A tribal worldview

Andrew & AnneMarie, Joseph, Madeline, Julian, & Sofia

The Fergusons work in a tribal group called the Southern-western Tepehuan. It's been hard going, but they are living in the village most of the time now. They are building reltionships with the people and learning their language. This is one of their recent updates that lets you see some of the cultural worldview of the Tepehuan people. We want them to be able to interpret the world through a Biblical worldview & not what Satan has been tell them for millenia! Please pray for these people & for the Fergusons as they work out there in the mountains.

Its not like when you work with an animistic tribal group that you don't expect there to be big differences in how we think and view the world. I mean, good grief, they have a completely different outlook on life and spirituality. We expected it and have been trained to identify and incorporate it as we seek to communicate cross-culturally, but even with the expectation and training, we find ourselves surprised by how different their world view is from ours. We never imagined though how serious the ramifications could be. We've been out in Lajas for the past three weeks during which occurred the Easter festivities. None of the Tepehuan festivities portray a true reflection of Christ suffering, dying, being buried and raising to life again. It seems Jesus has been suspiciously removed from their tradition, and replaced by the legendary "bull". The bull is represented by a horn that is uncovered and let out of the church Wednesday evening. This horn is taken by a group of 5 to 6 guys, and they proceed to blow it as they troop around the village slowly getting drunk and asking for more alcohol from the people. They don't sleep for 3 whole days. (Hard to believe when you're drunk as they are.) Fiestas are held Thursday and Friday in which the bull is heard roaring the whole time. He ends up on Saturday back at the church where he dies and goes up to glory. The horn is wrapped up until next year. It would take a book to detail the whole tradition of the bull and all the things that happen, but suffice to say, far removed from the story of Jesus. Fortunately, the police had a heavy presence in the village during Easter, and while there was a lot of drinking and drunkenness, there was minimal violence and no killings. At times we had to stay close to the house and keep the kids under watch, but generally we had a safe and peaceful time. We had a constant barrage of visitors which for the most part we enjoy, but at times their timing can be impeccable and so one can get frustrated. Its great for language but tough on the family. Our kids did well for the most part, but were at times bored for the lack of playmates. We need to get some new DVD's as they have "over" watched what we have. We all got sick (except Anne Marie) with a virus, which for nearly all the kids except Joseph, turned into a bronchial infection. Fortunately we were able to get some antibiotics from the clinic which seemed to do the trick. We weren't the only ones to get sick. Faustino's little girl Maria also got sick. Faustino is a neighbor, we've known him for close to five years and he has helped me a lot with building our house and also with learning Tepehuan. We've become good friends and spend a lot of time together. He and his wife Theodora have two children. Lots of people had come down with the virus, Maria had been running around with the other kids and so it was no surprise when she got it too. A few days later they came over and asked for some Tylenol as she had a fever. We gave them some and suggested they take her down to the clinic. They said they would, but they didn't and she got worse. She was vomiting and not eating or drinking and so we gave them some suero powder which you mix with water for children who are dehydrated. The following day we were absolutely shocked when Faustino's aunt told us that Maria had died. We felt terrible. How could she be dead? It was the same virus our kids had and they weren't fighting for their life. We went over to the house and were shocked again to find out she hadn't died, but was very close to it. They hadn't taken her to the clinic like they said they would. They hadn't given her any medication, and they hadn't given her the dehydration serum we had offered. I offered to take her down to the clinic in my truck and they said that the medicine there is no good. I offered to take her into the city, but they felt she would make it and didn't want her to die there. I decided to go down to the clinic and get help from the Tepehuan nurse. The nurse said that there was nothing she could do as they had no infant I.V needles and so, as the child was incredibly dehydrated and small, there was no way they would be able to get an adult one into the vein. She gave me some more oral dehydration serum and suggested I give it to the child with a syringe. Arriving back at the house, the grandmother has Maria in her arms and everyone is very somber. Maria's eyes are rolled back and every faint breath is an agony for her. I squeezed 1 ml. of serum into her mouth and thankfully she swallows. I gradually worked it up until I was able to give her almost 5 ml. at a time and then wait a few