To Every Tribe - Winter 2011

7/28/2019 To Every Tribe - Winter 2011

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The tough assignment for missionaries is to accurately communicate themeaning of the gospel to their hearers. Explaining the grace of God and thegospel through the complexities of foreign languages and unfamiliar cultures is

incredibly complicated. The obvious initial obstacle is language learning. Thereis no substitute and no excuse for not becoming proficient in the local language.

However, as difficult as it is to acquire linguistic fluency, that is not the hardest

aspect of communication. Though inseparable, exploring the numerous layers ofmulti-faceted cultural belief systems is considerably more difficult than the

linguistic challenge. Taken together, the barriers of language acquisition andcultural acuity seem nearly insurmountable.

For example, after a few years of studying the previously unknown

language of the remote Sawi tribesmen in Irian J aya, New Guinea (Indonesia),

Don Richardson was stunned the first time he told the basic storyline of thegospel. For the Sawi, whose highest cultural ideal was treachery, J udas Iscariot

emerged as the hero and J esus was the dupe. It wasnt until much later, with

additional cultural understanding, that Don was able to contextualize the gospelso the intended meaning was understood.

Hindu belief systems also present unique challenges to the presentation

of the gospel. Hindus believe in a universe that basically never changes. Everyperson moves through eternity one life at a time (reincarnation). They are

continually born again. A persons status in one life may be important, but, in the

next, may be less significant. It doesnt really matter for the Hindu because when

this life is over, another begins and another one after that. The Hindu worldviewseems completely defeatist to those in the West. Americans want to yell out tothe Hindu, Come on! You can make things better for yourselves and your

children. But Hindus view such Western optimism as meaningless. They

wonder why we exert ourselves so much in this short life when we may comeback in the next reincarnation as a grub worm.

There are reasons for the Hindu feelings of hopelessness and fatalistic

view of life. To meaningfully minister to Hindus, we must take their beliefsseriously and compassionately by making steady efforts to identify with their

culture. We must understand what they mean by being born again so the

gospel is communicated accurately.

Communicating the GospelBy David Sitton

1 TO EVERY TRIBE P.O. BOX 1572 Los Fresnos, TX 78566


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When missionaries preach good news to Papua New Guineans, villagers

may be thinking of the good news about acquiring the white mans wealth. Thisis cargo cultism. How does one know whether the enthusiastic crowd is

interested in the gospel or if they just want your steel axes and tennis shoes?Will you even be culturally aware enough to ask the question?

What is a missionary to do in cultures that dont know what sheep are?How does one teach important truth about the Lamb of God that takes away thesin of the world if there are no sheep in the culture? Ive known missionaries

who would simply allow J esus to become the pig of God that takes away the sin

of the world. Is that acceptable? It wouldnt go over very well with J ews andMuslims! These are the kinds of complex culture questions with which

missionaries constantly struggle.

The gospel transcends every culture, but it doesnt automatically fitperfectly into any culture. There must be a thorough translation of the meaning

of the gospel into local languages and customs.

Appropriate contextualization is so much more than merely convincingpeople to alter certain external behaviors. Without a transformation of heart,

soul, and mind, external reformations mean nothing. Contextualization involves

the entire process of identifying with the beliefs and experiences of a people with

understanding so the meaning of the gospel can be accurately communicated.

To Every Tribe endeavors to prepare new missionaries for the spiritualand cultural complexities they will encounter on the field. This issue of our

magazine provides a brief look into some of the communication strategies our

missionaries are learning at the Center for Pioneer Church Planting.

As we often emphasize to our missionaries in training, it is impossible to

not communicate. So, lets learn to do it well.

President, To Every Tribe

Contextualization is accurately communicating topeople what we mean to communicate, in cultural

forms they can readily understand. What wecontextualize is not the content of the gospel but the

communication of it.

www.toeverytribe.com www.toeverytribeblog.com 2


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The gospel message is

indeed going out around the

world. Faithful missionaries anddedicated preachers areheralding the good news acrossthe seas and across the street.This communication of the wordhas been going on in greater orlesser degrees since the firstcentury. The fact that it was theLord Himself who gave us thecommand to preach the gospel,that it is essential for thesalvation of lost souls, that itextends His kingdom, and that itbrings glory to Him, shouldresult in every effort to fulfill it.

Yet, two thousand years laterone-third of the planet has stillnot heard the gospel. MissionsFrontiers magazine reports thereare 27,000 people groups in theworld today. Of that number,13,000 are still unreachedpeople groups. One-third of the

worlds population, over twobillion people, has never heardthe gospel. There remains muchto do and the task requires everyeffort of faithful Christians."

