{"id":4871,"date":"2014-10-22T08:02:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T12:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/?p=4871"},"modified":"2014-10-21T14:05:41","modified_gmt":"2014-10-21T18:05:41","slug":"unreached-close-at-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/2014\/10\/22\/unreached-close-at-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Unreached, close at hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Triqui<\/a>It\u2019s Baja California. Tourists. Beaches. Fish tacos.<\/p>\n

And hidden in plain sight are a variety of people groups: Zapoteca, Mixteca, Triqui and more. People who have held onto their languages and worldviews in spite of constant pressures to assimilate.<\/p>\n

\"Language<\/a>
Missionary’s language notes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As one missionary here said, \u201cThe children all say they don\u2019t speak Triqui. But then they grow up and it\u2019s all they speak in their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, I was part of a team that visited a few dedicated missionaries who are trying to learn the languages and understand the cultures of these people. Their goal is to establish churches among them that can be nurtured to maturity. It\u2019s long, hard work, made all the harder by the number of well-meaning believers who think it\u2019s a waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all speak Spanish,\u201d many people say. Baja California is dotted with evangelical churches, blanketed with evangelical radio stations and littered with evangelical tracts. Why spend years learning the language of the Triquis and understanding how they think?<\/p>\n

\"Triqui<\/a>Well, for one thing, the Bible tells us to. Our command is to make disciples of all nations \u2013 literally, every ethnic group. And as time-consuming and energy-draining and spiritually exhausting as it is, it\u2019s practical. People learn better, and are able to truly be disciples, when they hear His Word in their own language, made clear in the context of how they understand the world.<\/p>\n

Think of it this way. I know la Llanterna<\/em> is not where you buy lanterns. La Farmacia <\/em>doesn\u2019t have seeds and fertilizer. And la Ferreteria <\/em>most definitely is not a place that sells ferrets. But that\u2019s where my mind goes first, because English is my heart language.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s more. You make a positive impression on me if you take the time to learn my language, and understand the way I think. I may not comprehend at first that this is the love of Christ, but I can see that you care. In time, I can see that God loves me enough to make His Word clear to me.<\/p>\n

\"Weaving\"<\/a>In a way, that\u2019s what Christ did. He left His home, lived among us, and died to make this eternal, abundant life available to all. He came to us \u2013 to each of us. The only thing He asks us to do is spread His good news \u2013 the outpouring of His love \u2013 to all the earth.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why our team went to Baja California. The photos and stories we gathered will inspire people to pray, to give, to go \u2013 not only in the USA, but across Latin America, as well as in Canada and Europe and beyond. We also encouraged the missionaries. Our presence demonstrated to them that their work is important.<\/p>\n

We could not do this without you. Your prayers, your gifts and your encouragement mean a great deal to us. Thank you.<\/p>\n

\"Flat<\/a>
The area where the Triqui people live is mostly flat and arid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It\u2019s Baja California. Tourists. Beaches. Fish tacos. And hidden in plain sight are a variety of people groups: Zapoteca, Mixteca, Triqui and more. People who have held onto their languages and worldviews in spite of constant pressures to assimilate. As one missionary here said, \u201cThe children all say they don\u2019t speak Triqui. But then they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[29,1422,448,637,1511,812,9375],"class_list":{"0":"post-4871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ministry","7":"tag-bible","8":"tag-encouragement","9":"tag-ethnos360","10":"tag-new-tribes-mission","11":"tag-photography","12":"tag-thankfulness","13":"tag-writing","14":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4871\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/ian-fallis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}