Happy Maya Tzolk'in!

In case you missed it, Sunday marked the new year 5124 in the Mayan Tzolk’in calendar, according to Sunday’s edition of the Prensa Libre. Mayan priests marked the holy day with fires and ceremony across Guatemala.

The much-revered 260-day Mayan calendar, or Sacred Round, is based on a repeating cycle of numbers 1 to 13, multiplied by 20-day periods, each with different names. Each of the 20 days corresponds to a different god in Mayan mythology, such as “Night House,” “Snake,” “Maize,” “Death,” “Rabbit,” “Jaguar,” etc.

The Tzolk’in, “count of days,” had religious and practical uses. The number 20 comes from the number of fingers and toes; 13 symbolized the number of Upperworld levels of Mayan gods and the number of body joints (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists and neck), which, when multiplied together equal 260.

“Once a Maya genius may have recognized that somewhere deep within the calendar system lay the miraculous union,” says Anthony Aveni, in Empires of Time: Calendars, Clocks, and Cultures, cited on Wikipedia’s entry on the Tzolk’in, “the magical crossing point of a host of time cycles: 9 moons, 13 times 20, a birth cycle, a planting cycle, a Venus cycle, a sun cycle, an eclipse cycle. The number 260 was tailor made for the Maya.” It also corresponds to the basic agricultural cycle here in the Guatemalan highlands.

Some suggest the 260-day period came from the length of human pregnancy. This is close to the number of days between the first missed menstrual period and birth.

Mayan calendars, science, art, architecture and religion fascinate many people seeking wisdom, peace and beauty in the world today. Search the Internet for things Maya and you’ll find your computer screen runneth over.

The Apostle Paul mentions time in Ephesians 5:15,16, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.” Whether there's a notion of evil in Mayan concepts of time, I don't know.

Moses, acknowledging God’s sovereignty over earthly lives, seems to urge counting days, but for a different reason. He says God see all our “secret sins” and has powerful wrath: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” Psalm 90:12.

Paul’s letter to early Greek followers of Jesus in Galatia pointed them to the Son of God, urging them not to serve things “which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years,” Gal. 4:8-10.

Paul had nothing against calendars. He may have been fascinated by mathematical genius of the Mayan Sacred Round. But he would have abhorred attaching religious significance or superstition it as he did the Greek practice, to gain religious “points,” divine favor or guidance. He called the Galatians to a life of faith in the Son of God’s gracious, substitutionary sacrifice, warning them to “stand fast” in the freedom Christ alone can offer (Gal. 2:16, 5:1,6).

Children view finger-puppet video

LAKE ATITLÁN — Strange sounding words filled the air as dozens of Mayan children ran and played in the street and among the nearby coffee fields. The day’s showing of Viña’s Spanish-language finger-puppet video, “José el Soñador,” would prove interesting. In all the talking and shouting, I heard nothing remotely resembling Spanish.

Asociacion Viña, a recording ministry formerly part of Wycliffe Bible Translators, produced the childrens’ “Deditos” (finger puppet) video, telling the Bible story of Joseph. Viña plans to dub its six Spanish-language videos into Guatemala’s indigenous Mayan languages, an arduous, complicated task requiring much prayer. So far there has been little field testing to see how local Mayans will receive the "Deditos" videos. Despite the potential language barrier, we hoped last week’s showing would provide clues.

Greg and Brenda, a Canadian couple on a short-term mission in Santiago Atitlán, made contact with the school and the pastor of the tiny Tzutujil church, arranging for the video’s premier. Once we managed to darken the church — draping tarps from the roof to cover the church’s wide front entry — children crowded inside. They were excited to see a movie, all 146 of them.

The children watched attentively for about 10 minutes of the half-hour video before getting restless. Some may have had lunch duties, but others just seemed antsy, noisily lifting the crinkly tarp and going in and out. By the end, we finished with about 25 fewer children.

Afterward, my friend retold the Bible story in Spanish, while a Tzutujil teacher translated. Apparently some children had difficulty even with basic questions he asked them in Spanish.

The children's proficiency in Spanish certainly varies, improving as they get older, learning in school. Spanish is Guatemala's national language, used in education, government and media. Tzutujil educational materials don’t exist, the pastor and teachers said. When asked how well the children understood the video, a teacher agreed it would have been easier to understand in their mother tongue.

After they were dismissed, my friend opened a box containing a black electronic device about the size of an AM/FM radio. Two school teachers and a handful of nearby boys became curious, craning their necks and moving closer to hear better. A cascade of fluent, glottalized Tzutujil emanated from the device.

