Heading to the Hills

Beautiful mountains above San Bartolome

Yesterday we headed out at the crack of dawn for the end of year ABC celebration in La Palma. This year it was decided that instead of having a large celebration here in Chichicastenango with all of the churches traveling in, we would have the activities at each local congregation.  The cost of transportation alone was getting to be prohibitive, and the size of our guest list too big for the local installations.  With very little convincing necessary, the ABC coordinators agreed to host the activities locally.  With the money saved in transportation, we were able to allocate more funds per church so that they could invite the whole congregation to the party.  People from farthest away were especially glad not to have to deal with a bus-full of carsick kids.

La Palma is a tiny town in the mountains north of here about 90 minues away.  The people walk everywhere--uphill both ways.  The junior high kids live an hour-and-a-half walk from school (no cars), which means most kids board with a family during the week and come home on weekends. They are some of the most cardiovascularly fit folks we know!

Iglesia de Cristo La Palma

Since they are a smaller congregation and don't have any dedicated Sunday school teachers or high school kids, we invited some of  the scholarship kids from the Xepocol church to help out. We had a great time with this small but friendly congregation, recognizing the academic achievements of their kids.  We shared a time of worship, games, Bible trivia, "marathon"and lunch before heading back home. (Thanks to Cesar, Manuel, Tomas, Tomas, Maria and Tomasa for their hard work.

Working on the agenda for the morning's activities.

Menfolk getting pine needles ready to adorn the floor for the activity.

Pyramid building race

Maria and Tomasa enjoying some sun

While talking to the local ABC coordinators, they mentioned how much they appreciated having the celebration in their own town and getting to share the day with everyone.  It was a great day!

The most hilarious competition--moms feeding their "babies" a bottle of milk.

Alberto carrying his egg to the finish line.

Marta reading her "race to find the scripture"  verse.

Cheerleading section

And they're off! Up the mountain about 3/4 mile and back.

And they're--off with their shoes!  Better barefooted than in flip flops...

Manuela was flying down the hill to the finish line.

Honorable mention.

Have you ever played soccer on a ridge?  Let's just say, out of bounds is a real bummer.

So we have 15 more communities to go.  Most of them before we all leave for vacation, so we will divide up all of our staff over the next week to attend the celebrations.  Should be good!