A Mennonite Among Mayangna Moravians
How does a young Beachy mechanic end up living for eleven years among an indigenous people in Central America, in the home of a native family, at work translating materials for the public health service, (When There is No Doctor) and oh, also the Bible? He helps set up medical clinics too. What kind of vision sustains such a lonely, Herculean effort?
Ben had volunteered to work in Central America, but for the first four months of living in that tropical climate, Ben was sick almost constantly, and he looked forward to going home at the end of that time. He had one native Christian friend though, who had been a soldier during Nicaragua’s civil war. This former soldier talked about a people group who lived in a distant region of the country where he had once been stationed. They seemed needy, and Ben felt a spark of interest in their situation. They were called the Mayangna or Sumu people. They used the name Mayangna among themselves.
Ben was eager to leave the country though and a little afraid that God would make him stay. After considerable struggle, he came to peace about his future when he agreed with God that if a significant contact could be made with someone in the Mayangna population, and if the way seemed open to further ministry among them, he was willing to cooperate with God. Otherwise, he would carry out his plan to return to the United States.
Ben had no one to help him make any connections with the Mayangna. Nevertheless, he and a friend decided to travel to the area and see if something would develop.
After a few days in the area, with no significant contacts, they left by separate routes. Ben boarded a bus, convinced that the way was clear for him to go back to America. On that bus, he took the only vacant seat. It was beside a Mayangna man who was on his way to study at a university in Managua. The man told him that there was no Bible in their language, although many of the people professed affiliation with the Moravian church. When they read the Bible, it was in the Miskito language, another indigenous group that the Mayangna were in conflict with much of the time. Having access to the Bible only in an “enemy” language limited the appeal of its message. The young Mayangna student said though that another religious group had offered to help them acquire a translation of the Bible in Mayangna.
Ben was shocked. He knew the “generous” religious group the student named had some seriously heretical teaching. He felt compelled to do what he was able to do to see that they had access to an unadulterated Bible, without the heresies of the fringe religious sect’s teachings.
On another visit to the region, Ben had a “chance” meeting with a man named Patricio, who was on his way to work in his field. Patricio had a question for Ben. “Where can I get Bible study materials?” Ben learned later that he had listened often on the radio to messages by Luis Palau, and always at the end of the program was an offer to send inquirers printed materials. But Patricio had no idea how he could get those materials. Perhaps he had no mailing address.
Ben was impressed by Patricio’s interest. He had not asked for economic opportunity or any particular favors–only for help to get what he had already been offered. This contact proved invaluable in time to come. Ben attributes his own presence among the Mayangna to God’s grace being extended in response to having heard the longing of Patricio’s heart.
For a non-native, living among the Mayanga was complicated by the fact that they had been relegated to a reservation, and no one outside this people group was allowed to move into the area unless the people on the reservation invited them. The Mayangna did not readily invite people, probably because of having been exploited by outsiders in the past. Through Patricio, however, and his considerable influence among his people, Ben got an invitation to live on the reservation. He lives now with Patricio’s family.
Today when I heard Ben speak, he did not go into detail about everyday life among the Mayangna. My brother Lowell’s family, who often hosted Ben in their home while they both lived in Nicaragua, says that Ben has had an adventure-filled life. But Ben did not paint a picture of himself as a hero. Instead, he spoke humbly, eloquently, and very knowledgeably about the group’s religious history, and his desire to see them understand and embrace the teachings of Scripture.
In one example of how some of the past efforts at introducing religion have gone amok, Ben told about how the Mayangna, who had a polygamous society, made an effort to change to having only one wife. Their practice was for a man to marry one woman, and automatically, all the women in the household also became his wives. When men understood from their religious teachers that they were to only have one wife, they were told furthermore that they should keep only the first wife. But since the first wife was often the oldest daughter in the household, and younger wives were more highly prized, the older wife or wives (?) were often killed, leaving the “righteous” man with only one lawful wife, just as he was told to have. Things like this left no doubt in Ben’s mind that there was a great need for the Mayangna to be able to read and understand truth for themselves, rather than to become overly dependant on an outsider to interpret it for them.
Yesterday, when I first met Ben, he was here helping Lowell get his combines ready to harvest wheat. Ben’s mechanical skills applied to the aging equipment were very welcome. Hiromi invited Ben to the house when he encountered him on one of his forays to the trash bin near the scene of the combine servicing and repairs. Ben came in and stood to visit among the boxes that blocked every seating space in the living room. (I was in the middle of facing down a massive paper clutter monster.) He was very friendly, apparently not easily shocked, and we had a nice visit, standing there among the boxes. I surmised afterwards to Hiromi that any sensible unattached girl that learns to know Ben will find her heart going “pitty-pat.” He was charming in the sense that bright, passionate, grounded, and faithful people naturally are.
Ben is traveling with his family and their favorite animals from Kentucky to first Washington, then Oregon, where they plan to live. Kansas was a stop along the way. Nearly every family member spent some time in the wheat field yesterday, driving or riding the combines or trucks, and generally immersing themselves in the experience of a Kansas harvest.
After the family is settled in their new home, come August, Ben will return to the Mayangna, and the hard work that awaits. There, the harvest moves slowly–no big machines to cut wide swaths and no production records to try to match or exceed. And no money accumulating in the bank when it is over. Only 20,000 needy people, and one persistent, plodding, but gifted young man to do the labor. That young man and those Mayangna people are worthy of our prayers and support.
Thanks to Ben for enlarging our world today and to God, for enlarging our hearts.
