A stage-like scene of flat painted wooden Bible figures standing in pale sand against a dark blue backdrop: a crescent moon and star, mountains, a boat on blue waves, trees, a cross and a figure in white, with small figures in front.

Orality Movement

Propelling the
Orality Movement.

Using Dynamic equivalence translation so that all 1860 groups without a translated Bible can have a chance to hear and see and be discipled by Scriptures. 7,200 Unreached people groups representing 3.56 Billion people have little to no access to indigenous language Scripture.

Watch how it works

Why OMT?

1,200+

language groups have never had one passage of the Bible in their mother tongue

100M+

people without access to God’s Word

Up to 80%

of people worldwide depend mainly on spoken communication

1 in 10

missionaries work among the 3 billion unreached

For over 600 years, the Bible has been available in English and in many translations. However, there are more than 1,200 language groups across the earth who have never had one passage of the Bible in their mother tongue. This represents over 100 million people without access to God’s Word.

Oral communication is the primary, and often sole, form of communication for up to 80% of people worldwide. Many of these represent unreached people.

Being an oral learner or from an oral culture is not necessarily an issue of illiteracy. It is a way people perceive the world and interact with information. Oral transmission of the Gospel and Scripture does, however, bypass any situation where illiteracy, or a language with no written form, is present.

God wants ALL people to have access to His word and the knowledge of Him in the way that speaks to them best! In Revelation 7:9, it says that every tongue will be in heaven worshipping Him! Bible translation has spiritual impact! As part of seeing the Great Commission fulfilled, we need to give every language group access to the truth of the Gospel and Scripture in their own tongue.

“…how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” Romans 10:14

Reaching those
without Scripture.

Frontier Peoples are unreached groups most needing pioneer church planting. Frontier Peoples are less than or equal to 0.1% Christian Adherent and an approximation of groups without a known self-sustaining gospel movement.

A world map with red circles clustered across North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, marking unreached people groups in the 10/40 window.

Unreached people groups across the 10/40 window.

A Joshua Project country page for Nepal showing the number of people groups, the unreached population and a map of Nepal dotted with red marks.

Nepal, on the Joshua Project.

Info and images: Joshua Project. Read more: Frontier Peoples, Nepal, himalayas.prayomt.com and Storyrunners.

Combine OMT audio
with the visual SandBoxBible.

World wide teams are translating the Bible into the languages of those without any written Bible. Combine OMT with SandBoxBible and you have a powerful combination of a visual, audible and kinesthetic Bible experience for any language group.

This combination makes it easy for new churches to learn the Bible off by heart: they will need to re-tell it to the next village.

Dynamic equivalence translation.

In translating a verse, dynamic equivalent translation is less concerned with providing an exact English word for each word of the original text as it is with communicating the basic message of that verse. Considering the original context, culture, figures of speech, and other effects on language, dynamic equivalence seeks for today’s Bible readers to understand the text in the same way.

“It happens to you the moment you place yourself physically in the sand, in the story, answering the application questions, that you suddenly realise… this is not for children only.” Even the age-old theologian will find each passage fresh and challenging.

Two women stand side by side in a hall with a colourful mural, holding a wooden SandBoxBible plaque between them in front of a tall banner that reads Tell, Hear, Empower: Encouraging everyone to learn and tell a Biblical Story.

A fire has
been kindled.

As I type here one thing is certain: a fire has been kindled in India and it seems that this one will be quite unstoppable.

Meeting Dr. Sandya, the head of the Orality movement, NBSI India, was incredible. Her partner has a machine and agreed to take on the responsibility of cutting rice box Bibles for India, Nepal and beyond! Since being back in South Africa, we have had so many requests for Bibles in India from various provinces.