Chichicastenango

Well, it's Mr. B again, but don't be too upset. . . we have had a very long and exciting transition day and the students for once were not resisting the notion of going to bed. I need some much needed rest, so this will be short and by tomorrow I am sure I get a few of them to relate what we have seen, heard, and experienced today - and it was incredible.

We left Guatemala City early this morning and with our team and 28 black bags loaded onto two vans and a truck we began the long and winding journey into the mountains to Chichicastenango. The ride was long but the scenery was breathtaking. We wound up roads that were narrow and with many sections reduced even more because of construction. Driving in Guatemala is something I will just let your students tell you about when they get home - something like Disneyland's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on steroids. But folks here know how to drive in this madness, so worry not, we arrived safe, sound, and only with some queasy stomachs. We knew we had finally arrived in Central America today as the last vestiges of the capitol city faded away and we were in a world more green than any of us have probably experienced before and rural in a way that is hard to explain. Mountains, lakes, volcano peaks looming through the ever-present cloud cover - all viewed through fields of corn growing wild mixed with apple and coffee trees. Horses, cows, and sheep roam without fences and the villages we drove through were small and the roads so narrow that two vehicles pass only within inches of each other. The native people here are Mayan - most 100% and many do not speak Spanish. The dress is wildly colorful, rural, and almost ancient. We finally arrived at our charming but, again, very rustic hotel in time to quickly change for a quick tour of ASELSI and then off to a village church for the evening youth service. We will tell you more about ASELSI tomorrow but we were impressed with the magnitude of their ministry in an area that they told us was the poorest region in all of the Western hemisphere except for Haiti (and with the highest infant mortality rate in the Western world). It is an amazing ministry but still with so little to help so many - more of that later.
We arrived at the small church and quickly set up to essentially provide the entire 2.5 hour service to approximately 100 Mayan youth of all ages. It was an evening I don't think your students will soon forgot. Katie Bolvito and Coleman Merenda both gave very powerful testimonies that even these very poor and somewhat isolated youth could connect despite the obvious differences in culture and resources. The students performed two songs in Spanish that the native youth enthusiastically embraced. Last night during our devotion time, Katy Peterson asked if she could deliver the main message (which we were told we would be invited to give). I told her I would ask, knowing that the chances of a youth giving the "sermon" - in a region that is extremely conservative (mark that - very conservative) was slim at best. However, we learned that this is the only church in this area that encourages women to participate in ministry and even has a woman in charge of the youth ministry. So, as God has done every day on this trip, things worked out perfectly in that Katy was allowed to give the message which she did (with the difficulty of translation thrown in) with great boldness and confidence. There was no question in any of our minds that God had ordained this and provided the opportunity that we hope will not be our last. I have asked God everyday to let the students lead every ministry aspect of this trip and so far God has done more than I could have even hoped for. The students also performed two very powerful and moving drama's (I hope the video's make it to you soon on YouTube) and the local youth responded to them both in a way that I can only tell brought chills to me - and tears. We ended the evening all standing together in front of the church, singing, clapping, and dancing (yes, Immanuel Bible Church students dancing in front the Lord in worship and loving it). What a sight. Your children standing and dancing together with Mayan youth (our khaki's and tennis shoes mixed with traditional Mayan skirts and blouses), holding hands, shouting praises, and with many of the Mayan youth crying. Their pastor at the end said it was a vision of what heaven will be like - all of us from every race and age - together focused only on worship of the Lamb!). We finished the service by giving the church a special offering from our team (and the money you provided in support) and went back to the hotel for dinner with a missionary couple here at ASELSI (he from Argentina, she from Holland - more on that later as we will see them again later this week).
Time for bed -and sorry about so much detail but it was evening like none other that I can remember in working with your students and these short-term missions. You can be so proud of them - and grateful to God for sending them here. There are hearts being changed and giftings being used for the first time - all of it because they responded to the calling to serve. Continue to pray for our health and stamina. This is a very rural and isolated area and much cooler (check that, cold!). Thanks for the prayers also - we feel them.

Mr B