What’s the Secret Ingredient?

Literacy and Heart Language Ministry

Heart language ministries are the foundation of so much of what Ethnos360 is involved in. Part of that foundation is teaching the people groups with whom we are living to be able to read and write in their own language. After all, of what use to the people is a translated Bible with no one in their group to read it?

Jerry and Joyce McDaniels are the international literacy consultants for Ethnos360, traveling around the globe to develop literacy curriculums as well as to train literacy consultants and teachers. With the development of the software called Literacy Starter, the time required and the quality of the literacy materials has been greatly improved.

And the Secret Ingredient ... ?

The McDaniels said, “Our ministry is focused on literacy: teaching people to read so they can have full access to the translated Word of God in their own language. This certainly involves printed words in the literacy curriculum that we develop. But there is a secret ingredient that goes into the reading materials. It is the illustrations! Great illustrations contribute to the reader’s understanding of the story, adding interest and details.

“The reading books start very simply, with three or four little sentences using the three most frequent letters in the language. This keeps the lesson uncomplicated for the new readers. But because few words are intentionally used, the story may lack clarity or sparkle. Illustrations come in as the secret ingredient to improve comprehension and hold the attention of the readers.”

Welcome, Image Finder!

“We’ve never had a good way to share images for literacy,” continued the McDaniels, “so our programming team is putting the finishing touches on the final part of the literacy software called Image Finder. It’s a database that organizes tens of thousands of images that teams have used in their literacy materials for others to use or adapt. It will be searchable by word-tags and regions. What a great resource and help this will be to teams all around the world!”

Pray for the McDaniels and all those associated with Image Finder. Praise the Lord with us that these tools are being made available around the world.