Without a Written Bible

I have one prayer request from Colombia. I often take the invention of the written word for granted. Some people groups don’t have that same benefit and as a result their “Bible,” at least for the time being, consists of recorded stories and Bible passages. I can’t imagine how I would do my own study time in the word without something in print before my eyes. Perhaps this prayer request might serve as a reminder to memorize and meditate on the word, not just read it. In any case, many among the Nu people are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we ought to pray for them as they seek to be faithful to God even without His word written on paper—it’s being engraved on their hearts.

NU OF COLOMBIA (noo) - The Nu People Team writes: "The Nu people are totally oral. They do not have the ability to read and write, nor do they have a printed copy of the Bible available in their language. Their language itself is not yet written down. Some have, however, received the Gospel in oral form and they are growing in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. One of the challenges of an oral culture is to help people maintain accuracy with the oral Bible--to make sure that the stories do not change over time and with much re-telling. To do this, we will be recording the Bible stories in order to have the ability to leave an auditory version of the Bible stories in the different villages. The Nu people can then listen to the stories to maintain accuracy, and they can use the recorded stories to share with others. The recording of these stories is planned for mid-September. Please pray for the plans and preparations for this process and for the time of the actual recording."