Literates Working

Among Oral Cultures

Dr. David Sills
Associate Professor of Christian Missions
and Cultural Anthropology
Billy Graham School of Missions,
Evangelism and Church Growth
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
 What is a People Group?
• A people group is a “significantly large grouping
of individuals who perceive themselves to have a
common affinity for one another because of their
shared language, religion, ethnicity, residence,
occupation, class or caste, situation, etc. or
combinations of these.”
• “The largest group within which an idea can
spread as a without encountering barriers of
understanding or acceptance.”
Nigeria by Political Boundaries
Nigeria by Ethnolinguistic Boundaries
 The numbers have faces,
and the faces have names.
• There are 27,000 ethnic groups in the
world
• Every day 40,000 children die of hunger
and starvation-related diseases
• 6,000 persons die from the lack of clean
drinking water
 Brazil’s kids
• Twelve million children live on the street
• Seven million children work full time
• Half a million girls under sixteen are
prostitutes, many sold in coastal cities as
part of a vacation package
• One in three Brazilian children will die
before the age of fifteen
 DURING THE LAST HOUR

• 1,945 children died of preventable causes

• 1,625 children were forced to live on the
streets because of death or abuse ...
• 115 children became child prostitutes ...
• 66 children under age 15 were infected with
HIV ...
• 23 children were killed in war ...
 Missionary Math
• Of the 6,913 known languages, only 411
have a Bible, 1,068 have a NT, and many
have only portions.
• 70% of the Unreached ethnic groups are
preliterates.
• 75% of Evangelical churches are located in
the 20% of the world that is highly literate.
• Since Gutenberg, Christianity has walked on
literate feet.
 World Population Breakdown
• Here's one way to think about our various peoples:
imagine the planet's entire population as a village of
1,000. The breakdown would be:
• 584 from Asia
124 from Africa
95 from East and West Europe
84 from Latin America
55 from the former Soviet Union
52 from North America
6 from Australia and New Zealand
 Nonverbal Communication
“Nonverbal communication is an elaborate code that is written
nowhere, known by none, and understood by all.” –Edward Sapir
• Importance of Nonverbal Communication:
– Nonverbal Communication is all the types of communication
that take place without words
– Mehrabian & Ferris and Mehrabian & Wiener analysis of
meaning communicated through facial and vocal expressions:
• Facial Expressions: 55%
• Paralanguage (the way the words are said): 38%
• Verbal (the words themselves): 7%
– Other research suggests that about 2/3 of the meaning in an
interaction is conveyed by nonverbal communication
 Nonverbal Communication
Importance of Nonverbal Communication: 5 Reasons:
1. Nonverbal communication is present everywhere
2. Nonverbal communication usually comes first
3. Nonverbal communication is especially likely to be
trusted
4. Nonverbal communication can lead to
misunderstanding, especially when verbal messages
are missing or limited
5. Nonverbal communication is especially important in
intercultural communication situations
 Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication messages may:
– Contradict verbal communication messages
– Complement verbal communication
messages
– Substitute verbal communication messages
– Regulate verbal communication messages
– Accent or moderate verbal communication
messages
 Nonverbal Communication
Body Movements:
• Four main types of kinesic communication:
1. Emblems- Body movements that can be
translated into words that are used to
intentionally transmit a message (hand
gestures)
2. Illustrators- A type of kinesic behavior that
accompanies what is said verbally (pointing)
3. Regulators- Kinesic behaviors that control
turn-taking and other procedural aspects of
interpersonal communication (gaze)
4. Affect Displays- Kinesic behaviors that
express emotions (smile)
 Nonverbal Communication
Types of Nonverbal Communication
– Space: Proxemics is nonverbal communication involving space
– Time:
• Chronemics is the way in which time affects communication
• Organization of time:
– Technical time- the scientific development of the atomic
clock (nanoseconds)
– Formal time- the process of separating units of time into
days, weeks, and months
– Informal time- within a culture the more loosely defined
concepts of approximation
– Touch: Haptics is nonverbal communication involving touching
 Nonverbal Communication

Types of Nonverbal Communication

– Voice: Paralanguage is vocal communication other
than verbal content
– Artifact: An individual’s clothing, wedding ring,
personal possessions, etc…
– Physical Appearance: Rule-governed cultural
preferences dictate the elements of appearance that are
considered physically attractive
 Culture of Language

• Verbal style to impress (Latino, Arabic)

• Verbal styles to assert and control (German, Irish,
Israeli, Turkish)
• Verbal style that expresses tolerance for ambiguity
(Swedish, Asian)
• Verbal style that uses tolerance for silence (Japanese
and many other Asian)
• Verbal style that expects high information (USA,
other Western countries)
 What Causes Illness?

• Evil spirits
• Germs
• Imbalance of energy
• Soul fright
• Curse
• Broken relationships
• Bad luck
 What causes good things?