minutes. Meanwhile, the grandmother has some special leaves with which she furiously rubs the child up and down. Obviously a spiritual connection, but in the end just causes more discomfort. I'm praying inside, "Lord don't let this child die, you're stronger than the curse." Thankfully, with time Maria responds to the serum and her eyes open up and she breathes a little easier. Everyone notices the improvement but still she's not out of the woods. "Thanks Lord, it seems to be working." Someone needs me at the house and so I leave them for a while, showing them how to give her the serum with the syringe. Anne Marie made a beef broth with the hope that it might help Maria get some strength back, but back in the house again Maria is on the bed with seemingly no improvement in her condition, the syringe is in the same position as when I left. I asked why they didn't give her any, and they said she didn't want it. I continue to give her the serum, but now the grandmother is agitated and feels I am hurting the child. Maria cries out for her mother and and wants water. I give her more serum but now the grandmother is angry and wants me to leave the child alone. The child is so close to dying that I didn't want them to blame me for her death, which was a very likely possibility, so I was forced to oblige. A couple of times Maria seemed about to die and inside I felt I was driving demons away through prayer. I tried a couple more times to give her the serum, but wasn't allowed. Faustino was just sitting there. The mother was sitting in the corner crying, the grandmother was muttering away about what the shaman had said. It was like they had already accepted she was going to die and were just waiting. I didn't want to watch, so I left. We prayed for Maria as a family, and about an hour and a half later Anne Marie tells me that Maria has died. We go over to see and everyone is saying, "Jii go alhii." "The child is gone." There seemed to be less grief shown now that she had died than before. They had laid her on the bed where she had died and so we paid our respects and went back home. Later on that day Faustino came over and we drank coffee. He told me the reason they had not taken her to the clinic is because two shamans had already told them that the child had been cursed and that there was no way she could be saved. A third shaman, a lady, used an egg and rubbed the white all over Maria's body. She told them that in a vision she had seen that Maria's scarf was buried in the burial grounds, and this signified she would die, that it was already too late. Not in our thinking - it was just a viral infection, something antibiotics could easy clean up. Other kids in the village had come down with the same virus but had received antibiotic shots in the clinic and pulled through. In fact, if they would've let us, we could've saved Maria. We almost did but it wasn't to be. You see that's why the aunt told us before that the child had died when she hadn't yet. That's why they wouldn't give her the medication. They courteously allowed me to give her serum for a while, but wouldn't themselves when I was gone. Maria was already dead, the shamans had said so. They made comments that her hair was sticking up, a sign that her spirit would soon leave. The grandmother commented that her hands and feet were stone cold (obviously, she was dehydrated and her body was shutting down) and that her chest was hot (body sending blood to the vital organs), but to them that signifies the spirits want the heart (distant beliefs from their human sacrifice days). Yes, its pretty cool learning how another culture thinks and acts, till it costs the life of a child. The immediate and extended family of Maria stay up the whole night and never sleep for fear her spirit will return and try and take them with her. They won't bathe for 5 days after her death. Faustino and Theodora wear a white string around their neck for the next five days. The following morning Faustino asked me to make a wooden cross. It was an honour. We took the cross over and laid it beside Maria's body in the room. Our kids got to see her. Efren and Bernadino were heading off to dig the grave, they asked if I wanted to help. There is something strangely honouring to get to dig the grave of your friend's daughter. A solemn task that allows time for reflection. Who won here? Satan or God? O.K., I know better, our theology says God wins, He's sovereign. But why does He seemingly stand back and allow His servants to seem powerless. Medically, we might've been able to save her. Miraculously, God definitely could have raised her up from that sick bed, he could pull her from that grave right now. Or did He take her by His grace because she was just a child, not yet at the age of accountability? We're not about to throw it all away, but you have to ask the deep and dangerous questions. We're just extremely thankful for all of you who pray for us and for our Tepehuan friends. Pray that they will begin asking these same questions. Pray that they will become completely dissatisfied with their beliefs and practices and yearn for a better way, the truth. Satan is trying to destroy these people and Jesus wants to save them. Thanks for being a part of taking the message of life to a place of death.