Orality Training in Fort Wayne, Indiana
(Living Water International photo).

USA (MNN) — Today, there are about 2,600 language groups that have no written Scripture.  These individuals are oral learners. They rely on story-telling not only to learn, but to communicate. Outreach professionals call this orality.

Jerry Wiles with Living Water International is part of the orality movement. “It has to do with the people who can’t, don’t, or won’t read, or prefer to learn by means other than written instruction or print-based media. We know that about 70% of the world’s population, or about 5.7 billion people, would be considered oral learners.”

According to Wiles, while 1st World nations learn through print media, “Behavior change happens better through oral methods than highly-literate western style approach.”

That’s why Living Water International is conducting Orality Training around the world, teaching Christians how to use oral teaching to introduce people to Christ. “Churches, mission leaders, and ministry leaders in the United States get interested initially because they’re sending people on mission trips, and they want people to be effective there.”

But then these leaders get really excited. “Once they go through the training, they realize that it’s universal in its application. So, it will work in our churches right here in the United States, just like it works in other parts of the world.”

Six training conferences are planned in different parts of the United States beginning in June. These training sessions are just a basic introduction to orality education. “We often know so much that we don’t apply. So we turn that around. We apply a little and practice a lot, and implement immediately.”

The results are phenomenal, says Wiles. One such group in in West Africa received the training two years ago. Since then, “Collectively those 15 people had seen 791 people come to know the Lord.” Wiles says it’s become a rapidly reproducing church planting movement because these stories are effectively being shared person to person throughout the community.

How does it work? “People learn the [Bible] stories and a set of questions; they go out and tell the stories. It’s a more natural, spontaneous way, rather than passing out literature and using some western propositional presentation.”

Wiles says orality coupled with the Holy Spirit results in many are giving their hearts to Christ.

If you’d like to see if there is an orality training session near you, click here: http://www.water.cc/orality.

Jerry Wiles at Orality Training.

President Emeritus with Living Water International Jerry Wiles leads orality training workshops around the world. “Roughly 70-percent of the world’s population, or about five-billion people, are oral learners overall. And, that includes the United States. There are a lot of people in the United States and the western world who would be considered secondary oral learners.”

This type of evangelism training is almost viral. “When people learn stories and a set of questions, they can go places just with what’s in their head and in their heart. We’re seeing people start sharing the Gospel and people are coming to Christ.”

According to Wiles, this isn’t rocket science. “It’s the power of simplicity and reproducibility. When we do our training we want to make sure our message and our methods are biblical, understandable and reproducible.”

That’s important since there are 2,000 languages who don’t have the Bible in their own mother tongue. Wiles says this kind of training can overcome countries opposed to the Gospel. “If we’re going to take the message of the Great Commission of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth and making disciples of all people groups, then we have to have a method and a message that’s reproducible and transferable within those cultures.”

In Jesus day less than 12 percent of the population could read. Wiles says this isn’t a new way of communicating. “It’s the most effective way that people have learned to communicate for thousands of years. So, it’s just a rediscovery of the most ancient basic ways that people have learned and communicated.”

The movement is growing. Wiles says, “There are actually seminaries and institutions setting up orality departments, or orality study programs. There are forums and consultations taking place. So, I think this will add a lot of momentum and visibility and credibility to the movement.”

There are three workshops scheduled around the United States. Find one nearest you.

Saturday, July 27, 2013 – Houston, TX
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Living Water International Home Office
4001 Greenbriar Ste. 200
Stafford, TX 77477
Cost is $35/Person
Register here.

Saturday, August 24, 2013 – Fort Wayne, IN
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
The Chapel
2505 West Hamilton Road South
Fort Wayne, IN 46814
Cost is $35/person
Register here: http://www.thechapel.net/index.php?pageId=563

Saturday, September 28, 2013 – Richmond, VA
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
West End Assembly of God
401 North Parham Road
Richmond, VA 23229
Cost is $35/person
Click Here to Register

(Groups of five or more may attend for $20 per person and alumni may attend free of charge).

President Emeritus with Living Water International Jerry Wiles leads orality training workshops around the world. "Roughly 70% of the world's population–about five-billion people–are oral learners overall. And that includes the United States. There are a lot of people in the United States, and the western world who would be considered secondary oral learners."

