Reaching the Unreached Oral Cultures in India
Imagine if you did not know how to read the Bible because it was not printed in your native language. Or what if you never had the opportunity to go to school so you never learned how to read. How would you come to know the truth in God's Word?
Many people in India don't have to imagine this scenario - they are living it.
- India has over 19,500 mother tongue dialects. Few have Bible translations in their heart language.
- India is home to 313 million illiterate people; 59% are women. (Ibid.)
- Make no mistake, these are intelligent men, women, and children who either can't read and write or who simply prefer to learn by hearing because they have done it for generations. They comprehend and remember what they hear and they are able to wrestle with spiritual truth.
So, how do we reach them with the Good News?
Let's imagine that someone showed you an image representing a story from the Bible, told you that story in your own heart language, and did it in a compelling way. Just like Jesus did. Would that make a difference?
You bet it would. Suddenly a whole new world of Truth would open up for you. Truth that could change your life...for eternity.
Kerusomen Gospel Ministries invites you to take a look at a new way you can reach the unreached in India and spread the Gospel message farther and faster than ever before...
What is the Bible Storytelling Scarf?
For many of the unreached people groups Kerusomen serves in India, Bible storytelling is a much more natural way of transferring information to them.
We do this with a wonderful tool: the Bible Storytelling Scarf.
The Bible Storytelling Scarf is a strategic tool where the Gospel story is illustrated on 42 vividly colored picture squares. Each square depicts a Bible story from Creation to Christ, that is used by a storyteller to share the Gospel with men and women who are oral preference learners or who cannot read or write. When these truths are shared with them in their own heart language, it makes all the difference in the world.
The scarf comes with a page of scripture references that corresponds with each of the squares on the cloth. Training materials, developed by Scriptures-in-Use organization, are free for leaders and lay persons ensuring the Gospel message is passed on with biblical accuracy. They teach easy-to-memorize, 4-6 minute story scripts plus questions that help the storyteller generate feedback and teach Biblical truths to their audience.
Through oral bible stories that are shared in their own native language and are easy to memorize, the Bible truth is planted deep in their hearts. Soon these transformed men and women share these stories with others. With the help of local translation efforts and a dedication for word for word accuracy to preserve the Word of God, these indigenous men and women are proclaiming the gospel of Christ in a way that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers, empowering organic Gospel movements to spread in their own communities.
Many KGM Churches and Leaders Are Already Trained in Bible Storytelling,
but Lack Access to the Storytelling Scarf Tool
Pastor Saha and Anju, using the materials and training from Scriptures-in-Use, have been leaders in this work for over a decade, training over 2,000 disciples in the oral arts of sharing the Gospel. And, churches in India are thriving on this 1st Century discipling and church planting model where people are working one on one traveling from village to village and gathering in homes to tell Gospel stories, just like Jesus and His disciples did.
The Bible Storytelling Scarf Accelerates and Enhances Evangelistic Efforts
It can be worn by women or can be hung on walls at home to invite questions about the pictures that lead to opportunities to share the Gospel story. The scarf is portable so the stories can be shared with family and friends at the water well, while working in the factories and fields, or while cooking at the fire pit. It's a true church without walls.
The Bible Storytelling Scarf is Safer as Persecution Increases
"Persecution is increasing... When people do open air preaching or use tracts they can face persecution. Even carrying or giving out Christian materials can get people arrested. When we tell stories, no one can say anything. I tell you that storytelling is the best and safest way for reaching our country. One day storytelling will be the only way for the church to sustain and multiply here.” Field Stories, Scriptures-In-Use
The Bible Storytelling Scarf is a Tool of the Ages
Today we have both the tools of the age, and the tools of the ages. Some examples of the tools of the age are transportation, radio, television, the internet, cell phones, and other kinds of recording technology. However, we must not neglect the tools of the ages, such as prayer and fasting and personally sharing and imparting life.
Of course, orality is a timeless tool of the ages. God Himself is the originator of orality as He spoke the world into existence.
The 65 KGM pastors and hundreds of lay men and women trained by Pastor Saha and Anju, are strategically placed to engage with unreached people groups all around India who have not yet heard the good news of Jesus Christ.
Equip a KGM Leader with a Storytelling Scarf for $15
Jesus told stories and parables. He pulled spiritual truth from everyday life. Jesus’ stories and the questions he asked revealed deep truths to his audience. Jesus often repeated important themes. The stories Jesus told and the life and actions of Jesus himself were told and retold. With the Bible Storytelling Scarf and training, KGM is modeling Jesus example by empowering indigenous believers in oral cultures to reach their own people and nearby unreached people groups more effectively with the gospel.
In the unreached oral societies KGM serves, there is no more powerful way of sharing the Gospel than to empower trained storytellers so they can share Bible stories with their friends and neighbors. The Bible Storytelling Scarf enhances their stories and opens up opportunities in a natural, non-threatening way.
You can play an important part in spreading the Gospel to the unreached in India.
Gift one Bible Storytelling Scarf for $15 or
equip two storytellers with scarves for $25.
