Literacy Specialists develop literacy programs in languages where there is an ongoing project. 

Passions:

• Encouraging disenfranchised people to overcome obstacles to literacy
• Empowering individuals to access God’s Word and transform their communities with the gospel
• Holistic ministry addressing poverty, lack of opportunity, health needs, and more

Skills:

• Ability to work with community leaders to organize their resources and abilities to reach out to those around them
• Creativity to develop publications and systems which support the growing reader
• Training in orthography development for languages where there is no written language
• Patience and love towards hundreds of thousands left behind in education because of their circumstances

Literacy specialists empower under-resourced language communities to thrive within their own environment and in multilingual contexts.  The Word of God comes to life as literacy specialists work alongside nationals to create local language resources for education and promote literacy skills through oral, visual, written, and digital forms.  They emphasize using the mother tongue as the gateway to basic literacy. The vision is for literacy to become a sustainable community value with the ownership of its goals and activities in the hands of the people. For previously unwritten languages, this work includes developing alphabets, overseeing the production of primers and reading materials, and teaching reading and writing. They also train national teachers to teach the skills.