Darkness descends over the ancient red-clay walls of Marrakech, Morocco and smoke begins to rise from the Jmaa El Fnaa. This city square, famous for its nighttime activity, is coming alive.  Dozens of open-air food stalls are rapidly assembled for the evening rush. Traditional healers spread out blankets to display their various herbal and mystical concoctions. Dentists sit behind stacks of extracted teeth - as if offering proof of their competence. Dozens of young men gather in a circle cheering on amateur boxers, and snake charmers fill the air with their hypnotic melodies. But, like virtually every other night, the largest crowds are reserved for the indigenous story-tellers who beguile listeners with their dramatic re-telling of myths and legends. This is a scene repeated night after night in literally thousands of cities and villages around the world.

In many cultures high status is given to those who can remember and pass on wisdom, ethics and moral expectations via stories. Much care is taken to pass on the exact details of these stories from one generation to the next. The fact is, people like stories. If you don't believe it, watch what happens next time you're in church and the pastor begins to illustrate a point of his sermon by telling a story - wandering minds tune back in, heavy eyelids pop open, even squirming children pay attention!

Beyond mere preference, however, is the fact that some 3-4 Billion people have an absolute reliance on oral means of communication. Many of these cannot read, while others can read but are not used to learning that way.

What this means for the final frontiers of world evangelism should be obvious; it is simply not enough to translate the Bible into another language and make printed texts available. Clearly, translation is the first step. Without it, there can be no legitimate expectation of evangelism or discipleship. But it cannot end there. What good is a printed Bible if the majority of the people speaking won't be able to benefit from it? Obviously, we need to make God's timeless message available in a format people can understand. There are a number of ways to do this - ranging from chronological Bible story-telling, to making audio Scripture recordings, to teaching Biblical values via culturally-appropriate stories (as Jesus did when he told parables).

In this edition, we will be focusing our attention on various endeavors being made to reach oral and non-literate cultures. Contact Sixteen:Fifteen for more information, strategies and resources for reaching oral cultures with the Good News.

 

TC: The Huichol are decedents of the Aztec Indians.  There are anywhere from 20,000-50,000 and they live in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Central Mexico.  The location we are working in, San Miguel, has no church, no believers, and no missionary activity being done on a full time basis.  We are partnering with some Mexican believers who have a similar vision as we do: to see the Huichol worshiping Jesus Christ.  We came to focus on the Huichol after Jerrid, from 1615, did some intense research for us.  He was able to find the remaining people groups in Mexico that have not heard the gospel.  Jerrid gave us the information and we began to seek God's guidance.  God confirmed our focus on the Huichol when we went to Central Mexico and saw these people first hand. 

 

1615: How is Northside helping to bring God's Word to the Huichol in their heart language and why is this so important to you?

 

We believe that its vital for people groups to worship God in their heart language.  I couldn't imagine not having the Bible in English.  As a result, we are determined to get these people Scripture that they can read in the heart tongue.  Yes, many Huichol understand and speak Spanish but it's not who they are.  I see one day a gathering of Huichol around a fire as the sun sets, either reading or listening to the Bible discussing how to become more like Christ.  This is what we desire!  Therefore, we are partnering with ministries to make that happen.

 

1615: How is it possible for anyone at Northside to be a part of bringing God's Word to the Huichol people?

TC: Northside is partnering with ministries (i.e. Faith Comes by Hearing) that will help accomplish our goal of getting God's Word into their heart language.  This takes money to accomplish.  What we have done is broken it down into small increments so that each person and/or family can fund a portion of the Huichol Bible.  In doing this, we will see this Bible come together one verse at a time, while getting our entire congregation involved.  This is truly a win win!