The Worlds of Difference radio series broadcast on NPR has compiled a fine set of radio programs dealing with the impact of modern culture on traditional societies, and how change affects such communities, for good and bad.
Their most recent broadcast is called The Zapotec Bible, which discusses the work of my friend Rebecca Long among the Yaganiza Zapotec (yah-gah-NEE-sah SAH-po-tek) people of Oaxaca, Mexico. The link gives a summary of the story, with a link to the downloadable audio of the NPR broadcast of October 23, 2004. Rebecca is a linguist/translator and a member of SIL International.
It’s an important story. The word of God is a powerful agent of change, and the changes (real and imagined) that it represents are not always welcome.
For more information on Bible translation and the work of SIL International, see my recent essays Beautiful Feet and How Far Would You Walk?
