Language Study

God made the world in the past twenty years and I watched him do it.

That was what one missionary told a group of Yuana people in South America.  Of course, that is not what was meant.  It was a result of an incomplete understanding of the language and how it works.  However, it highlights the importance of thorough language study so that tribal people hear the truth.

Language study is hard work among tribal people whose language has never been written down.  There are no ready made lessons.  Missionaries have to produce their own lessons.  To be fluent enough to teach God’s Word may take anywhere between two and four years, five days a week, eight hours a day minimum.

Steve Sanford shared this story with the students during orientation at NTBI here in Jackson.  You will be pleased to know that the Yuana people eventually did hear the truth clearly presented.  Today there is a thriving church with its own leaders and teachers.

Pray for the students at our Bible Institutes as they study the Word of God but also as they count the cost to take it to a group of tribal people and present it accurately.