On November 1st, most Americans are waking up from their sugar comas, hiding leftover candy from their kids, washing off their makeup, cleaning up from the party, throwing away overly soft jack o’ lanterns, and packing away the costumes and decorations until next year. But in Guatemala, the party is just getting started.
This is when Guatemalans are celebrating Day of the Dead – a day set aside to not just honor, but actually worship ancestors who have passed away. Along with much debauchery and celebration, alters are built for the ancestors and meals are had in cemeteries. Another Guatemalan twist on this day is a kite festival. In two cities in Guatemala, townspeople construct barriletes, enormous kites made of crepe paper and bamboo which can measure up to thirty feet long by ten feet wide. At these kite festivals, families take their kite to an open field for it to soar through the skies. In this way they call to the departed, who identify their family by the colors used in the kite and slide down the string to join them below. Afterward, the kites are burned so the dead may quietly return to their world. It is thought that if the kites are not burned, the souls won't know how to return home and they will stay, damaging those who mourn them.
One of these kite festivals takes place just a few miles from San Lucas, where we are working this month. While our team was intrigued by the tradition, we wanted to avoid what the festival represented, so we didn’t attend. So instead, we decided to reclaim the tradition and turn it into something that represented truth and life for the kids.
Our ministry host purchased several plain kites, and our team decorated them with bible verses in Spanish. When we took them outside we were met with squeals of delight, hugs and jumping up and down. After reading the verses together, we passed out the kites and the kids went to town – flying kites for the Lord! Even with little wind, they managed to get them airborne – and they probably would have stayed out all night if we hadn’t dragged them in for dinner.
It was really cool to see how with some scripture and prayer a tradition centered around darkness brought life to little lives.
