[07.15 – Monday] First day in Tojolobal

San Cristobal to Plan de Ayala (Tojolobal Jungle)

Today was our first out to the jungle. We headed out to the town of Plan de Ayala, 3 hours into the mountains. We arrived around lunchtime, unpacked a little at one of the houses we are staying at, and headed over to the site of the clinic and nearby the kids program area. In the clinic we began seeing people at 2ish, closed the doors at 5:00pm, and finished around 6:00pm after seeing the people still inside, the ones who snuck in that we couldn’t turn away, and the ones we had seen 3 times already who seemed to keep finding new aches and pains they needed medicine for.

Meanwhile the rest of the team was working tirelessly with the large number of children in the village. The program included playing games, doing crafts, teaching lessons about the promises of God (today’s was the promise of salvation), and overall bonding with the kids. They also installed a couple of water filters. After starting a few children’s videos in the native language of Tojolobal and a quick dinner of stir-fry (how often does that happen in the remote villages of Mexico?), we sang a group song, began showing the Jesus film in Tojolobal to those still lingering around, and headed back for a group meeting of testimonies and worship to our great God for an awesome first day.

Please pray with us:
– Success, efficiency, and safety for the group installing stoves, filters, and doing repairs
– Efficiency, patience, and wisdom for those in the clinic working with the patients and prescribing medications
– Love, energy, and sincerity for those teaching and working with the kids
– Clear opportunities to witness, openness toward the Gospel, and the powerful working of the Holy Spirit
– Right attitudes and priorities, along with selfless hearts that believe in the greatness and power of God Almighty
– Spiritual growth for all involved
– Safety as we travel to the next village tomorrow evening and begin again

Funny quote of the day… (reading this, it may not seem as funny as it was when it happened, but bear with us) one of the men walked into the clinic complaining of arm pain, describing it as his “arm meat” hurting. Apparently he meant muscle. So much is gained in translation.

– Lauren, for the team