Tactic, Three, Trying, Tipsy, Thoughts, Travel

Our first four days were spent in Tactic, in the middle of the mountains with a missionary who has been there quite a while. It's not really a touristy spot so it was fun being there. WE stayed in the guesthome there. Upon arrival we went to the marketplace with a list of spanish items needed for purchase-that was interesting!

This is outside the Roman Catholic Church on top of the hill in Tactic. It is interesting to see the presence of synchrotism there, the tacking on of other religious beliefs to the Catholic church.. These are Mayan altars of worship and they burn corn as an offering. The Catholic church was built there in order to bring these people under their umbrella. now it is the combination of the two in one. makes me wonder where we have synchrotism present in our churches...
We had to balance our purchase on top of our head during the walk down from the market

Coffee fruit!! We went for a tour of a coffee plantation which was pretty cool
Candles in the Catholic church

Some Pokomchi (Mayan people group) in one of the mountain villages
Rob eating a very large bug

We went to Semuc Champey which was the most beautiful place. The drive in was brutal but well worth it! Isn't that always how it is? It's a river that goes underneath a series of limestone pools.. So there's a river underneath, but also a river flowing overtop the limestone pools.. The water was beautiful and you could jump or slide from one pool to the next.. or just sit under the waterfall and let it give you a nice massage!! A very relaxing day indeed!


I like taking pictures of people in speedos. hahaha.. So i just wanted to add this one to the collection.
The missionary we visited in Tactic has been there eight years (I think) and has been starting schools for children and they get a meal every day at school. Education is a huge problem in Guatemala and most kids don't eat so he has a vision to feed the kids and remove the boundaries of survival that stop them from getting education. It was neat being there for their morning worship devotional service. The kids were full of energy and excitement. We lined up in the front after and kids lined up and came and hugged us and it was so icnredibly special. The vision here is to invoke change through the children and as they learn more hygienic ways of living and sustaining the environment around them, they will hopefully teach their children those things as well. it was really encouraging to hear about the ministry happening there.

One day we went for a hike down into a sinkhole. It was pretty cool walking in it but super steep and narrow!! The light filtering into the sinkhole was absolutely amazing. It is actually a place of traditional Mayan worship. The Mayans always find places of natural beauty and make them into places of worship. I found it interesting how they recognize the importance of that, yet most often as Christians, we worship in buildings (not that there's anything wrong with that) but I think we often miss the importance of being in creation and worshipping and giving God honor for the absolutely amazing things He has created. We prayed and sang in the sinkhole, claiming it back for God. It was interesting to talk to different people in our group about their thoughts and feelings about that.. A lot of people didn't think it was our right to intrude on a place of someone else's worship and it lacked respect. Others though that it was important to go reclaim God's territory. iw as kind of caught somewhere in the middle. I see both sides and understand them.. Good things to think about though for sure. One of the boys was fast asleep in front of his homework when we went to his house.. it was super cute.
Me and one of my sponsor children. I decided to sponsor three boys through the ministry there and it was so neat to be able to go and meet them all. I got to see where they lived and to meet their families-it was really special.


A little kids birthday party-breaking the pinata in the middle of the street. Every morning if it's someone's birthday, the family lights off a load of firecrackers to celebrate. Kind of cool, but not so cool when they go off at 5am and you're trying to sleep...