This type of evangelism training is almost viral. "When people learn stories and a set of questions, they can go places just with what's in their head and in their heart. We're seeing people start sharing the Gospel, and people are coming to Christ."

According to Wiles, this isn't rocket science. "It's the power of simplicity and reproducibility. When we do our training, we want to make sure our message and our methods are biblical, understandable, and reproducible."

That's important since there are 2,000 languages who don't have the Bible in their own mother tongue. Wiles says this kind of training can overcome countries opposed to the Gospel. "If we're going to take the message of the Great Commission of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth and making disciples of all people groups, then we have to have a method and a message that's reproducible and transferable within those cultures."

In Jesus' day, less than 12% of the population could read. Wiles says this isn't a new way of communicating. "It's the most effective way that people have learned to communicate for thousands of years. So it's just a rediscovery of the most ancient, basic ways that people have learned and communicated."

The movement is growing. Wiles says, "There are actually seminaries and institutions setting up orality departments, or orality study programs. There are forums and consultations taking place. I think this will add a lot of momentum, visibility, and credibility to the movement."

There are three workshops scheduled around the United States. Find one nearest you.

Saturday, July 27, 2013 – Houston, TX
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Living Water International Home Office
4001 Greenbriar Ste. 200
Stafford, TX 77477
Cost is $35/Person
Register here.

Saturday, August 24, 2013 – Fort Wayne, IN
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
The Chapel
2505 West Hamilton Road South
Fort Wayne, IN 46814
Cost is $35/person
Register here.

Saturday, September 28, 2013 – Richmond, VA
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
West End Assembly of God
401 North Parham Road
Richmond, VA 23229
Cost is $35/person
Click Here to Register

(Groups of five or more may attend for $20 per person, and alumni may attend free of charge).

President of Living Water International Jerry Wiles says, "There are some good studies now that demonstrate that oral methods are more effective than a highly-literate style of communication."

Oral learners communicate through methods such as storytelling, drama, and songs. Ironically, about 90% of the world's Christian workers present the Gospel using literate communication styles. "We've created an orality training workshop–a one-day workshop in the United States in English," Wiles said. "We call it an Introduction to Contextual Bible Storying."

In the workshop, attendees will learn about the nature of oral cultures, as well as why and how oral strategies work. "It's very participatory, it's engaging, and it's fun. People really enjoy it and find that it's a different type of training model then we're used to in our Western literacy-based culture," Wiles said.

You won't just learn the statistics and theories about oral cultures: you will be able to experience Contextual Bible Storying both as a listener and a storyteller. "It's a jump-start to give people some skills and tools that are effective in sharing their faith, but also in the disciple-making process."

LWI is not looking to replace Bibles, tracts, and other witnessing tools that are working. "Wherever we go, we say, 'This is not to take the place of anything else you're doing that is working.' We encourage people to continue reading the Bible, continue Bible translation literacy programs and technology when it's appropriate."

In past workshops, Wiles said that attendees say using stories and other oral skills "is an easier, more natural way of sharing our faith."

There are three Orality training workshops that are currently scheduled. One is in Portage, MI on March 2. You can click here to register. The other two are in Houston, TX. "We talk about the power of simplicity, the power of reproducibility, the power of multiplication, and personal evangelism," Wiles commented.

Living Water International is always looking for new places to hold these workshops. If you know of a church that would be willing to host a workshop, click here to contact LWI.

Pray that people will use the tools they learn in the orality training workshops to more effectively share the Gospel. Pray for those who have or are signing up for one of the three workshops.

"More than 70% of the world's population would be considered oral learners," Wiles shared, "so this emerging movement really is having great impact."

Most Christian workers use traditional, literate communication styles to present the Gospel, even though an estimated 4 billion people are oral learners. What exactly is an "oral learner?" The International Orality Network defines oral learners as people who can't, don',t or won't read, or who prefer to learn and communicate by means other than print-based media or written instruction.

Churches planted among oral cultures are booming, Wiles pointed out.

"Where is the church growing the fastest?" Wiles asked. "It's not in the United States and it's not in Europe; it's in the global south, and it's in oral culture."

LWI has taught the effective evangelism technique to missionaries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This month, they're bringing their Orality Training Workshop to the U.S.

"We call it an easy on-ramp to the orality movement," stated Wiles.

