Church elder resisted teaching in his language

ALMOLONGA — Just as Isaías began to address the group in their mother tongue, a church elder rose and interrupted him.

The elder’s anger was evident.

“Brother, we don’t want to go backward,” the elder said. “We just want you to teach us this course in Spanish. We want to prosper. That’s why we invited you here.”

Isaías, a trilingual Kiché Mayan, founder of the “Ezra the Reformer Bible Institute,” in Cantel, Guatemala was taken aback. But he had encountered this attitude before among other Mayans in Guatemala.

“Brother, thank you for your observation,” Isaías said. “I teach the Word in Kiché because I want you to understand what the Word says in your language.

“Fine, if this is how the rest of the group feels — no problem. I’ll step aside and gladly let a Ladino (non-Mayan Guatemalan) brother come who speaks Spanish as his mother tongue.”

The pastor and others, however, insisted that Isaías remain and teach the class on church leadership. So he stayed and continued to teach in Kiché, coming back for each lesson.

Three months later, the same elder stood — angry once again. This time, however, he expressed his frustration toward the pastor.

“Brother, pastor,” the man said, “I’m upset with you because you made me an elder. But now, according to what I’ve learned in our own language, now I understand what the requirements of an elder are. Now, I realize I don’t qualify to be an elder according to what brother Isaías taught us.”

The pastor listened and responded by apologizing.

“Brother, I also didn’t know the requirements of an elder either, according to the Word of the Lord,” the pastor answered. “Now that brother Isaías has come and given us this course in our own language I understand the requirements. I’m very sorry that I made you an elder.”

“They said this is the first time that what we’ve discovered what God wants as his elders,” Isaías said.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated example, according to Isaías.

“It’s a constant battle,” he said.

Although Spanish is Guatemala’s national language, roughly half the country speak a Mayan language as their mother tongue. As they witness the prosperity of others, many believe they will prosper by abandoning their language.

“I believe with modern technology, people in our culture believe our language will disappear, but I personally don’t believe it,” Isaías said. “Some 500 years ago, when first Spanish conquerors came, they told us our language wasn’t a language. It was just sounds, but it’s not true. We’re still using it. If it hasn’t disappeared in these last in the last 500 years, it’s not going to disappear.”

His Bible institute near Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second-largest city, sits amidst a multilingual environment.

By a slight majority, Isaías estimates that most Kiché Mayans near Quetzaltenengo request teaching in Spanish.

“But those who oppose (mother-tongue Bible teaching) as the brother in Almolonga, are realizing that it’s valuable to study the Bible in Kiché,” Isaías said. “Later they’re convinced; they want us to teach them in Kiché. But we have to work. We have to help them understand.

“All of our education system here in Guatemala says to the indigenous people, ‘We want to triumph. We want to do something great. We have to learn to speak the Spanish language’,” Isaías said. “Unfortunately, many indigenous people want to speak in Spanish and they sacrifice their mother tongue. But the problem is they don’t speak Spanish well and they don’t speak their own language well either.”

Today, Isaías says he has seen a new interest in learning and using Mayan tongues, including some Kiché and Kaqchiquel students who are reclaiming their language.

“I see a resurgence in the appreciation in the Mayan culture, which includes the mother tongue,” he said.

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I met Isaías a couple of weeks ago. He’s a great guy, doing great work. His story illustrates one of the challenges facing pastors, church leaders and missionaries who attempt to bring the hope of life in Christ to Guatemala’s multilingual milieu. Most Mayans understand their mother tongue best, but sometimes they are prejudiced against using it. Many believe, often with good reason, they will get better jobs if they switch to Spanish. This attitude can carry over to spiritual and religious teaching — nevermind that they might not actually understand the truth delivered in a second language. — John