Reminiscing...Guatemala

I recently spent a week in Guatemala City , Guatemala. This was a business trip to the capital city of Guatemala to teach story writing and presentation skills to a group of 24 students and young adults.



This is one of 4 videos I have made about my trip. You can see the others on my YouTube Channel

I found the city to be both beautiful and tragic. There is a rich history of Spanish and Mayan culture. there is also a very strong delineation between the classes. Some sections of town reminded me of a set from some post-apocalyptic movie. The streets were dark and teeming with cars and people shuffling around. The smell of smoke in the air burned my eyes and my heart. It saddened me that people live this way. Of course, this scene is repeated in every country around the world, even the US.

 I heard stories of surviving murder attempts and death threats. I saw people scrimping and working to provide for themselves and their families. It was truly humbling and remarkable: remarkable that people can treat their brothers and sisters so cruelly. Remarkable that people are so resilient and resourceful. The spirit of perseverance is indeed remarkable.

I must say that I found my hosts incredibly warm and generous. I truly love them. Especially humbling was working with three Mayan men. these men came in from the country side to attend our training. Between the three of them they oversee nearly 1000 home churches among the Mayan. Another student was traveling at least 3 hours each day in order to attend the training.

So, why work so hard to get to our training? Is it because our training is THAT good? Well, it's good, but I think the real reason is because of the spirit of hope they possess. In a country that boasts one of the highest murder rates in the world and is fraught with corruption, they have hope. That hope is rooted not in a political party or process. Nor is it in their own skills. Their hope is in God, more specifically Jesus Christ. The words of the apostle Paul ring in my ears, "If Christ is not raised, our hope is in vain and we are to be pitied above all others" (Paraphrase 1 Cor. 15:13-19). I continue to be amazed at man's ability to be cruel and find it unconscionable that anyone could think we are capable of living in peace. The mountain of evidence to the contrary is convincing; we prefer war to peace.

How do you see it? Do you have hope? If so, in what do you place your hope? I really would love to know.

Thanks for stopping by.