José was here yesterday, and I related to him a narrative Barbara Grimes forwarded to me, about Walter, Ronald, and the great sacrifice they willingly made to get the translation of God's Word in the heart-language of the Tennet people of Africa. José hung on every word of the story as if he and Manuel themselves were the protagonists, and I could see the empathy inscribed on his furrowed forehead and in his misty eyes. When the story concluded with the concept that some are naturally gifted for the role of translator and others are equally valuable as supporters, he couldn't have agreed more. With other key Huichol leaders, he and Manuel have discussed at length, the project and their need to choose and appoint likely translation candidates based on character and God-given skills.

They are well aware of the system, and they understand the need for doing things "decently and in order," as well. In spite of the fact that patience is one of their major virtues, and faults, the seeming foot-dragging on their part for getting the “letter” processed is not as it may appear.

In the course of our conversation, José mentioned that they were told that Porfirio (from Codorniz and Emilio (from La Quemada), likely translation candidates, are working somewhere on the coast. They tried desperately to locate them, but were unable. José made several calls from my house to Venansio, a Huichol lay-pastor in Tijuanita, trying to follow-up, also to no avail. José is going to make another trip this Saturday to the area in an effort to contact them regarding the translation project. José and Manuel had planned to make the long trip to Codorniz, on the Jalisco border, to encourage, teach, and edify the believers in Pastor Porfirio’s remote village, but since nearly everybody who is able, including Porfirio, is at the coast working, the trip has been cancelled. He also mentioned that he had heard that Emilio is considering returning the Colorado (US) for a few months on a work permit like he obtained last year.

Meanwhile José and Manuel suggested to Gumercindo the possibility that he could be one of the translators. Gumercindo replied that he doesn't think he's "smart" enough. )
(My opinion is that he's WAY smart enough, and his wife, Máxima is also "smart." However, I don't want to influence their own Spirit-led selection.) José and Manuel both insisted that he shouldn't think in terms of doing the whole OT on his own, but that they would all be willing and craving the opportunity to review, discuss, and reduce to the best option, every word if necessary. José said, "The problem is not that we don't think we can translate from Spanish to Huichol; it's that this is not just any piece of writing. It's God's perfect Word, and we don't want to mess it up!" Wow! So, all this is to say, the desire is more than there, and the wheels are turning, but physical logistics have made carrying out the letter of petition including the names of potential translators difficult to say the least.