Traveling with Pastor Victoriano

We will be traveling about once a week with our pastor Victoriano into Cakchiquel areas, identifying regions where people do not have the Gospel in a language they can understand. What a priviledge we have to glean information from our pastor who is Cakchiquel, having grown up in this region. He is taking us to areas we could never find on our own (or be brave enough to travel to by ourselves!).

On Wednesday, we had our first trip with Victoriano and church member Guillermo (William). About 2 hours west of Chimaltenago we first visited Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida where the congregation of about 80 people worship in Cakchiquel.

We met Nacho, a dear brother who lives next door to the church, and his grandaughter Susana.


We plan to go back soon on a Sunday for a worship service.

Iglesia Evangelico Bethesda was the first evangelical church in this area. In the turbulant years of civil unrest during the 1980's - Victoriano's family had to keep moving from place to place to escape death. Victoriano, his father and grandfather carried adobe bricks over a kilometer up the mountain to build this church and share the Gospel. His father traveled across the mountain to a nearby village to preach the Gospel but was beaten, arrested and carried by horseback for many hours back to Chimaltenango and jailed. His family was persecuted for the Gospel but continued to lead others to Christ. For many years, his family fled from place to place continuing the share the Gospel. When we took his picture beside the orginal church, he was so honored...it is the first picture that he has of it.

The blue church beside the orginal was built after an earthquake made the orginal building unsafe.



Back down the beautiful mountain, down the interesting road, we traveled to Tecpán to visit Iglesia Bautista Horeb and school which worships in Spanish.




This church is located in the center of Tecpán and many children attend the school.



On the way back to Chimalentango, we visited a church started as a mission from the church in Tecpán. Iglesia Bautista Arca de Noe (Ark of Noah) is located on a beautiful vegetable farm (finca in Spanish). We visited with some brothers who were working in the fields nearby. A young man named Cristobal told us that the children and young people speak more Spanish, which they learn in schools, but the older adults speak only Cakchiquel, so the worship here in a mixed worship - both Spanish and Cakchiquel.