Mayan Ruins & Ag Center

On Friday, we moved our stuff back to the hotel, toured the Mayan Ruins, and had a worship service at the Ag Center.

The tour of the Ruins was so interesting. The history of it is amazing but the spiritual aspect of it is what we really wanted the students to understand. The Chorti Indians are descendants of the Mayans so it provides a better understanding of the depth of their spiritual beliefs.

The Mayans believed in many Gods and in an underworld. The Mayan king was really viewed as a God also. The king had ultimate power. I am trying to post pictures but it is raining right now so the internet is extremely slow and I have to add them one at a time so if I don't get them all added today, I will try again tomorrow.

The Ag Center is an educational project to teach families how to farm so they can provide food for generations. The people come to the center and stay for a week. They have half of a day of bible training and half of a day agricultural training each day.

They learn how to plant hedgerows to keep their soil from washing away. The hedgerows also provide food for the goats. Once their hedgerows are in place and they are taking care of them, they qualify to have some goats. The goats will provide milk for their family and fertilizer for their crops. It is all a cycle.

The Ag Center also teaches and provides a safer oven for their homes. Eighty percent of the health problems in the villages are a result of poor water and smoke inhalation. The adobe ovens normally in their homes do not have an exhaust. All of the smoke circulates in their homes and is so unhealthy. There is a picture of an oven (on the slideshow) that has an exhaust and provides healthier living conditions (there will be a picture when I get them all loaded).

Please pray for the Ag Center. It provides education to families and is an incredible avenue to share God’s love with people.

Every 2 weeks, a worship service is held in the Ag Center and we were able to be a part of one this week. Edguardo is so burdened for the youth and he brings in as many young people as he can for this service.

The room was full and everyone came inside and participated. They wanted us to sing and sing. They sang for us in Spanish. The man who lives at the Ag Center (German) borrowed Todd’s guitar and sang songs for us too. It was all such a blessing!

Many of the students gave their testimonies – Todd, Micah, Lee, Sarah, and Chad. I just sat in the back and cried. Some of the truths that they shared were:
*God has a plan for your future even when we don’t know what the future holds.
*Nothing should be placed before God in your life.
*There is such peace in knowing God.
*There is a difference in knowing about God and having a personal relationship with Him.
WOW – They really get it!

Mason told the story of David and Goliath. He did a fantastic job. Jase was Goliath and some of the little boys who were there played David. The kids loved it. It is such a joy to hear them laugh. The other day at one of the villages, Whitney said, “I am so glad laughter is understood in any language.”

When we arrived, we thought we were doing one testimony and one story. We did 5 testimonies, one story, and Jase was asked to talk to the youth at the end. The songs were in between the story and testimonies and we never knew if we were singing or if they were singing until the last minute. There was no order of service; no worship guide; there was not just a certain number of hymns and choruses; there was no time schedule but there was JOY, LOVE, LAUGHTER, SMILES, TEARS, GOD’S WORD, PRAISE, AND WORSHIP!