Another week in Chiapas has come to a close. This week, I worked in the village of Chaban in the jungle of Chiapas. This was Hebron USA’s first trip to Chaban, so it was exciting to be a part of it. Chaban was beautiful and there was a fairly large river in the village too, which we thoroughly enjoyed. This week, the group was from Salem Presbytery in North Carolina. All but one of them had been to Chiapas before, so they were a seasoned group that was well prepared to tackle the week in Chaban.
This week was a lot different than I expected. My role is slightly different from week to week, and it is not very well-defined, so it can be difficult to navigate my purpose from week to week. The group was not very interested in doing Adventure Ed group-building activities, so I was only requested to do this one night this week. That was definitely a highlight for me, though, because it was awesome to see the group work together.
The construction work consisted of building classrooms for the church. The village could potentially become a Compassion village now that they have these classrooms. Thus, the week consisted of sifting sand, mixing concrete, carrying botes, spreading gravel, and removing a tree stump. Since the individual tasks changed a lot from day to day, it was difficult to get into a rhythm of work. This challenged me to find purpose and satisfaction in other avenues, since if my goal was to end the morning sweaty and exhausted, the week would have been a bit of a let-down. For example, one morning there were not a ton of jobs to do, so I played cards with Josúe and Paola instead. We invented an extreme version of Kings in the Corner with two decks at once and had a ton of fun playing the rest of the morning. Hence, I grew a lot this week from considering the question, “How can I be the best steward of my time right now?” Maybe that means playing card games when I cannot find a job, taking a break and resting, or simply talking with the brothers of the village. My summer is about so much more than mixing concrete.
In the afternoons, we led Vacation Bible School for the kids of the village. My joh was to read the Bible story in Spanish. Thankfully, the kids of Chaban generally understood Spanish. My favorite story that the group did was Noah’s Ark. They brought animal masks for the kids, and after reading the story once through, we had the kids reenact the story by climbing into the ark (a blanket with an ark painted on it). The kids really enjoyed it.
Other than that, I encountered God in many small ways throughout the week. At the church service on Sunday, I read the Scripture in Spanish, which was very special to me. I played lots of cards with Josúe and Paola, and on the weekend, we walked to town to get ice cream together. I sang and played ukulele with the kids of the village. I focused heavily on devotional times and journalling, which has been incredibly beneficial for renewing my energy each day and helping me to reflect.
Another aspect that has continued this week is building relationships with the men who travel with us each week to work. They are continuing to teach me how to be Chiapaneca. They love to say, “Es necessario para ser Chiapaneca,” meaning it’s necessary that I do this in order to be Chiapaneca. This week, that consisted of drinking a milk-like drink that I do not particularly enjoy, but is custom in the villages, eating two lunches back-to-back one day (one with the group and one with the men of the village; that was a challenge), and carrying many botes of concrete, sand, dirt, and gravel.
I saw God most this week in a man in Chaban named Jeronimo. He is an elder of the church and was clearly overwhelmed with excitement that a group was coming to work in his village. He was at the church from sun-up to sun-down each day, making sure thay everything was just right. Every night, he would ask us if we had dirty T-shirts that he could wash for us. At first, we would say no, because we had a sufficient amount to last through the week. Finally, however, I decided that we should just give him a shirt or two to wash, since that is clearly what he wanted to do, so someone gave him a few shirts. It made him happy to provide for us, as we reciprocally provided for him. At the final church service of the week, Jeronimo gave an incredibly long “thank you” speech to us. Eventually, Pablo stopped translating word-for-word and just said, “And he is just saying thank you again.” That night and the following morning as we left Chaban, Jeronimo cried as he shook our hands. You do not often see Tzeltal men crying. It was a poweful image of how God is at work through these trips and what these relationships mean to the Tzeltal people. May we all have the joy and servant’s heart of Jeronimo.
Well, that about sums up the week. This weekend, I had to say goodbye to Josúe, who will be staying in Ocosingo for school this week and not travelling to the village with us. That was a hard goodbye. He has been a blessing to me this summer. We have become great friends and have enjoyed playing together.
Next week, I am headed back to Ch’ixtontic (the village where I went to last year) with a group from the First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach. Pray for safety for the group and a transformative week in Ch’ixtontic. Pray for renewed energy for me and the workers of Hebron USA. Pray for Jeronimo and the people of Chaban.
