Missions Around the World
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Family & Friends,
We wanted to share with you our latest newsletter entitled "Be Still". In it Ezra gives updates of what's happening in the ministry, and we give a reflection on what God has been showing us these past two months. We hope you enjoy some clips and photos of the ministry in action, and also Kezia and Isaiah sharing some joy :) Thank you for your unwavering support that allows our family to continue to minister here in Honduras. We pray God blesses you and draws you closer to Him each day. CLICK HERE to view "Be Still" - Feb & March 2024 Update For His Glory; In His Love, Ryan & Kelly [email protected] psalms963.weebly.com UPDATE AND PRAYER REQUESTS: FEBRUARY 2024 VALERIE AND NICASIO MARTINEZ TRANSLATING GOD'S WORD WITH AND FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SPEAK QUIATONI ZAPOTEC In our January update, we asked you to pray for various things that were on the calendar for February. Thank you for praying! We don’t want to bore you or ruin your eyesight by a lengthy update, so here are some “snapshots” from February. (If you would like to know more, I’ll happily tell you more!) On Feb. 3rd, we went to La Reforma, a Quiatoni town I’d never been to before and Nicasio had been there briefly about 20 years ago. The road into the little town was amazingly steep and narrow, with amazingly tight hairpin turns. We went there by way of the new toll road but when we were getting ready to leave, everyone recommended going home “the old way,” so we did. These roads are now at the top of my list of The Worst Roads I’ve Ever Driven. Then, since the road doesn’t go near the church, four church men each shouldered a speaker and set off down the hill to the church. (And of course, brought them back up to the truck afterwards.) The pastor had told Nicasio he could have all morning for the service so he decided to have some songs (we’d taken our Zapotec music group along), then he would give a short sermon; more songs, then Beto would give a short sermon; more songs, then Fernando would give a short sermon, then more songs. Then it was time to hand out the Kulumi audio devices, all loaded with our Zapotec materials. The church is quite small; we were told there are 15 members, but Nicasio handed out 30 Kulumis! One young teen asked Nicasio if he could have another one for his brother who was away on an errand to Quiatoni, and of course, Nicasio gave him another one. While we were having dinner (after three hours of church!), one of the men said, “It’s still early, we could have another service!” So we did! Since we’ve been studying 1 Peter 3 in our Zapotec service here, Nicasio preached on how Christian couples should act. Afterwards we heard that the women were quite happy that he told the men how they should behave, too! Two weeks later we went to Río Lachiriega to distribute Kulumis there, too. The regular road was closed since they are paving it; a Christian that lives there told Nicasio we should go on the construction road where they are continuing to extend the toll road. That road is also near the top of my list of The Worst Roads I’ve Ever Driven but I will be happy to drive the toll road when it’s finished! (We came home a different way.) We got to the church earlier than we were expected. While we were waiting, a truck stopped to talk to a couple of people in our group. It turned out to be the person that had been begging Meche, our song leader, for audio devices! Apparently, she has fields in this town but goes to church in Quiatoni itself. Meche had tried and tried to call and let her know we were coming but never was able to get ahold of her. And it "just happened" that they were driving by on their way to Quiatoni while we were! So Nicasio gave her the audio devices that she asked for and they went on their way. Nicasio and I got to meet our new three month old “grandson” before church started. We are grandparents in Zapotec reckoning since the “real” grandma is Nicasio’s sister. He’s darling and it was good to see Nicasio’s niece and her husband again. This church service was more “normal,” other than that the pastor wanted the service outside since the church building is quite small. After our music group had everything set up and had practiced, it started to sprinkle. (This is not a normal time of year for rain here.) They decided it would be better for the group and the instruments to be on the church’s porch with the congregation outside. That worked well until Nicasio was preaching and the sprinkles were almost rain so then we did crowd inside the church! After the service, Nicasio explained where the Kulumis came from, how they were a gift to each one, and how, if they were to give theirs away, he would send them replacements. One lady said, “It’s like giving tracts away!” They were all fascinated with the Kulumis and could hardly wait to try them out. When we went to our host’s house for supper, we could hear different Kulumis "talking” in different areas of the house! We are planning on distributing Kulumis in Cerro León (Lion Hill) and Cerro Culebra (Snake Hill) on March 22 and 30. We appreciate your prayers for all aspects of these trips. A week later we went to the church in Oaxaca City where colleagues attend and had organized a service to celebrate the Internation Day of the Mother Tongue. They had invited our music group to do two songs during the service. It was a fun service with lots of different kinds of participation and lots of different languages that are spoken in Oaxaca. Nicasio said that the pastor who shared about the impact of Bible translation on people’s faith said that his wife loves our group’s songs and plays them all the time, even though she doesn’t understand the words. (They speak another variety of Zapotec.) The pastor told Nicasio that he’s like the title to the song that he’d never heard before in Spanish; he was surprised to find out that Nicasio had written it. Last Tuesday (Feb. 27), Beto did a formal presentation of the thesis he wrote on his project for his Bachelor’s Degree: The Use of Riddles and Tongue-Twisters in Teaching Reading and Writing in Quiatoni Zapotec. Neither the thesis nor the presentation was required but his advisor pushed him a bit to do them. He did a great job on the project, thesis, and presentation; he graduated with Honors and with Academic Excellence. As if that weren’t enough, he is also the first one to graduate in Teaching Languages with a Specialization in an Indigenous Language! (Of course, he can still teach English and Spanish, as well as Zapotec.) The university asked Nicasio to certify Beto as a competent speaker and writer of Quiatoni Zapotec and also to be on Beto’s thesis jury, along with Beto’s advisor and the director of the Department of Languages. We are so proud of Beto and Candy! A couple of weeks ago, a young woman we know in Quiatoni asked us to send her four copies of each of our secular books—and did we have a book display that she could use, too? since she wants to sell the books. We were delighted to send her the materials since those who previously had sold our materials had quit some time ago. The day after the package arrived, she told Nicasio that she’d already sold all four copies of one book and three of another, and would he please send her more copies of those?! Also during February, Nicasio had a thorough eye exam for glaucoma. We are happy to report that everything is within normal limits and he hasn’t lost any sight. He has another appointment for April to continue to monitor how the new drops are controlling his eye pressure. Thank you for praying about his eyes and sight. And in the more normal times of February, Nicasio continues to check the Gospel of Mark and Acts, he works on his doctorate thesis, teaches the youth group, teaches during the Zapotec service, teaches and facilitates a master’s level class at the university, and is on the church council. Beto continues working with Nicasio on the translation, he’s translating and revising Exodus, teaches and is in the music group in the Zapotec service, is the church secretary, is teaching English twice a week to 6th graders in a local public school, and for two weeks was in charge of his brother’s affairs and the paperwork involved in the brother being hospitalized for severe pneumonia. I’ve been busy with random things like income tax, processing books into the Children’s Library, writing reports, and printing more copies of our Zapotec materials. Yesterday I was happy to pick up 100 copies of a workbook we made for practicing using and writing the Zapotec number words. We will be presenting it to two bilingual schools on March 4. I’m attaching a page of photos from February. Thank you for being part of the team giving the Word of God in Quiatoni Zapotec to the people whose heart language is Quiatoni Zapotec. It’s been a long haul and we are thankful to be able to share the fruit with you! Our praise to God who makes it all possible! Love, Valerie and Nicasio www.cten.org/NicasioMartinez |
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