What a week!

The week of March 12 we hosted six members of River Glen Presbyterian Church in Chicago. We traveled to a remote part of Chiapas just 20 miles from the border with Guatemala to build a kitchen in the Lacandon Indian village San Javier. The Lacandon are considered to be the most direct descendants of the ancient Mayan people, yet there are less than 800 living members of their tribe. They only recently have welcomed Christian missionaries in their villages, and only one of five Lacandon communities has allowed a church to be built. I was fortunate to be one of the Salem Presbytery mission travelers that build the first church for this unreached people.

Just like that trip, this one combined four cultures in mission work-American, Spanish, Tzeltal and Lacandon, and this one accomplish a similar feat of completing a building in just 5 days!

The building will have a variety of uses initially. It will provide temporary housing for the missionary family serving in that community, and its kitchen will also be used by the Ladies' Society of the church. In addition to preparing food there for church gatherings, the Ladies' Society will use the kitchen to prepare food for sale at a nearby tourist center. Sales of empanadas (a delicious turnover often filled with meat or sweet filling) will help generate income for their families and raise funds for the church.

The River Glen group was joined in Villahermosa by 3 members of a large Presbyterian Church in Comocalco, plus the son and daughter-in-law of the Hebron Foundation President. We were hosted by the members of the Tzeltal village of Plan de Ayutla, and they continued the tradition of offering incredible hospitality to the group.

The church in Plan de Ayutla (in conjunction with the Lacandon Presbytery, Hebron Foundation and PCUSA) sponsors the missionary to the Lacandon. Manuel and his wife and children moved from Plan de Ayutla to San Javier two years ago. The church in Plan de Ayutla sent 15 to 20 men each day to work on the kitchen project and their contribution made completing the project in 5 days possible.

Through good planning before the build and long days of hard work, we were able to finish the building in 5 days. We ended the week with a community celebration with over 150 people from San Javier and Plan de Ayutla. Pastor Doug Bradshaw gave an inspiring message at the celebration that was translated into the native Indian language.

Another great week! Lives were changed, a building was constructed that will serve the people for many years, and cross cultural relationships were forged that will transcend this lifetime. I love this work!!