The ongoing conflict in Sudan has devastated the country. Millions of people have been displaced and local communities face a daily threat of violence.

Unfortunately, on the grand scale of world news, the war in Sudan has become background noise. Yet, for the people living through this nightmare, it’s anything but.

Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide shares a sobering picture of the crisis.

“I was talking to some Sudanese leaders last week, and one of the comments just in one of the middle of the meetings was, ‘Hey, we got news that 500 people in a village died yesterday, killed in the middle of the war.’

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“You think of that – of the impact that has. I don’t care the size of the village. I mean, just even by the name ‘village’ you think, ‘Okay, that’s decimation.’”

Amid the chaos, Sudanese believers are steadfast in their faith and ministry work – something that’s doubly dangerous for Christians who still face severe persecution from Muslims and militias in Sudan.

While many have fled the country, Weaver says, “There’s plenty of Sudanese that are still living in Sudan. So pray for their protection, specifically that they will be able to effectively move forward with their ministry.

“I think for those that have been displaced, [pray] that they will be emboldened with creativity and to recognize the place that God has put them in.”

Pray also for Spoken Worldwide, that their focus on oral Gospel-sharing methods would reach struggling hearts in Sudan.

Header photo courtesy of DFID – UK Department for International Development, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says, “As they’ve grown internationally, one of the things they began to find is that they were finding that people were dropping out of their program after the first year. They discovered that it was largely because people were not able to read or they weren’t in the practice of reading.”

CBS realized that text-based Bible study methods weren’t working in oral cultures. They interviewed other ministries about potential partnership to address the issue and finally linked arms with Spoken Worldwide.

Spoken CBS Orality training in Nepal. (Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

Spoken Worldwide helped CBS develop a new curriculum using orality methods. Weaver says the Spoken CBS Orality curriculum has really taken off in countries like Nepal, for example, with a focus on multiplying ministry.

“We’re training other ministries to do orality ministry, and not just to do a workshop, but really to develop a strategy. In other words, when the workshop is over, will these students develop an oral strategy to continue ministry focusing on that overlooked population?”

In Nepal, 50 believers recently went through the new Spoken CBS Orality curriculum.

Weaver says, “When you see 50 people that are being trained, the thing that gives me great comfort is that’s not just 50 people that are checking off a box. Those are 50 ministry leaders that are going to go take this curriculum and really replicate what we’ve done.

“You see 50 people that are essentially going to be leading small group Bible studies and they’re going to train up other leaders and those people are going to start small group Bible studies.”

As our Christian brothers and sisters in Nepal grow in their faith in a way that speaks to their hearts, you can get involved through prayer and support!

“We have brothers and sisters in Christ around the world that are taking on a new tool learning a new method of doing ministry, and it’s transforming their lives so much that they want to see other lives transformed in the same way,” says Weaver.

Did you know 2/3 of the world’s population are oral learners?
(Graphic, caption courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

For readers and listeners, Weaver says, “They can look at this or listen to this, and say, ‘Okay, there’s some real effective ministry that’s going on there. I can…link arms through prayer, I can support it financially, I can get involved in this in a very Holy Spirit-directed manner.”

Click here to learn more about Spoken Worldwide’s ministry.

Header photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.

Sudanese Christian leaders “can now have non-confrontational conversations about the things of God with people [who] would have never considered Jesus Christ,” says Ed Weaver of Spoken Worldwide.

Typically, in Sudanese culture, “if they (Christians) were to hand a Bible in printed form to their Muslim friends, most would not receive it as a gift,” Weaver explains.

“[Muslims] think of their Koran as the holy book. They do not want to engage with anything written that someone else might consider holy.”

Christian leaders partner with Spoken to develop an Oral Bible Translation in Sudanese Arabic. Believers create this version of God’s Word in audio rather than written text, making it easier to understand and share.

Did you know 2/3 of the world’s population are oral learners?
(Graphic, caption courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“If they hand an mp3 file to a Muslim, it’ll be received. It’s unexpected that holy information comes via an audio file,” Weaver says.

