Pastor Antonio didn’t waste any time on the phone. “The group of Americans is here? I’ll pick you up in five minutes.” Click. The five of us waited outside our hotel, wondering what Antonio would be like, and what we would be doing for the next three weeks in Guatemala.
What we did know was that we would be ministering in a lakeside village called San Pablo, working with the Tzutujil people. What we didn’t yet know is that these people would capture our hearts within a day, and that Pastor Antonio’s family was about to give us a lesson in being faithful to God’s call.
After dropping off our luggage at the Pastor’s home, we hopped a truck to tackle the windy, mountainous road to San Pablo. Antonio travels this road every evening for a 5-7 pm service. If his wife has had a successful day selling her donuts and home-made clothing by the side of the road, they get to hire a truck (it’s still a half hour drive). If not, they go “a pie”…. on foot.
We watched the scenery fly by from the back of a pickup truck, amazed at the beauty before us. We saw towering mountains, tops hidden in fog, the wide expanse of the crystal blue waters of Lake Atitlan, the coffee plants and corn fields that provide sustenance for the indigenous people here. We paused in silence when we passed a wide swath of dirt and rocks – the dried remains of the mudslides last October during Hurricane Stan.
Before we knew it, we were piling out of the truck into a new reality. Cobblestone streets, mud-brick houses, women dazzling in their native clothing, girls rapidly crocheting on the side of the road, children laughing and calling out to us in what little Spanish or English they knew. We followed Antonio into a humble green building, with a cement floor, metal roof, walls of bamboo sticks covered in plastic. This was church. We sat down on hand-made wooden pews and listened to Antonio explain the calling that God has placed on his heart.
Of the 150,000 people that live in the various villages around the lake, 95% speak and understand only Tzutujil. Twenty five years ago, a missionary project labored to provide the Tzutujil people with a New Testament in their own language. They succeeded in distributing 4,000 copies among the people before closing down the project. Twenty five years later, however, no new copies have been printed. Even more disturbing is the revelation that most of the evangelical churches in the area insist on teaching in Spanish – a language that only 5% of the people understand.
As we Americans tried to wrap our minds around this, Antonio, who speaks both Spanish and Tzutujil, went on to tell us that God had clearly called his family to minister in this dialect. Antonio and his father-in-law have spent many years doing radio programs in Tzutujil, and have planted several churches. Although they have attempted to achieve unity with other evangelical pastors in the area, those churches have refused to support a Tzutujil ministry, even through prayer. I began to understand why the family was so ecstatic and welcoming – we had come to work and serve alongside them, when their own people wouldn’t even pray for their needs.
Back to San Pablo and our ministry plans… Through discussion and team prayer, we felt led to remain open to what God would have us do each day. We expect to run children’s programs, do outreach through youth sports, go door to door to pray and evangelize, and look for ways to meet specific needs. Perhaps we’ll be joining Antonio in the coffee harvest, or helping his wife prepare for the day’s work. Whatever it is, pray that God would be glorified, and that His people would be encouraged in their work.
Katherine, on behalf of Team Doulos
