Why English?

Some know that we spent three years in a Spanish congregation, learning Spanish, and hoping to serve the Spanish population down here.

So - some may wonder... why are we going to Guatemala to help people in English?

Also - why are we focusing on English anyway?  There are some community groups here in Panajachel who help the locals and who are sensitive to other groups (such as us) coming in and 'taking the natives away' from their Maya culture. And - I've seen YouTube videos of church groups trying to turn locals into little American business-people, teaching them about Excel spreadsheets and putting them in navy-blue power suits. Shudder.  I get why some may be concerned.

Some may wonder if we are promoting an American culture, out of some type of presumed superiority of a more 'advanced' culture.

Nothing could be further from the truth!  We are absolutely NOT trying to turn them into little Americans.  Ugh! We are so thrilled with the local community, their culture, their beauty.  We are thrilled NOT to be in the US, and in a warm and loving culture.

We are here because the local congregation sees a need to serve the extensive English-speaking community here in Panajachel with Bible studies and encouraging them to draw close to Jehovah. At their invitation, we wanted to help support the efforts of the local brothers and sisters to learn enough English to accomplish their goals.

When they are comfortable with English to continue the group/congregation themselves, perhaps we'll move back into Spanish. Maybe we'll move to another location.  Who knows? We will wait and see Jehovah's direction.

As for the issue of taking them from their Maya roots, I'd observe that most are already a very long way from those roots. The Spaniards arrived half a millennium ago, and brought the influence of the Catholic church. Since then there have been many many influences toward Westernization and other non-Maya influences.  It's not like we are walking into a forest and finding aboriginal tribes and trying to put a suit and tie on them!  We are having conversations with people, like, Why does God permit suffering? Why do we grow old and die? Can I live forever? If so, how? where? And they are deeply grateful, much more so than in the US. They respect the Bible and want to know what's in it.

For example, I have a Bible study (in Spanish) with a woman named Ingrid.  She has her name tattoo'ed on her arm, and wears jeans, and works in a hotel, lives in a humble apartment and has two teenaged boys with trophies for their sports skills.  She wonders about tithing and whether it is required by God. She had observed pastors driving expensive cars, thanks to tithing of their parishioners.  It seemed unfair to her, and she said she prefers to donate money to needy people. We talked about the Bible's answer to that, and then also talked about the future of the earth and whether resurrected people will all go to heaven - or to earth.  She was very moved to read from her own Bible the answers to those questions.

I confess I miss having my primary focus to be on the Spanish language, although I still have a few studies in Spanish. I love the language. But ... I'm happy to fill in wherever the local congregation needs help, and in some ways it's a pleasure to be back in the original 'language of my heart', at least for a while.  We've met some delightful friends who are making big moves from home as we did.

English?  Yep, a surprise to us too! But for now, we're happy to help where we're needed. And having such fun with our lives and our friends.