Avery Willis, Making Disciples of Oral Learners

Two thirds of all people in the world are oral communicators-- who can’t, don’t, or won’t

learn through literate means.

Four billion people in our world are at risk of a Christless eternity unless literate Christians make significant changes in
evangelism, discipleship, leader training, and church planting. These four billion people in our world need a customized
strategy delivered in a culturally appropriate manner in order for them to hear, understand, respond to the gospel, and
reproduce disciples.

However, an estimated 90% of the world’s Christian workers are using literate communication styles that don’t
communicate to oral learners. Literate approaches rely on lists, outlines, word studies, apologetics, and theological jargon.
Making disciples of oral learners means using communication forms that are familiar within the cultures: stories, proverbs,
drama, songs, chants, and poetry. Our issues group discovered that many churches and workers in relational cultures,
have found significant benefits to the chronological Bible storying approach in evangelism, discipleship, church planting,
and leader training.

During the Lausanne conference 2004 in Pattaya, Thailand we formed a Lausanne Task Force on Making Disciples of
Oral Learners to explore and implement all practical means to advance the cause of making disciples of oral learners
worldwide. The task force began the International Orality Network in Feb. 2005.

We challenge churches and other Christian organizations to join us and ride the next wave of Kingdom advancement by
developing and implementing methods for effective oral strategies. Partners, networks, seminaries, mission agencies,
conference and workshop leaders, and other Christian influencers are called upon to recognize the issues of orality in the
world around them, become intentional about making disciples of oral learners, raise awareness, initiate oral
communication projects, and train missionaries and local leaders in chronological Bible storying as an effective
church-planting strategy.

Avery Willis, issues group convener and Executive Director of the International Orality Network said, “The Lausanne
Conference catapulted the Making Disciples of Oral Learners issue to the forefront of the missions world. With the insights
we are gleaning from research and collaboration, our prayer is that it will become as significant as Ralph Winter’s call to
reach the “hidden peoples” of the world at Lausanne 1974. Christians have the opportunity to evangelize, disciple, plant
churches and train leaders in these unreached people groups of the world in our generation, but only if we use appropriate
communication styles with oral learners. The church today must embrace oral communicators as partners--together
making disciples of all peoples to the glory of God!”

Article originally written for the Lausanne Task Force.