! Missionaries have takenthe gospel message around the

world with varying degrees ofsuccess for hundreds of years.Could the failure tocommunicate the gospel inculturally appropriate waysaccount for so many years withlittle or no fruit in the ministriesof many missionaries? Thepages of mission history arereplete with accounts ofmissionaries who have gone tohistorically hard cultures.Missionaries have often sufferedthere for years without fruit.Names like William Carey, who

labored for seven years beforehis first convert, or AdoniramJudson, who likewise preachedand suffered long years inapparent barrenness, spring tomind. A less known missionarywas Julia Woodward Andersonwho began living and working

among the Highland Quichuas ofEcuador in 1902. When sheretired in 1955, over fifty yearslater, the first three HighlandQuichua believers werebaptized.



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" Could it be thesemissionaries were operating intheir own cultural paradigms and

patterns without awareness ofthe need for culturalunderstanding? Could it be,since they were lacking incultural, anthropological, orintercultural communicationunderstanding, they werepreaching the gospel as they

would in their home contexts?We certainly do not want todenigrate or belittle theirministries, and we recognizethem as heroes of missionhistory. They were, after all,children of their times, and most

of the Christians in those timeswere not aware of the tools wecommonly make available tomissionary candidates today.Nevertheless, is it possible theirefforts might have found fruitmore readily if they had beenable to utilize these skills?

! As a missionary, I havewitnessed many frustratedattempts of short-term teammembers in missions ministry.When the missionary indicatessome needed culturaladjustments, many respond, Idont care about the culture; I

just want to teach the Bible.The cultural adjustments seemto be overwhelming andsometimes workers feelinadequate to the task.

A common defense mechanismcomes into play that minimizesthe cultural importance and

argues there is only one gospel.After all, it is the gospel once forall handed down to the saints,

and there is only one meaning ofScripture. However, rather thandismissing the need for culturallyappropriate ministry, thisargument supports it. Sincethere is only one saving gospel,and this one way must be heardand understood, it is essentialwe present it in a way that can

be heard. The Western, highlyliterate cultures are the minorityin the world. To be effectivewitnesses, we must learn howothers think, interact, andcommunicate.



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! The key for successfulministry in another culture is tounderstand the culture at theworldview level. Only then will

we avoid the pitfalls ofethnocentrism and monoculturalmethodologies. We must besensitive to cultural differencesfor receiving and processinginformation. For instance, in anoral, relational culture a narrativeformat is the most effective

communication method. Inhighly literate cultures, aprofessor may assign chaptersto read and reflect upon forclass discussion, but, inrelational-type cultures, a

narrative approach finds more

success. Oral societies utilize anarrative approach for sharinginformation and training, suchas: mentoring, master-apprentice, and watch-then-domodels. Even in highly literatesocieties it is common to asksomeone how to do ratherthan reading a manualexplaining how to, eventhough every bookstore has ahow to shelf in its inventory.The practice of a young manapprenticing himself to an

established pastor or physicianwas the training school of formergenerations. Our own culturehas largely forgotten these

models, but they still reign as thegold standard in others. Weshould remember and employthese effective models whentraining believers from oralcultures.

" A methodology Jesusregularly used was tellingstories. Stories capture theheart and engage our minds.When Nathan wanted toconfront David with his sin, hecouched it in the context of a

story. The story hadits desired effect. Infact, even in highlyliterate cultures, thepart of a sermon weremember mostvividly, and often foryears, is the story orillustration rather than

the outline or main points. Theability to recall is what rendersstory-telling so powerful.

" Missionaries have foundthat preaching John 3:16 on thefirst day in a village, when thepeople had no background orworldview for understanding allof the implications of the verse,was ineffective. However, whensharing the stories of the Biblefrom creation, the fall, the flood,and so forth to the cross, the



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people were broken-hearted forsin and repentant. Theyembraced Christ as the SaviorHe is.

" Strategically, storying is aneffective missiological methodfor several reasons. Withstorying, people are able tounderstand, remember, andrepeat the stories they haveheard. Oral culture peoples do

not easily understand highlyliterate methods like steps andoutlines, and even if theyunderstand somewhat, theycannot remember and repeatthem to others. Missionariesuse storying effectively to

disciple as well as evangelize.In one pastoral training model inNorthern Africa, teachers taughtlocal pastors in three levels fiftystories each and several songsor choruses that went with eachstory. At the end of three years,the pastors could evangelize,

disciple, and train leaders armedwith a corpus of 150 Biblestories, and four hundred fiftysongs and choruses. In oral

cultures, this method is muchmore effective than reading andreflectingespecially when thelanguage has not yet beenreduced to writing!