After believers share the material with Muslim friends, “they have small discussion groups [where] they gather and discuss the Scripture. They end up conversing with their Muslim friends about things of God they would not have had any other way.”

In Sudan and around the world, local “leaders are using the (oral) Scripture on a regular basis to cross boundaries” previously considered unbreachable, Weaver says. Praise God for these unexpected advances.

Pray for continued opportunities to share God’s Word undetected.

“We’re excited about the early response; we think it truly can be a breakthrough,” Weaver says.

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.

When talking about Scripture translations, Oral Bible Translation doesn’t often get a mention. However, Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says it’s just as legitimate and even crucial for non-readers in oral cultures around the world.

(Photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

“My concern is if you produce an oral Bible, then people might interpret that as saying, ‘Well, that’s a half-baked product. That’s not the real thing.’ If there’s a rigor that’s applied to translation in an oral methodology, can that be accepted as the true Word of God?”

Oral Bible Translation teams working with Spoken Worldwide are committed to accuracy and effectiveness. They seek to take information contained in every Scripture passage and deliver it naturally to oral learning communities.

Weaver says, in general, the Bible translation world has accepted the legitimacy of Oral Bible Translation with open arms. However, in some spaces, Spoken Worldwide is still educating and advocating for Oral Bible Translation.

Their point is that Oral Bible Translation isn’t just an interim product on the way to a language’s written Bible translation as the end product. For many oral learners, an Oral Bible Translation is the end product.

“If there is a text translation in a particular language and there’s an oral translation in the same language, both of those are legitimate,” says Weaver.

Learn more about Spoken Worldwide’s ministry.

Meanwhile, pray for oral learners to have the chance to know Jesus.

Also, Weaver says, “I’d love to see people pray for continued greater understanding [and] greater mutual respect for the respective contributions to the Bible translation movement. I think that’s a valid prayer and I think that’s a prayer of unity, ultimately.”

Header photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.

Ed Weaver says, “We’ve partnered with them for a number of years teaching their leadership, particularly in West Africa, how to use stories from Scripture as a way to communicate the Gospel in their outreach efforts. They wanted to begin to train some of their leadership more theologically, but they still were running into (no great surprise) the inability or the lack of desire to read.”

Courses

Spoken created orality-based theology courses. This isn’t something Spoken usually does, but they responded to a request from the Church of the Nazarene.

So far, over 17,000 church leaders have gone through the courses. Weaver says, “We’re not just using biblical ‘storying’ to deliver the Gospel or just a handful of passages, but really creating, ‘Okay, how do you get deeper into theology? How do you get to be more educated?’”

“How can you be impactful in the understanding of your scripture, being able to deliver it to other people?”

A team of about five people works on the project. Weaver says, “It’s been a fun thing to see how just a handful of dedicated people can make such a great impact.”

Weaver hopes these 17,000 leaders can form a network and that the work will continue to grow. The course could be used across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Ask God to strengthen the team.

Header photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide. 

Ed Weaver says this is a Sudanese Arabic translation. “There are many speakers of Sudanese Arabic, maybe 30 million worldwide. There are probably at least a million Christians. So there were a lot of people that are highly educated and could be involved in Bible translation. But it is still a very difficult language to navigate in terms of geography, hostility to the Gospel, etc.”

Sudanese churches have responded, saying it’s the best translation they’ve ever had. They use it in Bible studies, as well as outreach events.

The translation

How did Spoken put together this translation? Weaver says historically, people would create an entire alphabet before writing a Bible translation. “We’re not going to spend money or time to create an alphabet. We’re going to take the language as it exists today, and we’ll go ahead and translate it without the intent of it hitting a written page.”

Weaver says the Spoken translation goes through the Bible, not verse-by-verse, and instead captures continuous thoughts of the passage, allowing for an oral process of communication to make natural connections between thoughts and ideas. “It’s hard to separate out verse by verse in an oral method.”   This inherent naturalness of construction allows people to easily remember a passage and interact with the concepts of Scripture with minimum interference that can arise from unnatural information presentation.

