Poptun...

I was welcomed into the home of Betty and Alvaro in Poptun this past weekend. They were unbelievably hospitable... here I am sipping coconut juice as I prepared for my classes this week. I tagged along with Veronica and Martin (a volunteer from Holland) who were teaching a class on the Old Testament for 15 students, mostly pastors, in the area. I had the privilege to interview them during the class, and to discover more about how theological education has been formative in their own lives, in their churches and in their community economically, ecologically, politically... They openly shared their lives and experiences. Alvaro and Betty were pastors of a congregation just outside of Guatemala City for the past 20 years and just moved to Poptun 2 years ago. Alvaro is the one who has asked CEDEPCA to come teach these classes and encouraged several local pastors to take advantage of this opportunity to expand their understanding of the scriptures. Several students expressed that these classes have changed their understanding of the role of women in scripture and the church today, the need for the church to think and act ecologically in their region, and other important realizations of personal and communal impact.

Pictured here is the group of 15 with Alvaro in the orange shirt and Betty in the maroon top. A few women joined the crew- none "pastoras"- but all interested in learning more which is encouraging.
The church celebrated Alvaro's 53rd birthday in a... unique way! They had a worship service Saturday night, the members came and lined up to present gifts of give hugs, cake and tamales were served to all, and after more music people slowly filtered out

The view overlooking Poptun with Martin and Alvaro.

We bathed in a cool spring our first morning there. It was a beautiful though "frio... rio" (pardon the bad joke) so refreshing to be in nature after months of city life!