A boy of about 5 years tried to look under it to see who was speaking his language. It came from a so-called “Proclaimer,” produced by the Albuquerque, N.M.-based group, “Faith Comes By Hearing.” Inside, a digital computer chip is embedded with the entire New Testament, read by native indigenous speakers — in this case Tzutujil Mayans — and recorded by Asociación Viña. Two alternate power sources recharge the radio’s batteries: a low-tech hand crank and a flip-up solar panel.

Smiles broke out on the faces of the teachers, one Catholic, the other evangelical. This could be very useful, they said, noting it would likely increase their congregations’ understanding of God’s word.

The church pastor, who reads his Tzutujil and Spanish Bibles with equal facility, said he must pause, if he’s reading from Spanish, to explain in Tzutujil the meaning of what he just read. Even pastors in Santiago Atitlán at the 3,000- to 5,000-member megachurch, Elim, preach primarily in their native Tzutujil tongue in at least two of their three Sunday services.

Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” How much better to hear in one’s own language?

Twain's maxim; Paul's message

SOLOLÁ — Tensions have eased here. The locals let off more steam Thursday by burning another car or three owned by relatives of the kidnappers.

Rumors continued to swirl, however. One rumor went like this: "The rural people are coming to town to attack the police station." Why? "A man died after being hit in the head by a tear-gas cannister," which the police had fired at crowds. Later, I heard it wasn't his head that was struck; it was his foot, and he's very much alive.

Said Mark Twain, "A lie can make it halfway around the world, while the truth is still putting on its shoes." (Putting shoes of truth on a sore foot, undoubtedly takes even longer.)

"Therefore, putting away lying each one speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. ... Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers," Ephesians 4:25, 29.

"Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. ... And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity ... it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell," James 3:5,6.

Shpak' ich tat'

SOLOLÁ — I'm sorry, the owner isn't here, I told the man at the door this morning. Oh, he says, it's just that he used to hire me to work around the house. Hmmmm. What to do? We don't need any work done.

Within 30 minutes, I was beginning my first language "lesson" in the Western dialect of Mayan Kaqchiquel. I didn't wake up expecting to study Mayan glottalization, but how can you turn away such a friendly little man? L showed up wearing the traditional Sololateco man's dress (see example below): bright, multi-colored pants, a brown wool wrap around the waist, and a brightly colored cowboy-style shirt with decorative lapels and a white cowboy hat.

First, we had to negotiate about a price. Soon after I invited him inside my apartment, L raised the subject of payment. We weren't merely chewing the fat. He must be short on cash. Friday is market day. Vendors pour in from surrounding towns to sell in Sololá's open market. We went back and forth in friendly banter for a little while before agreeing on a price. When he suggested coming back to work again on Monday, I realized he must have liked our arrangement.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in Spanish, but I can forsee challenges ahead if L is to be my teacher. Somehow he seemed to think that at 66 years old, he has a son who's 18. Shortly after mentioning this, he mentioned a daughter who's also 18 years old. Oh, I said, you have twins (gemelos, in Spanish)? Sí, he answered in Spanish. How many children, do you have? Three, he says. Hmmmmm. That's curious. Mayan boys around here seem to marry when they're about 16 to 20, and the girls about 14 to 18. My guess is, he's talking about his grandchildren.

So here's how to say "Good morning" to a man who is older than you: "Shpak' ich tat' ." To greet an older woman in the morning, you say, "Shpak' ich nan." If you're greeting a younger boy, you say, "Shpak' ich ta'." To greet a younger girl, you say, "Shpak' ich no-ee."

Kaqchiquel, typical of Mayan languages, uses lots of glottalization. In English, we use a glottal stop to cut off the air when we say, "Uh oh." The Wikipedia entry lists a few of Kaqchiquel's linguistic tricks,

• "The implosive consonants in Kaqchikel are usually voiceless, which is unusual for implosives."
• "Because of the synthetic-fusional nature of Kaqchikel, it is difficult to discuss the language's morphology and syntax as two separate entities; they are very robustly intertwined."
• "An interesting morphological process occurs in Kaqchikel to make up for the lack of a word meaning very. For example, the Kaqchikel word for large is /nim/; to say that something is very large, the adjectival form is reduplicated as /nim nim/."

When I mentioned to my friend, the homeowner, that L had come by, he vaguely remembered him. He was humored when I told him L claimed to have been his Kaqchiquel teacher. Everyone was his teacher, he said with a laugh. And so it must be, but what generous people to say of outsiders, "He speaks our language just like we do." Hopefully, the Kaqchiquel will be as generous toward me.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." — Ephesians 2:4-7

Launching across lake with finger puppets

Tomorrow morning, my friend, J, and I are supposed to cross the lake. A Canadian couple, staying here for two months, is anxious to bless Guatemalan churches. They have arranged to show one or two of Viña’s “Deditos” finger puppet videos at a church behind the volcanoes.

