellation of characteristics (cognitive, communicational, and relational) that are typical of cultures that function orally. See full glossary
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| Making Disciples of Oral Learners (MDOL) |
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MDOL Part 1: A Growing Awareness of a Global Situation
The gospel is being proclaimed now to more people than at any other time in history, yet many of those are not really hearing it. Unfortunately, most evangelical leaders do not realize the magnitude of the problem. Those affected by it include the 4 billion oral communicators of the world: people who can’t, don’t, or won’t take in new information or communicate by literate means. Oral communicators are found in every cultural group in the world and they constitute approximately two-thirds of the world’s population! Yet we are not communicating the gospel effectively with them. We will not succeed in reaching the majority of the world unless we make some crucial changes. More>>
MDOL Part 2: God's Word for the Whole World
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? 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. More>>
MDOL Part 3: Oral Communicators and Oral Cultures
Developing proficiency in using oral strategies involves several tasks. Literates who want to communicate effectively in oral cultures need to learn about the issue of orality. Walter Ong’s book, Orality and Literacy (1982) is a respected academic work on the topic. He offers lengthy, technical discussions of the nature of orality and the impact that the development of writing, then typography, had on oral communication and oral cultures. His approach is largely historical. More>>
MDOL Part 4: Disciples to the Core
Syncretism is “the mixing of Christian assumptions with those worldview assumptions that are incompatible with Christianity so that the result is not biblical Christianity.” Syncretism weakens the church, warps non-Christians’ understanding of Christianity, and withholds from God the full devotion and complete obedience that is rightly due to him. So the spiritual health and vibrancy of Christian churches depends on developing a faith that is as free from syncretism as possible, a faith that is both biblical and culturally relevant. Several key elements can contribute to discipling oral learners with a minimal amount of syncretism. More>>
MDOL Part 5: Reprocibility, Reproducibility, Reproducibility
Many people accept the idea that an oral approach like chronological Bible storying may be appropriate to initial evangelism, but they wonder whether a storying approach is viable for a sustained, indigenous-led church planting movement. Is it adequate for sustained discipleship among second, third, and successive generations and for leadership development in the church? Those working in storying in face-to-face, relational societies assert that not only is it a viable approach to meet these needs—it is the preferred approach to ensure reproducibility and thus sustainability in an emerging, indigenous-led church. More>>
MDOL Part 6: When Literates Stop Reading
Recall the statement that two-thirds of the world’s people can’t, won’t, or don’t read and write. The bulk of this paper has focused on those who can’t. This part will focus on those who don’t--those who choose to learn by oral methods as opposed to literate ones, in spite of their literacy. These people are known as secondary oral learners. James B. Slack defines “secondary oral learners” as “people who have become literate because of their job or schooling, but prefer to be entertained, learn, and communicate by oral means.” Walter Ong, father of the modern orality movement, says, “I style the orality of a culture totally untouched by writing or print, ‘primary orality.’ It is ‘primary’ by contrast with the ‘secondary orality’ of present-day high-technology culture, in which a new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, television and other electronic devices that depend for their existence and functioning on writing and print.” More>>
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