Raina Miller with Mission India says, “It’s so much more than an ability to read and write. It’s when they can read and write and when they can gain an education that affects every aspect of their lives.”

A Daily Challenge

The last census was taken in 2011 and showed almost one in four adults to be illiterate. While this number is projected to improve with the next census, there are still many people lacking this basic skill.

Miller notes that it affects almost every area of life. Mission India has heard of people who board buses for travel and then have trouble reaching their destinations since they cannot read street signs. Illiterate adults struggle to sign bank documents or open bank accounts to save money. People might be shortchanged in their paychecks or overpay for services, but because they don’t recognize numbers, they cannot prove disparities. Parents who cannot read face challenges even at the doctor’s office.

(Representative photo courtesy of Ted Erski via Pixabay)

“There’s other cases where a parent will want to take their child to the doctor, and there’s all kinds of barriers. They can’t read the bottle of medication to know how much medicine to give their child. Or we heard about one woman who took her child to the doctor, and they were calling everyone’s number when it was their turn to come back to the doctor’s office. She had taken a number, but she didn’t know what it said. So she didn’t know when she would be able to go back with her child, and she was too humiliated to ask.”

Disparity in Who is Affected

According to the last census in 2011, these issues affect significantly more women than men. Often women are expected to marry young and run the home, so education is seen as less significant. Or in larger families there might only be enough money to send a few children to school and so men are favored.

Additionally, there are more people from lower positions in society who struggle with adult illiteracy. However, with Mission India’s classes, all students are treated with dignity and respect.

“So many of them are from a low caste. They’ve been humiliated their whole lives. They’ve never been seen as able, and for the first time, they’re seen as beloved and welcome. Just the warmth of the teacher and the community is a huge, significant start in even building their confidence.”

A Bible-based Approach

Mission India uses a Bible-based curriculum to teach students to read and write at a fifth-grade level. This level is significant for finding work in India. They also offer health and hygiene training and special classes for entrepreneurship.

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

Miller says, “In John 10:10, Jesus says He came that we may have life and have it to the full. And we see all of this as part of that. So equipping students with practical skills that meet their everyday needs is a way to bring them life to the full here on earth, not just in heaven, but along the way.”

In addition to opening up the world of education to their learners, Mission India shares the truth of Scripture. Their curriculum uses the Bible as the basis for their texts. This helps students not only learn to read, but learn how to read God’s Word.

Most people who attend the classes do not come from Christian backgrounds. However, Miller shares that on average about 40% of those who graduate the adult literacy classes become followers of Jesus. For those who joined the classes already following the Lord, the ability to read opens up doors to study Scripture on their own.

Join the Work

These classes have the ability to change lives, both now and for eternity.

(Image is courtesy of Mission India)

“One of our biggest prayer requests for adult literacy classes is that as students gain an education, that they would see that it’s Jesus that is providing for them, that it’s through Him that they find joy and hope, and that He is giving them this incredible opportunity. So our prayer is that students find stability, find dignity, find confidence, and that ultimately they see all of that is from Jesus.”

The adult literacy class costs $40 per person. From March 1 to April 30, some friends of Mission India are matching every dollar given to adult literacy classes up to $300,000. So paying $40 for one person to attend classes will actually send two adults to class.

If you’d like to join this work, please visit MissionIndia.org/read.

Representative header photo courtesy of Tep Ro via Pixabay.

Ferial is telling others about her faith in Jesus Christ. Photo Provided by Heart For Lebanon.

Ferial is a Palestinian-Syrian woman who lived in Lebanon as a Muslim for many years.

Like other Palestinian refugees, she has lived in Lebanon without ever having any recognition from the government.

Living in poor conditions and with scarce resources, Ferial received physical aid from the Heart For Lebanon team. More importantly, joined their 3-year Discipleship Growth Program.

Camille Melki with Heart For Lebanon says that he and another ministry partner had the privilege of publicly baptizing Ferial among ministry brothers and sisters in early October.

