Post 64 / The Next Language

New Discoveries

I almost called this a new language but pulled myself up to realize the language had always been there.  What was new was our awareness of it.

Most of the unrecorded languages in Mexico were well documented from SIL surveys or prior mission contacts.  For the most part we are talking about a list of about 100 languages that already had language numbers and even ISO codes.  They were languages that because of size or language use or proximity of  related languages with translation projects these were not deemed necessary to have a New Testament.

In our systematic “fishing” trips we are finding notable exceptions.  A married couple in a church here in Oaxaca let us know that they were familiar with our recordings but had never heard anything in their language.  It was Zapoteco: San Francisco Yovego.  We took a word list.  We played the nearest recordings which were Zapoteco: Rincon and a couple of others.  They could understand a lot of it but there were some words that were meaningless to them.  They wanted something in their own language.  As I am writing this Adriana is making up the final master of a recording that rehearses many of the valiant men of faith of  the Old Testament culminating in the Story of Jesus.  By tomorrow morning this will be uploaded and sitting in the studios of Australia being ingested and readied for 5fish.mobi .  It will then be available worldwide and more significantly to the digital world of the Yovego.

Since starting on this project we have come to know that this language covers a number of villages and because it was unknown it was not on any lists of unreached languages.  It did not have a language number nor an assigned ISO code.  It looks to deserve a unique code of its own.  Maybe even eventually a New Testament of its own.  These kinds of discoveries are pretty rare in the world today.  Much more exciting than a new salamander or such things as excite botanists.

We are hoping that we will be able to get a positive response from a nearby store owner who gave us a word list but also does not understand any of the Zapoteco recordings we have played for her.  If not we may be dealing with another language that has been missed in the modern mission movement here in Mexico.

God Bless,

Larry DeVilbiss | Executive Director

Global Recordings Network USA

If you are interested in learning how to share links on social media
that will promote use of our recordings and the Gospel in general,
please phone Roland Heck at 951-216-9985.

Previous “The Next Language” posts
The Wall of Pain – Post 63
Is There a Place for the Gospel in Your Story – Post 62
The Love Pyramid – Post 61
Obsession – Post 60
Verb Tenses in Hebrews – Post 59
The Unseen Weapon – Post 58
The Gospel Arrives in Zapoteco:Elotepec – Post 57
Fishing – GRN Style – Post 56
A New Day in Mexico – Post 55
Seeking – Post 54
Pick Your Battles – Post 53
How Big Is Your God? – Post 52
A Muted Gospel? – Post 51
Dedication Service for Marcos – Post 50
Two Weeks, Two Months, Two Years – Post 49
What Will You Give to Jesus – Post 48
Special Assignment – Post 47
The Good and the Best – Post 46
How Many Languages Are There? – Post 45
Verifying Speech Varieties – Post 44
Those God Things – Post 43
Meet Notch, the Desert Cottontail – Post 42
The Lost Languages – Post 41
The Rest of the Yoke – Post 40
What About Those Last Languages – Post 39
A Yoke That Fits – Post 38
The Other Side – Post 37
It Is Finished – Post 36
On the Ground in Culiacan – Post 35
I Will Go With Thee – Post 34
Unseen Warfare – Post 33
God of the Gaps – Post 32
The Father of Faith Missions – Post 31
WAIT – Post 30
Our Ultimate Weapon – Post 29
What Are You Doing Here – Post 28
Recordist Training Course Update – Post 27
Still Shameful – Post 26
Numbers Update – Post 25
The Gospel and Idolatry – Post 24
Could Ye Not Pray – Post 23
John the Baptist and the New Normal – Post 22
Genesis of a Script – Post 21
Embena Experiences – Post 20
An Easter Like No Other – Post 19
Go Or Stay Home – Post 18
The Next Language – Post 17
The Next Language – Post 16
The Next Language – Post 15
The Next Language – Post 14
The Next Language – Post 13
The Next Language – Post 12
The Next Language – Post 11
The Next Language – Post 10
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The Next Language – Post 3
The Next Language – Post 2
The Next Language – Post 1