Katie Moore
  • Home
  • About
  • Give
  • Photos
  • Subscribe
  • Contact


A Normal Day

February 4, 2019 by Katie Moore

#10 Interpret

Not all of the people in our village speak Nahuatl. There are Cora speakers, and Tepehuan speakers (besides the handful of our team who are English speakers). Some of these individuals have married in to Nahuatl families and are raising their kids in monolingual Spanish-speaking homes. Spanish is important as the trade language, meaning it is used for two people who do not share the same first language to be able to communicate in their second language.

At the teaching on the death of Christ, I was able to interpret into Spanish for a young man in our village and for our new co-workers and visiting consultants.

That means that our announcements, our comments at village meetings, our Bible teaching, and our gathering of believers needs to be in more than one language.

At the beginning of the public teaching a summer ago, Pete would teach in Nahuatl and I would interpret for the Spanish speakers

Pete teaches in Nahuatl, for example, and I might translate for the Spanish speakers. Or a guest might share in English and our team would translate into both Spanish and Nahuatl. Rachel does meetings about community development in one language and I interpret into the other.

Rachel and I at a community meeting with the ladies who make bead work

We might be called upon to help interpret forms, or other formal Spanish communications (ugh!), or something as simple as a request from a teacher that was not understood by a parent. At dental clinics we interpret the dentists’ requests into what ever language communicates clearly for the patient.

A few months ago my dad taught on the life of Joseph and we interpreted what he said into Nahuatl for the believers.

If the church in this village is going to represent a true cross-section of its members, then it will undoubtedly be a bilingual group. Our team is striving to communicate that there is a place for everyone, so we make efforts to communicate in the way that someone most easily can understand. This has its challenges and its obvious limits: I can’t speak Cora or Tepehuan. But, in interpreting things into the trade language we can make sure that anyone who shows up can feel included and understand.

One of the young ladies who sometimes come to listen to the Biblical teaching. She married a Nahuatl man, but understands only Spanish.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: daily life, interpreting, Ministry, normal day

More Posts:

« A Normal Day
A Normal Day »

The Past

Common Themes

baptism becoming Bible lessons chores Christmas church community community development construction culture daily life dental clinic discipleship Ethnos360 Family favors friends funny stuff furlough health house language learning library days literacy medical meetings Meet the Villagers Nahuatl Culture normal day party Peru prayer requests Rachel rest SCHOOL syncretism The Chron The Team tias training translation travels village life visiting work teams
  • About
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Give
  • Photos
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Disclaimer: This personal ministry website is provided by Ethnos360 as a courtesy to its members. Ethnos360 makes no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information on these pages. Opinions expressed are provided by members in good faith, but are entirely those of the member and do not necessarily represent policy, doctrinal position, or opinions of Ethnos360. If you encounter information that you consider questionable, please e-mail the Ethnos360 web team.

Katie Moore

© Copyright 2025 Ethnos360. All rights reserved.

Log In

  • 