" Studying the variouscultures of the world to know

how best to communicate thegospel is wise stewardship.Preaching to people in alanguage they do notunderstand, or using any otherculturally inappropriate method,would obviously be an

ineffective strategy. As thosewho have been entrusted withthe gospel once for all deliveredto the saints, without which noone can be saved, we shoulduse every resource available tous for effective sharing of thissaving message.

Excerpted from "How Shall They Hear theGospel?" in The Southern Baptist Journalof Theology, Winter 2005. Vol. 9, No. 4.,62-79. Copyright 2005, The SouthernBaptist Theological Seminary. Dr. M.

David Sills is associate professor ofChristian Missions and Cultural

Anthropology at The Southern BaptistTheological Seminary and teaches Cross-Cultural Ministry and Contextualization atthe Center For Pioneer Church Planting.



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By Margie Sanford

A popular bumper stickersays, If you can read this, thank ateacher! Literate people take forgranted the ability to read as wellas those who teach us. Westerncultures assume everyone canread. However, the InternationalOrality Network reports two thirds

of the worlds population are orallearners. Seventy percent of thosewho have never heard the gospelcannot read. This presents achallenge to those who plantchurches among unreached peoplegroups.

Yet, the Scriptures havebeen communicated successfullyfrom one generation to another,and from one culture to another,ever since they were first written.The literacy rate in Palestine inJesus day was between 3 and 12

percent. Estimates are only 5percent of the people in firstcentury churches were li terate.How were the Scriptures taughtthroughout the Old and NewTestament eras? The obviousanswer is orally, even though therewere a few who could read and

write. The truths of Scripture werepassed from people to peoplethrough the telling of stories.Parents, teachers, and rabbis wouldtell the unfolding history of Godsdeeds one story after another, thesame pattern in which Godrevealed himself to us.

It should not be surprising torealize Jesus communicated to hisfollowers using stories. Hist e a c h i ng s t y l e ma t c h e d h i slisteners learning style and patternof communication. Only in the

ChronologicalBible Storying



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p a s t f e w d e c a d e s h a v emissionaries come to realize thegospel must be communicated in away which is consistent with howpeople learn. The result is thedevelopment of Chronological BibleStorying (CBS).

C B S u s e s a s e q u e n t i a l ,narrative method which teachesthe truths of God's Word bypresenting the Bible in the orderGod revealed it. By using achronological t imel ine , Gods

character, promises, and missionare presented in a culturallyrelevant manner which is easy tounderstand and likely to be retold.The goal of CBS is to communicatethe gospe l so l i s teners wi l lembrace faith in Christ and becomemature disciples, resulting in

fruitful Christ ian service andworship. CBS is used in eachph as e of a ch ur ch pl an t i ngmovement: evangelism, discipleshiptraining, leadership development,and church reproduction.

The History of CBS

In 1965, New Tribe missionary,T r ev o r M c I l wa i n , beg an h i sministry among the Palawanopeople of the Philippines. TheP a l a w a n o s w e r e s e m i -evangelized, having heard of JesusChrist, but not understanding sinand their need for salvation.

McIlwain began, as he had beeninstructed in Bible school, to teachfrom the Gospel of John. Sadly,the Palawano people had nofoundation to comprehend whatwas written in John. McIlwaindiscovered he had to go back to

the Old Testament, and teachchronologically from creation tothe story of the cross, before hislisteners really understood theirlost condition and recognized theirneed for a Savior. McIlwainsmethodology of Chronological BibleTeaching (CBT), which was heavilyexpositional, spread among fellowmissionaries. Other missionarieskept his chronological approach,but devised Bible lessons asstories, better suiting their listenerswho were primarily oral learners.

The new methodology becameknown as Chronological BibleStorying (CBS).

D u r i n g t h e l a t e 19 80 s ,missionaries were using CBS as amore effective outreach to thelargely non-literate world. As CBSwas implemented, missionariesd iscovered those who werenormally resistant or even hostileto traditional presentations of thegospel were attracted to storyingsessions and began to respond. A

deliberate effort was made to tellstories to Hindus and Muslims.Soon, it was realized there weresubtle, and sometimes not sosubtle, differences among variouspeople groups which affected how

Conveying the stories

of the Bible in an oral,

sequential way helpspeople comprehend,

remember, and retell the

stories to others.