In many cases, Muslims risk losing the support of family members and tribal leaders or being disowned when they declare a desire to follow Christ.

In countries that surround Lebanon, the lives of converts are at risk. In Ferial’s case, her landlord forced her to leave home.

Despite repercussions, Ferial, who is 61 years old, a widow, and illiterate, now shares the Gospel and openly declares Christ as her personal Savior.

“It’s not about just sharing the Gospel with her, which in itself is huge and amazing,” Melki says. “What’s important is that we can equip even people of very little educational means, equip them with tools to share the Gospel with others, and that’s what keeps the ministry alive.”

“We want to know that our relationship with Ferial, as important as that is, will also lead to her having built those relationships of trust with others, people that we might never have the opportunity to reach, but God will use her to reach them,” Melki says.

As a Gospel-centered organization, Heart For Lebanon meets the needs of shelter, medical care, and education, so that they can have Gospel conversations.

By visiting with individuals and families, Heart For Lebanon is building relationships and trust.

“They become family to us,” Melki says. “In those moments, that’s when we get the invitation to answer their questions about faith, about God, about religion, about if God exists, and if he does, does he care for our miseries, our pain?”

Please pray for ministries like the 3-year Discipleship Growth Program and for more testimonies like Ferial’s. Praise God for the work He is doing in Lebanon. 

Learn more about Ferial’s story here.

Header photo provided by Heart for Lebanon. 

“Inspiring the Body of Christ to rise up and join the new great awakening among Jews and Muslims in the Middle East and in uncharted territories around the world.” Caption and photo courtesy Uncharted Ministries.

Erik Ouimette of Uncharted Ministries says that the literacy rate in Egypt is about 75%. And it’s the 25% who cannot read who need special consideration for how they will learn about Jesus.

“They tend to be the same population that don’t have access to smart phones or much technology,” Ouimette explains, “And so, our team constantly is meeting with folks, having these wonderful experiences and then not being able to give them a paper Bible because they’re not able to read it.”

The impact of an audio Bible

Through ministry connections in the United States, Uncharted Ministries was able to get hundreds of Arabic audio Bibles to Egypt this fall.

While the situations that cause displacement are not to be celebrated, they do offer a unique opportunity to reach people with hope. And it’s not unreasonable to think that someday, they’ll be able to go back home and share that hope with others. This could change a nation from the inside out.

So, what is the impact of an audio Bible? It could be an isolated housewife having the opportunity to meet Jesus for the first time.

The Gospel of John through earbuds

On a recent trip to Egypt, Ouimette tagged along on a visit to the home of a Syrian refugee couple. The husband and wife, now living in an apartment, have been displaced for the last eight years.

Photo courtesy of Erik Ouimette of Uncharted Ministries.

This was the third or fourth visit from Uncharted Ministries. The husband seemed interested in the Gospel.  But turning to Jesus comes with a price. Ouimette says to do so, they would lose their ummah—their Muslim community and identity.

During this visit, the husband spoke with the team while the wife served tea and coffee, entering the room several times. Eventually one of the men noticed that she was standing in the kitchen with an ear to the conversation.

He invited her back into the room and put an earbud in both the husband and the wife’s ears and started playing the book of John. And so, for the first time, she got to hear the Gospel.

Ouimette describes the scene: “They’re quiet. They’re not doing anything. They’re not asking questions. They’re just listening. And afterwards, there’s some discussion.

“And the husband tells our team […] ‘This is good, that you would bring this Bible for my wife, because she cannot read, she cannot write. And so, a paper book is no good. It is good that you bring an audio book so that she can hear this.’”

Before they left, the team leader showed them that their tv remote had the same batteries as the audio Bible. Later, he explained to Ouimette that women in Arabic cultures often stay home all day while the men work. This was his way of letting the wife know where she could always find new batteries for the audio Bible. That way, she could listen to the Bible all day long if she wanted.

