Reaching the Unreached Oral Cultures in India
41% of the World - 3.7 Billion People are UnreachedThe Forgotten Seventy Percent
One of the biggest obstacles rarely discussed - or even considered - is learning differences. That's a big problem because 70% of the world's unreached people are non-reading learners from oral cultures. For ages Christian evangelists have used literate learning methods to try to reach them - with meager success.
Trying to engage an oral culture with literate styles of sharing the Gospel is like forcing children who are left-handed to write with their right hands. It's unfruitful. That's why we gave up the practice years ago. Not so with Christian evangelism.
Today, 90% of our outreach, discipling, and missionary training is still taught and conducted using literate tools - Bibles, Bible tracts, verse memorization, written study guides, internet apps and others. It still isn't working well among oral cultures. We fail to reach them not because they reject the Gospel message, but because God wired them to learn about Him in a different way.
How do oral cultures learn?
One of the biggest obstacles rarely discussed - or even considered - is learning differences. That's a big problem because 70% of the world's unreached people are non-reading learners from oral cultures. For ages Christian evangelists have used literate learning methods to try to reach them - with meager success.
Trying to engage an oral culture with literate styles of sharing the Gospel is like forcing children who are left-handed to write with their right hands. It's unfruitful. That's why we gave up the practice years ago. Not so with Christian evangelism.
Today, 90% of our outreach, discipling, and missionary training is still taught and conducted using literate tools - Bibles, Bible tracts, verse memorization, written study guides, internet apps and others. It still isn't working well among oral cultures. We fail to reach them not because they reject the Gospel message, but because God wired them to learn about Him in a different way.
- Oral cultures are peoples that for hundreds of years have shared, received, and recalled information using the oral arts: storytelling, drama, dance, music, song and even poetry;
- They do not learn well from a printed page and even those who can read or write still prefer to learn information and truths using oral methods.
- Those that have attended school (especially younger generations) don't spend much time reading so they lose their fluency.
- Oral cultures rarely read for new information. It is believed in these cultures that trustworthy information comes from people - not the printed page.
- Most oral cultures have limited access to the internet. Worldwide 1 in 3 people have internet connection. In the areas with the most unreached peoples, the situation is worse. In 2020, India has 685 MILLION people who do not have online access to the Gospel videos or podcasts.
Let's start with a true story from an Indian believer:
"In my childhood I used to join in Hindu customs and I listened to many Hindu stories but when I reached 6th grade in the school I had the chance to hear stories of Jesus. I had never heard such stories. I had been taught that there were many gods but through the stories of Jesus I came to understand that Jesus is the true God. I committed my life to the Lord and began to tell people about Jesus.
After some time I went to bible college. There I was taught in the western style of education. When I came back from the college I used the same methods to preach the gospel but nobody accepted Christ. I was very discouraged and thinking I would leave the ministry."
Four Important Points from this Story.
- As a child this new believer wanted to share his faith. He wanted to learn more about the Bible. That's good.
- He decided to attend Bible College. That's very good.
- As often happens, he was taught methods and given tools for ministry that were not appropriate for the needs of his village audience who are oral learners. That's not so good.
- He became discouraged and almost left the ministry. That's really not good.
This is a common cycle for believers - in any country - who pursue Bible education. They come to know Jesus through the spoken word or audio visuals because that's their cultural style of learning. But their training teaches them a different way of sharing the Gospel. They go back to their villages excited to expand the Kingdom, only to suffer disappointment when no one accepts Jesus. For many, that is the end of their ministry...but our story doesn't end there. We left our believer contemplating leaving the ministry, but he continues:
"Then I got the opportunity to attend bible storytelling training. There I learned how to communicate and plant churches among non-literate people. I was influenced by the teaching and returned to the mission field and used the story method. Many people believed on Jesus Christ through this method and accepted Him as their Lord and Savior."
KERUSOMEN BREAKS THE UNFRUITFUL CYCLE TO REACH NON-READING AUDIENCES
- Bible storytelling and dialogue training using word-for-word accuracy to preserve the Word of God.
- Musical adaptations to scripture in song, dance, and drama;
- Providing a story cloth tool, featuring 42 chronological Bible stories revealing the gospel of Jesus Christ, called the Bible Story Scarf that helps believers share their faith.
WHERE DOES MY MONEY GO?
Your gift of ANY amount goes directly to the mission field bringing tools and training in Jesus' name to equip church leaders and believers to reach out to friends and neighbors who have never heard of Jesus. HOW MUCH SHOULD I GIVE?
$15 empowers one storyteller with training and a Bible Story Scarf but it doesn’t matter how much you can give. It’s all about what God can accomplish through us when we work together. KGM partners choose the amount God lays on their heart and the funds are pooled. Then they are sent to Kerusomen Foundation India (KFI) regularly, to replenish the Story Scarf ministry fund. Finally, KFI conducts training classes and graduates receive a Bible Story Scarf.
THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE
Your gift empowers pastor-missionaries and believers to boldly tell God’s story to a forgotten audience: moms, dads, and children in India who will NEVER discover Jesus through a printed page or a Bible tract. When you're an active part of this amazing ministry that’s turning defeated, marginalized, semi-literate believers - into powerful disciples and evangelists - you can know, you’re making a real difference. You can know, you’ve truly impacted the lives - of an individual; of a family; and of a community. And, that the goal of training thousands of grassroots missionaries, in India, is happening - because of generous people like yourself.
