OneStory exists because of pioneering missionaries who realized decades ago that abstract logic gospel presentations are worthless among non-literates (and virtually every tribe yet to hear about Jesus are oral communicators).
OneStory trainer Nora shares a hilarious moment from Burkina Faso.
When speaking truth to unreached people groups on the final frontier of the great commission, OneStory keeps key concepts and realities in mind.
Key Term
“Orality refers to reliance upon the spoken, rather than written, word for communication. Orality is an ancient phenomenon that continues to the present. …Purely oral societies pass along everything that matters from one generation to another without putting anything into writing. They rely on the spoken word including its sung and chanted forms.”
The OneStory Partnership is now recognized as one of the Count for Zero Organizations by The Issachar Initiative. It is very natural to have OneStory and Issachar partner together. Issachar has a strong focus on reaching the unreached, which is what OneStory has always been about. We are excited to be a part of the larger community of believers with whom God has put this vision in their hearts. We want to be connected with all those who are about God’s vision for Unreached People Groups (UPGs). This is one more step at getting the Body of Christ being just that, a well functioning body, each part doing what God made them to be. OneStory wants to do what it can to be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in this effort.
We are only here for two years and do not have the time to “translate” all of God’s Word into their language, but our people have never heard the truth so we have come to share it with them. Our goal is to have around 20-25 chronological stories crafted into the Konyanke style and language on cassette or on radio.
Throughout the ages, the most enduring form of communication has been the telling of stories.
A word was planted in the earth, and a story grew.
Our goal is to be a catalyst to initiate reproducing churches in all 5,500 unreached people groups by the year 2020.
OneStory exists to develop or facilitate effective oral communication strategies to convey God’s Word to people who are unreached or Bibleless.
…so that all unreached and Bibleless people groups will hear and respond to the gospel, resulting in healthy, indigenous, reproducing churches.
Some are oral communicators by necessity. Others may have a degree of literacy for certain basic functions, but will not read more complex information such as the Bible.