Overview

What is EthnoArts and what does it have to do with effective ministry to unreached peoples?

EthnoArts is the appropriate use of indigenous artistic expressions (either endemic or adopted) by each ethne or people group to know, worship, and testify about the True God. Music, drama, narratives, poetry, dance, song, and visual arts are examples of EthnoArt forms.

EthnoArts practitioners study indigenous artistic expressions in their cultural context in order to discover keys to communicating the gospel in ways that speak deeply to the hearts and minds of each ethne.

Although oral methods and indigenous art forms have been used by some to convey the Word of God more effectively, they have not yet been widely employed by those involved in ministry to the least-reached. The goal of the EthnoArts Strategy Group is to change that by inspiring appropriate EthnoArts use, facilitating the development of appropriate EthnoArts training programs, and finding ways to assist and cross-fertilize with the other Ethne Strategy Groups.

Background

The idea for having an orality Strategy Group (SG) was birthed in late 2008 as preparations were being made for the Ethne 09 event in Bogota. About the same time, the International Orality Network (ION) designated Art Santos to represent ION at Ethne. On the recommendation of ION’s Music and Arts Task Force, Art connected with a global network of people involved in the arts and missions, the International Council of Ethnodoxologists (I.C.E.). A group of orality and arts specialists from ICE were mobilised to join Art in forming this SG – and planning for the orality interactions at Ethne 09 commenced.

The term ”EthnoArts” was first adopted by the members of this SG and preferred because it was a relatively “neutral” term. It was chosen to express the complementary nature of each ethne and the art forms that they characteristically use to express themselves. Thenceforth, this orality SG was called the EthnoArts Strategy Group.

Southeast Asia

The Philippine EthnoArts Community of Practice (PECOP), which was inspired by SEALINK (the host of Ethne06 in Bali), have pooled together their training and experience in their shared passion for the helping reach the unreached. Their vision is to see people in minority communities knowing, worshipping, and testifying about God through using their indigenous ethnoart forms.

PECOP is partners with I.C.E. and promotes EthnoArts as a key strategy of the Philippine Missions Association, which spearheads a missions mobilization movement among Filipinos worldwide to fulfill the great commission.  PECOP works to inform and persuade people interested in missions about the importance and necessity of using ethnoarts to communicate the gospel to least-reached people groups. PECOP also hopes to eventually share their knowledge and expertise to benefit the larger missions community in Asia.

Latin America

Asociacion LatinoAmericana De EtnoArtes (ALDEA), which was birthed from Ethne09 in Bogota, strives to inspire appropriate EthnoArts use by facilitating the development of appropriate EthnoArts training programs and by finding ways to assist key Indigenous People (IP) leaders to develop appropriate EthnoArts for their own people groups.

ALDEA is part of the I.C.E. and is also connected with COMIBAM, which is a network representing a large part of the missionary movement in Latin America. COMIBAM leads the move to have the Ibero-American Church become a sending force in Latin America and throughout the world. ALDEA makes every effort to be part of that movement by educating the Ibero-American Church in EthnoArts.