During my second term on the field, I asked, “What is the most effective way to share the Gospel with theShandi*people?” We gathered for our annual partnership meetings with the various field workers involved in the work among the Shandi. When I asked this question, and the discussion quickly moved to literate presentations of the Gospel. But none of these presentations were considered “effective”. We simply did not have any fruit from our labors, and we were losing hope as we continued to meet what we thought was resistance.
Some time later, we were introduced to the “world of orality”. As we understood more about oral communicators, we quickly concluded that theShandiwere among the oral majority. Even though they were literate in the Russian language as the trade language of post-Soviet Central Asia, they preferred to engage in oral communication in their mother tongue, theShandilanguage.
As we lived among them, we saw indications of their preference for orality:
For the first time in many years, ourShandifriends were engaging with the Word of God. One of my friends, Migarbi, said that he used to “run away” when someone would talk to him about Isa, Jesus Christ. Talking about Jesus was too controversial for him. Migarbi, being a nominal Muslim, was aware that Jesus was not their final and most important Prophet. But he really didn’t understand who Jesus was. When we first began going through stories together, Migarbi refused to call Jesus the Son of God. To Migarbi, Isa was just another prophet, and certainly not as important as Mohamed. But the stories began to impact his own world view. We worked through 20 stories together, spanning the Old and New Testaments, with a majority of our stories focused on the life of Jesus Christ. After working through these stories over many months, Migarbi’s perspective was much different. Now, he willingly shared these stories with friends, family, and neighbors.
In the story of the Raising of Lazarus, Jesus Himself tells Martha, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see the glory of God if you just believe?” One day our storying group discussed this story and my friend Migarbi was asked by anotherShandiman: “Who is Jesus?” Migarbi replied, “Jesus is the ‘spiritual’ Son of God… He is more than a prophet. He does things that prophets didn’t do: calming storms, healing the sick, casting out demons, and, as we heard in this story, He raises the dead. He even rose from the dead Himself!” At a later time, Migarbi and the first man, who had also been discussing the stories with us, both acknowledged that Jesus had come to save people from their sins. They both realizedthat they need to decide if Jesus will be their own Lord and Savior. May it be!
Some time later, we were introduced to the “world of orality”. As we understood more about oral communicators, we quickly concluded that theShandiwere among the oral majority. Even though they were literate in the Russian language as the trade language of post-Soviet Central Asia, they preferred to engage in oral communication in their mother tongue, theShandilanguage.
As we lived among them, we saw indications of their preference for orality:
- TheShandidon’t keep a calendar; they memorize the important dates in their lives.
- TheShandidon’t keep task lists; they remember what needs to be done.
- Shandi women don’t keep a book of recipes; they have learned their meals by heart from repeated practice in the company of their mothers, aunts, sisters and friends.
- Shandi men model life skills to their sons: farming, maintenance, business, etc.
- TheShandilove song, poetry, dance, drama and stories. Songs would frequently be shared at birthdays and other gathers.
- TheShandipass on important information from one generation to the next through oral communication.
For the first time in many years, ourShandifriends were engaging with the Word of God. One of my friends, Migarbi, said that he used to “run away” when someone would talk to him about Isa, Jesus Christ. Talking about Jesus was too controversial for him. Migarbi, being a nominal Muslim, was aware that Jesus was not their final and most important Prophet. But he really didn’t understand who Jesus was. When we first began going through stories together, Migarbi refused to call Jesus the Son of God. To Migarbi, Isa was just another prophet, and certainly not as important as Mohamed. But the stories began to impact his own world view. We worked through 20 stories together, spanning the Old and New Testaments, with a majority of our stories focused on the life of Jesus Christ. After working through these stories over many months, Migarbi’s perspective was much different. Now, he willingly shared these stories with friends, family, and neighbors.
In the story of the Raising of Lazarus, Jesus Himself tells Martha, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see the glory of God if you just believe?” One day our storying group discussed this story and my friend Migarbi was asked by anotherShandiman: “Who is Jesus?” Migarbi replied, “Jesus is the ‘spiritual’ Son of God… He is more than a prophet. He does things that prophets didn’t do: calming storms, healing the sick, casting out demons, and, as we heard in this story, He raises the dead. He even rose from the dead Himself!” At a later time, Migarbi and the first man, who had also been discussing the stories with us, both acknowledged that Jesus had come to save people from their sins. They both realizedthat they need to decide if Jesus will be their own Lord and Savior. May it be!