Education for a Better Life

Mural on school across from church in X-Yatil

Today, we went to two villages and in both the emphasis was on discipling people into a new or deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. How we did that in each village was different. In the first, the emphasis was on leading leaders; in the second, it was on directly presenting the gospel.

We got a later start to the first village. This late start allowed me to get caught up on my morning Bible readings and check in with home. We have wifi in the house where we are staying. We went with Benny Fisher, the man who owns the house where we are staying, two of his workers, and the four of us. We drove about the same distance and roughly to the same area as we drove yesterday morning to a small church in a village called X-Yatil (pronounced sha-teal). There, a group of people were waiting for us. We were there to watch a presentation by Migel Luna about a training program for church leaders International School of Ministry (ISOM). This is a program developed in California, translated into Spanish, and presented in video format. It is an 18-month program the completion of which gives leaders a respected credibility in the village. They will be credentialed leader. It costs them about $18 and it looked like all 10 from that village signed up. I found myself thinking, “these 10 with this training will impact thousands of others for Christ.” It was awesome to be a part of the moment.

Across the street from the church was a wall with a mural, pictured above. The mural showed a Maya man in traditional appearance reaching out with one hand to plug in a computer. To the right was paper with symbols of academic studies and a painting of a young Maya girl walking into a school. The sign on the computer said “Education for a Better Life.” Across the street in the church, that idea was behind what was being presented. If leaders can be equipped for deeper discipleship and can teach that to others, the better life that Christ offers can be experienced fully.

We had lunch with Pastor Alfredo and his wife, Dami, in their home. So far, lunch has been later than lunch back home. Today, we ate at 2 pm. Yesterday, it was 4 pm. After lunch, we packed into a 12-passenger van and headed for the next village.

Home in the village of Naranjal. It was also the church. 

The village of Naranjal was remote. Like many of the villages here, the home construction was stick and thatch roof, using all natural materials readily available from the land around them. This particular home was adding a new bedroom and the expansion project, unlike the rest of the home, was made of concrete blocks. This home was also the church for the village. When I realized that we would gather for worship here, I thought about the earliest of days of the Christian church, to New Testament era Christianity. They met in homes in what we would consider primitive conditions. Just like today. That alone was awesome, but it got better. Dami and two other women led singing for a congregation of mostly women - the men we working - and children. Afterward, Pastor Alfredo spoke to them in Maya. I could tell from several glances and something he was saying he wanted one of us to speak, but we had no translator with us, so none of us did. He opened his Bible and began to speak. I have no idea the specific words he said, but I can read a room. Here was the holy man addressing people he loved. You could hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes, and see the respect of those to whom he spoke. This man was connecting with, ministering to, proclaiming Christ to people he knew and loved. As I sat on the edge of the room watching and listening, even though I could not understand his words, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and I knew God was speaking into the room.

After Pastor Alfredo spoke, he asked if anyone needed prayer. He wanted us to pray for the sick. One young woman came forward with her infant daughter. The mother looked like she was 12 years old. Her baby had heard and respiratory problems. That’s all we were told. So the four of us gathered around, I said to the others, “let’s all pray all at once.” We laid hands on the baby and began to pray that God would heal the girl. Again, another powerful moment that makes me want to come back and see the young mother and her baby to see how God answers that prayer.

We travelled uneventfully back to town, walked down to a restaurant, walked home and visited for a few minutes before heading for bed.

I have been sleeping well at night. The room is air conditioned with a window air conditional which does just enough to take the edge off of the heat. That is perfect for me. I don’t like it cold. Ever. The bed is comfortable and I’ve been tired at night. That combination of comfort and weariness has meant deep, dreamless sleep and feeling well-rested in the mornings.

The food here has been great. As usual, I am cautious about what I eat. I only drink bottled water or soft drinks and I only eat what has been cooked. Although, I did eat some avocado and tomato on a Maya dish the other night and even though I thought about whether the knives used to cut were washed in safe water, I ate it anyway. Richard said that the limestone base on the land around here made for some of the cleanest water around. The water filtering project from Honduras was not a needed here. Still, I am cautious. Having said all of that, the pork dish the other night and the chicken dish last night as well as the beef at lunch yesterday were all flavorful and plentiful. Tortillas and beans are a staple item here and are tasty. Even snack time in the villages has been tasty. At the village this morning, they passed out what was shaped like a pizza slice, but was bread filled with what we guessed was an apple spread layer. Slightly sweet, slightly fruity.

I have not felt unsafe since I’ve been here. We have not encountered any threatening people in the town or in villages, even after walking five blocks through town at night to go to the restaurant tonight. The drug cartel does not operate in this area, since there seems to be little it has to offer them, so gangs and violence related to gangs is not present. Traffic is the only real threat and I’ve seen worse in other parts of the world. Rural traffic is risky around sharp corners and in the fact that many roads have little or no place to pull off should someone miscalculate as they pass. Head-on collisions have happened because there was no place to get off the roads. Because of that, everyone we’ve seen on the roads is more mindful of the oncoming traffic than usual. Again, I have not felt unsafe.

I'm beginning to think about the return trip home. I've been gone eight days and looking forward to being back home.

Off to bed...