Using John 3:16, Weaver gave an example of how an oral translation might sound different, just by using vocal emphasis in his delivery. “I think we would say, ‘God so loved the world . . . that He gave His only Son . . . so that whoever believes . . . will not die.’ So that would be an example of how you would deliver the passage’s meaning.”

“And it would be accurate. We would not add anything or take anything away from it.”

Praise God for the Sudanese churches and their use of this new translation. Pray they will be strengthened.

Header photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide. 

The Deaf have a lot in common with oral people groups, even though they don’t use spoken language. For example, oral communities prefer to receive and share information through stories instead of written text. Deaf people groups share the same characteristic.

Additionally, Deaf people “tend to process information together. They value having multiple people in a room and talking through things,” DOOR International’s Rob Myers says.

“Many Deaf leaders often want to get together and exchange information when making a decision.”

While Deaf and oral communities have multiple commonalities, it’s important to note one critical distinctive.

“The word ‘oral’ in Deaf communities often has a very negative connotation because [in the Deaf context,] ‘oral’ means lip reading and not being allowed to sign,” Myers says.

Scripture distribution, sign language interpreting, and resource development are all ways in which DOOR is working to give God’s Word away to the Deaf world.
(Photo, caption courtesy of DOOR International)

In dark chapters of Deaf history, Deaf people “would be punished for using sign language. Deaf people’s hands would be slapped; their hands would be tied behind their backs.”

As described here:

Members of Deaf culture have a shared history; unfortunately, a significant portion of this history was oppressive. There were many eras when sign language was forbidden, speech was forced, and Deaf people were looked down upon. Schools that emphasize lip reading and voicing (and forbid sign language) are called oral schools. Many students struggle to understand material presented to them, as it is done through written means. Students are sometimes punished for signing within the classroom.

Yet, hope remains. Similarities between Deaf and oral communities allow techniques like Oral Bible Translation to fuel Deaf ministry.

“This is an integral part of DOOR International’s history. We wanted to have approaches and techniques that would meet the needs of Deaf leaders who did not have much access to education,” Myers says.

DOOR International connected with Dr. Grant Lovejoy in the mid-90s, Myers says. Lovejoy introduced Deaf leaders to “approaches that people were taking in sharing the Gospel in oral communities.”

Tomorrow, learn how Bible translation and church planting reach the Deaf for Christ.

Header image depicts a young man’s baptism in a Deaf Nigerian community. (Photo courtesy of DOOR International)

Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide says, “I’ll give you an example. A friend of mine does ministry with Youth for Christ in Lebanon. He said highly educated teens just would not respond when he would say, ‘Please read this passage of Scripture, and let’s discuss it.’ They would never do the assignment. So he started listening to audio scripture.”

He asked the teens to do the same thing, and they learned much more using this method.

Technology

Even in the West, Weaver says this is a trend in technology. “When you think about Siri, Google Voice, and other voice activation on computers or cell phones, you’re not having to type as much.”

“As those become more prevalent, I think you’ll start seeing, via technology, a greater access to information as a whole.”

Spoken Worldwide provides orality-based ways for people to hear the story of Jesus. Their mission continues to benefit from new technology. Weaver says, “The orality ministries have a greater reach because of the greater possibilities for distribution. I think it’s an exciting time to be involved in orality ministry.”

Donate or learn more about Spoken Worldwide here.

And pray ministry leaders worldwide will understand the need for orality learning. Weaver says, “Look beyond your own boundaries and see what God can do.”

Header photo courtesy of Spoken Worldwide. 

That’s why Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) teamed up with Seed Company to reach the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) remote communities with the Gospel through oral evangelism training.

These communities have no Bible translations — either because their language is unable to have a written form or because they are still waiting for a written Bible translation in their heart language.

MAF flies remote pastors and Christian leaders to a centralized location in DRC for these oral evangelism trainings with Seed Company. There is follow-up roughly every six months to make sure the oral Bible stories and doctrines are remaining true to God’s Word.

Brett*, a pilot and mechanic with MAF says, “Part of the teaching is not just imparting a biblical story, but part of the discipleship that happens with these pastors is they take the time with them to talk about, ‘How does this story change the way I live today?’”

