I recently attended the West Africa Orality Consultation here in Jos. Almost everyone I have talked to since then about this conference  has asked the same question, namely, “what does 'orality' mean?” I must admit I was not entirely sure myself until I attended this conference.

Orality is an important concept for missionaries to grasp. If we categorise cultures into those that are primarily literate and those that are primarily oral, orality refers to the way that oral cultures and oral learners receive, process, remember and pass on important information. It may help to think about story telling, because this is one good example of how oral learners receive, understand and pass on information. There are many other ways of course, such as songs, proverbs, poetry, riddles and drama.

The reality is that 60% of the world's population is either illiterate or functionally illiterate, while another 20% are semi-literate and prefer oral to literate communication. According to projections, this proportion (70-80%) who are primarily oral learners will increase rather than decrease as time passes. Therefore we will be missing the mark with most people if our strategies for communicating the Gospel (or anything else for that matter) are based on literate culture principles, such as books, reading, analytical and conceptual thinking, 3 point sermons, Bible study etc.

Janne and I have just returned from ECWA Theological Seminary Kagoro where we were part of a foundation laying ceremony for a new multipurpose building. We're excited about the ways this new building will allow the seminary to grow.The cost is being met by a donor from outside the seminary. Here you see  the ECWA President, Rev. Anthony Farinto, laying the foundation stone.

A new guest house was dedicated at the same time, named after Mr. and Mrs. Carl Tanis, who founded the seminary around 1930. Again the staff and students of the institution are inspired by the example of the dedication of the early missionaries in bringing the gospel to this area.

Wearing their distinctive, matching wrappers and singing enthusiastically, ladies streamed down the Miango road yesterday like a giant, colorful caterpillar. As they walked, making a statement to all who saw them, they met other groups of women coming from their homes and churches. Most carried on their heads gifts to share: grains, plastic bowls, clothing, cooking pots, fruits and vegetables. These women were on a mission of mercy, culminating their week of ECWA Women’s Fellowship meetings. I was humbled to be among them.

Four nights previously, around 11 pm the night of Monday, October 25th, a band of youth indiscriminately attacked the small village of Rengwenku, 5 miles from KA. Randomly and maliciously, they burned homes and attacked people as they slept. Men from Miango, including several from KA, heard the shots and went to help. The attackers had fled into the surrounding woods, leaving behind them a wake of destruction: 21 houses burned and six women and children killed, five from one home.