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Yesterday our group toured an old Catholic Church that sits up the mountain overlooking the city of Tactic. 

While many of us know Catholics who love Jesus, the Catholic Church in Guatemala has a complicated history of weaving aspects of the Myan religion and witchcraft into Christianity. This means it is common to see both images of Jesus and images of the sun god sharing space on the same wall, and for the name of Jesus to be replaced with "Lord of ___" (insert the name of the local area here). In other words Jesus has become just one of the many gods they worship.

At the particular church we visited this syncretism was particularly stark since just outside the church there is a witch doctor's hut where people gather to sacrifice burnt offerings. And the Guatemalans here see no problem with this. Worshippers often combine their climb up the mountain to church with a stop at the witch doctor's.

As our team toured the area we also made note of idols within the church and plaques of praise given to "The Lord of Shim" instead of to Jesus. It was heavy to behold and so we took time to sing and to pray declarations of glory to Jesus.

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After our church visit we were divided into teams and dropped off at the local market. Each team received a grocery list and 100 Quetzales. The goal was to come back with every item on the list and as much change as possible. It was an exercise of being in a cross cultural and foreign language context. At the end of the day all three teams returned with big stories, new experiences, and an awareness of how different life is in most of the world.

Today we are off for a prayer walk around Tactic, and to visit some of the places in the city that have been spiritual strongholds of witchcraft and prostitution.

Please pray for us as our trip continues. Pray for safety second, but first and foremost, for eyes of faith to see where Jesus is at work and the opportunity to partner with what He is doing. 

P.s. today I (Dan) went to a medical clinic and had an ultrasound on my hamstring. I have been told it is not a total tear and will heal on its own. This is what we have been praying for because there was a significant chance I was going to have to come home early, and it doesn't look that that needs to happen now. Praise the Lord!!

And I'm learning that I should listen more carefully to my wife when she tells me to act my age.