CAPE TOWN, South Africa–Steve Evans used the best possible methodology to talk about story telling. He told a story!

The veteran International Mission Board missionary, one of four facilitators of “How to Share Truth With Four Billion Oral Learners”, a seminar at the Third Lausanne Congress, took only a few minutes to tell about arriving a day early for a scheduled training in Pakistan and joining a local businessman for a mountain hike.

On the hike, the man asked Evans about his work. Evans, an orality expert, responded that he taught people to share Bible stories with oral communicators, including illiterate people. The successful businessman said, “You are talking about me.”

The two of them walked a bit further before meeting a farmer who invited them into his home for tea. After some general conversation, Evans asked for permission to tell a story. The farmer was eager to hear, and Evans shared the Creation story. The farmer said, “I want to hear more,” but Evans replied, “I must leave, but my friend will be here and can share more later.”

Surprised by Evans’s response, the businessman said, “It’s that easy?” “Yes,” said Evans. “It’s that easy.”

Grant Lovejoy, IMB director of orality strategy, began the afternoon session by telling participants that 4.35 billion people, roughly two-thirds of the world, are oral communicators. Although not all of them are illiterate, they either can’t, don’t or won’t learn through traditional methods employing written language.

Bramuel Musya of Kenya told the New Testament story of Jesus healing Bartimaeus and then called several volunteers from the audience to the stage to reconstruct the story and react to it.

Samuel Chiang of Hong Kong engaged the audience in dialogue centered around two questions: How have you missed using oral methodology? What must you do differently to deploy oral methodology in your ministry?

One unidentified participant said, “There has been so much focus on teaching reading and writing. But my culture used to be a culture of storytelling.”

Another observed, “This is not only about literacy, but about a style of learning.”

The audience laughed when another participant proffered, “Wouldn’t it be great to gossip the Gospel?”

Dr. Avery Willis, who founded the International Orality Network in 2004, challenged the group through a video made prior to his death last summer to take seriously the mandate to share the Gospel with all of the world, including the two-thirds that will only learn of Jesus via oral means.