Ask God to work in the hearts of this husband and wife. Pray for them to find hope—and even community—in Christ.

To learn more about this ministry and how you can partner with them, click here.

Header photo courtesy of Erik Ouimette of Uncharted Ministries.

When society locked down two years ago, Set Free Ministries equipped teachers to visit students at home. Set Free’s Dave McIntyre says, “They started many local Bible studies in the villages.”

In nearly every setting, believers discovered “a lot of these folks were illiterate and couldn’t read the Word of God for themselves,” McIntyre says.

“In partnership with World Mission, we [sent] about 230 audio Bible units out to our teachers, and they had a great impact.”

The Treasure is a solar-powered audio Bible.
(Photo courtesy of World Mission)

Fast-forward to 2022 and Set Free’s new partnership with the Rural Pastors Project. “Martin Yoku, the director of the Rural Pastors Project, thought it was a great idea and saw the need” in his location, McIntyre says.

“He had many pastors who were illiterate, even in their local language.”

It’s hard to meet spiritual needs without access to God’s Word. Once again, Set Free teamed up with World Mission to procure 100 Treasures or solar-powered audio Bibles. This time, the Bibles are heading to church leaders in remote locations.

Learn more about Set Free Ministries here. Consider helping Set Free in this endeavor by sponsoring a Treasure through World Mission.

“We’re hoping to be a constant source of these (audio Bibles) for the Rural Pastors Project as well as doing some training with them in spiritual warfare and living free in Christ.

“This is our ministry: training people in critical biblical facts of who we are in Christ, where we stand, and that we are fighting a defeated enemy.”

Header image courtesy of RuralPastorsUganda.org.

That number could rise, unless something reverses the pandemic’s toll on education. Second- and third-grade students are 30-percent behind in their reading skills, according to a recent national study.

What if you could get kids to read every day and – better yet – read their Bible? A program from Keys for Kids Ministries is designed to do just that.

Word with Zach kicks off June 1, but you can sign up today!
(Graphic courtesy of Keys for Kids Ministries)

“Our Word with Zach reading program keeps kids and teens in their Bible every day throughout the summer, and we have prizes that we give away,” Keys for Kids Development Director Jessica Kogelshatz says.

Some kids may read only to win a few prizes, but they’ll reap long-term benefits, too.

“This [program] gives a specific reading structure and a devotion every day, so it not only keeps you and your kids in your Bible, but it continues that reading throughout the summer, which is so important for kids,” Kogelshatz explains.

As explained here, literacy matters beyond the classroom:

Third graders who cannot read on grade level today are on track to be our nation’s lowest income, least skilled citizens. Reading is a prerequisite for most adult employment, continued personal achievement, and for a continued democracy. And sadly, some states use their elementary students’ reading failure rates to predict future prison sizes.

Word with Zach kicks off June 1st, but you can pre-register today at the Keys for Kids website.

“We have so many amazing testimonies from parents about how they are able to have tough conversations with their kids, or kids to come to know Christ through this program,” Kogelshatz says.

“The first year we didn’t know what kind of impact it would have, and we had over 5,000 people sign up.”

Pray for resources so Keys for Kids can keep Word with Zach going. “The program is free but there are costs for our staff, so [be] praying over whether or not you could make a donation so that we can continue this program,” Kogelshatz requests.

“Pray that more kids and teens learn about this program and sign up because more people reading God’s Word is amazing.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Max Goncharov/Unsplash.

According to International Orality Network, 80 percent of people do not learn through literate means. They may be illiterate, functionally illiterate, have visual impairments, prefer to learn orally, or they live in an oral culture.

With so many oral learners and cultures in the world, orality methods are crucial for reaching people with the Gospel.

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

Christians in oral cultures often listen to God’s Word in audio, sometimes on constant repeat or in listening groups. We hear stories of believers who are so captivated with the spoken Word of God that they have it playing all day, even as they go to sleep at night.

Scripture is so inscribed on their minds and in their hearts that oral learners sometimes know God’s Word better than believers who have access to print Bibles.

Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says ministries better understand the needs of oral learners today than they did even a decade ago.

However, oral learners — especially those who can’t read — often face a glass ceiling in the ministry world. Without the ability or desire to read God’s Word, theirs is seen as a shallow faith.

“There is plenty of opportunity for growth and understanding that an oral learner can be a pastor,” Weaver says. “An oral learner can be a theologian. It’s just a matter of learning the information, learning and understanding who God is, and [having the ability] to communicate…His plan of redemption.

“They know the Scripture. They know the truth of the Word of God. I think that should be the [only] limiting factor, not the ability to read.”

Weaver added in an email, “After all, that is the essence of what a literate pastor is responsible for doing.”

Spoken Worldwide was established in 2005. At first, they exclusively focused on evangelism through orality methods. But eventually, they realized they needed to do more than introduce oral learners to Jesus. 

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“We analyzed what we were doing and reconstructed our programs to be able to make disciples [and] give them a biblical theology [through] a semi-structured curriculum.”

Weaver explains, “We don’t like calling it curriculum because we don’t want to suggest that we’re going to impose our standards on another culture. So we’ve outlined a framework, but we [ask] the local indigenous leadership [to] design the curriculum as it relates to their culture and their people.”

Today, Spoken Worldwide has disciple-making movements in 30 languages around the globe. Weaver meets other ministry leaders who are familiar with orality methods but don’t always employ orality to its greatest potential.

“That’s where I think the difference is [lies] how we…think about orality and how maybe other organizations think about orality. There’s just been [thinking] that this is ‘ministry lite’ or this is a good stepping stone to ‘real ministry.’”

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

Spoken Worldwide hopes greater awareness of orality methods in Gospel ministry will transform the ways Christians appreciate the faith and leadership of oral learners.

Weaver says, “I think one of the key items for takeaway is to ask ourselves the question, ‘If somebody can’t read, what do we expect of them? What do we expect that they can do?’ I think we need to reconsider our positions on that.”

Click here to learn more about Spoken Worldwide!

Header photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.

“God is concerned about poverty, and He’s concerned about Christians and what we can do about it.”

Poverty is a global problem and the battlefront is both near and far. Christians are called to fight poverty in Jesus’ name on local and international levels. Mission India combats one of the driving forces of poverty in India – illiteracy.

“A nation of 1.3 billion people, and one in every four of them are functionally illiterate,” Adah says.

Illiteracy affects nearly every sphere of a person’s life, including work, home, education, finance, and health.  Mission India’s Adult Literacy Program helps individuals and entire villages overcome illiteracy’s handicaps. At the same time, Mission India invites U.S. churches to be part of the solution.

“Instead of being like the Pharisee that is on their way to church and passes by the wounded person on the road, I think God is inviting us to stop and to help. And, that provides an entrance to share the Gospel.”

Difference Makers: women helping women

Earlier this month, Mission India held a women’s event in West Michigan called “Difference Makers.” They wanted to mobilize US women to help their sisters in Christ in India. Three weeks later, response cards continue to pour in.

(Photo courtesy of Mission India via Facebook)

“There’s really a momentum that’s starting now, and we’re hoping to continue on with that,” says Adah.

“We are really excited and want to find some other ways to rally women around sharing the Gospel and breaking the chains of poverty in India.”

Mission India has regional representatives scattered throughout the US, Adah shares. You can start organizing an event at your church by contacting Mission India’s headquarters here.

“It would just be a matter of connecting and figuring out what that would look like in their church.”

Header and story images courtesy of Mission India.

*Name changed for security.

However, observes Adah* of Mission India, illiteracy makes daily life a struggle for nearly 300 million people in India.

“It’s almost the entire population of the United States! Can you imagine that? Everyone in the United States not being able to read or write – that’s what it looks like in India.”

Illiteracy in India

According to the latest data from UNESCO, approximately 35 percent of the world’s 750 million illiterate people live in India.

