I like to share these stories when they come to me:
November 2011 was the first recording for the Cotabato Manobo of five Genesis stories and Jonah.
These were dramatized Scripture recordings with sound effects, and included their music. Here is a
report from the Filipina missionary serving with Translators Association of the Philippines:
We were excited to bring along with us the test CDs to play for people to listen with
the purpose of promoting the translated Scriptures. We noticed how excited
Manobos were to listen to the stories and hear their own musical instrument played
with the story. The CDs were tested in different villages and varied occasions like
thanksgiving celebrations, Bible study, prayer meetings and even at homes in the
evening. People liked it and wanted to listen to more stories. This resulted in people
buying Manobo New Testaments. So we are planning to record more Bible stories
during our next meeting in Davao in February (2012).
When the CDs were played, the people would leave everything to listen. Especially appealing were
their own ethnic musical instruments played prior to each story. People didn’t need an invitation to
listen; they would just play the CD, and young and old would rush to the place the sound was coming
from and an audience was instantly formed.
Generally, people do not enjoy reading. Audio dramatized Scripture recordings are extremely helpful
in getting Scripture to people. Seeing the importance of presenting material in an oral form, we
encouraged them to make two or three questions for deeper understanding, choose a Bible verse, and
add a 30‐second explanation of the story or explanation of the answers to the questions. At the third
recording session in July this year, the group reported that people find the questions for discussion
instructive and requested that questions be included for the next recordings. Thirty Audibibles went
out after the recording in February. The Audibibles themselves are missionaries. After listening to OT
stories on the Audibible, two villages reported that now they need to build churches. In another
village, a spiritually weak church listened to the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount
Carmel. The people came to the conclusion that they must destroy their charms, and worship only
God. Now their church is growing spiritually and also growing in attendance! These audio dramatized
Scripture recordings, with their music and added sound effects, are the biggest hit on their charts!
We look forward to one more OT recordings with this group, and then going on to the book of Acts.
Also, we are hopeful of doing Acts recordings with partners for other languages in an area where
another religion predominates. May God's Word live vibrantly through these efforts.