Ben had volunteered to work in Central America, but for the first four months of living in that tropical climate, Ben was sick almost constantly, and he looked forward to going home at the end of that time. He had one native Christian friend though, who had been a soldier during Nicaragua’s civil war. This former soldier talked about a people group who lived in a distant region of the country where he had once been stationed. They seemed needy, and Ben felt a spark of interest in their situation. They were called the Mayangna or Sumu people. They used the name Mayangna among themselves.
Ben was eager to leave the country though and a little afraid that God would make him stay. After considerable struggle, he came to peace about his future when he agreed with God that if a significant contact could be made with someone in the Mayangna population, and if the way seemed open to further ministry among them, he was willing to cooperate with God. Otherwise, he would carry out his plan to return to the United States.
Ben had no one to help him make any connections with the Mayangna. Nevertheless, he and a friend decided to travel to the area and see if something would develop.
After a few days in the area, with no significant contacts, they left by separate routes. Ben boarded a bus, convinced that the way was clear for him to go back to America. On that bus, he took the only vacant seat. It was beside a Mayangna man who was on his way to study at a university in Managua. The man told him that there was no Bible in their language, although many of the people professed affiliation with the Moravian church. When they read the Bible, it was in the Miskito language, another indigenous group that the Mayangna were in conflict with much of the time. Having access to the Bible only in an “enemy” language limited the appeal of its message. The young Mayangna student said though that another religious group had offered to help them acquire a translation of the Bible in Mayangna.
Ben was shocked. He knew the “generous” religious group the student named had some seriously heretical teaching. He felt compelled to do what he was able to do to see that they had access to an unadulterated Bible, without the heresies of the fringe religious sect’s teachings.
On another visit to the region, Ben had a “chance” meeting with a man named Patricio, who was on his way to work in his field. Patricio had a question for Ben. “Where can I get Bible study materials?” Ben learned later that he had listened often on the radio to messages by Luis Palau, and always at the end of the program was an offer to send inquirers printed materials. But Patricio had no idea how he could get those materials. Perhaps he had no mailing address.
Ben was impressed by Patricio’s interest. He had not asked for economic opportunity or any particular favors–only for help to get what he had already been offered. This contact proved invaluable in time to come. Ben attributes his own presence among the Mayangna to God’s grace being extended in response to having heard the longing of Patricio’s heart.
For a non-native, living among the Mayanga was complicated by the fact that they had been relegated to a reservation, and no one outside this people group was allowed to move into the area unless the people on the reservation invited them. The Mayangna did not readily invite people, probably because of having been exploited by outsiders in the past. Through Patricio, however, and his considerable influence among his people, Ben got an invitation to live on the reservation. He lives now with Patricio’s family.
Today when I heard Ben speak, he did not go into detail about everyday life among the Mayangna. My brother Lowell’s family, who often hosted Ben in their home while they both lived in Nicaragua, says that Ben has had an adventure-filled life. But Ben did not paint a picture of himself as a hero. Instead, he spoke humbly, eloquently, and very knowledgeably about the group’s religious history, and his desire to see them understand and embrace the teachings of Scripture.
In one example of how some of the past efforts at introducing religion have gone amok, Ben told about how the Mayangna, who had a polygamous society, made an effort to change to having only one wife. Their practice was for a man to marry one woman, and automatically, all the women in the household also became his wives. When men understood from their religious teachers that they were to only have one wife, they were told furthermore that they should keep only the first wife. But since the first wife was often the oldest daughter in the household, and younger wives were more highly prized, the older wife or wives (?) were often killed, leaving the “righteous” man with only one lawful wife, just as he was told to have. Things like this left no doubt in Ben’s mind that there was a great need for the Mayangna to be able to read and understand truth for themselves, rather than to become overly dependant on an outsider to interpret it for them.
Yesterday, when I first met Ben, he was here helping Lowell get his combines ready to harvest wheat. Ben’s mechanical skills applied to the aging equipment were very welcome. Hiromi invited Ben to the house when he encountered him on one of his forays to the trash bin near the scene of the combine servicing and repairs. Ben came in and stood to visit among the boxes that blocked every seating space in the living room. (I was in the middle of facing down a massive paper clutter monster.) He was very friendly, apparently not easily shocked, and we had a nice visit, standing there among the boxes. I surmised afterwards to Hiromi that any sensible unattached girl that learns to know Ben will find her heart going “pitty-pat.” He was charming in the sense that bright, passionate, grounded, and faithful people naturally are.
Ben is traveling with his family and their favorite animals from Kentucky to first Washington, then Oregon, where they plan to live. Kansas was a stop along the way. Nearly every family member spent some time in the wheat field yesterday, driving or riding the combines or trucks, and generally immersing themselves in the experience of a Kansas harvest.
After the family is settled in their new home, come August, Ben will return to the Mayangna, and the hard work that awaits. There, the harvest moves slowly–no big machines to cut wide swaths and no production records to try to match or exceed. And no money accumulating in the bank when it is over. Only 20,000 needy people, and one persistent, plodding, but gifted young man to do the labor. That young man and those Mayangna people are worthy of our prayers and support.
Thanks to Ben for enlarging our world today and to God, for enlarging our hearts.
posted by Mrs. I at
8:51 PM
1 Comments:
Excellent description of a dedicated young man. I too noticed how humbly he spoke, saying very little about the hardships and loneliness he has undoubtedly gone through, but speaking very knowledgeably about the rich and sad history of the Mayangna people. My heart was stirred by his dedication to share the gospel -- it really is worth it all!
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Unknown, at 6/22/2008
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