Diversity Pride
Minority language speakers, for example.
I spent a good chunk of my life working to help people who speak one of 6000 minority languages in the world today, working in linguistic analysis, developing writing systems, literacy and local literature, and responding to their request to translate the Bible into their language.
Often, these cultural groups are marginalized, and the speakers feel a certain amount of shame, about their language, and consequently about their identity.
People from one minority language group in northern Ghana are so ashamed of their identity, they deny any knowledge of their language when they're outside their villages, hoping no one will guess. Imagine!
Most of these people have to be bi- or multi-lingual to survive, or at least have a family member who is. And their churches may continue to use the Bible in a language of wider communication, to unify the group.
Whatever language they use, my hope and prayer is that they embrace their unique identity as a treasure, just as I work to embrace my unique identity as a treasure!
Minority language speakers, for example.
I spent a good chunk of my life working to help people who speak one of 6000 minority languages in the world today, working in linguistic analysis, developing writing systems, literacy and local literature, and responding to their request to translate the Bible into their language.
Often, these cultural groups are marginalized, and the speakers feel a certain amount of shame, about their language, and consequently about their identity.
People from one minority language group in northern Ghana are so ashamed of their identity, they deny any knowledge of their language when they're outside their villages, hoping no one will guess. Imagine!
Most of these people have to be bi- or multi-lingual to survive, or at least have a family member who is. And their churches may continue to use the Bible in a language of wider communication, to unify the group.
Whatever language they use, my hope and prayer is that they embrace their unique identity as a treasure, just as I work to embrace my unique identity as a treasure!
Minority language speakers, for example.
I spent a good chunk of my life working to help people who speak one of 6000 minority languages in the world today, working in linguistic analysis, developing writing systems, literacy and local literature, and responding to their request to translate the Bible into their language.
Often, these cultural groups are marginalized, and the speakers feel a certain amount of shame, about their language, and consequently about their identity.
People from one minority language group in northern Ghana are so ashamed of their identity, they deny any knowledge of their language when they're outside their villages, hoping no one will guess. Imagine!
Most of these people have to be bi- or multi-lingual to survive, or at least have a family member who is. And their churches may continue to use the Bible in a language of wider communication, to unify the group.
Whatever language they use, my hope and prayer is that they embrace their unique identity as a treasure, just as I work to embrace my unique identity as a treasure!
8 x 8 x 1” oil on wood panel. Framed size, 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 1 1/2”.