{"id":422,"date":"2012-10-05T13:15:30","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T17:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/?p=422"},"modified":"2012-10-05T13:15:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T17:15:30","slug":"talking-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/2012\/10\/05\/talking-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking to God"},"content":{"rendered":"

When THEY Talk to God\u2026<\/strong><\/em>
\nAndrea commented on the pile of corn on my counter. \u201cSomeone gifted you corn, huh? Ours aren\u2019t ready yet because they haven\u2019t been blessed.\u201d She went on to tell me all about the bad things that can happen if you start eating your corn without the blessing. \u201cWho blesses it?\u201d I asked. She told me that it can be done by anyone who knows how to talk to God. Apparently there are not many of those people around. Many of those who can live far away, so Andrea mentioned that they might ask one of us. When I asked her what the people say to God, she answered, \u201cWho knows\u2026I don\u2019t know how it\u2019s done. I don\u2019t know what happens when they talk to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A gift of corn from one of our neighbors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When WE Talk to God\u2026<\/strong><\/em>
\nBut we know how to talk to God, right? Of course we do. Our team has been doing that since we were all little. So, what do we say in this situation? If I tell Andrea that I can talk to God, there\u2019s a good chance she will think some of the following things about me:
\n\u2022 I\u2019m very wise (but really too young for such a thing)
\n\u2022 I might be lying, since I\u2019m a woman and everyone knows that women are unclean and not likely to be able to talk to God
\n\u2022 I\u2019ve probably fasted, given up bathing for a time, and learned the customs from my ancestors
\n\u2022 I can be hired out to take the \u201cevil\u201d out of the people\u2019s fields so they won\u2019t get sick
\n\u2022 I might be talking to a different God (a white people\u2019s God) and so he wouldn\u2019t be able to help out with the corn here<\/p>\n

And yet I DO know how to talk to God. If we are asked to bless people\u2019s corn, should we? What could be bad about publicly thanking God for the corn that HE made, for the rains that HE sent, and for the health that HE can provide the people? In the Nahuatl\u2019s mind, however, we would be taking the EVIL out of corn that grew with the rains the ANCESTORS sent, fueled by the food the PEOPLE put on their graves. If we bless the corn will we be seen as shaman? What happens if people eat the corn and get sick later? Will the people write off \u201cour\u201d God as impotent before they even know him? Will Satan bring about a banner year for sickness in order to slow down the work here?<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the answer? For my part, I talked to God about it. I don\u2019t know. There\u2019s no simple solution. I asked for wisdom and freely confessed that I\u2019m not smart enough to do this on my own. There\u2019s a need for the Nahuatl to know God and the need is urgent. On the other hand, the need for clarity about the true God, how he works, and what he expects is just as pressing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Getting ready to dance to show gratitude for the corn harvest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When YOU Talk to God\u2026<\/strong><\/em>
\nI humbly ask that you when you talk to God you ask him to guide our team. We must rely daily on the Father\u2019s wisdom as we navigate cultural quagmires. Please support us, and missionaries everywhere, in prayer. Pray that we would be given the right words through the Spirit, even when our brains feel muddled. We cannot see end results. We cannot know ahead of time what will come of a decision. But we serve The One who can, so we ask Him to move us along on the right path. When YOU talk to God, ask him to help us, because we desperately need it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Corn is the main source of food for the Nahuatl. It is dried and ground into tortillas three meals a day, every day. If the harvest suffers, the people will go without food.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When THEY Talk to God\u2026 Andrea commented on the pile of corn on my counter. \u201cSomeone gifted you corn, huh? Ours aren\u2019t ready yet because they haven\u2019t been blessed.\u201d She went on to tell me all about the bad things that can happen if you start eating your corn without the blessing. \u201cWho blesses it?\u201d […]<\/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":[4,143],"tags":[125,58,6393],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ministry","category-prayer-request","tag-culture","tag-prayer-requests","tag-syncretism","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","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=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/katie-moore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}