Literacy Conference

We'll be hosting our first ever literacy conference among Dagara Church leaders.  We will discuss the challenges they may face in learning and teaching literacy and will be discussing why it's important.  Hopefully we will be able to begin formulating a plan together how to implement a literacy program in our churches.

Just so you can get a feel for some of the things we'll be discussing in the conference, I thought I would just paste below the English version of the motivation speech I plan on giving tomorrow as our churches contemplate what it would be like to be like the Berean Church in Acts who always checked on Paul's teaching by looking back at God's word to make sure that Paul was getting his wisdom from the word of God and not his own thoughts.

The biggest problem in our churches is that people don’t know what are human opinions and what is God’s word.  From the leaders on down to the regular members, they just don’t know.  Why?  They don’t know how to read God’s word.  Some think that all they want is for god to save them from their sins, but they don’t want to truly get to know God and become his disciples and obey his word every day.  They don’t even know how to read his word.  When a child is little he or she plays and laughs and sings and this pleases the child’s father.  But as time goes on if the child doesn’t eventually begin to learn to listen to his father’s wisdom . . . well the father can’t accept that.  It is the same between God and us.


If we really want to have a relationship with God, it’s not enough to just pray to him.  It’s not enough to just sing to him.  Those things are good, but we must also listen to what he has to tell us.  God has chosen to speak to us through his written word from the time of Moses to today.  God want’s to communicate with you.  He helped people a long time ago write his own special message to you.  He is working through translators to get the message of scripture in your own language.  You should know that the God of Christians is different.  Our book is not like the book of your Muslim friends that they say cannot be translated into foreign languages, but instead God, when he wanted people to know what he was like, sent his own son, who became a Jew and spoke Jewish.  When Jesus first followers began to spread the word they wrote it down in language that the people could understand.  And now they have begun to translate God’s word into your language, so we should do what we can to get everyone able to read the Bible for themselves.  

Another problem is that some people think that only one person knowing how to read God’s word is enough for them in their congregation.  But how can they tell when he is teaching from the Bible and when he has begun to add his own thoughts.  Sometimes scripture and the Holy Spirit can guide men’s thoughts and sometimes Satan can put him in confusion with the lies he tells.  Only in Scripture do we know for sure that these thoughts are God’s thoughts.  Acts 17:10-11.  Remember how Jesus fought Satan’s temptation in the desert.  What did he use to fight temptation? [scripture]  Is it church leaders only who need to fight Satan’s temptations in their lives? [of course not you stupidhead].  Then wouldn’t it be best if every Christian knew how to read God’s word for herself?  What about the songs?  Who composes the songs in your church?  Do they know how to read God’s word?  If not, how do we know that we are singing a song that God likes if it is not based on the truth found in scripture?  The last problem is our children.  Who is teaching our kids what God is like and what Jesus did and how to follow him?  Kids won’t get it if it’s just once a week.  They need it every day.  Is this not also true for us adults?  Can the preacher teach your kids every day from God’s word? [of course not you stupidhead].  If no one ever teaches the kids, where will the church be in 50 years when all of you have died?

I have a vision for Dagara churches to look like the church in Berea.  Did you know that at the church in my country who sent me here everybody knows how to read their Bibles.  They all bring their Bible with them when they go to church meetings.  When the preacher tells them what scripture he’s reading / teaching from, many of them turn to that scripture in their Bibles and read silently at the same time he is preaching to them.  This helps them hear and remember the scripture better.  This also gives them the ability to test whether what the preacher is saying is really from God or just the preacher’s idea.  Also the preacher is the preacher because he is the one who has been called by God to preach and not just because he knows how to read.  In many Dagara churches I fear that we choose the one who knows how to read instead of the one chosen by God for the job.  If everyone in your church already knew how to read, you could decide on your leadership that God wants and not just pick those that can read.

Pray that God will use this little speech to motivate Dagara churches to action.