08 ː Salasaka pt. II

Joel Broberg
May 31, 2022
5 min read

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Así será mi palabra que sale de mi boca;

no volverá a mí vacía,

sino que hará lo que yo quiero,

y será prosperada en aquello para que la envié.

Isaías 55:11

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

Today marks two weeks since arriving in the Andean highlands of central Ecuador.

Things experienced:

‘Rona strikes again. Half of our team came down with Covid-19 last week, which granted the rest of us a fair amount of unanticipated free time. Most of them have fully recovered, and one is slowly on the mend. Luckily, one of our team members is a retired doctor who took great care of our group even when she wasn’t feeling 100% herself. We were also fortunate enough to have space to semi-quarantine our infected friends.

More Kichwa lessons. We’ve moved on to Phase 2 of the Growing Participator Approach, albeit a fairly condensed version of GPA. We’ve been using picture books and asking our language nurturer questions about new vocabulary and ways to combine words into sentences and questions. Then, using the new and old vocabulary we’ve learned, she tells us a short story involving the characters and scenery on the page. After listening to the recording of her story, we ask her more questions to ensure comprehension of all she said.

Diosga c’uyimi. “God is love.” This is the name of the local church we’ve been worshipping with. Another intern and I were able to lead worship for the youth group on Saturday and participate in their Bible study. I was working with an eight-year-old named Juan on the study guide, and afterward, I told his mother that she had a very intelligent son, hoping to encourage her. Juan, overhearing my comment, piped up, “That’s what they tell me in school!” Not sure I helped his humility much but I’ve for sure made a friend in the church. On Sunday, we helped in the Sunday school, where we learned about the Good Samaritan, memorized a Bible verse, and led an impromptu English lesson. ;)

¡Qué viva la cumpleañera! “Long live the birthday girl!” We were invited to the birthday party of our language nurturer’s 92-year-old grandmother. She was seated at a place of honor in a courtyard between two thatched-roof houses, backdropped by an outdoor kitchen. They prepared a chicken stew over a wood fire with a giant pot that required two or three people to move. They had several courses, including the stew; a serving of soft, popped corn called mote; a plate of rice, chicken, and a salad; a hard biscuit to dip in a warm fruit drink called puka api; and finally birthday cake that resembled a thick pound cake. A pastor from out of town spoke about honoring your parents and the gift of long life, and musicians from the church sang some Kichwa hymns. It was such an impressive party and a great way to honor an elderly member of the community.

La Shell. Yesterday, we visited the town of Shell, well-known as the base location for missionaries throughout the years to isolated indigenous groups such as the Waorani. We visited with several missionaries who have lived among the Waorani. Then we went to the Nate Saint House, a museum which tells the story of the five U.S. missionaries who were killed while on mission and their families who have lived and worshipped the Lord with the Waorani since then. We also took a peek at the missionary hospital in the town, where we met a Dutch doctor who has been studying tropical diseases and has learned several indigenous languages.

Things learned:

The Kichwa are a very generous people. The two families who have agreed to host us interns have been very eager to welcome us in. The birthday party we attended was another impactful display of their generosity towards us interns, who had not even previously met the woman whose birthday it was.

Despite a change in pace, we’ve still had many more Kichwa lessons. Although the lessons aren’t structured to cover explicit grammatical concepts, it’s been helpful to be learning among fellow linguists with whom I can ask further questions and make theories about grammar and meaning. To supplement these lessons and to feed our linguistic curiosities, we’ve been digging into academic articles written by the missionaries about Salasaka Kichwa.

In meeting with the doctor in Shell, I learned that, despite having related languages, the Kichwa of the jungle and the Kichwa of the highlands (e.g., Salasaka), their cultures are quite distinct. One’s environment affects so much of one’s culture, language, and worldview, especially in cultures that are so dependent upon the land and habitat for their community’s flourishing.

Things felt: I mentioned that our plans have been in flex since our group has been infected. While I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to stave off the virus, I’ve also felt uncomfortable with the amount of downtime and fluctuation in schedule. Yes, part of this is cultural. My fixed, Western concept of time and planning isn’t completely compatible with that of the Salasakas. But most of it has been situational, brought about and prolonged by covid. However, I know God has been using this for my good. My top concern before coming to Ecuador was that I would be burnt out by the busy semester and of no use during the internship; I felt poorly prepared mentally. I can see that God has provided for me opportunities to rest, grow relationships, and increase in my knowledge and enjoyment of Him, His people, and His creation.

Features from the fortnight:

For those who are interested, here are some Kichwa language resources:

· Kichwa/Quichua overview https://www.jstor.org/stable/44526495?seq=1

· Verbs and their suffixes https://commons.und.edu/theses/1102/

· Phonology https://commons.und.edu/theses/1010/

· Trilingual dictionary (Kichwa, Spanish, English) https://www.diosmundayachana.org/en/dictionary

Prayers & Petitions:

If you are a person who prays, please keep the following in your prayers:

· For the health of our team, and that everyone would fully recover.

· Our homestays with Kichwa families start tonight. Please pray that the stays would be mutually beneficial.

· That the people of Salasaka would continue to encounter God through His Word.

· That the Holy Spirit would bring about grace and humility to heal divisions in the local church.