Hi!

We hope all are well and that you continue strong in our Lord!

Although Holy week has ended; its spirit still lingers in my heart. We had a wonderful Holy week with our brothers and sisters from the indigenous communities. Ricardo and I went up (to the mountains) on Palm Sunday and came back on Maundy Thursday. We did not stay together for Ricardo went visiting several communities far apart to preach and encourage our brothers and sisters, and I stayed at Pueblo Nuevo Sitala to share time with the Mayan women, give some workshops and to preach at the churches.

This time I decided to give just three “short and light” workshops (I usually fill the agenda of all the days while I am there with workshops, counseling, visiting families, teaching and preaching) to spend time with the women. So, this time we toasted and grinded coffee, killed and plucked 2 chickens, made tortillas, fetch wood, etc. Because it was Holy week the children were home and the small ones insistently played with my curly hair and counted my unending number of arm´s freckles! We did have two days of bad weather (very cold and rainy), but on Tuesday it was bright and warm.

It was so good to be able to relax and talk while waiting for the firewood to be ready or for the beans to cook. These are the times when women share their lives and hopes, but also their despair and pains. These are the times for the sharing of the hearts and God gave me plenty opportunity to minister. But I also had plenty opportunity to receive care and affection; and God knew I needed it.

Work gets to build up so fast that the tasks seem unending and the heart wears out. So this Holy week, the Spirit presence for me came in the form of 21 Mayan women – laughing, talking, crying, dreaming, and trusting in God, together with me.

Again I was struck by the miracle of the Spirit and how it builds up a community with a deep sense of belonging. It only requires that you open your heart. The women tended me with many acts of love (I protested but to no avail!). They warmed water for my bath (they have to fetch the wood), gave me fresh toasted and grinded coffee (a lot of hard work), and chicken soup (they killed their chickens). Again my faith was strengthened by these women and their sacrificial, yet joyful love. For they gave not out of their abundance but out of their poverty. Again I was deeply moved by God’s people.

I pray that on these days we all gain a new, different and powerful understanding of the resurrected Jesus, the one who makes us whole, who cares for us all and surrounds us with unending expressions of love. I pray God to give us all, a true spirit of community, of sacrificial sharing; a merciful spirit of love.  

Dios sk´oltayak ta abe! God guide you in your path!

Doris

Please, pray for:

Javier and Sergio Ulloa, our companions at the Baptist Seminary of Mexico who are facing serious illnesses in members of their family.

Maria del Carmen and Dalia went to PR to participate in an Expo fair. Pray that they receive wisdom to give a strong testimony in behalf of the collective and that they be able to sell the products of these Mayan women.