Tenek Workshop at Northland University

Many of the attendees were unfamiliar with Bibles International, and it was a blessing to present the work to interested young people, training for the Lord’s service. The faculty seemed to really enjoy the workshop, squeezing in time to listen between their classes. It was also a blessing for the team to meet the Greek professor who taught Dr. Hantz Bernard (the director of BI) at Bob Jones University.

The Tenek books of I & II John were completely checked, plus chapters 1-7 of Acts. There were some discouraging setbacks. Because of a faulty computer program, which is comparable to our “spell-check,” errors have been found in portions already translated. Also, calculating the present rate, they realize that additional translators need to be trained to join Fernando and future workshops should be two weeks in duration, rather than only one.

During the consultant checking, Ross Hodsdon realized that the Tenek language’s use of possessive pronouns means more than Americans understand by these pronouns. The term “my” has an authoritative, domineering concept. If a woman says “my husband” it means he is dominated by her. This complicates the phrases “my God” or “my Lord.”  By using the term “my God,” the writer would give the impression that “God” was a small icon that the human took care of. The “god” would be dependant on the one who called him “my God.” The team decided to rephrase these words with “the God that I worship” or “the God that I serve.”

The highlight of the week was Christy’s report of her meeting with the public director of the Tenek schools, who is a Christian, and also on the national translation team. Christy approached the director, asking if the director would translate the teacher training material for the Bible Storybooks into Tenek. At first, she only summarized the Spanish material that Christy gave her, saying, “That’s not the way we teach; that’s the American way.” Christy explained the teaching methods in detail, and the director was so interested that she said, “I want to come to the classes, and I want to bring all my teachers, too.” Pray for this teacher seminar next summer, that these unsaved teachers will not only learn how to teach reading but also learn God’s way of salvation.

Fernando and Christy asked for prayer for safety as they drove back to Pok’chich, San Luis Potosi in Mexico. There is always the danger of bandits along the way. Praise the Lord for answered prayer. Christy wrote, “Praise the Lord, we arrived home well with no problems on Wednesday. Many prayed that those who would do us harm would not see us. God answered that prayer in a funny way. They saw us. They pulled us over and told us to have a good trip. Now that's God taming the lions for sure. And all is well on the home front too. God is good.”