On a day-to-day level, that means 265,543,922 people can’t read official letters or notifications. They are vulnerable to exploitation because they can’t read their paycheck to see if the boss is cheating them. Illiterate parents can’t help their children with homework.

(Photo Courtesy Mission India)

“It’s one thing to see a need, and it’s another to do something about it,” notes Adah.

“My hope is that people all over, when they hear about the incredible need for people to know Christ in India, paired with the incredible need for literacy, [they will be] motivated to…give to change people’s lives.”

It only costs $40 to change a life through Mission India’s Adult Literacy Classes. Learn more here.

Over the span of one year, Adah explains, people advance from “zero” to a fifth-grade level of reading, writing, and basic math. They also learn core life skills like how to save money and increase income, along with good nutrition and hygiene practices.

“It’s really exciting because all of this is done through Bible-based material. So, every single day when they’re learning new vocabulary, a part of that is the Gospel and hearing about the love of Jesus Christ.”

How to make a difference

(Graphic courtesy Mission India)

If you’ll be in Michigan on March 7, make sure to add this to your calendar: Mission India is teaming up with Proverbs 31 Ministries to host “Difference Maker: A Women’s Night Out.”

Learn more about the event here. It’s the brainchild of Christian author and speaker Lynn Cowell, who traveled to India a few years ago with Mission India.

“She was just taken [aback] by the power of God and the transformation that is happening in India right now, specifically in women’s lives through our Adult Literacy Classes,” says Adah.

“Out of that was birthed the idea to share with women here how they can be ‘difference makers’ in their own lives and in their own families, but also ‘difference makers’…for the women of India.”

Header image and story photos are courtesy of Mission India.

*Name changed for security.

(Greg Yoder, Executive Director of Keys For Kids)

“Summer seems to be one of those boring times of the year when we don’t have a lot of connection to families and support goes down, so we thought, ‘Let’s develop a program that’s going to really engage kids and their families,’” he says.

The new “WORD With Zach” summer reading program seeks to keep kids immersed in the Bible in a way that keeps them engaged. Yoder says their goal is to make the program easy to understand and get into yet impactful for kids seeking to learn more about God.

This isn’t just a way to keep kids entertained when they need something to do. Yoder says there’s a big problem in the Church with biblical illiteracy.

“Biblical illiteracy is rampant across the United States. In fact, 1 in 10 people have never ever read the Word of God. It’s not much better for Christians, either because 42% of Christians don’t read their Bible any day except for Sunday, when they’re probably in church.”

“We’re wanting to fight biblical illiteracy through the summer months by encouraging kids and families to read our devotional books all summer long, and in the process we want moms and dads to be praying for us.” Plus, he says most Christians turn to Christ between the ages of four and 14 (the 4-14 Window). Keys For Kids is just helping to provide the tools adults needed to reach out to kids where they live today to impact the next generation for Christ.

(Photo courtesy Keys For Kids)

The program has three main goals: raising awareness of biblical illiteracy, combating biblical illiteracy, and raising support for Keys for Kids so they can fight biblical illiteracy.

Every day, kids will receive a 400-word devotional parable characteristic of Keys for Kids. On the Keys for Kids app, kids can find audio recordings of Zach, the voice of Keys for Kids Radio, reading the devotional. There will also be a Bible passage of the day and a key point and verse to take away. Kids can log their devotional time into a calendar, and they’ll be rewarded for their time spent in the Word.

“If you as a kid read our Keys for Kids devotionals through the months of June, July, and August, not only will you win a prize in June if you do it every day, not only will you win a prize in July if you do it every day, not only will you win a prize in August if you do it every day, but then you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle Fire.”

There’s still time to sign up before June starts! Click here for more details, the calendar, and more!

“The first modern colleges and universities founded in India, China, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and Africa were the products of nineteenth-century educational missions. . .  . By 1935, missions were operating 57,000 schools and over 100 colleges worldwide” (50).

