Learning a foreign language was hard enough back in high school. But at least there was usually a bilingual teacher. And the textbook often seemed to have more words in our native tongue than in Spanish or German or whatever language the class was trying to teach.
When learning a tribal language, this is not the case.
As missionaries Andrew and Anne Marie Ferguson are finding out, the more they learn, the harder it gets:
"I'm beginning to look for spiritual terminology that we'll need for evangelization and Bible teaching later on," writes Andrew.
"Anne Marie and I get a lot of good language and recording from folks, but it is difficult to get the precise meanings, especially on difficult concepts as many of the people we [work with] are either monolingual, or are very poor Spanish speakers. … Trying to get meaning and to understand how the Tepehuans communicate their feelings, their beliefs, trust, sin, wrongdoing and truth is difficult."
Learning these important words and expressions is a vital step toward teaching the Gospel. Pray for the Fergusons and their coworkers as they try to grasp spiritual concepts in the Tepehuan language.
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