Thank you for continuing to read about how God is working in Chiapas this summer.
This week was a lot different than I expected. My role is slightly different from week to week, and it is not very well-defined, so it can be difficult to navigate my purpose from week to week. The group was not very interested in doing Adventure Ed group-building activities, so I was only requested to do this one night this week. That was definitely a highlight for me, though, because it was awesome to see the group work together.
The construction work consisted of building classrooms for the church. The village could potentially become a Compassion village now that they have these classrooms. Thus, the week consisted of sifting sand, mixing concrete, carrying botes, spreading gravel, and removing a tree stump. Since the individual tasks changed a lot from day to day, it was difficult to get into a rhythm of work. This challenged me to find purpose and satisfaction in other avenues, since if my goal was to end the morning sweaty and exhausted, the week would have been a bit of a let-down. For example, one morning there were not a ton of jobs to do, so I played cards with Josúe and Paola instead. We invented an extreme version of Kings in the Corner with two decks at once and had a ton of fun playing the rest of the morning. Hence, I grew a lot this week from considering the question, “How can I be the best steward of my time right now?” Maybe that means playing card games when I cannot find a job, taking a break and resting, or simply talking with the brothers of the village. My summer is about so much more than mixing concrete.
In the afternoons, we led Vacation Bible School for the kids of the village. My joh was to read the Bible story in Spanish. Thankfully, the kids of Chaban generally understood Spanish. My favorite story that the group did was Noah’s Ark. They brought animal masks for the kids, and after reading the story once through, we had the kids reenact the story by climbing into the ark (a blanket with an ark painted on it). The kids really enjoyed it.
Other than that, I encountered God in many small ways throughout the week. At the church service on Sunday, I read the Scripture in Spanish, which was very special to me. I played lots of cards with Josúe and Paola, and on the weekend, we walked to town to get ice cream together. I sang and played ukulele with the kids of the village. I focused heavily on devotional times and journalling, which has been incredibly beneficial for renewing my energy each day and helping me to reflect.
Another aspect that has continued this week is building relationships with the men who travel with us each week to work. They are continuing to teach me how to be Chiapaneca. They love to say, “Es necessario para ser Chiapaneca,” meaning it’s necessary that I do this in order to be Chiapaneca. This week, that consisted of drinking a milk-like drink that I do not particularly enjoy, but is custom in the villages, eating two lunches back-to-back one day (one with the group and one with the men of the village; that was a challenge), and carrying many botes of concrete, sand, dirt, and gravel.
I saw God most this week in a man in Chaban named Jeronimo. He is an elder of the church and was clearly overwhelmed with excitement that a group was coming to work in his village. He was at the church from sun-up to sun-down each day, making sure thay everything was just right. Every night, he would ask us if we had dirty T-shirts that he could wash for us. At first, we would say no, because we had a sufficient amount to last through the week. Finally, however, I decided that we should just give him a shirt or two to wash, since that is clearly what he wanted to do, so someone gave him a few shirts. It made him happy to provide for us, as we reciprocally provided for him. At the final church service of the week, Jeronimo gave an incredibly long “thank you” speech to us. Eventually, Pablo stopped translating word-for-word and just said, “And he is just saying thank you again.” That night and the following morning as we left Chaban, Jeronimo cried as he shook our hands. You do not often see Tzeltal men crying. It was a poweful image of how God is at work through these trips and what these relationships mean to the Tzeltal people. May we all have the joy and servant’s heart of Jeronimo.
Well, that about sums up the week. This weekend, I had to say goodbye to Josúe, who will be staying in Ocosingo for school this week and not travelling to the village with us. That was a hard goodbye. He has been a blessing to me this summer. We have become great friends and have enjoyed playing together.
Next week, I am headed back to Ch’ixtontic (the village where I went to last year) with a group from the First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach. Pray for safety for the group and a transformative week in Ch’ixtontic. Pray for renewed energy for me and the workers of Hebron USA. Pray for Jeronimo and the people of Chaban.
Thank you for continuing to read about how God is working in Chiapas this summer.
Josúe, Paola, and I enjoyed playing cards together this week
Josúe thought it was funny that Haley (on the left) had her shirt tucked in, so we all tried the style
The pulpit at the church in Chaban (Isaiah 40:31)
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