• God (gods) favor you

• Blessed because you did something good
• Good karma
• Fate
• Good luck
• Natural outcome of hard work
 What causes hardships?
• Punishment for doing wrong
• Part of life to be expected
• God trying to get someone’s attention
• Fate
• Don’t exist unless you think they do
• Natural outcome of one’s lifestyle
 What is the purpose of life?
• Serve others
• Make your next life better
• Make your ancestors’ lives better
• Be self-fulfilled
• Serve God, give God glory
• No purpose other than pleasure
• Reproduce
 Cause of Illness &
Treatment
• Evil spirits • Appease or rid yourself
of evil spirits
• Biology/germs • Medicine, surgery
• Imbalance of energy • Balance energy
• A curse • Remove the curse
• Broken relationships with • Restore relationships
people, nature, gods
• Soul fright • Have the soul returned
The 10/40 Window
 Countries in 10/40 Window

Afghanistan
Egypt Japan Morocco Syria
Eritrea Jordan Myanmar Taiwan
Algeria
Ethiopia Korea, (Burma) Tajikistan
Bahrain
Gambia North Nepal Thailand
Bangladesh
Gibraltar Korea, Niger Tunisia
Benin
Greece South Oman Turkey
Bhutan
Guinea Kuwait Pakistan Turkmenistan
Burkina
Guinea- Laos Philippines United Arab
Faso
Bissau Lebanon Portugal Emirates
Cambodia
India Libya Qatar Vietnam
Chad
Iran Macau Saudi Arabia Western Sahara
China
Iraq Mali Senegal Yemen
Cyprus
Israel Malta Sudan
Djibouti
Mauritania
 10/40 Window Statistics

• Unreached and unevangelized: 95% of the

people living in the 10/40 Window are
unevangelized. Many have never heard the Gospel
message even once.
• Poverty: 85% of those living in the 10/40 window
are the poorest of the world's poor.
• Population: 2/3 of the World’s population lives
here in 1/3 of World’s land mass.
• World religions: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism
are centered in the 10/40 Window.
 The Physical Need . . .
• ...There are over 400 mega cities (cities with more than
1 million people) in the world today.  300 of these cities
lie within the Window.
• ...The Window contains the majority of the world's least
evangelized mega cities.  Of the top 50 cities on this
list, all 50 cities are in the 10/40 Window
• ...More than 97% out the poorest of the poor live in the
Window.
• ...On average, people living in the 10/40 Window exist
on less than $500 per person per year.
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~samkong/mission/1040.php
 The Challenge
• Throwing a stone in a pond ripples that pond
only. To impact another means moving out
of your comfort zone.
• Languages must be learned
• Cultures must be learned
• Non-verbal communication
• Literates have to learn how to communicate
with oral culture peoples.
 Translation Needs

• There are 6,913 languages cataloged in the world.

• To learn a language that has not been reduced to
writing, develop a system, teach it to the people,
translate and present a Bible takes 20-30 years
depending on the language.
• Over 2,700 languages have been identified as
priority languages and it is estimated that it will take
287 years to get them a Bible.
• Oral methods are essential for reaching 70% of the
unreached peoples of the world today.
 It’s not wrong, it’s not
stupid, it’s
just different!
• Ethnocentrism – is the practice of judging the
values, languages, standards, characteristics, etc.
of another culture against one’s home culture.
– The other culture is usually seen as inferior.
– Intercultural workers should recognize their own
ethnocentric tendencies.
– The ugly American is alive and well!
 Gestures
• Okay!
• Victory or peace
• Pointing with index finger
• How tall?
• Come here
• Giving the back
• Pointing with feet
 The twelve signal systems
• Verbal – speech
• Written – symbols
representing speech
• Numeric – numbers and
number systems
• Pictorial – 2 dimensional
representations
• Artifactual – 3 dimensional
representations and objects
• Audio – use of nonverbal
sounds and silence
• Kinesics – body motions,
facial expressions, posture
• Optical – light and color
• Tactile – touch and the
sense of feel
• Spatial – utilization of
space
• Temporal – utilization of
time
• Olfactory – taste and smell
 CULTURE SHOCK!!!
• It is inevitable but is rarely fatal.
• Occurs when two or more cultures collide.
– Oriental students in Costa Rica.
– Hot climate cultures vs. Cold climate cultures.
• Learned worldview cues no longer function
• Multilevel, multifaceted, & goes both ways.
• Many have tried to define but it’s primarily an
emotional reaction to a shaken world.
 Culture Shock Stages
• Culture Surprise (Tourist/Honeymoon)
– Sights
– Sounds
– Smells
– Money
– Customs
• Lasts from a few weeks to a few months
– How long you will be there
– Why you are there
 Culture Shock Stages
• Rejection Stage
– Islands of the home culture
– “Us” and “We” vs. “Them” and “They.”
– Caricature and ridicule of nationals

• This stage can last from a few months to a couple

of years. It depends on:
– How quickly you bond with the culture.
– How quickly you learn the language.
– How well you can remember why you are there.
 Culture Shock Stages
• Recovery
– Cultural assimilation (going native)
• Sounds great but not healthy
• God made you who you are
– Cultural acceptance and adaptation
• Bonding with the culture, humor, friends
• It’s not wrong, it’s not stupid, it’s just different.
– Culture tension/stress
• Always on a slow burn.
• Nationals are never accepted as equals
 Culture Shock!!!
• Reverse culture shock sets in when you
return home.
• USA is parents’ home, not the kids’.
• Prices, options, waste, wealth.
• Priorities and preferences.
• Phrases, clothing styles, dangers, etc.
• Not fatal either, forewarned is forearmed!