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since they do not learn or think inliterate ways. The best strategyfor getting the gospel to orallearners is an oral presentation ofthe Bible in a sequential approach

through storying. This way theywill not have to wait until the Bibleis translated into their mothertongue, or until they learn how toread, in order to understand themessage of salvation throughJesus Christ.

Our hope and trust is that oneday every people group will be ableto read and comprehend the Wordof God in their own language. Untilthen, people who lack a Bible in

their heart language, or who arenon-literate, can learn Gods Wordthrough CBS.

StoryingStorying involves selecting and crafting

biblical stories (while remaining faithful to the

biblical text) with the help of local leaders.

Stories are told in a natural and compelling

manner in the language that resonates with

the worldview of the receptor culture.

Stories are expressed in forms the receptor

culture regards as being true and treasured.

Storying is a viable approach for a sustained,

indigenous-led, church planting movement.

Storying is the preferred approach to sustain

discipleship between second, third, and

successive generations, and for leadership

development in the church.

Making Disciples of Oral Learners

International Orality Network



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TEAM OAXACAVision and Strategyfor a People Who Have Not Heard

By Chris Berger, Team Leader: Oaxaca, Mexico

To Every Tribe is pleased to announce the launching of a team to Oaxaca,

Mexico with the intent to plant a church among an indigenous people

group. Members of the team include: Chris Berger (leader), Jim

Blomstrand, and the Ibanez family (Ruben, Debbie, Elizabeth and David).The following article is excerpted from a strategy paper which briefly

describes the purpose and vision of the team, and what it intends to

accomplish. Due to security purposes, the people group will be

described in this article as the X people and their location will remain

undisclosed.

L to R: Ruben, Debbie, Chris, and Jim Children: Elizabeth and David



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The X people of Oaxaca, Mxico are an indigenous Mixteco groupnumbering approximately 28,000. The majority of the people are spreadout among numerous villages in the western-northwestern mountains ofOaxaca, sharing the border with the state of Guerrero. Some X resideacross the border in the state of Guerrero, and others live in the UnitedStates. The livelihood of the X people is predominantly agriculture (fruits

and crops) and livestock (of various kinds), both at subsistence levels.The religious belief of the people is a syncretized mixture of Catholicism(largely based on tradition rather than scripture) and spirit worship(ancestral/traditional religious beliefs). One example of this mixture canbe seen in the name of their rain god, Saint Mark, whom they believerequires an animal sacrifice each year. Both political and religiousviolence are present. Road conditions, while still poor, have improvedsignificantly. The influence of religious cults is increasing. A bible

translation in one dialect of the Mixteco language is in process. TheJoshua Project categorizes the X people as least-reached/unreached,meaning they have less than 2% of the population who are evangelical,and have had no active church planting efforts within the last two years.

OUR VISION

Ourprayerful goalas the Oaxaca Team is to love God, love each other,and, as the Lord wills, share the good news of Jesus Christ (his death

and resurrection) among this unreached people group.Ourprayerful hope as we share Gods message among the X is that Godwould transform lives, and that we would be used by him to disciple newChristians, organizing them into culturally relevant self-teaching, self-supporting, and self-multiplying bodies of believers. The focus of ourinitial three-year term will be in a remote village of the X. As God opensdoors in other X villages, or other unreached groups, we will prayerfullyconsider these options while asking God for clear guidance.

OUR STRATEGY

Phase One: Earning the Right to Be HeardOur initial strategy will focus largely on earning the right to be heard.Our first-phase goal is to love God, love each other, build relationships,learn language and culture, and become part of the village community.LOVE GOD, LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

This may sound over-simplified, and some may think: Of course,

everyone knows we are supposed to love God and each other. Yet, theenemy constantly attacks these two core areas of our lives. They are soimportant Jesus sums them up as the greatest commandments (Matthew22:36-40). As a result, we should be committed, both individually and asa team, to actively pursue loving God and loving each other. Every teammembers calling will be to strive for the conduct exemplified in 1 Peter4:7-11 and Ephesians 4:30-32.



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BUILDING RELATIONSHIPSWhile it is understood there areseveral ways to earn the right to

be heard, our team and To Every

Tribe places a heavy emphasis on

building meaningful relationships.As we become a part of the villagecommunity, we will begin to sharein everyday, and not-so-everyday,l i fe exper i ences. Shar ingexperiences with people (goodand tough) will help stimulate newrelationships as well as deepenexisting ones. Thus, we hope toearn the right to be heard. The Xvillage we have chosen to targetseems to be a logical place tobegin for a couple of reasons:

1) Since the year 2005, To

E v e r y T r i b e h a s b e e nministering in this village byproviding medical and dentalc l i n i c s . A s a r e s u l t ,relationships have already beenestablished.2) The village leader has askedseveral times for someone fromour ministry to come and teachEnglish.

