August was big for Tabacal...

There have been a lot of developments in Tabacal in the month of August. The corn that was planted has finally come to harvest. The people have been waiting for this for a long time. The moral is high as they are not just receiving aid but making a way for themselves. Pastor Merari and I were able to take part in the "firstfruits" service where the people brought the first of their harvest as an offering to the Lord. It was amazing. This was the first time I had ever seen anyone offer food as an offering. Out of respect for the good harvest and for lack of money they offer food. One lady even offered a chicken.

The people were worshiping God with all their hearts and were very grateful for the harvest. They spent much of the time singing and praying. Indigenous prayer is much different than in the states. We are accustomed to one person praying, representing the whole. The Mayan way to pray is for everyone to pray together (union) but praying individually out loud and building on the atmosphere and what you hear around you. I cannot really explain it but it was very encouraging to "eves drop" on people’s prayers and hear their grateful hearts. After the service we all feasted on humble tamales wrapped in banana leaves.

The location for the church started as just a leveled section of land but once the rain started, church was difficult. Our church provided some simple supplies but still the church is just simple corrugated tin sheets on top of planks of wood with wood posts and a dirt floor. There are no walls and only rocks with boards across them for benches. The church was decorated for the service with large leaves, ribbon and grapefruits hanging from the rafters. The grapefruits are almost as big as your head and they grow on trees in the area.

Plans are being made for the new church structure to be built the last half of this year. It will be the first "permanent" (made of concrete and steel) building in Tabacal. Hopefully groundbreaking can wait until late September. The people just want to start working and then plan as you go so it is hard at times to slow them down. An example of this is that they have constructed a landing in the side of the hill to house the water storage tanks but I think the landing is too high for our gravity system to work and have water flow from our dam down to the tanks.

The village is able to give more attention to infrastructure now. They cut a road continuing from the church around the side of the mountain so now nearly everyone has access to a road nearby. They even took the initiative in constructing a "bridge" made out of dirt with a concrete pipe underneath. Things are moving along especially with the water project... but that has happened in September so I can't include it in this post!!

Here are more pics of the month in Tabacal!