One of the major reasons for valuing education and literacy is because when individuals could read, especially in their heart language, they could study the Bible for themselves. They could learn about their Heavenly Father. They could grow personally in the faith.

In the last 200 years, literacy rates have risen tremendously. While in 1820, only 12 percent of the global population could read and write, today 83 percent of the global population can read and write according to Our World in Data.

Although those stats are encouraging, much of the work yet to do for global literacy advancements reside in disadvantaged and impoverished communities. And today on International Literacy Day, several organizations and ministries are spotlighting this issue.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India provides Adult Literacy Classes in India, and there is a critical need. One out of every four adults in India is illiterate. But with Mission India’s Adult Literacy Class, students can reach a fifth grade level in reading, writing, and math.

So what does International Literacy Day mean to their ministry? Bartholomew* with Mission India says, “It’s a day that really kind of calls out — not just in India, but all over the globe — that literacy and education is not prevalent in every area in the world. As we strive to educate men and women in India, this day calls that out…that the need is still there.”

Earlier this month, Mission India received an encouraging story from one of their Literacy Classes that illustrates the impact.

“This woman’s name is Jaya. Her and her husband were both illiterate and, as a result, the people they worked for cheated them out of their wages and they weren’t able to defend themselves after noticing the problem, one, because they couldn’t read or write, and two, they didn’t fully understand what was going on.”

What was already a frustrating situation then went from bad to worse.

“Jaya actually underwent a minor back surgery. Unfortunately, she actually had some complications that caused more pain throughout her body and was making it difficult for her to do her job. So she not only was struggling with illiteracy but she physically couldn’t continue her job,” says Bartholomew.

Adult Literacy Classes meet immediate needs, bring joy in Jesus and provide hope for a brighter future! (Caption, photo courtesy of Mission India via Facebook)

“At first, she started praying to her gods, but nothing was changing in her life. But then an adult literacy class was started in her community and that’s when she started to realize things were changing. She was taught how to read and write. And through the class, they had a health focus program which provided her with recommendations from doctors and after following those recommendations for five days, Jaya’s pain was healed.”

As Jaya continued in the Adult Literacy Class, she was inspired to pursue entrepreneurship. “She started making candles and laundry detergent and so she left her job as a laborer and now is making her own products and selling them for a profit.”

Bartholomew says Jaya’s story just goes to show that “not only is Literacy Day important where you’re getting to read and write, but it’s the results you get to experience once you learn how to read and write. You can start your own business, you can go to doctors and understand what they’re saying to do or not to do. Literacy just transforms everyone’s lives.”

And the transformational impact doesn’t stop there. Mission India’s Literacy Classes are unique in that they are biblically-based and the Christian teachers have the opportunity to share their faith.

In Jaya’s case, “she actually received Him as her Savior during the class. So now she is actively participating in her local church and she just had a holistic change of spiritual, financial, and socio-economical change. And that’s the beauty of these Adult Literacy Classes is that it’s not just one thing being changed in your life. Everything is being changed.”

An Adult Literacy Class with Mission India. (Photo courtesy of Mission India via Facebook)

There are a few ways you can personally get involved in recognizing International Literacy Day. First of all, Bartholomew says you can commit to praying for their Adult Literacy Classes.

“Just be praying for Jaya and her family as they are Christians in their community, that their community would be open to hearing about the Good News. Be praying for these adults who are attending these classes and the teachers who are leading them. Be praying for the individuals attending, [that] their minds and hearts would be open. And be praying for the leaders as they are leading these classes, that He would give them the courage and the wisdom to teach them well. And just pray for God to move in a big way.”

Then, you can also give and make it possible for more adults in India to join Mission India’s Literacy Classes.

“A gift of $30 will sponsor a student in an Adult Literacy Class for a full year. A gift of $900 will sponsor a class of 30 students!”

Click here to support an Adult Literacy Class student with Mission India! The option to give is at the bottom of the page.

*Name changed for security purposes.