RICHMOND, Va. — The International Orality Network (ION), of which the International Mission Board (IMB) is a sponsor, received The Mission Exchange’s Innovation in Mission Award at a Sept. 22 conference in St. Louis.
The Mission Exchange, composed of 100 evangelical, missions-sending organizations that support approximately 20,000 missionaries, praised the ION for its innovative approach to missions, breakthrough thinking, practical training and effective resources.
Beginning this year, The Mission Exchange will recognize an organization annually that excels in one of these four areas — excellence, partnership, finishing well and innovation. This year’s focus is innovation.
The ION is a group of ministries that makes the gospel available for oral learners in culturally appropriate ways in order to facilitate church-planting movements. ION’s executive director, Avery Willis, formerly IMB’s senior vice president for overseas operations, accepted the award on behalf of the orality network during the The Mission Exchange’s “Metrics in Missions” conference.
Orality is the reliance on the spoken word as a primary means of communication. Because 60 percent of the world’s population learns orally, ION and its sponsor organizations believe that to fulfill the Great Commission, the gospel must be available to an oral audience.
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