Well we all made it safely to Palenque, some just a little faster than others. Our team didn’t arrive until about 7:30 am due to our last bus being delayed over 2 hrs. At least the good thing about taking 2 red eye buses through the night is that we didn’t have to pay for any hotels!
Lucky for us, the park with the Mayan temple ruins didn’t open til 8, so when we got there all the other teams were still sitting outside the gate. When the doors opened it was a mad dash as we all sprinted to get to the top of the highest temple. We got 2nd place, YEAH!! Then we all just enjoyed exploring the ruins for the rest of the morning. Although the buildings and structures were amazing and beautiful, it was also very sad to realize that this entire civilization was build on lies, and founded on violence and fear. It makes me all the more grateful that we serve a God of love who’s only desire for us is to know Him and have an intimate relationship with Him. We have hope and peace, instead of fear and condemnation. Hallelujah!
We’re currently staying at a Bible College in Palenque that is run by a pastor named Eleazar and his wife Marta. Four years ago they started this non-denominational college for local area pastors who really haven’t had any formal Bible training. God is really using them in this area to train and equip other pastors to reach their villages for Christ. They’ve been extremely generous by opening up the school to 55 of us for our last week of training. May God bless them as they have blessed us!
Sunday after church we had the awesome opportunity to go to a waterfall named
Aguas
Azules or
Blue Waters. It was about an hour and a half from where we’re staying, and the crazy taxi ride through the mountains almost made me sick, but it was definitely worth it! The waterfalls were incredibly beautiful, and we all had the greatest time climbing around on the rocks and just enjoying God’s amazing creation. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it! (I have a feeling I’ll be saying that a lot this year… J) And I actually got to jump off one of the waterfalls (about 15 ft.)…Daddy, you would have been proud! The best part was that these waterfalls were completely unregulated. We could climb or swim or jump off of any rocks we wanted, it was great! Praise God for his wild, untamable creation!
More intense spiritual training started Monday and will go through Friday, as Seth Barnes, Gary Black, and Andrew Shearman joined us here in Palenque. These amazing men of God have so much to share with us and I don’t know how I’m going to take it all in in only 5 days. I know we are all going to be stretched and broken as our minds and spirits are challenged and more junk in our hearts is stripped away as we awaken to the true destiny that God has call us to. It makes me so excited to see the things God is going to do in and through our group this year.
Thanks so much for all your support and prayers. It’s so encouraging to read everyone’s comments and know that I have so many people cheering me on back home. Please keep it up!
