Literacy

Advocacy Bible Preaching Bible Reading Bible Storytelling Bible Study Bible Translation Children Culture Digital Drama Language Issues Literacy Marketing and Distribution Meditation and Prayer Memorising Scripture Music and Worship Trauma Healing Visual Arts

Translating the Bible into Action

Second Edition (2022) When Jesus was born to Mary, God “translated” himself into our human world. This act of God’s translation continues today wherever the gospel is expressed, in each language and lived out in each culture that makes up…

RichardJune 18, 2022

Children Literacy

Bloom Bible Story Books

Bloom makes it easy to create simple books and translate them into multiple languages. Bloom makes it possible for many people to be involved in building a large collection of local language books. It was designed with new computer users…

RichardApril 21, 2021

Digital Literacy

Using Feature Phones to Promote Literacy and Scripture Engagement

"...many of the people in the language communities in Chad do not own an Android phone. Yes, some day Android phones will be more prevalent, and their numbers are growing, albeit slowly. But we are interested in what we can…

RichardSeptember 22, 2020

Literacy Orality Research

A Preference for Reading Print Scriptures in Senegal

"Almost all of the Christians interviewed reported a preference for reading print Scriptures. This preference was in contrast specifically to 1) individualized listening to audio recordings of Scripture or 2) listening to someone else reading Scripture aloud." This article is…

RichardJuly 30, 2019

Bible Translation Literacy Orality

Translation, Literacy and Orality

"The current emphasis on oral approaches to scripture engagement is, generally speaking, a laudable development. Since oral communication is indeed the primary means of communication for many people in the South, it is indeed natural and important to recognize the…

RichardOctober 9, 2018

Literacy Research

Impact Assessment Report

This study was undertaken by a small team of Africans and Canadians to measure the impacts of translated Scriptures, literacy and Scripture engagement programs on marginalized minority language communities, to discern whether certain hypotheses are true and to better understand…

RichardMay 12, 2016

Literacy Orality

Supporting Oral-Preference Learners to Engage Well with Printed Scriptures

The experience of going to church is largely an oral one in any culture. This is perfectly acceptable and appropriate, but there are ways that the experience of participating in church activities can be complementary to developing literacy skills and…

RichardMarch 16, 2016

Audio Literacy

Literacy can still hurt Scripture engagement… but there is good news too!

Today we are in a very different position from when Bible agencies and churches first started running literacy classes. There are alternatives! We now have many methods of producing, distributing and copying oral Scriptures of many different types. In almost…

RichardAugust 26, 2014

Literacy Orality

Is Hearing Enough?

"Social activity is our responsibility in the discipling process. Once a person has responded to the love of Christ, we are to help them grow up in their faith. Setting them free from the chains of sin and yet not…

RichardFebruary 7, 2012

Literacy Music and Worship

Music: a bridge to literacy

"Learning takes place when the activity is (1) receptor-oriented, (2) context-oriented, (3) repetitive, and (4) participatory… Indigenous music embraces all four of these learning components. Not only are the words in the people’s spoken language, but the music is also…

RichardMay 13, 2010