Q’eqchí Catholics to begin Scripture recording

Some 27 enthusiastic Q’eqchí Catholics turned out for a two-day “casting” session Monday and Tuesday in Cobán, reports Carlos, Viña Studio’s director of Scripture recordings who returned to Sololá Wednesday evening.

Within three weeks, their voices will assume the roles of Jesus, Mary, the Pharisees, the Apostle Paul and the other New Testament figures for a dramatized Scripture recording, sponsored by Albuquerque, N.M.-based Faith Comes By Hearing. Beginning May 12, Carlos and another Viña Studios' recording technician, Isidro, will begin the six-to-eight-week recording process.

Bible translators and others have found that audio Scriptures more effectively reach the heart of oral societies such as Guatemala’s 21 Mayan language groups.

Each reader who attended the reading test received a Q’eqchí Bible as a gift from the Guatemalan Bible Society, which cheered the group. The Bible was printed in April, 2006.

The Q’eqchí’s, which number more than 500,000, are known to use their language proudly and have the reputation for being more literate than most other Mayans. During the reading tests, however, Carlos found many who struggled to read the written text, as is common in predominantly oral societies.

Although the Q’eqchí Catholic church, to date, does not have a literacy program, those who came to read had learned on their own. When Carlos asked what led them to learn to read their language, they told him they did it because they value their language.

This will be the first recording Viña has done of a Catholic New Testament, which may include some differences from other versions. Catholics include the Apocrypha as part of their Old Testament, books the Protestant Bible does not accept. There may be some challenges for the two groups as Viña’s employees are evangelical. After the group prayed together this week, for example, Carlos said one of the group noticed that he did not make the sign of the cross and asked him about it.

Please pray for God’s grace on the recording process, that the Q’eqchí readers would use the next few weeks to familiarize themselves with their assigned texts and that God’s Word would accomplish His purposes and draw people to Himself.

If you're interested in learning more about the Q’eqchís here's a link to an informative website hosted by the National Museum of the American Indian where you can see and hear Q’eqchís speaking their language and learn about their origins, community, rituals, family and more.