Monday, January 10, 2011

Special Service in Se Tul

Another KBI module starts tomorrow! This past summer we met a family who was traveling through Petén. They didn't speak much Spanish, but they were fluent in Kekchi... who would have thought! James Yoder and his wife Marietta were missionaries with the Kekchi in Belize 18 years ago. We stayed in touch with him and James agreed to come back down to teach a module for KBI.
Saturday Jimmy and James were invited to a special event in Se Tul. This is the village on the complete other side of Petén (about 3 hours of highway driving time) where the Kekchi radio station is based. There were two special events: one the inauguration of a new parsonage
{The man in the center left is the pastor of this church.}

and two the 20th anniversary of the church.
{Berea Baptist Church}

They got there early and got a tour of the village.
In the center of the village are hand dug wells. That is where everyone comes to draw water.

We haven't been there in almost 3 years, since we went with Pastor Andy to see the radio firsthand.
(Andy, the air conditioner is still there and they were quick to point it out as the one you bought for them to keep their machines cool.)

It is a very large church and out of 260 families in the village, 80 are members of the Baptist church.
{ribbon cutting ceremony}
{time of prayer & dedication}

After a special prayer and dedication of the new parsonage, they had a big meal for everybody.
The meal was caldo which is what they basically call anything that is in liquid. I wasn't there this time, but I have never eaten caldo in a Kekchi village when it was not delicious and Jimmy confirmed this time that it was!
{Jimmy with Domingo, grabbing a tortilla haha}

A couple hours later the service started. This was such a big event that both the Catholic church and the Spanish speaking church in the village attended.
{a special processional to start the service}
{a very giving people}
Both James and Jimmy gave a testimony. I don't have a picture of James giving his because I forgot to give Jimmy our camera before he left. So thank you to James for all of these photos!

James was a big hit! He speaks perfect Kekchi after working for so many years in Belize, and as teenagers would walk by him having a conversation with one of the other pastors (many attended to show their support) they would stop in their tracks, turn around and just listen to the white guy speaking Kekchi. Hopefully we are not too far away from this.

It was a great time of fellowship with the pastors and all are excited about attending the Institute this week. Please be in prayer for that!

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