In South American jungles live many people who have never learned to read and write their own language. Not only does this feed their sense of inferiority; it also makes them vulnerable to being taken advantage of. And how will they ever read the Bible?
Breaking Barriers to Literacy...
Literacy vs. Orality in Church Planting Strategy
Here's another recording fresh from EXPLORE 2021. Listen as All-Nations' first literacy coach describes what we mean by literacy and its importance in a Bible translation project. With stories and examples, she describes the...
“If you’re going to a place that needs a Bible translation, the probability of a vernacular literacy program is pretty high.” —Mark Zook
Theoretical Backdrop
From the mouth or the hand, a word. Transient, bursting with meaning, bound for the ear or the eye, a word—and a whole, rich string of them. Human speech in any language is a beautiful, fragile thing. Words may be...
"Suggesting a primarily oral society should remain in their primary oral communication situation is soft racism. People who promote this don’t realize that such a comment reveals racial bias. Some Africans interpret Western proponents of orality as “white people implying that Africans can be...
“One of the best ways to defeat paternalism is by teaching believers to read.” —Unknown
“He seemed hopeless [with learning to read] but now he’s a reading machine who loves to read. Other older people see him and say, 'If Ponciano could do it, I could!'” —A literacy team in the Philippines
“Throughout history, those left without the ability to read the Word on their own have been put in a place of dependence on ‘religious leaders.’ . . . Millions have been deceived [and led to] to a Christless eternity.” —Matt and Starr Arnold
"[Congregations] exist where many of the believers have a Bible in their own language, carry it to church, and sleep with it on their chest as protection from the evil one, but have no ability to read one word from its pages. It is simply not enough to place Bibles in the hands of new believers...
This is a video about reading and writing, Moses and Joshua, Bible translation and church planting—and what they all have to do with each other. It's about being able to access God's Word, and a primary way God intended for that to happen.
The video was recorded last month at...