This showing will be in Spanish. There are potential downsides to showing it in Spanish, but please pray these will be overcome and God will use it to speak to the children and their families and to bless them. I will be going along to help assess and document the peoples’ receptivity to the videos.

Please pray for this showing. There have been few showings so far because Viña intends to dub the videos into the indigenous Mayan languages. That costs a lot of money that Viña doesn't have right now.

Justice, cleansing by fire

SOLOLÁ — Forget what I said earlier about property going unharmed. Turns out today’s events provide a not-so-“peaceful” lesson on Mayan community justice. After visiting with my friends this evening and watching some of the news on the local TV station, I learned the day didn’t pass so uneventfully in other parts of town.

Fire, it seems, had a cleansing effect in biblical times (see sidebar) and today as well at hideouts for local bandits. After the morning’s peaceful rally, the people rallied and marched up the hill to a large house and adjacent “bar” operated by a disreputable family.

Locals torched the hilltop “bar” and two or three more houses around town, owned by alleged kidnappers. They burned one car and a couple motorcycles. Five were injured and taken to the hospital. Police arrested 16 locals and placed them in the town jail. Fortunately, no one died.

For some time, townspeople have known the hilltop bar was home to nefarious activities, including prostitution, narcotics trafficking, thievery, kidnapping and extortion. Out of fear, they said nothing. Affected families acted understandably, trying only to free their loved ones. But about two weeks ago, townspeople became fed up. Unnamed local officials published a paper naming the alleged kidnappers and posted it around town. This may have also coincided with the reported escape of one of the kidnapped people who named the family.

Today at the rally, a man read a list of about a dozen crimes that occurred over the past couple of years, including kidnapping for extorted money, rape, torture and the like. The figures demanded through extortion ranged from 10,000 quetzales to 1 million quetzales ($1,300 to $130,000 — a lot of money here).

Yesterday, the rumor was that people would burn the homes and businesses of the alleged criminals. This morning, local officials urged people not to resort to violence. This afternoon, the town did exactly that, setting fire and bringing a kind of “community” justice to a situation that had become a plague and a stench in their eyes.

Realizing the town’s intent to bring vigilante-style justice, the bandits fled their properties several days ago, some earlier. Hoping to protect the hilltop bar, the owners hung a large banner on one wall declaring it was now a church of God. The banner allegedly admitted to its disreputable past, but declared it had received divine pardon. Townspeople weren’t impressed.

Perhaps most remarkable to me is what happened this evening. Knowing that 16 men had been jailed by police during today’s disturbances, locals blocked roads in and out of town, demanding their release. To my surprise, the police granted their demands and released them. This would never happen in America, but in a way I kind of like it. My friends here expressed solidarity with the decision and not a hint of shock.

Another unusual event occurred today as well. As one neighborhood prepared to march to the soccer stadium, the leaders stopped at the local “bar,” home to excessive drinking and prostitution. Several times, it seems, men at the bar became unruly, causing the owner to resort to gunfire. This woke up the neighbors and disturbed the peace. (Contributing to alcoholism and prostitution, it seems, is one thing. Disturbing the peace is another.)

Officials offered the “bar” owner a deal: If he would shut down his business, they would protect his property. If not, they could not guarantee anything. Indeed, after burning the hilltop den of iniquity, townspeople headed down to this other bar. But because the owner had signed an agreement, neighbors confronted the townspeople, protecting the owner and his property.

Locals protest (mostly) peacefully

SOLOLÁ — Thousands of protestors jammed the town's soccer field Wednesday under a warm sun, peacefully demonstrating and demanding justice against kidnappers.

The largely Mayan Kakchiquel crowd — brought together by regional neighborhood mayors — listened mostly politely as civic, religious leaders, human rights and law enforcement leaders spoke of peace, justice and cooperation.

Neighborhood groups appeared to have gathered and marched to the stadium together by the hundreds, carrying placards and shouting slogans, usually led by a man with a bullhorn. Several groups passed by my apartment this morning.

I was a bit nervous at first, but when I heard a second crowd coming around the bend, I decided to step out and snap some photos. Men led the crowd, and women and children followed behind. Some told me to stop taking photos, so I did for a bit. One Kakchiquel man jokingly yelled, in Spanish, "Grab him!" Another said, "Fuego!" (fire). I just smiled and tried to look friendly. Mayans almost always seem amused by my height, and they seemed to be again today.