Stephen Hale is also an MAF pilot/mechanic and serves as the program director in the west DRC. Hale says, “It’s a three-year project with multiple workshops, with the same people coming back again and again and again, sharpening themselves in the Word and through fellowship and prayer and then going back out.”

(Photo courtesy of MAF)

MAF and Seed Company are currently focusing on seven or eight languages for this oral evangelism training.

“Among these seven or eight languages, they are trying to identify which of them is an ideal candidate for a real written [Bible] translation project,” Hale explains.

Brett shares an interaction he had with a chief in a remote village. “We were explaining why the Seed Company is here and what they are doing, and he said, ‘Why don’t you have any Bible translations in my language?’ So we had this great opportunity to say that’s why we’re here.

“He said to our group, ‘It’s like we are forgotten. The Church has forgotten us.’

“So I turned to him and I said, ‘People may have forgotten you. But God hasn’t forgotten you. That’s why we’re here is to bring that element of the Gospel here and…the beginning of this work is starting with us today.’”

Brett says, “That just brought a total sense of peace to the whole situation and it was really powerful. They were very excited to see people reaching out to develop a work. Ultimately, the end goal will be to bring a Bible translation to those people. But the storying value of it is, as they are developing the Bible, they are using that as a discipleship tool along the way.”

Without MAF planes, many of these remote pastors and Christian leaders would have to travel for two weeks or more one-way to access the training. But with MAF flights, the trips are typically an hour or two.

Still, to reach the closest remote airstrip to fly to the training site, the pastors and Christian leaders sometimes have a long trek from their village.

(Photo courtesy of MAF)

Brett says, “We heard from the storying project after I dropped them off…. They had to go at least one day around a certain area because these two tribes were not getting along. They were in conflict with one another and it was dangerous, they would threaten each other. So they circumvented their area to get around [and] they went to the training.

“Then during the training, [a man in] the group that was from that village really felt from one of the Bible stories…that he needed to make peace with that tribe that they were in conflict with. And so he did! He came back and they started a conversation and started the reconciliation process and explained why in relation to the Gospel with using the Bible and these storying things they had just learned.

“Now those two villages are at peace with one another and they now have a healthy exchange! So that was a very direct impact of that work that they’re doing.”

Please pray for traveling safety for the training attendees and MAF pilots — and for spiritual protection.

Brett says, “We have felt and experienced opposition for doing this work, whether it was in the flights or whether it was the individuals who came. Challenges were faced and so we just pray and continue to pray for them.”

Also, Hale adds, “The airplanes are expensive to fly, fuel is expensive and getting more expensive, so if people want to contribute in that way, they can always give to MAF…with [an] indication that they would like this support to go to the Seed Company project in Congo.”

Click here to give to MAF!

Header photo courtesy of MAF.

*First name only for security purposes.

Local World Mission partners visited the Mru, Greg Kelley says. “We asked them, ‘What do you need? What would be helpful?’ And they said, ‘We want to have some kind of a training, a school, for our children, where they could be safe so we could go and work during the day.’”

Mru beliefs

The Mru have no written language. In fact, orality is built into their belief system. According to traditional belief, the great spirit gave all peoples languages and written rules for how to live. But an evil animal interfered, eating the rules intended for the Mru.

Officially, most of the Mru people have been categorized as Buddhists. However, many Mru beliefs and practices lack Buddhist influence.

Churches

Kelley says many among the Mru have embraced Jesus. “They were so thankful for what we did by helping their children that the parents now are coming to know Jesus. We’ve heard just recently, in the last couple of months, three new church plants have started.”

“They’re getting the Treasure in their language, they’re listening to it with their ears, hearing the Gospel.”

The Treasure is World Mission’s solar-powered audio Bible.

Kelley says the Mru churches are created and led by Mru people, not outsiders. Ask God to strengthen them. “The first-generation church that was planted, disciples come out of that. They are sharing Jesus with others who are planning other churches. So it’s just a beautiful thing God is doing right now.”

The header photo shows a Mru boy. (Photo courtesy of Astrothomas, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)