Are you familiar with the name Frank Charles Laubach?

According to “The Frank Laubach Story” on the Laubach Literacy of Ventura County, Inc. website, Time magazine once called him “Mr. Literacy.”

Laubach became passionate about literacy while serving as a missionary and working with the Muslim Maranao tribe in the Philippines.  He realized literacy was a necessary tool for improving their lives.  Literacy would become Laubach’s all-consuming mission in life.

Consider some excerpts from “The Frank Laubach Story”:

At first he was not accepted bv the Maranao.  They were suspicious of this white foreigner.  So he just lived among them, listened to them, learned their language.  They seemed such a sad people.  He learned that they were sad because when loved ones moved to another village there was no way to for them to keep in touch: they had no written language.  Dr. Frank saw his mission: to devise a written language!

Since he had done graduate work at Teachers' College in New York, he had some idea about teaching language.  He was able to sort out the 16 sounds of the Maranao language, using our Roman alphabet.  He assigned one letter to each sound: 12 consonant sounds and 4 vowel sounds.  And he devised a "Key Word" system to help students identity and remember the sounds of the letters, what he later called "Visual Puns.”  He associated the initial sound of an object's name with the letter-sound to be learned…

The results were amazing!  People learned to read and write in two weeks or less!  Dr. Laubach soon had a corps of paid teachers teaching others in their own and other village.

But, when the depression led to funding cuts, Dr. Laubach told the chieftain he couldn't carry on with the program.  The chieftain, who had been taught to read, even though he was an old man, knew that learning to read had, and would help his people to prosper.  He declared, “If I can learn, anyone can learn.  Let each one who learned to read, teach someone else or die!” *

From that chief's decision the “Each One Teach One” concept was born, and became the motto and emblem of Laubach’s literacy movement which impacted over 100 countries in more than 300 languages and dialects.  Many, including my Dad, have used The Laubach Way to English to teach the English language to others.

The most tragic illiteracy is not knowing about Jesus, the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).  If we don’t know Jesus, we’re lost and we will die in our sins (John 8:24).

The Bible, God’s Word, teaches us that God loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).  Through Jesus, we can have forgiveness of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Ephesians 1:7).

The Word teaches us that in order to be saved and receive the gift of eternal life, we must place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, as we continue to walk in the light of His Word, the blood of Jesus will continue to cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7).

Once we become “literate” about Jesus and accept His offer on His terms, let’s “each one teach one” – share the Word of life with others.

It all begins by learning to “read and heed” God’s saving message of Jesus.

Won’t YOU accept His offer of salvation and eternal life?  Won’t YOU share the Good News with others?

-- David A. Sargent

* “The Frank Laubach Story” on the Laubach Literacy of Ventura County, Inc. website, http://www.laubachventura.org/about/the-frank-laubach-story.html

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org