In his speech, the local police chief urged people to cooperate with authorities and not to take the law into their own hands. Without the people's cooperation, he said, "We can't do anything." He also told the crowd his cell phone number, urging them to call with any complaints. Many in the crowd whistled and shouted as he spoke, indicating their distrust of police. Recent kidnapping throughout the area prompted today’s meeting, and Saturday's kidnapping of a nearby hotel owner only added fuel to the fire.

I watched some of the proceedings on the local TV station this morning, later deciding to go to the stadium to shoot some photos. The crowd was dispersing as I got there, which was fine. I still managed to take some pictures.

As I watched hundreds of people pass me, I met a fellow standing there who is a pastor of a small church up the hill. He said it was a blessing the protest went peacefully and without violence. We walked back up the hill to the central park before parting ways. As I looked toward the police station, I could see an opening in front of it. At the end of the opening, a large number of the massive crowd stood expectantly, facing the station. I figured nothing good was going to come of that so I turned and walked home. On Saturday, crowd there turned violent, damaging government buildings and burning cars.

Since today’s protest, there has been some violence. I've heard loud booms, crowds whistling, sirens, people shouting and so forth. Once, a group of about two dozen outside police carrying batons went running by the house. A half dozen of them captured several youths and quickly hauled them away in the back of a small pickup.

Overall, it was encouraging to see a town come together in peaceful protest against violence and judicial inaction. Unfortunately, there seems to have been too much pent-up emotion for everyone to just walk home without doing something.

It's dusk now and beginning to rain lightly.

A dark wind blowing

SOLOLÁ — Tomorrow may well be a momentous day for this town.

It’s prophesied that God will burn the earth on the Last Day (II Peter 3:12), and we may get a preview tomorrow. Townspeople here are agitated over recent kidnappings and the seemingly complacent government response.

Sometime in the past weeks, a kidnapped person escaped his or her captors and then announced to the town who the culprits were. Their names are now spray-painted around town as a “band of kidnappers.”

At 8 a.m. tomorrow, townspeople are planning to gather at the soccer field, supposedly to find solutions. The rumor, however, is that they may well burn the homes of the alleged kidnappers and a local attorney who is accused of being linked to them.

Locals tell me the alleged kidnappers run a brothel on the hill above town, and the attorney lives outside town toward the lake. The market, which is normally a beehive of activity, will be closed.

Merchants and vendors — apparently most of the town — have agreed not to open for business. Those who don’t close up for business or who don’t want to join the rally are fearful their homes could be in danger. The house I’m living in sits along the road to the attorney’s house, should the crowd head that way.

The trouble has stirred up some racist feelings as well between the local “Ladino” (or mixed) race who tends to live in town and the local Mayan Kakchiquels, who tend to live outside the city. I’ve heard the statement repeated, “You’re either with us or against us.”

Please pray for peace in Sololá. This town has much evidence of religion — a number of evangelical/pentecostal churches in addition to a large Catholic church in the town center. Yet it lacks true peace.

As the Babylonians carried most of Israel away captive from Jerusalem, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Israelites:

“Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. ... And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive; and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart.”

Later, after pronouncing a curse on false, adulterous prophets, God says, “Indeed, I know, and am a witness, says the Lord.” — Jer. 29:5,7, 11-13, 23.

It’s reassuring to realize nothing happens away from the eyes of God. He caused Israel to be carried away captive, and he caused the police to capture the kidnappers last Saturday. Please pray the body of Christ will stand for peace and not join in the violence, however justified it may appear to this frustrated town. May God use these events to grant true peace to this city.

A town in turmoil

SOLOLÁ — After a pleasant Saturday afternoon picnicking in the mountains, we returned to a town in turbulence. A crowd of several hundred people stood in front of the town police station, ready to administer their own brand of justice against four alleged kidnappers.

Before the day was out, the crowd burned three cars and at least one motorscooter. Any intentions to lynch four alleged kidnappers, captured that same day, failed. The violence made national news, as the two largest newspapers gave extended coverage continuing even days later.

Saturday’s events merely exacerbated already tense feelings here after a series of kidnappings for ransom in the past couple of weeks. National newspapers indicate there have been as many as 10 kidnappings over the past year. Apparently there have been several around town and also down the hill in Panajachel, a tourist town adjacent to the magnificent Lake Atitlan.

When four men kidnapped a Panajachel hotel owner Saturday, the businessman’s friends and local police responded quickly. The four were captured and the business owner released within an hour. Locals quickly learned that the four accused kidnappers had been taken to the local jail in Solola, where I’m living now.

