Celebrating Life

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

We are learning that first birthdays call for big celebrations around here. After we showed the film on Saturday we walked back to Bro. Macario's house to take part in the birthday celebration of his grandson. They had a worship service and then had food cooked for everyone to eat. We stayed for most of the service before heading back to Las Casas. As you can see from the following photo they had the house really decorated. There were balloons and streamers everywhere.

The service is like a normal church service- singing, praying, preaching, etc. During the service they have the parents come forward with the baby and everyone gets a chance to go by and give them well wishes and a gift. Some people had brought presents and some just gave money. They put a purse/ typical bag around the baby's neck for everyone to drop money in. It was a fun and festive celebration. This is Mrs. Jane wishing Bryan a happy birthday. You can see the money bag around his neck.

This is a short video showing a man putting money in the purse and greeting the family.

This is one of the K'ekchi' missionaries- Bro. Macario. He is holding his grandson, Bryan. It was his 1st birthday that we were celebrating.