Dear ones,
Greetings from Guatemala.
We're starting week five of sixteen with speakers from eight different language groups. Their purpose (and ours) is to help them introduce literacy in a more systematic and realistic way into their cultures and schools so that reading in their native languages (instead of just in Spanish) would become more of a cultural value and way of life.
Of course, cultural values aren't like Pop Tarts that you just stick in the toaster and voila! Values take years of experience and observation to develop. But our ten students sense that they not alone in the process. They trust that God cares about their social and educational situation in their villages and that they are aligning with God in His desire for people to not only have the Scriptures translated into their native language, but to promote reading so that people can take advantage of the translated Word.
So that's what we're trying to support. That there would be dozens, even hundreds of titles available to new readers in their mother tongue so that reading the Scripture becomes both a goal and a possibility for speakers of minority languages.
Nan and I will be visiting Comitancillo (our long-time home) tomorrow and encouraging some of the believers and churches to remain true to the Scriptures. Lots of good things are going on. A friend of ours, Byron, hosts a three-hour radio program once a week in Mam, and the radio station plays pre-recorded Scripture for fifteen minutes twice a day over the air.
This was by request of the listeners. We are also posting to the web, Mam-language articles and booklets for Mam speakers in Guatemala and also many who are working in the US and Canada. May these be effective in encouraging people of the validity of their language and culture as effective vehicles for the Gospel.
On another note, our twin grandsons are doing well. They will be six months old on December 7. Elisa and Yury have their hands full, as you can imagine. Elisa has changed jobs (she's a physical therapist) to be able to spend more time at home and hopes to be out of the job market sometime soon. Yury's leather business is booming, but not yet enough to free her from the need for a paycheck.
Pray for Nan's health. Guatemala has always been a challenge to her digestive tract. She's doing well now and she'll return to the US just after Thanksgiving to help with the boys and with her folks.
Thanks for your prayers and care for us.
Wes
