Oral Storying
Oral Storytelling Among the Baka:
Acts 2:39
“The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Scattered throughout the rainforests of southeast Cameroon, West Africa, live 50,000 to 60,000 Baka people. With only a few known believers, no organized church and limited ability to speak or understand French, the Baka remain without the hope of the Gospel unless it is communicated in their own language.
World Team missionaries gather with the Baka by firelight to retell Biblical stories with song and dramatic interpretation. They employ a chronological oral storying method that redeems the age-old storytelling style of the Baka to instill the transforming Truth of God’s Word in a way that can be understood, remembered and transmitted in this pre-literate culture.
Communicating entirely in the Baka language, the current team is the first to put to use a mini-oral Bible and rich theological songs that were developed by SIL missionaries in Cameroon. In word and deed, their holistic outreach combines the proclamation of God’s Word with tangible acts of love in service, including health care and agricultural initiatives.
Audio Examples of Baka Oral Stories
Abraham’s Story
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Creation Story
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