How cool is Quechua!

As the announcements were being shared in Spanish in my Huánuco, Perú church today, 5-year old Dayana leaned over and kid-whispered to me, "I speak Quechua too!"


"I have a Bible in Quechua, and my mom can speak Quechua!"


And then she flew through some Quechua phrases that were way over my head.


I can't tell you how exciting it is to hear a little kid be so proud of her mother tongue!!!


When I lived here for two years, I experienced many more instances of people telling me they didn't speak ANY Quechua...but would then turn and talk to their other neighbor in Quechua.  For generations (and I mean since the Conquistadors in the 1500's), Quechua has been looked down on.  Friends of mine were beaten in school if they spoke the Quechua that their parents used in the home.  Church services I went to in the Quechua towns, where Quechua was still being used in the markets, would hold church services in Spanish because "God speaks Spanish"...even when they even had the New Testament in their Quechua language (and the Old Testament in process).  


Language death and social injustice happens, but there is often no reason for it if there is cultural approval of being bilingual and rejoicing in the culture and language God places us in from birth.  


I pray that, here in Huánuco, where there are over a million people who speak 5 different Quechua languages, the feeling of pride for mother tongues will grow like wildfire.  And with it the spread of the use of the Bible in those languages.  How much more do I get out of reading Scripture in my heart language--English!  It speaks to my soul much clearer than even the Spanish Bible I can now understand. 


What can YOU do to encourage and bless people who have more languages than you?  Especially if you speak a language with more social "weight" and "power", you CAN make a difference by using that supposed "power" for good and affirming the other languages and cultures around you.


Smiling and asking questions about a person's culture and mother tongue can be good starting point (as long as it's culturally appropriate to do so).  Usually learning "hello", "goodbye" and "thank you" will show people you really care.  


Next time you run into someone who has a mother tongue they're not speaking with you, ask them about it!

Shepherding in 2010

Location: Huánuco, Perú

Fire Hazard

Flying into Huánuco, I think the tips of the airplane's wings are going to touch the mountains we are descending into.  There's a valley, with seemingly just enough space for us to land.  To get back up, we'll be flying in circles until we can clear these foothills of the Andes.  As we touch down, brakes on FULL, I look to my right and see the green fire engine on the side of the runway, engine on, lights flashing, waiting just in case one of the two planes that lands here each day bursts into flames.  Welcome to Huánuco!

¡Jenny!

Amy's from Oregon but she lived in Peru for 2 years and now lives in Costa Rica. Jenny's from Costa Rica but she got some training in Peru before moving back to Costa Rica last year.  Amy and Jenny had a happy and loud reunion outside of a university in Lima, Peru, a few days ago, as Amy swung by to bring a bit of Costa Rica to Jenny, who is back in Lima for a few years.  Chess pieces in the hands of One who knows how it all plays together?!!

Traveling in Class

For my trip to Peru, my AWESOME online travel agency, Compete 4 Your Seat, found a free upgrade for me to Business Class, otherwise known as Clase ejecutiva!  The gourmet meal on the way down was worth the...wait, it was FREE!

Signposts

Coolest signage at the SIL headquarters: "Every Language Matters", and every language is listed...currently at 6,909.  For more info on world languages, maps, stats and audio recordings, go to the Ethnologue.

Alice in Quantumland

...should have been about the string theory physics that were clearly present in the real book Alice in Wonderland...instead it was a made-up, new narrative explaining Quantum Physics...not as exciting but still a great way to learn physics.


(*I apologize for the geek post.  I'll get back to missions in a minute.)

My ride

 ...has this license plate for one more day:

The Perfect Teaching Outfit

One of the practice teachers at the adult learning workshop had the perfect shirt on today.  


"Stop me when I start making sense!"

Home for Dinner!

The neighborhood:

The drive-through:

The heartstrings:

New Language Discovery

Should we add this to the list of over 2,000 languages still with no Bible?

On the Road Again

"Wide Open Spaces" keeps playing through my mind.  Being in Texas always feels like coming home, but that doesn't mean I don't get culture shock coming back here!  I wonder how much adjustment my taxi driver, Joseph, went through when he first got here.  After talking with him for a few minutes as we left the airport, he paused and said, "I don't understand it, but I've never had anyone ask about my family before."  For a man from an African culture that is very family-oriented, similar to those in Latin America, that was a shock.  


We talked at length about the minority language he grew up speaking and the story of how his family fled his hometown because of violence.  "Driving a taxi is better than pumping gas," he said about the job he's had for 10 years.  At the end, he refused my tip, saying I'd already blessed him enough.  Did Texas feel a little more like Africa & Latin America for a few minutes?