Reading the future
Imelda’s life would never be the same.
The Northern Tepehuan girl was crippled with an extreme arthritic condition, bedridden in her little house in Mexico. Then when she was 8, my co-worker Shirley Bauman started teaching her to read.
Imelda’s world exploded as lines and squiggles on paper became letters and letters became words. When she could read, her little room in their adobe house could not confine her imagination.
Her dad’s struggle to read turned into an opportunity for Imelda. She became the tutor he needed.
Unable to move, constantly trembling and sweating from the pain that racks her tiny frame, Imelda began to help her daddy read. Juan would spend hours lying alongside his daughter, reading.
She would giggle at his silly mistakes, especially the ones that he made over and over. In her tender way she would scold her daddy, “Are you ever going to learn?” They both would giggle and trudge on.
Almost every day, Juan reads with Imelda to help relieve the burden of her pain and misery. And Imelda is preparing her daddy for ministry.
When another Tepehuan visited recently, I watched as Juan pulled out some Bible notes that he had been reading over and shared Jesus with the visitor.
We believe that 15 Northern Tepehuans have put their faith in Christ. Of the 15, 12 are literate. Using a course developed by Shirley and my wife, Starr, we’ve taught eight of those 12 to read. The others were already able to read and write in Spanish, and were able to make the transition to reading Tepehuan fairly easily.
Teaching the Northern Tepehuans to read has been a long, slow process. The people are distrustful and live in tiny scattered hamlets. Coming together for classes is not their way, so all the teaching has been done one-on-one and likely will continue to be.
Shirley and her husband, Irv, started teaching Octavio, the first student, in the spring of 2003. Irv recalled one of their first students stringing together syllables he was learning, and exclaiming in wonder, “Hey, that says a word!”
And later, “I remember the first time that I had Octavio read a verse in the Bible when having discipleship time,” Irv said, “and thinking, ‘This is why I’m teaching these guys to read.’”
It may seem obvious, but if a church is to be planted among the Northern Tepehuans, it is vital that the believers are able to read the Bible in their own language. Becoming a disciple is contingent on spending time hearing from the Lord in His Word. Those believers that are literate and spend regular time in the Word are growing at a greater rate than those who are not literate.
On many occasions Juan has expressed with joy the fact that he understands the Bible teaching much better now that he can read the verses and also the lessons themselves. Before, when he couldn’t read, he had a hard time remembering the teaching. But now after hearing the teaching, he reads the lesson at home and is beginning to teach those around him what he is learning.
And the teaching reached another level in November when Cleotilde, another of the Northern Tepehuan believers, decided to take the literacy lessons so she could teach her cousin to read.
One of our goals is to see the Tepehuan believers modifying and teaching this literacy course to their friends and families. We desire to facilitate them as teachers. Not only does this help more Northern Tepehuans to read, it sets the stage for Northern Tepehuan believers to teach God’s Word themselves and eventually lead their own church.
Please pray that the Northern Tepehuan believers read daily and learn to read better, and that more catch the vision of teaching others to read and write.
The Northern Tepehuan girl was crippled with an extreme arthritic condition, bedridden in her little house in Mexico. Then when she was 8, my co-worker Shirley Bauman started teaching her to read.
Imelda’s world exploded as lines and squiggles on paper became letters and letters became words. When she could read, her little room in their adobe house could not confine her imagination.
Her dad’s struggle to read turned into an opportunity for Imelda. She became the tutor he needed.
Unable to move, constantly trembling and sweating from the pain that racks her tiny frame, Imelda began to help her daddy read. Juan would spend hours lying alongside his daughter, reading.
She would giggle at his silly mistakes, especially the ones that he made over and over. In her tender way she would scold her daddy, “Are you ever going to learn?” They both would giggle and trudge on.
Almost every day, Juan reads with Imelda to help relieve the burden of her pain and misery. And Imelda is preparing her daddy for ministry.
When another Tepehuan visited recently, I watched as Juan pulled out some Bible notes that he had been reading over and shared Jesus with the visitor.
We believe that 15 Northern Tepehuans have put their faith in Christ. Of the 15, 12 are literate. Using a course developed by Shirley and my wife, Starr, we’ve taught eight of those 12 to read. The others were already able to read and write in Spanish, and were able to make the transition to reading Tepehuan fairly easily.
Teaching the Northern Tepehuans to read has been a long, slow process. The people are distrustful and live in tiny scattered hamlets. Coming together for classes is not their way, so all the teaching has been done one-on-one and likely will continue to be.
Shirley and her husband, Irv, started teaching Octavio, the first student, in the spring of 2003. Irv recalled one of their first students stringing together syllables he was learning, and exclaiming in wonder, “Hey, that says a word!”
And later, “I remember the first time that I had Octavio read a verse in the Bible when having discipleship time,” Irv said, “and thinking, ‘This is why I’m teaching these guys to read.’”
It may seem obvious, but if a church is to be planted among the Northern Tepehuans, it is vital that the believers are able to read the Bible in their own language. Becoming a disciple is contingent on spending time hearing from the Lord in His Word. Those believers that are literate and spend regular time in the Word are growing at a greater rate than those who are not literate.
On many occasions Juan has expressed with joy the fact that he understands the Bible teaching much better now that he can read the verses and also the lessons themselves. Before, when he couldn’t read, he had a hard time remembering the teaching. But now after hearing the teaching, he reads the lesson at home and is beginning to teach those around him what he is learning.
And the teaching reached another level in November when Cleotilde, another of the Northern Tepehuan believers, decided to take the literacy lessons so she could teach her cousin to read.
One of our goals is to see the Tepehuan believers modifying and teaching this literacy course to their friends and families. We desire to facilitate them as teachers. Not only does this help more Northern Tepehuans to read, it sets the stage for Northern Tepehuan believers to teach God’s Word themselves and eventually lead their own church.
Please pray that the Northern Tepehuan believers read daily and learn to read better, and that more catch the vision of teaching others to read and write.