Don't Throw the Book at Them

Harry Box

Description

Don’t Throw the Book at Them addresses one of the most vital issues in contemporary missions. It is a manual for cross-cultural missionaries and national church leaders ministering in societies based on oral rather than written communication. Harry Box is a former missionary and researcher in Papua New Guinea and among the Aborigines of Central Australia. In this book, he explains the distinct characteristics of oral societies, how they differ from literacy-oriented societies, Jesus’ ministry to oral communicators, and why effective presentation of the Christian message demands that Western Christians change their approach to orality. He goes beyond case studies and analysis, allowing the reader to develop a detailed plan for communication.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Philosophie et théologie
• Growth
• Christian Church

Informations

• Publié par: William Carey Publishing
• Date de parution: 09 septembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645081333
• Langue: English

Extrait

Jeremiah 19:1-11
Jeremiah breaks the pot, symbolizing Israel s destruction, in front of Jewish elders.
Illustration by Jack Finch

Don t Throw the Book at Them: Communicating the Christian Message to People Who Don t Read Copyright 2014 by Harry Box
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without prior written permission of the publisher, except in brief quotes used in connect with interviews in magazines or newspapers.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION , NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (AKJV) are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible. The Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible ( the KJV ), the rights in which are vested in the Crown in the United Kingdom, is reproduced here by permission of the Crown s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Scripture quotations marked (NEB) are taken from the New English Bible, an earlier edition of the Revised English Bible, copyright Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press 1989. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.
Published by William Carey Library
1605 E. Elizabeth St.
Pasadena, CA 91104 | www.missionbooks.org
Brad Koenig, copyeditor
Hugh Pindur, graphic design
William Carey Library is a ministry of the
U.S. Center for World Mission
Pasadena, CA | www.uscwm.org
Digital eBook Release BP 2014
ISBN 978-0-87808-880-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Box, Harry.
Don t throw the book at them : communicating the Christian message to people who don t read / by Harry Box.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87808-865-2 - ISBN 0-87808-865-2 1. Literacy-Religious aspects-Christianity. 2. Missions. I. Title.
BV2082.I45B69 2014
266.001 4-dc23
2014016582
CONTENTS
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Introduction
1. Understanding Oral Communicators
2. Contemporary Oral Communities and Their Communicational Skills
3. Why Didn t Jesus Write a Book? The Ministry Of Jesus to an Oral, Event-oriented Community
4. The Original Presentation of the Old Testament Scriptures
5. Principles Involved in Communicating to Oral Societies
6. Making the Christian Message Live in Oral Societies
7. Developing Christian Leadership in Oral Societies
8. The Place of Literacy in Oral Societies
9. Developing an Effective Communication Plan for Ministry to Oral Communicators
Conclusion
Appendix A: The Use of Audio Equipment and Cassettes in Oral Societies
Appendix B: The Use of Visuals with Oral Communicators
References
Index
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Aboriginal iconographs
2. Angolan sandgraph: Njambi kalanga- God
3. The S-M-R Process of communication
4. Engel s model of interpersonal communication
5. Details of the interpretation process
6. Model of spiritual segmentation
7. Strategy and spiritual progress model
8. Decision process model
9. A given form may have several meanings
10. A given meaning stimulated by more than one form
11. Iconograph format for teaching Galatians 3:28
12. Kevin Hovey s genealogy stick
13. Dayton/Fraser planning model
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
DMiss
Doctorate of Missiology
GR
Gospel Recordings (Incorporated)
GRN
Global Recordings Network
MA
Master of Arts
PLO
Palestinian Liberation Organisation
PNG
Papua New Guinea
SIM
SIM (International)-formerly Sudan Interior Mission
WBT/SIL
Wycliffe Bible Translators / Summer Institute of Linguistics
FOREWORD
This is a brilliant book. It deals with a long neglected topic that affects Christian missions in most of the world. An estimated two-thirds or more of the world s peoples don t read, many because they have not learned to read, many because they can read but don t choose to. Yet most mission organizations assume that nonliterates need to learn to read if they are serious about their Christian commitment.
