Just about everyone has heard of “storying,” but many don’t understand its significance for missions. Even the computer spell check doesn’t recognize it as a legitimate word. So what is storying anyway, and what’s all the fuss over it?
Storying is a word coined by missiologists to designate the method of relating Bible truths to people that have an oral learning preference as opposed to a written one.
Here’s an article from the IMB publication, To the ends of the earth, Summer 2006 edition, that explains more.
WHAT IS CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE STORYING?
Chonological Bible storying is a method that missionaries use all over the world – from the bush of Mali to cities in Romania – to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It’s a simple way of sharing Bible stories the way most people in the United States might describe in conversation a news event or movie. Using this ongoing method, missionaries can take a person through the entire Bible one story at a time.
“If you give people a choice – hearing a sermon or a story – most are going to choose a story,” says Grant Lovejoy, director of orality strategy at the International Mission Board. “They’re much more open to listen, more likely to tell other people what they heard…..And it captures their imagination, he says.
Missionaries began experimenting with the method in the late 1970’s and on into the early ‘80s. Through the years storying has slowly evolved from a more lecture-oriented format to a simple conversation that can occur anywhere, anytime. It can be structured or casual, depending on the situation.
“Our field personnel are best prepared when they are ready to give a complete witness anytime God opens the way, but also able to go at a slower pace where that is necessary,” Lovejoy says.
What is an oral culture?
Whether you pick up a newspaper, turn on the TV or go online, everyone gathers information on a daily basis, one way or another.
In “oral cultures,” people are more likely to share information through telling stories and casual conversation. This is where chronological Bible storying comes in. These areas where this method is most effective are known as “oral cultures.”
Grant Lovejoy is quick to point out that “oral” does not automatically mean “illiterate. For a considerable period of time, we always used illiteracy as a way of describing (oral cultures),” he says. “We learned that there are a lot of people who can read and write fine, but are still oral by preference.”
Missionaries developed chronological Bible storying because they were unable to find anything else that worked with the illiterate. But, once storying was developed, they discovered that it had wide usability, even among people who are well-educated.
