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SAVE THE DATE: ION NAR Conference, Toronto, Oct 3-5, 2019

We are pleased to give advanced notification that the 2019 ION North American Region Conference with take place in Toronto, Oct. 3-5, 2019More details to follow.

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This is a community website, and we need YOU! You are invited to share stories, useful resources, events and opportunities to collaborate on our site. Do you have an inspiring story, or know of a useful resource? Our community site aims to serve the Oral...

2018 NAR Conference Plenary Sessions

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the main plenary sessions from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

Sharing Spiritual Light With Those Who Cannot See

Raahithya is a 32-year-old young man from India who is continually hungry to know more about God. Employed at a local bank, he is the only Christian in his family.Two years ago, Raahithya came across a TWR India radio program. This is his story: "I rea...

Scripture in your hands

SIL has developed a free tool for translators to get the precious Scriptures in the hands of the people quickly and cheaply.  Scripture App Builder helps anyone to build customized Scripture apps for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. 

A New Day Dawns for the Deaf

Bible translation has been around for centuries, with missionaries venturing out into people groups near and far to make God’s Word accessible. As we steadily count down the number of languages left without Scripture, a people group seems to have gone overl...

It was a dark and stormy night…

How many of our Halloween stories begin this way? Even though many people tell such stories for fun at Halloween, for others fear characterizes their daily lives. Voodoo practitioners are not myths or stories in West Africa–they are all too real. Jesus rec...

2018 NAR Conference – Arts and Culture Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Arts and Culture" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Development Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Development" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Education Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Education" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Media Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Media" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Media Audio and Video Scripture Engagement Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Media Audio and Video Scripture Engagement" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Ap...

2018 NAR Conference – Research and Innovation Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Research and Innovation" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Ma...

2018 NAR Conference – Storying Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Storying" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Focused Outreach Gateway Breakout

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the Gateway breakout session "Focused Outreach" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Bushwhacking: How Digital Technology Has Taken Us Off the Map Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Bushwhacking: How Digital Technology Has Taken Us Off the Map" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the the...

2018 NAR Conference – Arts, Orality and Culture Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Arts, Orality and Culture" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Engaging People through Oral Bible Storying Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Engaging People through Oral Bible Storying" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applicati...

2018 NAR Conference – From Creation to Consumption: The Whole Story Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "From Creation to Consumption: The Whole Story" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applica...

2018 NAR Conference – Inductive Scripture Engagement Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Inductive Scripture Engagement - Oral style" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applicati...

2018 NAR Conference – Making Truth Stick Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Making Truth Stick" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Mobilizing Millennials for the Great Commission Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Mobilizing Millennials for the Great Commission" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Appli...

2018 NAR Conference – Orality by Design Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Orality by Design: Building Orality-Framed Strategies and Instruction" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with...

2018 NAR Conference – Outreach to Refugees using Bible Storying Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Outreach to Refugees using Bible Storying" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Application...

2018 NAR Conference – Prayer as a Strategy Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Prayer as a Strategy" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mandate'.

2018 NAR Conference – Preparing to Teach a Bible Story Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Preparing to Teach a Bible Story" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One M...

2018 NAR Conference – Storying through the Epistles Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Storying through the Epistles" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applications - One Mand...

2018 NAR Conference – Visual Theology Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Visual Theology, Understanding and Creating Images Which Speak" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the th...

2018 NAR Conference – Visual Storytelling (With or Without Visuals) Workshop

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the workshop session "Visual Storytelling (With or Without Visuals)" from ION’s 2018 North America Regional Conference, which took place in Orlando, FL in September 2018, with the theme 'Many Applica...

Carlos Found a Father

As a young Colombian boy, Carlos left his family and moved to the north. There he learned how to grow and make cocaine and became deeply involved in drug dealing. Every day, Carlos got more responsibilities. Eventually, he started his own farm and made lots...

There’s an App for That!

Ask someone what they imagine when they think of Bible translation, and they might describe a linguist sitting alone at a simple desk in a remote village, poring over a Bible word by word and writing or typing it into a local language.  While no less challe...

The Voice of God Speaking to Siberian Hearts

"I tried to read the Russian Bible, but I didn’t understand a thing.” Anton's next question was, “Have you read the Nanai Gospel of Luke?” He was gearing up to give her the natural line about how reading in the language of the heart makes a significant diffe...

Chanting the Scriptures

When a New Testament translation project for the Wolayta of Ethiopia began in the early 1970s, the government would not allow books to be printed in indigenous languages; only in Amharic, the official language. The solution, at least short-term, was to reco...

Biblical Content for a Movement

My first two visits to a small group that was trying to multiply disciples in a diverse international city were filled with anticipation. My heart thrilled to see them organize their time into looking back for worship, encouragement, celebration and account...

Praying for Oral and Oral Bibleless People Groups

We can all do our part in the work of the completion of the Great Commission: Let’s PRAY for the completion of Scriptures in the heart language of every people group. We have prepared this free prayer guide eBook to help you as you pray.

