By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
NANACATLAN, MEXICO (ANS) -- It was back in 1972 when Manuel Arenas, a brilliant young Indian man began reaching out to his own people with what was then called the Totonac Bible Center, Inc.
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Manuel Arenas (Photo: Dan Wooding) |
At that time, its primary goal was to support the work of Arenas, who was the principal translation helper for Herman P. Aschmann in his early translation efforts among the Highland Totonac people. (Mr. Aschmann died on February 18th, 2008 - his 94th birthday-- at the Life Care Center in Longmont, Colorado, due to complications from pneumonia.)
After having gained an excellent education in the United States and Germany, Manuel determined to establish a school among his own people. He recruited Felipe Ramos, another Totonac in seminary at the time, to help him begin the project. The Centro Cultural Pro-Totonaco in La Union, Puebla, is a witness to his vision.
Over the years, Manuel tried in various ways to expand his vision to all the tribal groups of Mexico. He organized three different consultations of Christian leaders from other tribes. The first was held at the Totonac Center, the others in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, as he wanted to attract more of the pastors from those areas. He also opened his school to students from other tribes.
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Dan Wooding pictured with Dr. Dale Kietzman after doing a His Channel Live program with him |
After Manuel's death in 1992, Dr. Dale Kietzman, a former head of the U.S. branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators and a founding board member of ASSIST Ministries, became president of the Totonac Bible Center board in the United States.
Increasingly, the support activity focused on other tribes, following Manuel's vision. As a consequence, in 1996, the Board voted to change the name of the corporation to Latin American Indian Ministries (LAIM) - www.laim.org -- and today LAIM is continuing the vision of Arenas by helping the Totonac people and the work among this tribe which is now being spearheaded by Totonac Christian leader, Felipe Ramos.
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Felipe Ramos during a Totonac radio broadcast |
Ramos said recently that radio plays a huge role in reaching out to his people in remote areas and has contributed to the growth of new churches. He said that, "in every Totonac village, they played the program at highest volume," both out of pride that such a language program was on the air, and also so everyone could hear. Now the almost weekly appearance of a new group gathering for Bible study has shifted the emphasis once again to training leaders for the new congregations."
In an update, Dr. Kietzman told ANS, "I just had a Skype session with Felipe Ramos in Mexico. We have talked by phone and exchanged emails from Nanacatlan, where he lives and directs his wide spread ministry. But the Wi-Fi connection there is not strong enough for a Skype session (although everyone in town now seems to have a cell phone). So he was in Zacatlan, his 'jump-off' town, and except for two hang-ups, we had nearly an hour to discuss the work.
"This month the young people in the church in Nanacatlan have organized an area-wide youth conference, a one-day affair held in the municipal auditorium, a new building of which Nanacatlan is justifiable proud (even though the road up the mountain is still unpaved).
"The word was spread in a dozen churches around the area, and hundreds are expected to hear invited music groups and special speakers. Felipe was quite pleased with the initiative his young people have shown. These same young people go every weekend to one or another of the "missions" out in the mountain villages, doing a teaching and evangelizing work that brings many good results.
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Felip Ramos preaching in a Totonac church |
"The follow-up of responses to the Totonac radio program broadcast each Sunday continues to see new groups of believers springing up in some of the most remote spots in the mountains. Felipe reports that they now have four new growing churches in the coastal area of the state of Vera Cruz. The people in this area speak a different dialect of Totonac, so they are being ministered to by Pastor Silvestre and volunteers from Coyutla."
Dr. Kietzman concluded by saying, "These unexpected results reminds us that God is moving and providing, including the scores of Totonac men and women involved in ministry among their own people, with believers being added daily to the fellowship."
The Totonac Culture was a rival city state to the Aztecs, who had ruled most of what is now Veracruz in Mexico before the Aztecs conquered them about 25 years before the Spanish conquistador Cortés landed in AD 1516. The capital city of the Totonac culture was at Zempoala, and at the time of the Spanish arrival, they numbered about 100,000 people. In 1980 there were 185,836 Totonac speaking people, 117,533 in Veracruz and 63,303 in Puebla.
Dr. Kietzman can be contacted by e-mail at: dale@laim.org
Note from Dan Wooding. I once had the privilege of traveling with Dr. Kietzman to visit Manuel Arenas and see at first-hand his work among the Totonacs. I am thrilled to learn how it continues to grow and thrive with the support of LAIM. For more information, please go to: www.laim.org.
| Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link. |
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