It’s Raining, It’s Pouring…
Rainy season has arrived, bringing with it green fields, full creeks, and a landscape filled with flowers. We are getting to experience some of the season’s fun, like hiking to look for mushrooms, milking the cows for cheese-making, and learning the names of plants that appear once a year. Because the children are out of school and the rain keeps people cooped up sometimes, we are also enjoying the more relaxed feel of summer. We have invited some of our neighbors over to watch movies and even introduced them to pizza. We continue to study daily, even when we cannot see progress. Sometimes it’s simply the attempt that amazes our friends in the village. After a few sentences riddled with confusion and mistakes yesterday, a lady told us, “You really are going to talk like us, huh?”
Once You’re Dead, You’re Dead…
My coworker Rachel was working hard with her language helper, Agustina, a few days ago. When checking the word “uyulí” Agustina gave the definition as “it re-lived.” “Like what, for example?” queried Rachel. “Oh, you know,” answered Agustina, “like if a plant is getting all dry and brown and you think it’s dead, but then it starts to turn green again and live.” Rachel asked Agustina if you could use that phrase to describe people. “No,” said Agustina, “How could you? Once you’re dead, you’re dead.” Just like Nicodemus, Agustina couldn’t imagine a way that a person could be born again. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would be moving in the hearts of the Nahuatl to prepare them to hear the message of new life.
A Rib from Two Stories…
I asked my friend Andrea if she would tell me the story of the first man and the first woman. To read the whole story, click here. The tale involves a man who had a dog that could shape-shift into a woman. The man stayed with the woman-version of the dog, and from the two of them came all.
We are not the first to expose the Nahuatl to ideas from the Bible. They throw around words like “baptism” and “blessings” in the people of the world. In summing up the story, Andrea said, “And that’s why women aren’t as clean as men. Because we have one rib from a man, and one rib from a dog.” The women here don’t think much of themselves, mainly due to messages such as this one that have been drilled into their heads. They don’t believe that they are good enough to talk to God; only the men (or maybe a really, really wise woman) would attempt that. Bottom line, they are no better than a doga story of the devil eating a young girl on her way to a party. They have mixed in the beautiful image of God forming Eve with one of Adam’s ribs into a story that makes women universally unclean. They know about the man in a big boat after the world was covered in water, and yet they fear rainbows. They know Jesus as one of the saints you can manipulate with gifts of corn and peaches. The Spaniards began “converting” the Nahuatl as long ago as the 1500s. A priest still comes and blesses the surrounding mountains and valleys so that the devil will “pull back a bit.” The Nahuatl do not lack exposure to ideas from the Bible. What they lack is understanding of message of the Bible.
Every comment I have ever made to Andrea about truth from the Word has been met by the affirmative. She nods her head and says, “Yes, that’s true.” She asks if I’m afraid of the dark and I say that God will never leave those who know him and so even when I feel alone I know He’s with me. “Yes, yes,” she says. “That’s so true.” I know that if I told her tomorrow that Jesus was the only way to have right relationships with God she would agree with me. If I said, “Andrea, Jesus died for your sins and if you believe in him you will be TRULY clean,” she would say I was right. Does that mean we’re on the same page? Of course not. She would still feel alone—still be scared of the dark—still consider herself unclean.
We want the people here to know the truth. We want their understanding to be apart from, not mixed in with their current worldview. And because we feel that the burden of being clear is on the teacher, our team has resolved to learn to speak the language fluently, while we build relationships that give us the chance to be heard. We know that the job before us will take time and we thank you for your faithfulness to those on our team and to the Nahuatl as we labor.