Making Disciples of Oral Learners (Spanish)

Because oral learners tend to believe other people more than abstract truths, the spiritual life and example of the messenger are vital. This book address the greatest obstacle to communicating the gospel to the four billion people who are oral learners.

Becoming Fishers of Men

And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 One of the most rewarding parts of working with a culture is when you witness an amazing new connection of that culture and the Gospel.

SAVE THE DATE: ION European Consultation, Sep 26-28, 2019

We are pleased to give advanced notification of a consultation that will be held in Europe, in partnership with Oxford Centre for Missions Studies (OCMS), September 26-28, 2019 in Oxford, UK.More details to follow.

SAVE THE DATE: ION European Consultation, Sep 26-18, 2019

We are pleased to give advanced notification of a consultation that will be held in Europe, in partnership with Oxford Centre for Missions Studies (OCMS), September 26-18, 2019 in Oxford, UK.More details to follow.

A Skeptic Starts A Strong Movement of Disciple Making

A pastor named Roba came to Agali and expressed serious doubts that existing churches could change to become disciple making movements.  Agali did not argue but challenged Roba to start the process in his community. Roba took the challenge and went to his c...

A Holistic Strategy for the Evangelization of Oral Learners

Communicating the gospel across cultural barriers is an essential element of the Great Commission. Jesus mandated that his followers should go and make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19a). The gospel was not limited to Israel, but it was good news f...

History Cloth – 42 Chronological Bible Stories

History Cloth is a resource featuring 42 chronological Bible stories revealing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How Networks Are Shaping the Future of World Mission

In the late 1980’s, David Barrett and James Reapsome published a book titled Seven Hundred Plans to Evangelize the World. In their book, they identified lack of cooperation and collaboration between Christian organizations as a major hindrance to world evan...

Connecting for Change: Worth and Value in the Kingdom of God

There is a lot of talk these days about inequality and the need for more fairness and equality. People often get the idea that their worth or value is based on their salary, possessions, title or position in an organization or society. However, God’s Kingdo...

ION North American Conference, 17-19 Sep 2018

"Tell me a fact and I will learn it.  Tell me a truth and I will believe it.  Tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever."  Native American Proverb We are all oral communicators.  Our Creator God made us in His image, and used oral approaches and ...

A Look at the Jesus Story, Oral Tradition and Eyewitness Memory

Even though the Christian can always offer certain dates for the Gospels, it should remembered that there was a gap of time between the ascension of Jesus and when the Gospel authors actually wrote their individual biographies about the life of Jesus. There...

Orality in Pioneer Business Planting

What does orality have to do with business? As we begin to experience the economic impact business is having in emerging nations, we must stop and ask ourselves if business is having the social and spiritual impact in the world we had hoped to see.

The Science of Storytelling

A good story can make or break a presentation, article, or conversation. But why is that? When Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich started to market his product through stories instead of benefits and bullet points, sign-ups went through the roof. Here he shares ...

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Heart Music

Heart music is amazingly powerful and a core concept of multicultural worship. So what is it? The lights went out in the middle of the rehearsal. It was a power cut in Nepal and I was playing the Himalayan lute in a community song and dance troupe. As cand...

I Like to Learn, But Not to Read: Orality and Missions

I met Watt at a pastoral training event in his home country in East Africa. His lean face looked weather-beaten. My colleague Doug told several stories from the book of Acts, then asked the group, “Have any of you ever been persecuted for your faith in Chri...

An Instant Tool for Evangelism in Your Pocket

At the open day one of GRN's staff accessed 5fish.mobi on John's phone. Later that day John visited his 80 year old neighbor at Westmead Hospital. She sat up on the bed amazed and bewildered as John shared the gospel with her using his phone. The lady was s...

3 Reasons Bible Storying is Essential for Making Disciples Globally

I’m a firm believer in the power of Bible storying. During thirty-six years serving overseas in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, I’ve seen stories from Scripture change lives all over the world.

Confessions of a God Father

My name is Priest Hadessa. I am the head priest of an Orthodox church in a country where Christianity arrived in the 1st century AD. I have five children of my own, and I am a father confessor—a “God father”—to the families in my church, who are my spiritua...

Latest Articles & News

Orality: Storytelling and Millennial Engagement

I grew up in the South where sweet tea and gossip on the front porch were anchors. The one thing you can bank on in the south is stories grow with each passing year. Hunting stories, Christmas stories, birthday stories, and the list goes on.

Bible in 90 Days Prayer Initiative

We are asking for our ION Prayer Partners to link in united prayer during this 90 day prayer initiative. As we listen, we continue to focus our prayers toward those who do not have access to Scripture in their heart language or mother tongue. 

Social Media Ministry Made Easy

Not since Gutenberg developed the printing press has there been such a revolutionary means of spreading the gospel to people around the world. The Internet has eclipsed the influence of print, radio and television by putting the power to publish and broadca...

Walter Ong – Oral Cultures and Early Writing

Formative historian Walter Ong explores the effects early writings had on oral cultures.

