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Walking With Jesus
 Other: Latin America


Native Languages in Latin American

Spanish could be paried with a Native language from Latin America (Central or South America) just as English has been paired with Navajo. The same idea could be applied elsewhere, where there are large numbers of speakers of a give Native language. Ultimately I envision eight such bilingual projects in Latin American countries:

Language Country
Speakers
Inter-American Division (IAD)
Yucatán Maya Mexico
700,000
Central K'iche' Guatemala
1,900,000
South American Division (SAD)
Ayacucho Quechua Peru
900,000
Chimborazo Highland Quichua Ecuador
1,000,000
Cuzco Quechua Peru
1,500,000
Central Aymara Bolivia
1,790,000
South Bolivian Quechua Bolivia
2,780,000
Paraguayan Guaraní Paraguay
4,648,000

 



Challenge

Benito Juarez, a five-term president of Mexico (1858–1861 as interim, then 1861–1872) and himself a Zapateco Indian, once remarked that "They [the Indigenous people of Mexico] need a religion which impels them to read." I want Seventh-day Adventism to be such a religion.

We must read Scripture above all, but there is room for supporting materials as well, especially in a bilingual environment where literacy is low but Native language retention is high.