Matthew 10:41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
I believe faith comes by hearing, so I answer yes. While there may be individuals who hear the Gospel message first from angels, I think the usual way is to hear the "word of faith" first from a servant of God's who was given the Power to speak it. That servant does not need to be perfect. It is enough if he loves others and wants them to come to know about Jesus and salvation.
Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The person does not scrounge up faith on his own steam. He has received it from the person speaking the word of faith -- like soil receiving a seed. Timothy received his faith in God from others. Paul mentions the faith that was in Timothy first being in Lois.
2 Timothy 1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
Does the seed survive? That's up to the person who receives it.
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
James is not telling people to read their Bibles! While there's nothing wrong with reading the Bible, there might be something wrong with believing reading it is going to be enough to save you.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
The Bible is not going to beget anyone.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Back to Genesis: Let there be light. Half of the darkness became light. The other half remained dark. Half obeyed the Living Word, the other half did not.
I note that at first the new believer usually cannot contact Heaven for himself with great certainty; and such a new believer also could be carried away by pride if he could speak with spirits easily. A period of growth is good then -- as the "mustard seed" grows as a "herb." Being faithful as a herb, it will become a "tree" with its branches in Heaven. The birds can rest in its branches -- yes, the angels come around. Such a person should not be surprised if he begins to hear spiritual voices without having another human around to speak the "Word" to him. He begins to hear the Word directly from Heaven itself.
And I teach that any proper teacher, any proper church, should be able to take a new Christian and bring him to the point where he can find out things for himself. He can see and hear for himself. Holy books and holy men were good and useful in the past when he needed them, being unable to hear and see for himself. A valid teacher will never want to keep his students in perpetual dependency on him. The "spiritual leader" who claims he is special and you need him because he can hear from God and you never will is a fraud, a tool of Satan trying to keep you enslaved spiritually.
The denomination that says people must adopt the Bible as their own guide is also keeping people in slavery since when they say that, they are also saying you must adopt their interpretations of the Bible as the only valid truth. Run as fast as you can from such a denomination. It is good to "believe" the Bible is probably true when you are spiritually blind and deaf; and if you have a teacher who isn't blind and deaf, that gives you a good reason to beleive it's true, but you still haven't seen and heard things for yourself. You will be like Job before he "saw" for himself.
I witness it is possible to know some things in the Bible are true. I cannot prove it to others, but I have seen and heard for myself some of the things mentioned in the Bible. All I ask people to do is to have an open mind about it -- so if God wants them to see and hear for themselves, they won't be erecting barriers of disbelief. Don't trust me as a prophet! Don't follow me! Don't ask me to explain everything! Just trust me enough when I say God is good and wants everyone to come the truth, wants everyone to have eyes that see and ears that hear.
What good did the Scriptures do some people when they met Jesus? He was there in person, in front of their eyes; but they didn't recognize him. They put their faith in their human understanding of what the Scriptures said -- in what they had been taught or perhaps in their own interpretations. The Scriptures did them no good at all. They had "the word" in their books, but lacked it in themselves.
John 5:38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
41 I receive not honour from men.
42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
I like the last verse especially. If the people he was talking to admitted to themselves they lacked the love of God, there would be hope for them. God is Love. If we reject love, it probably is best to stick to holy books and holy men, since the person guided by other things will attract the demonic if he seeks to hear voices. Let them have their "form of godliness" without the power. Let them be "ever learning" and never able to come to the truth.
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
I find that verse interesting since it tells us we may need to circumcise our hearts and ears. Ah, yes, repentance when the Holy Ghost does get through enough to tell us to repent.