Posted: 02/16/2010 at 7:44pm | IP Logged

OAXACA, MEXICO (ANS) -- Totonac Christian leader, Felipe Ramos is continuing the work that began in 1972 as the Totonac Bible Center, Inc. At that time, its primary goal was to support the work of Manuel Arenas, a brilliant Totonac Indian 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.)

Manuel Arenas (Photo: Dan Wooding)

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.

Dale Kietzman (right) with David Kietzman, the new Executive Director of LAIM

After Manuel's death in 1992, Dr. Dale W. Kietzman, a former head of the US branch of Wycliffe Bible Translators, 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). Its website is: www.laim.org.

But now the work amongst the Totonacs continues under the leadership of Felipe Ramos who was recently asked to give a report to a gathering in Oaxaca, capital city of Oaxaca state, of CONIMEX, which represents mission leaders in Mexico.

Felipe Ramos during a Totonac radio broadcast

Ramos began by reciting the history of the church in the Totonac language area, where there are now more than 150 congregations in the Highlands dialect alone. He stressed the key role a weekly radio program had played in that growth. He reported 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.

Ramos recounted the growth of just one such group, the congregation in Las Lomas Veracruz. "They were very anxious to get a new meeting place [because they had outgrown the home they were meeting in]. One family had offered land, but then one son in the family, who was not a believer, objected and they had to withdraw the offer. So another man offered to let them use a property temporarily, and they built a very temporary kind of tabernacle for their meetings.

Felipe Ramos preaching in a Totonac church

"Last month we had a celebration of moving into that building. But it was to be temporary, and last week they called saying they had a piece of land available in a good location, and had raised half the cost of buying it. I was holding a gift that had been sent for the construction of a permanent building, presumably on the original piece of land we thought had been donated. They wanted to use some of that money to finish buying the property they had located, and would use the rest to begin buying materials for the permanent structure.

"They, of course, will supply all the labor for the construction. We went ahead on this, with the understanding that they will continue to collect money to complete the church building."

Dr. Kietzman told ANS, "Ramos, in his presentation to the conference of the Mexican Missions Association, particularly explained how the Gospel was expanding in his area. He noted how Hispanic churches are, in recent months, beginning to come to the aid of the tribal congregations. He also suggested that training schools should be opened in every tribal language area, teaching not only Bible subjects, but also trades that would make it possible for the pastors to more easily support their families."

Note: 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.

Source: (ANS) www.assistnews.net