[written starting 9.20.12]
Imagine not having a Bible in your native tongue.
No, really. Imagine it.
Yeah, I couldn’t either… But this is the reality of this rural, mountainous village in Quiché where my team has served this past week. During ministry, we were able to talk to and pray for Victoriano, the pastor of the tiny church we painted. We found out that their congregation speaks in both Spanish and the native regional dialect of Quiché. Many of them are more fluent in Quiché and know very little Spanish, so Pastor Victoriano preaches in both languages. But sadly, they don’t have Bibles in Quiché readily available to them. While some are not literate, many of them are, and it breaks my heart that they don’t have personal copies of the Word, whether in book or audio form.
That’s not all, though. At the end of one of our ministry days, I was playing around on the keyboard up front, and I felt a sudden heat permeate through my back. I glanced at the other side of the room, and there was Pastor Victoriano weeping in front of a few of my teammates. I knew the heat was the Spirit’s presence ushering me in, so I walked over and found that he had started to share part of his story with our team. This man knew he was called to be a pastor, but he has had only three years of education (lost in translation whether that means elementary or college, but we’re fairly certain it’s the former). So the locals have persecuted him for it, declaring him unworthy of pastorship and even threatening to destroy his church and his family. But a few of the youth at the time maintained their hope for his ministry and fervently supported him. The past three years have been a tremendous struggle, but God has been faithful in building up a supportive body in the church. I’m just so inspired by his steadfast faith and hope for the future of the church and the unreached Quiché community. Pastor Victoriano has a vision of building a much larger church building in the open pastures right next to the existing one and using the current one as the children’s room. He also told us an awesome story of a pastor of one of their church plants who couldn’t read but was empowered by the Holy Spirit to read only the Bible! How ridiculous is that?! Clearly, God calls and then miraculously equips. And every time we asked to pray for Pastor Victoriano, he’d end up praying for us. He’d then thank us profusely as he wiped tears from his eyes, blessing our ministry and welcoming us back in the future. I can’t describe the overwhelming feeling of gratitude and warmth I felt. As he spoke, my heart grew bigger for him, his ministry, and the Quiché community. I can’t wait for the Lord to do huge things through them and shower them with abundance in every way.