Unfortunately, Guatemalans do not trust the police or the courts to deliver justice; no doubt they have their reasons. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for Guatemalans to respond with vigilantism to accusations of theft, baby snatching, organ harvesting and other hideous crimes.

My friend JC and I walked a couple of blocks to a street corner Saturday, from which we could see the crowd around the police station. Most people were merely curious, wanting to witness events as they unfolded. We stood with our backs to a grocery store, whose guards stood by, ready to close the metal doors in case things got out of hand. Cars and buses, which normally passed in front of the station, now had to make a tight corner one block early, sometimes having to back up and inch ahead to make the corner. Men around the police station would occasionally begin whistling to draw attention and to express their discontent.

At one point, the men began shoving a small red pickup back and forth (supposedly owned by the kidnappers), at times trying to tip it over. They failed at first this effort. Once, a Kakchiquel man in a white cowboy hat climbed aboard the pickup, waving his arms to try to quiet the crowd and prevent damage to it. The crowd quickly whistled its opposition to his efforts, and he retreated just as rapidly.

Shortly before 5 p.m. or so, riot police began massing up the street. My friend JC urged me to leave. He said it would get worse. I was reluctant, but I decided I didn’t really want to get in the middle of violence so I left after he did.

As I walked around the block, a strange scene greeted me. The walls of city hall had been spray painted “Ricardo N** secuestrador (kidnapper) y Lic. Amilca Q*******.” Even more curious, at the same time the crowd around the block kept up their excitement, young men atop a flatbed truck were preparing sound equipment for a church service. Already, they had filled the street with plastic chairs. More graffiti in front of city hall: “Banda de secuestradores los N**” (Translation: “The N** family is a band of kidnappers”). Apparently, during a recent kidnapping, the victim managed to escape. Once free, the person began identifying their captors, and an attorney who is apparently linked to them.

Later, I learned the crowd had indeed set fire to about three vehicles, one belonging to a market vendor of churrascos (roasted beef), which sell for a little more than a dollar. One vehicle belonged to local police, another to the kidnappers. I’m not sure about the motorscooter that was burned near the park.

Riot police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. Many people, feeling the effects, had gone running every direction. Gas entered windows of homes adjacent to the street. My friend said his three children were huddled in one room, trying to avoid the gas and acrid smell. About a dozen were taken to the hospital.

A return to Mayalandia

After nearly five years away, I'm back in the land of the Maya. Once again, I wake up within a short bus ride of one of the world’s most beautiful lakes, surrounded by three stunning volacanoes, ringed by small towns inhabited by colorfully dressed Mayans.

The house I’m living in sits just two blocks down a sloping hill from Sololá’s town square, which gets busy early as buses begin transporting people down the hill to tourist town, Panajachel, or up the road to a transfer point on the main highway. From there, people can travel southeast to Guatemala City or the other direction to Quetzaltenango, named after the country’s brilliant, green, elusive national bird, the quetzal.

It's wonderful to be back, and it's yet it's strange. The town hasn't changed too much. Kakchiquel women and men still sell delicious tropical fruits, vegetables, colorful hand-woven blouses and skirts, pirated CDs, tortillas and cheap fried foods. When I walk through the market which crowds two sides of the town square, I still have to duck endless ropes and tarps. I stand out like a sore thumb here. I must be a full foot taller than the average Mayan.

I had been thinking of returning to Guatemala for the better part of a year, and finally the timing seemed good. After discussions with my friend, Rick McArthur, I bought a plane ticket for February 10. It was great to see his smiling face at the airport. I spent several days at Rick and Carol’s house in the city. We went over plans and projects for the two months that I’ll be here.

It’s a bit overwhelming to see all the work that needs done and that could be done. I will be working with Viña Studios, here in Sololá, where I worked in 2003. At that time, my task was simply to write stories related to Viña for the website. This time, I’ll be looking for stories to write, but I’ll also be preparing reports on projects to extend Viña’s work of bringing the good news of God’s grace through the cross to Guatemalan’s in the language they understand best. (See Wikipedia's entry for more on Mayan languages.)

Feel free to navigate around Viña’s website and learn about its work and ministry. One of Viña’s biggest efforts involves “Deditos,” its finger puppet videos which tell Bible stories for children.

One of my favorite stories explains how most Mayans learn best through oral story transmission. It involves the late Jim Butler and his wife, Judy, who worked across Lake Atitlán with the Tzutujíl Mayans of San Pedro La Laguna, and it illustrates the need for audio and video media to communicate the Gospel.

Another of my favorite people is Obispo Tumax, a Kiché Mayan, who has a glowing testimony of God’s grace in his life, and who was one of the first Mayans to record original worship songs to Jesus Christ in his native tongue.