Turn the Canelas into Portuguese Speaking Brazilians, Get Rid of Their Superstitions
A German researcher frequently visited the Canela village in the last eight years that Jo and I worked there. We invited him over for a coffee, and he jumped at the chance to pick our brains about the Canela and their way of life. Since he spoke fluent Portuguese and English, we had no problem communicating.

What Do Canelas Fear?
He wanted to know what the Canelas were afraid of since he had heard about their fear of ghosts of recently deceased people.

“Yes,” I said, “These ghosts tend to appear at night to haunt the living. They have the power to kill sick and elderly persons or babies by staring at them. They are also afraid of evil spirits. For example, there is good soil for planting gardens out in the hills. But although the Canelas tried to make fields there, they abandoned them after several months, telling us, ‘Cupe jaroti jahto’ many evil spirits. They are afraid these spirits will hurt them or their kids.”

“But there are no spirits and ghosts!” he exclaimed. “That’s all just superstition. So why are you talking as if these are real?”

My Story
“Well, remember I am a Christian missionary-linguist. I believe in God, who is a Spirit. There are good spirits like angels and evil spirits like demons. I’ll tell you how I first learned about this fear of evil spirits. One day when I walked back to the village from Barra, night fell and thinking the village was still hours farther, I lay down alongside the trail to sleep. A Canela man jogging home found me there. ‘The village is really close; follow me, we’ll be home soon,’ he said. As we jogged the last twenty minutes to the village, he asked me, ‘You were all alone, weren’t you afraid of the evil spirits that roam at night?’

‘No, I’m not afraid of any ghost or spirit since the Great Spirit of our Father in the sky lives within me and protects me.’

“But you’re highly educated, a college graduate!” My German friend exclaimed, “I have never spoken with an educated person who believes in God and these superstitions.”

The Language God Gave the Canelas
We also talked about the Canela language, and I described its beauty and design and how we were fascinated by its complex grammar. When I told him we were teaching the Canelas how to read and write in their own language and were in the midst of translating a large part of the Bible into their language, he was amazed.

“Why don’t you just teach them to read and write in Portuguese?” he asked. “Wouldn’t that be a lot simpler? Besides, it would do away with a lot of these superstitions if they turned into Portuguese-speaking Brazilians.”

Yes, I thought, that was the “Kill the Indian in the child” philosophy behind the old residential school system in Canada, which forced indigenous children to speak English only.

“Here’s the reason,” I said. “We are translating God’s love letter to the Canelas. He wants to speak directly from his heart to theirs. That requires speaking their own mother language.” He just shook his head in bewilderment at my beliefs.

The Goodbye Speech
Our friend made many visits to the Canela village. After one extended stay, he was preparing to return to Germany. I saw the truck arrive at his house, so I ran over to say Goodbye. When he saw me, he jumped off the back of the truck.

“Jack,” he said, “I have learned a lot about you and the work you and your wife have done in this village. I need to say something to you, and you will understand why I have to say this in German.” He then laid both his hands on my shoulders and looked directly into my eyes. Since German is similar to Dutch, I could understand most of what he said. He thanked me for the nearly twenty years Jo and I had worked to help the Canelas; for all the lives we had saved and our educational teaching. He went on and on while tears trickled down his cheeks. Then he hugged me and climbed back on the truck.

I waved Goodbye as the truck drove away and thought, “You got it! You needed to express your deep emotion, and you could not do it in either English or Portuguese. You had to say it in your own mother language.”

Next Monday, February 21, is International Mother Language Day.
Bible translators like Jo and I are, of course, naturally pleased that this day is given special significance. But for all the thousands of Bible translators currently at work, and their many thousands of ministry partners who pray and give to support them, every day is Mother Language day.

And so it is also for God. He loves the multi-millions who are still waiting for his Love Letter to be translated into their Mother Language.