Day Six - Saturday, March 31

Today was a bit more relaxing than the past few days. We have a bit of a sleep in & a leisurely breakfast.

We get to travel by school bus today. Most of the team can fit into it, with a few left to travel in one of the vans.

Les takes us up the mountain side to a place called Chixim (pronounced shesheem). It's a Catholic church that overlooks the town of Tactic. The church is built on the site where the Mayan corn god Chixim has been worshipped for hundreds of years. In fact, just outside the church, there are two crosses. One to represent Jesus' cross & the other as an altar to Chixim. The altar is blackened from so many burnt offerings that have been offered up over the years. This is another example of the synchrotism in the Latin American Catholic church. Israel, who is one of our drivers, shares with the team how he was very involved in the Catholic church for 18 years. But now, he sees the bondage that the church holds over it's members. He encourages us to pray for people caught in the Catholic church, and challenges us to never shrink back from proclaiming the truth of Christ's message. When we go into the church, there are many people inside for a service. The front of the church has a display of the black Christ on the cross, but he is called Lord of Chixim and even Lord Chixim. There are murals on the wall, but not all are totally correct in their theology. One of the murals depicts a Mayan priest having a vision of Mary. Another depicts the day of Pentecost, however Mary is in the middle with a dove descending over her & the disciples bowing before her. And a final mural depicts the first baptism in Tactic in 1545, which was six years after Guatemala was invaded by the Spaniards. What a mix of biblical & local beliefs! As we drove away, there was a man waiting with a chicken for sacrifice on the alter to Chixim.

We leave to begin our home visits. The plan is to go into the homes of 18 sponsor children. We will be giving huge sacks of clothing & blankets that we brought with us from Calgary. As well, we will be giving gifts for the sponsor children, their siblings & their parents. The first group of visits are north & west of Tactic in the village of San Antonio. The houses are strung up & down the steep hills. Because there are no maps or street signs, we ask lots of questions & wander lots of paths.

As the day draws to a close, some of our team have found their sponsor child's home, but their sponsor children were not at home. Disappointing. But we promise to attempt to find them tomorrow.

We attend church in San Antonio & present two of our dramas.

After dinner, Rita shares some stories of members of the Tactic community & asks us to pray for their growth in the Christian faith.