Take 50 photographs and 5 questions and find yourself knee-deep in a spiritual conversation. In one semester of trialling this tool at Chinese University I found that I was able to share the gospel with over 90% of the people who were willing to help me with this “experiment that explores the relationship between their lives and these photos”.
Visual Culture
Today’s culture is increasingly visual. If you look at your web browser you will probably find that what five years ago was labelled “Home” now looks like a house . Take a look around your computer and where a few years ago you might find written “USB” or “On/Off” or “Mic” have also been replaced by icons. In many countries, words have been taken off road signs, the shape and colour of “STOP” or “GIVE WAY” signs are all that is used to communicate the information.
Relational Culture
Young people today are also increasingly relational. Living in a world where real vital friendships are all too scarce and so much interaction is done via a keyboard (or thumbpad!) and screen, they long for real communication – a chance to truly share about who they are inside. This is what is behind a lot of the popularity of Youtube, Facebook, etc. These websites give people a chance to let the world know who they are and who they’d like to be.
Pluralistic Culture
Most university students have contact with people from many diverse backgrounds. Being exposed to a wide range of different cultures and worldviews means that they are often comfortable with different viewpoints existing alongside each other and don’t feel so comfortable when there is only one right answer.
A tool for today’s audience
The Soularium is an excellent tool for today’s audience because it is visual, relational, and gives people the chance to express their own views, regardless of what they are.
The Soularium has five questions:
- Which three photos best describe your life right now?
- Which three photos would you like to describe your life?
- Which photo best describes God to you?
- Which photo best describes your spiritual experience so far?
- Which photo best describes what you would like your spiritual experience to be?
People can choose any of the photos and can choose them for any reason they want. The key is in exploring why they chose the particular photos they did, because it is here that we get a real chance to interact with them and we can learn about who they are and their desires and spiritual experiences.
From these conversations there will hopefully be opportunities to transition to the gospel, but it is important to remember that the Soularium is not simply an appetizer to the Four Spiritual Laws or Knowing God Personally booklet but that this conversation is valuable in getting to know the person for who they are.
This tool also takes considerably longer than other alternatives (eg a survey or questionnaire). I have found that 30 minutes is a good guideline to have a decent conversation. You might find that that is a long time, but I find it is worth it because I have 30 minutes of real interaction that usually goes much deeper than a survey or questionnaire ever could.
You can find out more information about the Soularium at their website, which also includes feedback from around the world.
This is awesome that this is happening. I got to serve with Campus Crusade while I was in college. Actually, last summer I was on the pioneering trip to Botswana, Africa. While we were there, we started to make a Botswana Soularium because as you’ve experienced many of the cards are very western and often American. This coming year I am going to China with a different organization. I talked to one lady that was on the National Soularium Team and she had mentioned that China had one made. I was interested in the possibility of getting a copy of the Chinese Soularium that I might be able to use while I was there. Would you be able to get that or know where I would be able to? Thanks for your help.