LEARNING LANGUAGE ANDCULTUREThe X people do not speakSpanish as their heart language.

As a result, one of our high-prioritytasks will be to learn their nativelanguage and culture. Spanish is

the trade language, but only a fewpeople speak it. Those who dospeak Spanish do so at varyinglevels of proficiency. Thelanguage of the X people is calledMixteco, of which there areseveral distinctive dialects. It is a

tonal language, meaning anychange in tone on any syllable ofany word can completely changethe meaning of that given word.

As a team, we find great value in

communicating with the people intheir heart language. Most peoplefeel valued and loved when aneffort is made to communicate intheir own language. Add to thatthe extreme value of the messagewe will deliver, and one canunderstand why language andculture learning are importantaspects of building relationships.

USING TEAM AND INDIVIDUALGIFTEDNESSEach team member is encouragedto utilize his or her gifts as ablessing to the team and the

village community. Utilizing giftswill help each team member growinto maturity (Ephesians 4: 11-16)as well as to build relationships inthe village.

Possible ministry opportunitiesinclude, but are not limited to:

teaching English, music, story-telling, and creative problemsolving; learning from and workingwith the men and/or women of thevillage; helping with communityprojects/needs or agriculturalopportunities (gardens, fruits andcrops, animals, water collection,

fish farming, etc.); recreationaltimes with the children and withthe men and/or women; crafting;language and culture learning;basic talks on health, nutrition,and hyg iene ; road repa i r / construction; etc.



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Phase Two: Leadership TrainingOur team Vision is very important.1 Corinthians 3:5-9, 2 Corinthians5:17-21, and 1 Peter 1:3-5 make itclear to us that God alone

possesses the power to transformthe life of a person, and to make aperson a new creation. Ourresponsibility is to love God, loveeach other, and plant the seeds ofthe gospel message.

Should God sproutthe seeds of thegood news andbegin to transformlives, our priority willbecome discipleshipa n d l e a d e r s h i ptraining. The goalf r o m t h e v e r ybeginning will be to

model humility insuch a way that thenew X believers willfeel a sense ofownership in whatGod is doing amongthem, and v iewthose of us who are

foreigners as merelythe instruments andmouthpieces whobrought them Godsm e s s a g e o fsalvation. We willencourage the newbelievers to develop

a n a t t i t u d e o f

m e e t i n g t o g e t h e r ( c h u r c hgathering) in a culturally relevantmanner, being sensitive to theHoly Spirit, and having thescriptures as their foundation for

everything they say and do.

Please pray for the team as webecome established among the Xpeople. Pray for the Lord to opendoors and hearts.

Along the route to Oaxaca

If you would like to support Team Oaxaca, please contact the To Every Tribe office at

956.233.4353, or send your tax-deductible donation to P.O. Box 1572,

Los Fresnos, TX 78566. Please include a note specifying Donation for Team Oaxaca.



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Medical / Dental Clinic in Oaxaca, MexicoNovember 2010

Students and staff from the Center for Pioneer ChurchPlanting (CPCP) joined medical personnel from the US andMexico to

conduct a clinicin a remote villagein the mountains

of Oaxaca. Over asix-day period,they performed

590 consultationsamong people

from six villages.Some peopletravelled from a

village over three hours away! The people of thismountainous region lack the resources and opportunities

to receive regular medical attention.

People waiting in line to receive medical care

A view from the medical clinic



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CPCP students aretrained to providebasic dental care.

During the clinic,they saw childrenand adults from

morning to night.They watched hardened faces melt as the week progressedand trust grew. God used the loving work of the medical/dental team to soften hearts. The leaders of the village haveofficially invited the Oaxaca team to live

among themf o r t h epurpose oft e a c h i n gEnglish. TheOaxaca team

has made itclear thatthey want totell villagersabout the

good newsof Jesus.We believe that it wont be long before the Lord begins tosave people from this region for Himself. Soon there willbe a church in these mountains who will be singing praisesto Jesus!

CPCP students Kelly and Karen

The team



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NON-P

ROFITORG

U.S.PO

STAGEPAID

LOSFR

ESNOS,TX

PERM

ITNO.38

ToEveryTribeMinistries

P.O.Box1572

LosFresnos,TX7856

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EDITOR: MARGIE SANFORD DESIGN/LAYOUT: SCOTT RONYAK

Documents

To Every Tribe - Winter 2011