“Now I Can Hear God” - Revaluing Oral Communication & the Gospel

A 52-year-old woman in Nepal said, “I did not ever think God would speak to me, because I cannot read. I always had to wait for someone to tell me what God said. Now I can hear God.” (Quote from a believer after hearing a Bible story told with the STS, a.k.a.Simply the Story, method)

In our zeal to make the Bible available to every believer, have we made literacy the “requirement” for hearing God? An educated Christian often thinks like this: God speaks to us today through his Word, the Bible. In order to grow in Christ we must read the Bible regularly. Therefore, literacy is essential to Christian growth.

That thinking translates into these practices: Those who learn to read may receive Bible training and become church leaders. Those who cannot read are inadvertently relegated to secondary status. Like the woman quoted above, they think that only those who can read can hear God.

Learning Technologies is bridging the gap made by a “literacy dominant” approach of communicating the Gospel. We do this by joining modern technology and skillful storying techniques. Believers are discovering that literacy is no longer “the barrier” to hearing God speak through his Word.

The technology is solar-powered audio players loaded with Bible passages. Storytellers learn to stay accurate to the oral Word. This is coupled with the best storying technique, called “Simply The Story” (STS). STS emphasizes accuracy to the Bible story without memorization and includes an inductive Bible study. STS is effective with literates and nonliterates alike. Because the process is the natural way that oral learners learn, nonliterates pick up the STS technique very quickly. They can easily repeat the process!