Would you share with us some barriers people face in trying to access life-giving message? Rev. Keegan: Throughout Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world, I have encountered many barriers that prevent people from accessing God’s life-giving messages through His Word. Some barriers are related to literacy. Globally, more than 750 million adults have low or no literacy, making printed Scripture inaccessible for many. For example, in remote mountain communities in the Philippines, I met Indigenous church leaders who could not read a Bible, yet through oral Scripture and audio engagement they had memorised large portions of God’s Word and were planting churches among their own people. Other barriers are physical. I have met blind believers who first encountered Scripture through audio Bibles and who now serve as preachers, teachers, and leaders in church plants among blind communities. Without audio access, they would have remained dependent on others to access Scripture for them. Once in Indonesia I spent time with people affected by leprosy, where loss of sensation in the fingers made it difficult to hold or turn pages of a printed Bible. Yet I watched them confidently use audio Scripture devices, returning repeatedly to passages that brought comfort, strength, and hope. In Vietnam I witnessed barriers of hearing. Deaf communities remain among the most underserved globally. Through MegaVoice Visual Bibles in sign languages, Scripture becomes accessible in a fully visual form, allowing people to receive God’s Word in the language of identity and belonging – and allows them to communicate together. A personal example from closer to my home is the major barrier of ageing. In both remote regions and developed nations, many elderly people struggle with failing eyesight, reduced mobility, or dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. I have witnessed people become calmer and more settled when listening to familiar Scriptures and hymns. Anxiety often eases, agitation reduces, and moments of recognition return—sometimes expressed through singing, tears, or quiet joy. There are also barriers of language and culture. In the Indigenous tribal mountain regions of South-East Asia, I have heard repeated testimonies of people weeping when Scripture was first heard in their mother tongue—their heart language. They said it felt as though God was speaking directly to them, that He knew them now. Then there are barriers of geography, poverty, persecution, conflict, and even technology. More than 700 million people still lack electricity, and over 2 billion people remain without reliable internet or mobile data. While digital mission tools are expanding, vast numbers are still excluded. All these people are not unreached because God is silent. They are unreached because access is broken. MegaVoice exists to help overcome these barriers so that the Good News can be truly received. Would you share example of a solution that offers access? Rev. Keegan: One powerful example of overcoming barriers to God’s Word, and the transformation it can bring, comes from Indigenous ministry among the Higaonon people in Northern Mindanao. Local ministers recognised that most adults had little or no formal education, making text-based discipleship ineffective. Rather than importing external models, they leaned into what was already embedded in the culture: oral storytelling. Together, partners, church-planting pastors, Indigenous leaders, and we at MegaVoice, listened carefully, prayed together, and worked side-by-side to understand how Scripture was already being communicated in these communities. Rather than arriving with a finished solution, we sought to discern what God was already doing among them. Out of this shared journey, an approach emerged based on Bible storytelling and audio Scripture in heart languages. People listen, retell, discuss, and reflect together—learning in ways that are natural to their culture and deeply rooted in their everyday life. The results have been significant: new churches have formed, Indigenous leaders have emerged, and Scripture is being carried within communities that were once considered hard to reach or unreached. MegaVoice supports this work through simple, durable, solar-powered audio Scripture devices designed for places where literacy, electricity, and connectivity are limited. That same commitment extends into prisons, refugee settlements, disaster zones, and trauma-affected communities, where access to Scripture is often fragile or entirely absent. In such contexts, audio Scripture devices often become more than a source of teaching; they become companions of hope and healing—carrying Scripture, prayer, encouragement, and sometimes even counselling and trauma support content that helps people process grief, displacement, and fear. In these places, the Word of God is not abstract. It becomes survival, dignity, and presence. The deeper shift, however, is this: Scripture is not something simply delivered to people —it is something they receive, live, and pass on as their own. Please describe the transformation that happens when the spoken word becomes the language of the heart. Rev. Keegan: Our first experience of the world is oral. We hear before we read. We learn through voice, rhythm, story, and relationship. Language enters us first through sound and presence. This is why heart language matters so deeply. It is the language of memory, identity, and belonging. When Scripture is heard in that language, it is no longer distant or formal—it feels like home. But this is not only true for Indigenous communities. Even in highly literate societies, we recognise this experience. When we hear our own language—or even the accent of home—while far away, something in us responds immediately. We feel grounded. We feel known. Oral Scripture works in the same way. It reaches memory, imagination, and emotion. It allows Scripture not only to be studied, but to be encountered as a living voice. In this sense, oral engagement is not a lesser form for some people. It is a gift that can speak to all of us and, in a particular way, a gift often most clearly recognised among the poor. God’s concern for the marginalised, the poor, and the oppressed is seen throughout Scripture. The Gospel consistently moves toward those on the edges—those who are overlooked, excluded, or left behind, speaking in their language to their hearts. |
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