Palantla Talking Bibles

From SPARK

Brief Summary

How Talking Bibles are being used among the Palanta Chinantecs of Mexico.

The project was to get an audio recording of the New Testament into the hands of the Palantla Chinantec people along with a primer and written Scripture portions. Planning for this involved the provision of free players and overcoming the limitation of batteries. Read about success with unbelievers and the various lessons that were learned.

Introduction

Talking Bibles were the only option known to us when we began this project.

Key Factors:

• The recording of the entire Palantla Chinantec New Testament was completed in the spring of 2004.

• We were offered the opportunity of putting the recording into Talking Bible format.

• Fifty free players were offered, so we accepted this, and the players were
  readied later in the spring of 2004.

What was done

Right after we selected the Talking Bibles, Agustin Gregorio Justo recorded messages for each of the four tracks in the recording. He also recorded a general message on how to navigate around the entire New Testament.

There are buttons for play, fast forward, rewind, and stop, and also a button that changes the track. A person can locate a particular passage by using the buttons. I have never tried doing so. I believe that other players have more adequate search capabilities.

Before we began distributing the players, we made a plan. It included researching the affordability of AC adapters. The players come with four AA batteries. In our experience, when batteries wear out, the user is likely to give up on the player. Batteries are expensive and they are not readily available in the language area.

We found sources for inexpensive adapters in Oaxaca and bought a supply for our initial trip.

Another part of the plan was to offer a set of Chinantec books to go with the players. The books included the New Testament, Old Testament Summary, primer, Gospel of John, and Genesis. We decided to charge the customer only the price of the adapter, which was about $4 US.

After the initial great response (see below) we decided to buy 100 more players to saturate the language area. We let our supporters know of the need and soon the entire project was funded. Twenty were shipped from Michigan to us in Arizona and the others were to be sent directly to Mexico.

Results of the Talking Bible project

In January and February of 2005, 44 of the original 50 players were distributed. We found that the players were very popular. The best response was among Chinantec unbelievers we had known for years in the village of San Juan Palantla.

Some results were not so great. There were some quality control issues. Some of the players needed repairs or adjustments before they could be used. The 80 players sent from Michigan to Oaxaca got held up in Mexican Customs. Those were eventually returned to the US and taken down by automobile by us and others.

We made two decisions on impulse. Choosing the Talking Bible format was one. Looking back we may have done better doing research on other ways of getting the recordings distributed. The second impulsive decision, which seemed wise at the time, was to order the 100 additional players. The shipping of the 80 proved to give lots of frustration. We were able to see the shipment but were not able to get it released. These players need to be taken down by individuals and not shipped. I believe the agency in Michigan has learned this painful lesson as well.

Another downside of the Talking Bibles project is that the players have moving parts. This is not a factor in other players.

The jury is still out as to the success of the project. We are not in Mexico now and don’t plan to be in the foreseeable future. We have left distribution to the believers themselves, especially one family in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca.

By Al Anderson