One of the most trying things about Kaxuyana work has been that it just doesn’t fit the mold of “normal” tribal church planting – if there is such a thing. It’s been different all around including the language learning process. In a place that speaks three languages and is re-familiarizing themselves with the one you are trying to learn you often find unexpected ways of defining words, meanings, and morphemes.
One night I went to a friends house to roast some game on his open fire and brought my language learning note pad along just in case. Turns out his family was watching the “Terminator” in their palm walled house and any curious passer-biers could catch a few scenes through a small open window. As I sat and chatted with my friend he began to ask me questions about the movie, like, “Is it real?”, “Is there a man like that?” And then it dawned on me that I could gather a whole slew of vocabulary that would otherwise be difficult to gather. Take for example the word “real.” First he asked me in Portuguese, “Is it real?” Following that question I could turn the tables and ask him how to say that in the tribal language and wala I had the word for “real” or “true.” Following that were adjectives like hard and fast from phrases like hard iron or fast truck. And so on it went.
Who would have ever guessed that the “Terminator” could be a help in spreading the gospel!