Digital Orality: How to connect your digital footprint to the world’s five billion oral learners

This exploration investigates how to communicate in today’s “Conceptual Age,” employing digital media to connect with a predominately oral world.

How Will We Speak? On Film, Memory, and Mimicking God’s Communication Style

A film director and producer recount their pursuit of seeking to understand how God speaks and how He, as the Master Storyteller, invites us to speak.

Translation, Literacy, and Orality: Reflections from the Domain of Bible Translation

A senior translator probes the multi-layered nature of orality and its relationship with Bible translation.

The Art of Natural Translations

This article explores how incorporating local artistic forms into a Bible translation project enhances the naturalness of a biblical passage.

Creating Indigenous Films

A cross-cultural filmmaker offers an inside perspective on the process of creating audio-visual media projects in Asia.

Back to the Future Pedagogy

Asian church leaders discuss the tradition of experiential learning set in their culture and its potential effectiveness for seeking Christian transformation.

Book Review: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

This celebrated book is a significant resource on how to enhance the capacity of your memory to make it remember more than the average person. Written in the style of a fascinating nonfiction novel, Joshua Foer takes the reader on an adventurous journey wi...

Book Review: Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Three scholars carried out a research study on strategies of learning. Using their knowledge and skills of storytelling and psychology, the authors argue that, “Most effective learning strategies are not intuitive.”

Orality: Intergenerational and Cross Cultural

After 30 long hours of travel they arrived in the remote village deep in India. Cloaked in a headscarf a young woman shared the story of the Woman at the Well. Jesus’ prophetic words to the Samaritan woman left the crowd speechless. That storyteller was me.

View all Regional Orality Communities

ION’s mission is to influence the body of Christ to make disciples of all oral learners. To do this we must become truly global as a network, as oral preference learners are in every people group. ”Learn

View all Gateways

Gateways are 7 affinity areas around which we associate together to learn and collaborate, defined generally by discipline or sphere of influence. These gateways may be active at a local, national, regional, and international level to allow anyone, anywhe...

About Regions & Gateways

All Gateways

What are Gateways? 7 affinity areas around which we associate together to learn and collaborate, defined generally by discipline or sphere of influence Pathways: multiple avenues for serving among specific target groups (destinations), functionally or demog...

Captivating Learners through the Art of Digital Storytelling

Take a moment to reflect on the last lecture or sermon that captivated your imagination, resonated with you in a meaningful way, and ultimately transformed your thinking. What elements of this particular talk especially impacted you?

2016 NAR Conference – Facilitating a Discipleship Group through the Storying Process

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the breakout session "Facilitating a Discipleship Group through the Storying Process" from ION’s North America Regional Conference, which took place in Houston, TX in September, 2016, with the theme ...

Leader Development and Orality

What does it take to train leaders when they cannot read and write? When most of the world’s Christian resources are made for the literate world, how do we equip the majority? How do we come alongside the vastly growing Church of the world and empower them ...

2016 NAR Conference – Indeed God Speaks

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the breakout session "Indeed God Speaks" from ION’s North America Regional Conference, which took place in Houston, TX in September, 2016, with the theme 'Word Without Borders'. We explored how we c...

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2016 NAR Conference – Live vs Recorded

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the breakout session "Live vs Recorded" from ION’s North America Regional Conference, which took place in Houston, TX in September, 2016, with the theme 'Word Without Borders'. We explored how we ca...

2016 NAR Conference – Digging Deeper into Cuturally Immersive Discovery Experiences

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the breakout session "Digging Deeper into Cuturally Immersive Discovery Experiences" from ION’s North America Regional Conference, which took place in Houston, TX in September, 2016, with the theme '...

2016 NAR Conference – Storywave Evangelism Training

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the breakout session "Storywave Evangelism Training" from ION’s North America Regional Conference, which took place in Houston, TX in September, 2016, with the theme 'Word Without Borders'. We explo...

2016 NAR Conference – Stick it to ’em

Catch up or refresh yourself with the audio recordings of the breakout session "Stick it to 'em" from ION’s North America Regional Conference, which took place in Houston, TX in September, 2016, with the theme 'Word Without Borders'. We explored how we can...

Orality in Short Term Missions

The book of Acts details the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the world during the lifetimes of the apostles. Today, the church carries the gospel to unreached people and places as a part of that same mission. While some methods have changed, like the...

One – Moses’ Story

One moment in time. One frustrated pastor. One Bible Story. This is where one would think the story begins, but not quite. Let’s go back 10 years to a village in South Sudan.

Oralities & Literacies – Chapter 10 – The Rationale for Orally Communicating the Scriptures

God has given our privileged generation many gifts that no other generation has known in the combination that we have including, but not limited to: A widening expertise for exegeting the Scriptures, A widening permission for translators that they may commu...

Oralities & Literacies – Chapter 9 – Communicating Christ Among Oral Cultures

This chapter seeks to address the question: “How should our understanding of the orality/oralities question affect our approaches to communication generally and more specifically in Christian ministry and cross-cultural missions?” This question needs some ...