Our Week In Sayaxche

We ate breakfast in Flores on Tuesday morning and then finished the last leg of our trip on to Sayaxche. We arrived around lunchtime.

Here are Cruz and I on the ferry that crosses the Passion River at Sayaxche.  He and I got out of the car as we crossed so we he could look at the water.  We then waited until all of the cars got off and we walked off last. He loved it.   We crossed on that ferry many times when he was a baby although he has no memory of it.

We then drove to the motel to make sure the rooms were ready for the team to arrive.  I'm glad we got there early.  They had lost our reservation and already had other reservations for the week.   In other words, they were full.  Well, when David finished talking with them we were shown our room and the four rooms for the team were ready also.

We ate a hot dog and nacho lunch at the Oasis (our favorite place in town) and then waited for the team to arrive.  They got there mid afternoon.

Here I am greeting Mrs. Jane and Ms. Shirley as they arrived

I'd say we were happy to see each other

We spent some time hanging out and getting caught up with everyone before supper

Here is the team after breakfast on Wednesday morning.  In addition to our family there was Jim McGriff (retired IMB missionary who was our former supervisor), Jim and Carol Browder, Shirley Hammond, Wendall and Jane Parker (retired IMB missionaries and our former mentors), and Bro. David (the Parker's pastor from Georgia).

As I mentioned in an earlier post the reason for our trip to Sayaxche was to attend a retreat for the Kekchi national missionaries.  For many, many years Jim McGriff and the Parker's have done an annual retreat for them.  Even after retirement they have continued to come down each year to do this retreat.  It is a time for the Kekchi brothers to fellowship, have Bible study together, pray, and encourage each other.  These men are passionate about sharing Christ among their people group, and starting new churches in unreached areas.  We got to work alongside of most of these men for several years while we were assigned to the Kekchi.  Those were some of our favorite years!  We love these men and learned a lot from them.  We miss working with them but are happy to hear how the Kekchi work is continuing on through their faithfulness to serve.

The Kekchi national missionaries who attended the conference.  There were some who couldn't make it.  I think there are around 25 total.

Each one had a time to share about their work.  They talked about their struggles and also shared about the good things God is doing where they serve.  Afterwards they were prayed over by the group.  It was an encouraging time for them.  This is Bro. Miguel Chub who serves in the Lanquin/ Cahabon region near Coban.  We always enjoyed getting to minister with him.  He has a servants heart!

This is Bro. Javier who serves in the Peten region. 

Mr. Wendall and Mrs. Jane led the group in a few songs before each session.

Bro. David (the Parker's pastor) came down to teach the Bible study.  It was his first trip to Guatemala.  He taught the study and Mrs. Jane translated for him into Kekchi.

Below are some other miscellaneous photos from our time there-

Here is our group having devotion one morning.

A breakfast meal one morning at Don Rosendo's restaurant.  He was our former landlord and the house we used to live in was in the background to the left.

We only did a night meal once with the team.  It was just too hard with our rowdy boys.  So while they went out one night we visited a new pizza place.  It was not there when we lived there so we thought we would give it a try.  It was a cheap meal ($5.00) and not too bad.  It was also raining that night as you can see by David's soaked shirt.

Here is Cruz with Bro. David one afternoon when we finished.  Bro. David had a picture Bible story book and was going through it with Cruz.  It was soo sweet to watch the two of them together.  It blesses my heart when people take up time with my kids!!!

and here are my two rowdy boys doing what they do best- playing (and getting dirty, ha)

The retreat ended at lunch on Thursday and all the Kekchi men returned to their homes.  We had to leave on Friday morning because of some commitments we had back home, but the team stayed and made some prayer visits on Friday and Saturday and attended a Kekchi service on Sunday morning before starting their journey back to Guatemala City later that day.  Before departing ways we took an afternoon boat ride together down the Passion River.  I'll try to blog about that tomorrow.  We had a great week together and we were very happy we got to be there to be a part of it all. 

Over The River And Through The Woods

As I mentioned in my last post David recently went on his first overnight trip without me.  I was very sad to see him drive away and me not be in the car with him.  I am not one to stay at home when I could be out and about with the people, but I knew this trip would not be a good one for a 1.5 year old and his pregnant mama.  So Cruz and I hung out at the house and I heard him ask for his daddy at least a thousand times. 

He picked up a Kekchi national missionary in town and they then headed to the village of Santa Amelia.  They had to cross a ferry to get there and it was a ferry we had never been to before.  Once arriving in the village they were greeted by the local pastor and a few church members and treated to a caldo lunch.  They then left the vehicle there and headed out hiking.  The purpose of this trip was to visit the village of Chi lar.  There is a group of people who recently began meeting there and they wanted to become a mission so David and Abilino went and had a service to offically organize them as a Kekchi Baptist Mission.  Once they arrived they were fed another meal, they had the service, and then they hiked back a little over an hour (in the dark) to the village of Santa Amelia where they spent the night.  When they returned to the village they were fed again.  They slept in the pastors home on typical Kekchi beds which are just wood frames.  Between David's sinus issues and the others snoring he said he got very little sleep.

The next morning they were up early for breakfast and then took part in the service at the church in Santa Amelia.  They ate lunch with the pastor and church leaders before heading back home to Sayaxche.  Here are a few photos from his trip-

Hiking to the village of Chi lar

They could have driven there but they would have had to cross our vehicle on this other ferry.  The nationals did not think that was a good idea so they left the car in Santa Amelia, crossed the river in canoes, and hiked the hour to the village.

more hiking

Eventually some locals met up with them and brought them horses to finish the trip.  Cruz would have loved this part!

Cruz loves to look at this photo.  His two favorite things- his daddy and horses. 

This is the church at Santa Amelia.  To the left is Kekchi national missionary Abilino with the pastor and his wife.

a few kids from the village

Kekchi National Missionary Retreat

Last week while in Coban we helped host an annual retreat for the Kekchi national missionaries.  Currently there are twenty-two, but only seventeen could attend.  There are six from the north where we work and five out of those six were present.  It was good to see many whom we had worked with in the past from the different regions of Kekchi work.  This is a retreat that our former supervisor, Jim McGriff, has been doing for many years.  He returned this year with a team to continue the tradition.  It is held at the pastor's study center in Coban. 

These men have a true heart to reach their own people.  It has been amazing getting to work alongside these men and learn from them.  They have been mentors to us in many ways.

It was a two day conference.  It began on Wednesday afternoon with a welcome and greetings.  The Parker's were in charge of leading music.  These brothers love to sing.

Miss Fran then had a time to share with the men.  She shared a little of her testimony and struggles from the early years in the work.  She talked a lot about the Bible and how it came to be written in the Kekchi language.  Many of the men shared their memories of working before the Bible was translated.  There were many tears shed during this session time.  She shared with them a new booklet she recently wrote about translating the Bible, the people that were involved, and the how it was done. 

That evening and the next day each national missionary had a time to share their heart with the group.  They shared highs and lows, as well as family and ministry prayer requests. They were then prayed over by the group.  This is always a special time for these men to get loved on and encouraged.  

Please pray for these men as they share the gospel in many hard to reach areas.  They often face hardships and resistance.  Pray for the families they leave at home for days at a time so that they can travel and share the gospel.  Pray for their safety, health, and protection and that God would continue to use each of them to reach many who have yet to receive Christ.