Chiapas Journal Day 4

I woke refreshed this morning, and was surprised as I thought my anxiety about Chamula would keep me from sleep, but was given grace in regard to rest. I was also awakened quickly once again by a cold shower, although today I seemed to enjoy it. After my cleaning I departed to a quiet place to pray and read of our God from the Scriptures. I was somewhat intrigued that God’s ways and my ways are so different as I read Psalm 5:5. I was also encouraged to teach the full council of God, and not solely what I think is fitting for the people of God. I was refreshed by my reunion with the Father, and was ready to see what the Lord had planned for this day! After breakfast spent no little time in conversation with pastor Eufimio. I have so enjoyed his company these last couple of days! He made known to me their need for teachers at their Bible institute at his church. They meet once a month for a weekend. Their church has 30 missions functioning well and the men in the institute are serving in these missions. I will begin to seek the guidance of the Lord on if He desires that I commit one weekend a month to teach these men. We then set out for Chamula! I was so excited to see how the Lord would use us in such a dark place. Our truck broke down, and set us back an hour or so, but we arrived in Chamula at about two o’clock in the afternoon. There seemed to be a spirit of oppression in this place that is somewhat indescribable. It was our goal to enter the town and pray for an open door. We started by buying a tourist pass to enter the church there as I wanted to see and get a feel for the mindset of the people there. As many of you know I live in a very wicked place where worship of death is very popular, but I have never seen anything in comparison to what I saw this day! As we entered the church the floor was covered with pine needles, and no less than 100 people were scattered on the floor surrounded by candles and bottles of coke. We walked and prayed, but were all a little set back by one family. There was an elderly woman surrounded by her family from three years old to not short of seventy. She continually mumbled some sort of a prayer while putting fire to candles. On the side of her group of candles lay a chicken that had no life, and on the other side a chicken that was alive, but seemed to be in some sort of a trance. Every so often she would sprinkle what they call posh, a sort of tequila that is very strong, around the candles all the while chanting. Then she would pick up the chicken with life and make circles over the candles. This was nothing short of demonic. This was so wicked and made my heart so sad. I stood there with a pack full of the gospel of John and this woman and her family were magnifying satan and his ways. It was very sickening. The majority of the people were having a fiesta in the front of the church drinking posh and becoming intoxicated. There were also two crosses in this church that will be explained in a later post. We then left the church, and entered the market where not much shorter than two years before a young man was killed being accused of preaching the gospel. We began going to different shops looking for an opportunity to share the gospel. We ended up in a small shop that sold traditional clothes. It was a mother and her four daughters not much younger than myself. We felt a connection with these women and after a short time began asking about their faith. Before we departed we gave them a few gospels of John, and they seemed somewhat excited not having ever heard the story of Jesus. One of the young women began reading the gospel before we left. There is so much more I could write about this day, but will pass it off to another post. We then returned to San Cristobal and attended the church of Josue, Eufimio’s son. He asked if I would preach, so I gladly accepted. We were few in number, but I felt that we were truly blessed with the presence of the Spirit! I was more than helped in my preaching, and we all felt a conviction to live out the name we are given through grace. I preached from Romans 1:1-6. I was able to speak with Ivonne for a short time before bed, and was so encouraged by her faithfulness in intercession for the team this week. As I lay in bed I felt such great emotions about entering Chamula once again tomorrow.