Road trip takes me to San Cristobal, Mexico

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico — A car, a van, a pickup, two minibuses and an hour of wandering the streets brought me safely here to a cheap hotel, having departed Huehuetenango about eight hours earlier.

I had only planned on crossing the border and going back, but border officials expect folks to be here at least a day, if not longer, so I headed to the closest town. At Comitan, Mexico, I met a nice young Mexican man who wanted to practice his English with me. He convinced me to push on here to San Cristobal, an older city with more character, just two hours down the road.

I spent Friday at the home of David and Helen Ekstrom in Huehuetenango, a city in northwest Guatemala. The Ekstroms are missionaries with the Central American Mission (CAM), and have worked among Mayans since arriving here in February, 1951, translating the Bible into several local languages. They were gracious hosts, and I enjoyed eating Helen’s tasty western food, including biscuits. It was interesting to hear Dave’s stories, and I hope I get the chance to write them up someday soon.

Saturday morning, I hitched a ride nearly to the Mexican border with Dave and Helen’s neighbor, Jeff Nelson, who works with SEPAL in Guatemala. Jeff and two SEPAL associates were headed to a remote Chuj Mayan village north of Nenton, near the border. As we traveled windy roads, the Mayan women’s changing colors and styles of clothing indicated we were passing through different language and people-group areas. Jeff and his friends were planning to meet some Chuj church leaders to discuss promoting and using some MegaVoice players. The digital players have the audio Chuj Bible stored inside. Audio Scriptures are especially important for people who don’t read and write their own language.

I’m here in Mexico to renew my Guatemalan visa, allowing me to stay three more months. Lord willing, I should return to Oregon on Nov. 12, for those readers who like keeping track of that sort of thing.

I have no idea how many San Cristobals there are in Mexico, but I believe there are at least six in Guatemala. More than six years ago, I moved to San Cristobal Verapaz, Guatemala for four months to tutor the three eldest boys of Boris and Beth Ramirez, linguists and Bible translators among the Poqomchí Mayans. They have been living in Pennsylvania for a few years, but they plan to return to San Cristobal this November to finish the New Testament translation. Please pray for them, the Poqomchí churches and the Lord's blessing on that important work.