Meet Pastor Kennedy and the folks in Naibor Keju.  3 1/2 months ago, there were no followers of Jesus in this village.  Now, there is a church of 100 folks, 65 of whom have been baptized in the past 2 months.  Pastor Kennedy was one of our distributors, and used the MT4 device to help him in his church planting.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. - 1 Corinthians 3:7

Our methodology of taking training to oral-culture learners doesn’t just have application for the MT4 device.  One of our partners in Samburu, Pastor Wilfred, has discovered another way to put orality into play in his ministry.  A bit of background information would probably be helpful.

Our Kenyan pastors, much like their American counterparts, have certain preachers they like and emulate.  However, the typical literate, lecture-based model of preaching runs into certain roadblocks when used in an African context.  Imagine trying to preach to a congregation that has no Bibles, and even if they did have them, could not read them.  Our friend Wilfred is a T.D. Jakes fan, but as he learned, it’s hard to do T.D. better than T.D. does T.D.

In the course of developing the content for our Samburu project, Wilfred decided to try the blend of indigenous stories, songs, proverbs and retelling the Bible story in his weekly preaching responsibilities.  It was tweaked a bit, in order to include the application of the Word to the lives of the congregation.  The results have been stunning: Wilfred (Big Willy) now preaches in a Samburu manner to the Samburu.  The gathered congregation is engaged, and participates in the preaching event.  People stop him during the week to ask further questions about what they heard on Sunday.  Oral-culture Samburus are hearing the Word in a powerful way.

Wilfred called this the “T4 Style” of preaching.  We have, however, compromised.  It is more than just a style - it is a model of preaching that builds cultural bridges, lets the Word do the heavy lifting, and is authentically African.  One of our indigenous leaders pioneered this method, hence, the T (4)- (Big) Willy preaching model.

“What did you think about the new movie last night?”

“Well, I can’t say exactly, so let me sing you a song and perform a drama to answer your question.”

That exchange probably would never happen in America (unless you are acting in the latest High School Musical movie), but it is what happened to us recently in northwest Kenya.

An evaluation team was in Kenya assessing our mobile school project among the Samburu people. We gathered a group together at a newly planted church to ask them about the project and to hear stories of impact and transformation.   After a few summary comments and testimonies of impact, a group of women assembled in the front to “tell us” in their own way.  They began singing one of the songs from our training content.  But they added some of their own verses.  And then began performing drama vignettes as part of the song.  What emerged before our very eyes and ears was a drama/song that told the story of the mobile school project and its impact among the Samburu in that region.  While we still needed a translator to explain the words of their song, the drama didn’t need translation: we could see with our eyes the real impact our project has had among the Samburus.

On the same grounds as the famous annual Maralal Camel Race, we had our first ever T4 Global Camel Race Smackdown.  Todd Nichols (with Calvin Edwards and Co) led for most of the race.  Kyle and I attempted several times to over power him, but got forced back into single file line when the trail narrowed.  Tim Hughes (with Barnhart Crane), however, came out of nowhere and surged ahead of Todd down the stretch, pulling away by a camel length.  Trent Walters (with Northpoint church) finished second, with Todd holding onto third.  While Kyle finished in disappointing sixth place, he did say that he could have won but decided it was good form to let his guest win instead.  So Kyle got the last smack in.

Ed Weaver and Chuck Madinger recently participated in the  International Orality Network annual conference in Dallas, TX.  The conference gathers ministries, businesses and vendors that specialize in reaching oral cultures with Good News.  Ed serves on the Executive Committee of ION and chairs the Communications Task Force that posts a great website.  (check it out: www.ion.com), and Chuck sits on the Research Task Force.  The picture is of Ed reporting to the plenary session on the work of the Communications group.  Chuck presented two papers for the research task force - one on better defining orality and the other on comparing communication strategies (mass media, collective media and small media).  You can check those out on the T4Global website under “research.”

The Kambari people of northwestern Nigeria are about as remote, suppressed and without hope as anyone on the planet. While those pictured here are “fully clad”, most object to wearing anything resembling outsiders - or anything at all. The most educated have attended some schooling (less than 3% literate) and five have begun to learn how to read. The elderly man with the white beard is the elder brother of the village, and told of their need for clean water, how to deal with dysentery, malaria, typhoid, measles, polio, leprosy and other things the rest of the world no longer concerns itself with by having access to information.

The elder brother asked to hear what the mobile school sounded like that would bring them training and basic education. When we placed it on the motorcycle seat those villagers sitting nearby for the conversation rushed to hear the MT4 even closer. Pray that the program that ECWA and the Nigeria Group (Wycliffe) will be done by the end of the harvest season (December), and we can bring hope and wholeness in every sense of the Word.

Some of you may roll your eyes at this analogy I’m about to propose, but the power situation I experienced in Nepal, India and Bangladesh over the past few weeks flooded into my mind as I was sitting with one of my in-country partners at Dhoni Restaurant in Dhaka my next to last night in Bangladesh. The power in our hotel and restaurants went off at least 4 times each day, leaving us in the dark, and without access to the ability to get much done.

As believers, the presence of the Holy Spirit gives us access to all the power of the Father at all times - so, in theory, we should never experience “blackouts”. But, my experience says I do experience “blackouts”. Do you? I think this exhibits a lack of faith and succumbing to the enemy’s strategy of making us think we have to work within our own power. When I experience a “power blackout”, I’m limited in my ability to be productive for the Kingdom - but it’s all a mirage. I truly continue to have access to all power - I just choose to believe that I’m helpless.

So, from here on out, I’m going to be more aware of my “apparent power blackouts” and recognize that I have a choice to be able to continue to function at full capacity. Will you join me?

You know you’re in Dhaka when…

Originally uploaded by t4global

The markets, people, rickshaws, and refuse collide.  The picture is not that great - but if you stop in Dhaka, 100 vehicles will get in front of you!  12 million people live here - 30 million work here.  Rush hour is not limited to an hour on either end of the day, as you might imagine.  Bangladesh has 150 million people in the country and 20% live/work in one city?

The four hour drive down from Moulvi Bazaar is an education in the reality of the country.  Rice patties, rubber plantations, markets, water everywhere, every mode of transportation possible, houses, shacks, lean-tos.  A people and a country that is tough, hard working and creative in how it works around the weater.

If you drive around Lexington, KY (world headquarters of T4 Global) you’ll see some enormous church buildings.  Some of them are lovely buildings, some are just big.  One looks like an airport with multiple terminals.  The same is probably true in most American cities.  The fact is, we often forget that the church is not a building, it’s people.

The gospel is exploding in Africa, typified by churches like this one.  No building, just people and the gospel.

At an International Orality Network seminar, the speaker made a point of reminding us that if our indigenous friends laugh at appropriate times while talking with us, we’ve bridged the cross-cultural communication gap.  Thankfully, we’ve done a pretty good job of communicating in Kenya.