{"id":373,"date":"2012-07-24T12:30:42","date_gmt":"2012-07-24T16:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/?p=373"},"modified":"2012-10-05T13:41:34","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T17:41:34","slug":"373","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/2012\/07\/24\/373\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainy Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Raining, It\u2019s Pouring\u2026
\n<\/em><\/strong>Rainy season has arrived, bringing with it green fields, full creeks, and a landscape filled with flowers. \u00a0We are getting to experience some of the season\u2019s fun, like hiking to look for mushrooms, milking the cows for cheese-making, and learning the names of plants that appear once a year.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We have invited some of our neighbors over to watch movies and even introduced them to pizza. \u00a0We continue to study daily, even when we cannot see progress.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s simply the attempt that amazes our friends in the village.\u00a0 After a few sentences riddled with confusion and mistakes yesterday, a lady told us, \u201cYou really are<\/em><\/strong> going to talk like us, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Trying out our new boots at the creek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Looking for mushrooms on an early morning hike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once You\u2019re Dead, You\u2019re Dead\u2026
\n<\/em><\/strong>My coworker Rachel was working hard with her language helper, Agustina, a few days ago.\u00a0 When checking the word \u201cuyul\u00ed\u201d \"\"<\/a>Agustina gave the definition as \u201cit re-lived.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cLike what, for example?\u201d queried Rachel.\u00a0 \u201cOh, you know,\u201d answered Agustina, \u201clike if a plant is getting all dry and brown and you think it\u2019s dead, but then it starts to turn green again and live.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel asked Agustina if you could use that phrase to describe people.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d said Agustina, \u201cHow could you?\u00a0 Once you\u2019re dead, you\u2019re dead.\u201d\u00a0 Just like Nicodemus, Agustina couldn\u2019t imagine a way that a person could be born again.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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Things seem to "re-live" in the mountains when the rains come<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Rib from Two Stories\u2026
\n<\/em><\/strong>I asked my friend Andrea if she would tell me the story of the first man and the first woman.\u00a0 To read the whole story, click here<\/a>.\u00a0 The tale involves a man who had a dog that could shape-shift into a woman.\u00a0 The man stayed with the woman-version of the dog, and from the two of them came all.<\/p>\n

We are not the first to expose the Nahuatl to ideas from the Bible.\u00a0 They throw around words like \u201cbaptism\u201d and \u201cblessings\u201d in the people of the world.\u00a0 In summing up the story, Andrea said, \u201cAnd that\u2019s why women aren\u2019t as clean as men.\u00a0 Because we have one rib from a man, and one rib from a dog.\u201d\u00a0 The women here don\u2019t think much of themselves, mainly due to messages such as this one that have been drilled into their heads. \u00a0They don\u2019t believe that they are good enough to talk to God; only the men (or maybe a really, really wise woman) would attempt that.\u00a0 Bottom line, they are no better than a doga story of the devil eating a young girl on her way to a party.\u00a0 They have mixed in the beautiful image of God forming Eve with one of Adam\u2019s ribs into a story that makes women universally unclean.\u00a0 They know about the man in a big boat after the world was covered in water, and yet they fear rainbows.\u00a0 They know Jesus as one of the saints you can manipulate with gifts of corn and peaches.\u00a0 The Spaniards began \u201cconverting\u201d the Nahuatl as long ago as the 1500s.\u00a0 A priest still comes and blesses the surrounding mountains and valleys so that the devil will \u201cpull back a bit.\u201d\u00a0 The Nahuatl do not lack exposure to ideas from the Bible.\u00a0 What they lack is understanding<\/em><\/strong> of message<\/em><\/strong> of the Bible.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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These women see themselves as the daughters of a dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every comment I have ever made to Andrea about truth from the Word has been met by the affirmative.\u00a0 She nods her head and says, \u201cYes, that\u2019s true.\u201d\u00a0 She asks if I\u2019m 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\u2019s with me.\u00a0 \u201cYes, yes,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s so true.\u201d\u00a0 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.\u00a0 If I said, \u201cAndrea, Jesus died for your sins and if you believe in him you will be TRULY clean,\u201d she would say I was right.\u00a0 Does that mean we\u2019re on the same page?\u00a0 Of course not. \u00a0She would still feel alone\u2014still be scared of the dark\u2014still consider herself unclean.<\/p>\n

We want the people here to know the truth.\u00a0 We want their understanding to be apart from<\/em><\/strong>, not mixed in <\/em><\/strong>with their current worldview.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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Andrea's daughter laughing as she plays in our yard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Raining, It\u2019s Pouring\u2026 Rainy season has arrived, bringing with it green fields, full creeks, and a landscape filled with flowers. \u00a0We are getting to experience some of the season\u2019s fun, like hiking to look for mushrooms, milking the cows for cheese-making, and learning the names of plants that appear once a year.\u00a0 Because the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"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":[6388,416],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ministry","tag-nahuatl-culture","tag-village-life","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}