February 9, 2009 by Pete McLain
We are starting to see trends emerge from our evaluations across different countries and contexts, from Nepal and India to Sudan and Kenya:
1. People are listening to our training content again and again.
2. People are listening in groups.
3. People are memorizing the stories and the songs.
4. People are discussing the content with others.
Here is some recent data that supports these trends:
–In India 66% of the listeners to the MT4 players said they listened more than once. In Kenya, 71% listened to the content three or more times; 49% listened more than 10 times.
–In India, the average listening group was 6-10. In Kenya the average listening group size was also 6-10; 28% in Kenya listened in groups larger than 10.
–In India, the percentage of listeners who could tell various Bible stories very well grew from only 13% on average beforehand to 65% afterwards. In Kenya, the percentage grew from 28% on average beforehand to 81% afterwards.
–In India, 83% said they have told one or more stories to others who have not listened to the MT4 player. In Kenya, 100% said they discussed the content with others in their listening group. 100% said they discussed the content with others not in their listening group.
These four trends indicate that a significant transfer of training is occurring. People are not just hearing information; they are internalizing it, owning it, discussing it, sharing it, and changing their lives and communities as a result.
Posted in Evaluation, India, Kenya | Leave a Comment »
January 29, 2009 by Pete McLain
Preliminary data is in from our third party evaluation of our project in Punjab, India. It appears that we have another project that is showing dramatic shifts in knowledge, attitudes and behavior as a result of our approach to training among oral culture people.
–Regarding symptoms of various diseases, we saw shifts from 8% of people understanding certain symptoms before our training to 42% afterwards. In one case the shift was from 8% to 92%.
–Regarding treatments of various diseases, we saw shifts from 29% to 85%, 21% to 75%, and 29% to 75%.
–Before our training, no one surveyed could tell the story of Moses in Bible. Afterwards, 58% could tell the story very well. 13% could tell the story of Abraham, Isaac and Sarah beforehand; now 83% can. Only 7% could tell the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 beforehand; now 83% surveyed can tell that story very well. 75% can now tell the story of Jesus calming the big storm and 67% can tell the story of Jesus casting out the evil spirit, whereas only 20% could tell those stories before our project.
These are not just statistically significant. They are dramatic changes!
A key indicator of impact of a training project in an oral culture is whether people are retelling stories they have learned to others. If they can retell a story, they have obviously learned the material. But if they are volunteering to retell the story to others in their community, then the material has really impacted them to the point that they want to share it.
So a key finding from our evaluation is the fact that 83% of those who have listened to the MT4 player content have told one or more of the stories to others who have not listened to the MT4 player. We have started a conversation in Punjab that is reverberating around the community. It is this dialogue of telling and retelling stories and songs that leads to transformation.
Tags: Evaluation
Posted in Evaluation, India, Pete McLain | Leave a Comment »
December 23, 2008 by Pete McLain
Calvin Edwards and Company (Atlanta, GA) completed their evaluation of our project among the Samburu people in northwest Kenya.
Their conclusion: “The project was highly successful. Both men and women listened to the MT4 players and learned from the messages. Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior showed remarkable changes.”
Calvin Edwards and Company identified several success factors:
1. The MT4 players were distributed by pastors who viewed the project as very congruent with their ministry and thus were highly motivated.
2. The content was contextualized effectively. Credibility was established within the messages by identifying with the Samburu world-view and communicating using their language, cultural stories, idioms, proverbs, etc.
3. The programming was developed in a way that “bridged” the cultural/religious chasm.
4. The content was not “talking head” monologue; it was creatively programmed to entertain, hold the listener’s attention, and instruct.
5. The messages were designed to be interactive and encourage listener interaction, this increasing enjoyment and learning.
6. The Kenyan partners assembled a quality team of managers and distributors.
We will unpack their evaluation and findings and report more on them in later postings. A copy of the executive summary of the evaluation can be downloaded from our website.
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October 30, 2008 by Kyle McClellan
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
Posted in Kenya, Kyle McClellan | 1 Comment »
October 30, 2008 by Kyle McClellan
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.
Posted in Friends, Kenya, Kyle McClellan | Leave a Comment »
October 20, 2008 by Pete McLain
“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.
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October 18, 2008 by Pete McLain
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.
Posted in Kenya, Pete McLain | 1 Comment »
October 3, 2008 by Chuck Madinger
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.”
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August 5, 2008 by Chuck Madinger
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.
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July 29, 2008 by Ed Weaver
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?
Posted in Ed Weaver, Travel | Leave a Comment »
