Scriptures and sensitivity key
to Chiapas outreach

The Rev René Sterk, a missionary with the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, is administrator of the Chenalhó translation project, and a basketball enthusiast who shares a love of the game with the indigenous Indians. Chiapas, Mexico. Photo: UBS/ Larry Jerden (MEX01T-23)

SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas, Mexico — Presbyterian missionary René Sterk, who has played a role in the translation of both the Chenalhó and Chamula Bibles (see feature), can attest to the growth of the church in Chiapas despite the daunting challenges he and other believers have faced in recent decades.

“When we came 32 years ago, there were only a handful of Christians among the Tzotzils.” Mr Sterk remembered, “Now there are around 50,000.”

The two secrets to working among these peoples, he says, are the Scriptures and sensitivity to their culture.

“I think it is a real privilege to work with people who are very proud of their culture, their traditions, their values and their language,” he declares. “They have strong spiritual values.

“The worst thing we can bring to them is a message of materialism or that their spiritual foundations aren’t as good as ours. In fact, we aren’t ‘bringing’ them anything, we are filling their spiritual world view with the truth of the Bible.

“That’s why the Bible is the only thing we can bring them. They already believe in spiritual power, we just have to help them understand who has the real spiritual power.”

Mr Sterk says that, when evangelicals first come in, the Tzotzils want to defend their spiritual world.

“But when they become Christians and are convinced that God has the power to help them, then they become dedicated, enthusiastic, spiritual Christians,” Mr Sterk declares.

There is no greater testimony to the power of God’s Word, he says, than to visit the town of San Juan Chamula, famous for its cathedral. He tells how such a visit had a profound effect on an American.

“A basketball team visited, and one of the star players attended a Christian college but had not dedicated his life to Christ,” the missionary remembers. “They played a game in San Juan Chamula, and he was very impressed by it.

He was one of these college kids who loved to drink, and when he saw the Chamula drinking, he was joking around and said, ‘Hey, these are my guys! They know how to drink out here.’

“Then we took them to Betaña, a Christian village where they played a game and then went to church. “The contrast he saw between the two towns changed this kid’s life.

“At a gathering on the last day he broke down crying. He said, ‘We went out to San Juan, and I saw who I really am. I am like those Chamulas out there. But when I saw the people in Betaña, I suddenly realised I didn’t want to be like those people in San Juan Chamula.’

“The coach said he became a true Christian and never has been the same since.”

Mr Sterk says this incident illustrates what the Bible has done for the people of Chamula.

“They are coming from darkness into light,” he declares. “I think the story of the Chamula is the story of Christianity in Chiapas, because what is happening with them is also happening across the whole state.

“Chiapas is a place where there are a lot of people whose lives are being changed – and it is happening when people get God’s Word and they become the evangelists. In an animistic society, people are looking for who has the power.”

Amid all the turmoil of Chiapas, it is evident that in God’s Word people have found the true source of that power. (WR 376/7 - 4/5.03)