The one-day Orality Training Workshop invites participants to experience Bible storying as both a listener and a storyteller. They'll learn the principles behind making disciples of oral learners. Topics include why and how oral strategies work, keys to effective disciple-making, and the value of using stories and questions.

Wiles said the scope of this training isn't just for global missions; it can be applied to local evangelism as well.

"Once [participants] get into it, they see that it's universal in its application," he explained.

Workshops will be held in Texas and Indiana, and you can click here to see details and register. Pray that more nations would hear the Gospel.

"It's not just about methods and techniques of communication and learning but the Spirit of God touching people's hearts."

The growth of the population also has implications for sharing the Gospel. While many believe the peoples of the world need printed Bibles in their own language, Jerry Wiles with Living Water International says printing them may not be the best choice. He says 70% of the world's population are oral learners. "70% of the world's population would be oral. Oral cultures and oral preference learners all refer to people of the world who can't, won't, or don't read, or those who learn and communicate best by means other than print-based media or written instructions."

Wiles says the Orality Movement has been around for a long time but is really taking off since Lausanne. The movement is deep and wide and includes technology, storying, and other oral arts. "It is becoming a very significant revolutionary development in missions strategy — evangelism, disciple making, and church planting."

While Living Water International is about providing clean water to those in need, they're also about the Living Water. Because many of the people they serve are oral learners, they've had to adjust how they share the Living Water. "We're almost three years into the first phase of an introduction of what we call contextual Bible storying. It's just a jump-start introduction into orality and oral methods."

While LWI has been on the cutting edge, they want to share what they've learned. That's why they're holding an Orality Workshop in the United States on December 3, 2011 in Houston, Texas. "[In] one day, we can teach five stories, and with the five stories and questions you can give a simple narrative theology of the important things people need to know to come to a relationship with Jesus and become a reproducing follower of Jesus."

Wiles says learning this technique, "There are very broad applications for this because it's great for people who are going on short-term mission trips, but also people who are working in cross-cultural situations or different language groups, people working with children or prison ministry, or just general outreach."

He says telling stories and asking questions is an effective way of sharing the Gospel. "A story sticks in people's minds."

Cost for the workshop is just $35 which covers snacks, lunch, and a book. If you'd like information on the Orality Workshop in Houston, Texas, click here.

"70 percent of the world's population would be considered oral learners by necessity or by preference," says Jerry Wiles with Living Water International.

This fact can of course cause some problems in the mission world when literacy-driven people try to reach oral learners." While the highly literate can also learn from exposition and analysis, people from oral cultures cannot," confirms audio Scripture outreach Faith Comes By Hearing. "This understanding is changing the way we think about literacy, shifting to an emphasis on the culture of orality rather than on the inability to read and write."

That fact alone means: the way missions works has to change.

"If we're going to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, make disciples of all nations, [and] if the majority of the people can't read or use literate means, then we need to figure out how they learn, [understand] their world view, and make it biblical, understandable and reproducible," says Wiles. He adds, "The fastest growing movement in evangelism is in orality. The most rapidly reproducing church-planting movements today are in oral cultures."

Wiles is the president of Living Water. So, what do orality and well-drilling have to do with one another? "The foundation of what we're about is the spiritual life and the outreach, and our vision statement is to reach the world with water and the Word," says Wiles. He goes on to say that many of the cultures in need of clean water also happen to be some of the neediest and least-evangelized. Not surprisingly, many of them cannot read or write. Story becomes essential in ministry.

With all these things in mind, Wiles has written a book called No Greater Joy. The book reportedly helps believers do the following: "Recognize opportunities for sharing the Gospel; ask questions to start spiritual conversations; know what not to say or ask; eliminate fears and other hurdles; and demonstrate God's power and love."

Wiles encourages all believers to learn more about telling the Gospel story orally and to get a better handle on how oral learners learn. Even some Westerners simply prefer to learn from hearing rather than reading. At any rate, "Very respected missiologists and mission leaders now are really on-board and embrace this as a very significant innovation in missions that's going to have tremendous impact."

No Greater Joy is one resource to help you get up to speed with the changing world of missions. The book even includes discussion questions. You can buy a copy at Barnes&Noble, Family Christian Stores or Amazon.com today.

Pray that this new approach will result in the transformation of many lives.