To reach nonliterates, missionaries have two possible approaches: either teach them to read, or learn to communicate in ways familiar to the groups to be reached. Mission organizations have tended toward the first of these alternatives, starting schools to teach children and, in the process, bypassing the traditional communicational structures. In our area of northeastern Nigeria, our message was largely understood as an appeal to children and those who chose to westernize. Becoming a Christian was often seen as synonymous with learning to read. As an old man once said to me, I d like to become a Christian, but I m too old to learn to read.
The problem of missionary approaches that are less than maximally effective because too dependent on literacy is what Dr. Box is addressing here. He is concerned that we understand how things look to nonliterate peoples and how to approach them effectively without being tied to literacy. Though his field experience has been among oral learners in Papua New Guinea, his presentation has a much wider base. He has scoured the relevant literature for both case studies and principles of application.
One of the strong points of Box s presentation is his application of cultural and communicational principles to the task of reaching people within their frame of reference. Nonliterates are adults, not children. They are able to think clearly and logically, though their logic is often based on different assumptions than ours. And their approach to life and thinking is more like that of the authors of Scripture than ours is.
It is our task, then, to learn their approach and concerns and adapt our presentations to those rather than to attempt to extract them from their context in order to win them to Christ. We should learn the communicational structures as well as the language and culture of our receptors. If we are to follow Jesus example, we need to be incarnational rather than extractionist, honouring nonliterates as worthy whether or not they ever learn to read.
This is a critique of standard mission policy and of our ethnocentric approach to communication.
We have much to learn. We need to understand the characteristics of oral communication and to use them, honouring the people by entering into their communicational world. Oral communicators are usually storytellers, often weaving singing and drama into their stories. Every point can be made with a story. We Westerners illustrate with stories. They drive their points home with stories. And, interestingly enough, when we use stories, even among Westerners, we are more effective than when we simply state our points. Indeed, memory specialists tell us that we (even literates) record the events of our lives in pictures, often embodied in stories. I believe what we learn by studying how oral communicators function helps us understand communication in general, whether literate or nonliterate. Though our focus may be on literacy, it is the nonliterate factors that are basic and enable truly effective communication.
Dr. Box is not against literacy. Indeed, in his later chapters he discusses how best to work toward literacy without making it a requirement for church membership. Before he turns to that subject, though, he deals in a masterful way with understanding oral communicators and the types of communicational techniques they employ. He has also asked and answered the question, why didn t Jesus write a book? He then deals with the fact that the Old Testament, even though written, was largely presented in an oral communication style.
Next Dr. Box presents the theory of communication that lies behind his analysis, followed by a series of cases exemplifying effective use of oral communication techniques in several societies. Box then turns to the very important topic of how to produce Christian leaders without depending on literacy. His next topic is the relationships between literacy and oral communication, followed by a scheme to develop an effective nonliteracy-based approach to an oral society.
As I ve stated above, I consider this book to be a brilliant presentation of the case for approaching oral societies without depending on literacy. Box shows high respect for oral communicators and their methods of communication. He is skilful in his application of our best understandings of communication theory to the topic of oral communication.
In my own ministry among an oral people I saw in action some of the principles Dr. Box is presenting. We were pioneer missionaries in northeastern Nigeria. One of our approaches to evangelism was to send out evangelists into the villages in our area to contact village chiefs asking permission to hear the gospel presented. On one occasion an evangelist reported the following.
He and his ministry group were in a village on the top of a nearby mountain that had not heard the gospel before. So, after they had gotten the chief s permission and a small crowd had gathered, they had begun to sing one of the Christian songs created (not written) by the Christians in the Christian community in the valley. Shortly after the evangelist team had started singing, the chief stopped them. The evangelist rep