Out of 6.9 billion people in the world as of 2010, an estimated 5 billion are adults (leaving almost 2 billion children and youths under the age of 15). Of the adults, some 4.1 billion are literate, and 938.7 million are not (statistics from the Status of Global Mission 2010, archived at http://www.globalchristianity.org). This is one of the most basic measures of education.It is true the number of literates has risen. In 1900, some 300 million were literate and 777 million were not. By 1970 those numbers had vastly changed: there were 1.4 billion literates vs. 836 million nonliterates. The number of literates is growing at 2.3% p.a., faster than the growth in the number of adults (1.6%) and the overall global population (1.2%). This is a good thing: because as education goes up, poverty goes down.
The growth in literacy is very slow presently, and projected to be overtaken by population growth. Right now, the growth in the number of literates averages 10 million yearly. Worldwide, there are still 938 million nonliterate adults (not counting the number of nonliterate youths & children). By 2025, the number of nonliterates is estimated to rise slightly to 954 million. That’s nearly a billion people–by 2025, 1 in every 8 people–who cannot read the Bible even if you translate it into their language.
Of course, missionaries to unreached peoples will find the density of nonliterates far greater, because most literates are found in the developed or rapidly-developing areas of the world. The nonliteracy rate in northern Africa and throughout Asia is typically in excess of 30% and in some nations exceeding 50%. One in three adults that church planters work among will probably be nonliterates.
Further, there are many cultures who value the transmission of valuable information in oral story form, rather than written form. (In point of fact, even Western cultures are moving this way: we still output a lot of written material–for proof, just see all the blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, etc. out there–but we pass on a lot of the most prized wisdom through stories, media, etc). Evangelization using orality strategies will likely be an important part of ministry work for the next several decades.
Thus, for the foreseeable future:
- Christian ministries that provide even basic education, especially to the poorest, are valuable: they contribute to the end of poverty and make training easier.
- We need to get very good at telling stories, because the value of the printed Word notwithstanding, telling stories is one of the most prized ways of effectively communicating the Gospel.
- We need to get very good at telling stories because there are so many people who cannot read. We cannot shirk our responsibility to 1 of every 8 people by simply sponsoring the printing and distribution of Bibles, even though that is a very powerful force in the spread of the Gospel.
Related stories & resources
How literacy levels will left Kenya’s economy was the theme of a five-day conference, “Education for Kenya, Vision 2030.”
After-school literacy programs combat poverty and hopelessness in Zambia (MNN). Zambia has over 1 million orphans, and few have a chance to receive an education.
Literacy is hampering military training efforts in Afghanistan. Literacy stands at perhaps 35%. Obviously if it’s difficult for soldiers to be trained, it’s difficult for church planters to be trained. Thus it’s important to be able to pass on training in as simple and non-literate a way as possible.
Rampant illiteracy: Andrew Haas makes the point that functional nonliteracy is higher even in Western countries than our statistics would indicate, and discusses how music can unlock the effective communication of God’s Word.
Rural poverty exacts toll among India’s women and children (MNN): India Gospel League has launched Women’s Transformation Groups which, among other things, provide adult literacy centers with free literacy training.
The International Orality Network has an online community at http://ion2008.ning.com. Members include Call2All, Campus Crusade, E3 Partners, Faith Comes by Hearing, God’s Story, the IMB, the One Story Partnership, and many more.
Orality is being discussed as part of the Lausanne Global Conversation in preparation for Cape Town 2010.
Should theology be taught thru nonliterate means? (Lausanne Global Conversation): J. O. Terry recounts how he spent 13 years on the mission field teaching mostly nonliterate emerging church leadership, and some of the lessons he learned.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
When we recognize how much of the Bible is narrative in nature, we see that God is not hampered by orality. Consider the fact that we are called to “Hear” the word of God many times more than to read it. Prior to the printing press it was unthinkable that average people would possess a copy of the Scriptures. Literacy is a blessing, but not a necessity. I appreciate your efforts to encourage us to improve our orality skills.
I always remember what an eye-opener it was when I first heard that the reason the Bible was chained to the altar or secluded away in the medieval church was because it was a treasure and there was concern about it being stolen… We think about how prolific the printed word is today and it’s hard to remember a time (not so very long ago!) when that was not the case. Or the many places in our world where today, it’s still not. I think we in the West are all too often ready to hand over a tract, forward a link or email, pass on a book–”here, read this.” The thing we are passing makes the argument and therefore in our minds absolves us of the responsibility of further interaction. But books do not disciple. People do!
The statistics you quote refer to the capacity to read and write. I recently read that 66% of the world’s population prefers oral learning styles over literate. The popularity of TV and movies in the West makes me believe this is probably accurate. We need to re-think this issue. Thanks for pointing to its importance.
Good article. It’s encouraging to see so many Christians waking up and smelling the orality they’re constantly surrounded by. I invite folks to check out the “Scriptures on Storying” page of my website. You’ll begin to realize how different the cultures of the authors God used to speak and/or write his Word are from our modern literate society.
Literacy figures are always a bit of a minefield. What constitutes literacy in one country may be vastly different that that in another. In some places, if you’ve completed school through 5th grade, you’re declared literate – even though measurements by the UN and others don’t routinely begin until after age 15. Add to that the agendas a lot of countries have to report good figures (to bring in funding) when the actual rate of literacy may be little better than a guess, and the problem is likely far worse than we can imagine. A few years back, I spotted some stats about Egypt that mentioned a high literacy rate, but a pitifully low use of printed materials (newspapers, books, etc.). So it seems to me that the issue isn’t literacy per se, but rather how that literacy is employed. Even in the USA, fewer and fewer people do any meaningful reading beyond their school years.