Wednesday: Preaching in Larrainzar, Risking life in Chamula

For Wednesday, the church in Larrainzar (45 minutes north of San Cristobal?) had requested I come to speak to them in the afternoon, and before the meeting one of the families arranged to host a number of us for lunch, including several preachers from the area round about.

Darinel and his young cousin Carlos picked Elver and me up early enough that we had time to make a couple of interesting stops in towns on the route to Larrainzar.

The first was Zinacantan, surrounded by hills. In the picture, almost no structure you see is a house. Nearly all of them are green houses, where flowers are grown for export. Ever wonder where American florists get all those beautiful flowers, particularly when it’s winter? From places like this in Latin America. The business and residential areas of Zinacantan are just around the hill to the right. The people of the city wear traditional clothing, men and women both wearing colorful garments with flower designs, reflecting the income of the town.

The second town we stopped in is Chamula, where the locals enforce their wildly perverted version of Christianity/Catholicism. The town has special autonomous status, and federal authorities are not allowed in the city. The main road skirts the edge of the town, and as we met the crossroad leading directly into Chamula, men in sheep hair panchos stopped the traffic, lowering their rope to allow passage only after cars pay them. I really wanted to photograph these guys and the scene, but Elver and Darinel warned me not to. So after paying, we turned right toward the town center. In most ways it looked like any other market area, full of crafts and the traditional garments of this particular town. But everyone in this town adheres to the local religion, a mix of Catholicism, old Mayan traditions, and their own innovations. If someone in town converts to another religion (even Roman Catholicism), they are kicked out of town and their families are punished – I’m not sure how severely. Witch doctor stuff is involved in their religious practices, with lots of smoke, pine boughs, candles, and rhythmic incantations set to the rhythmic shaking of gourd rattles. The latter takes place in the formerly Catholic cathedral in the center of town, and of course I wanted as much as possible in photo and video form – but again, Elver commanded me not to take pics or video. Elver says that if they catch you doing photography inside the cathedral, they are perfecty willing and legally free to take you out and burn you alive . . . or worse. I’ll let you catch his explanation of the “worse” in the video if you’re interested. He says they have done this. Well, I was skeptical . . . and figured I’m pretty stealthy, particularly with the very small and inconspicuous video camera I have (GoPro). So in the middle of a crowd inside the cathedral, I got it out of my pants pocket, turned it on, and held it in hand with my arm simply hanging down as normal. If you know the GoPro, you know the user interface isn’t the most user-friendly – and it turns out the setting was for camera instead of video. But I did get one shot; unfortunately, there’s a man blocking the best part of the view. Afterward, Darinel confirmed that he too believes the Chamulas carry out summary executions as described by Elver. And getting back to civilized society, others confirmed all of this as well. Still, a page on Wikipedia makes no mention of executions.

(Darinel: one of my favorite people here)

We finally arrived in Larrainzar. The primary language there is not Spanish, but Tzotzil, the language of the indigenous people there. Although many of them know Spanish as a second language, it was thought that some might be present who did not, in which case I would speak in English, Elver would translate into Spanish for the visting Spanish speakers, and then another person would translate into Tzotzil for the locals. After lunch, we had a little time before the assembly, and someone started singing a Spanish song, inquiring if I knew it
in English. That led to them trying a number of songs on me, in many cases we were singing a verse or two together in both languages. One of them asked a few questions about directing music, and I gave him some pointers. Finally it came down to just three of us singing the entire Nearer My God to Thee all in Spanish. I captured the final verse on video, though the earlier verses were actually better! Eventually we headed next door to the meeting place, a smallish building constructed more or less like an old wooden shack, and the assembly came to number about 30-35. In connection with some things Elver had told me about the group in Larrainzar, I chose to speak on Reverence in the Presence of God. Speaking in this little building, with big, noisy trucks occasionally lumbering by 8 feet outside the open door, is starting to be a normal experience for me.

Not long after returning to San Cristobal, several of the area brethren who had been visiting that day at Larrainzar appeared at Elver’s door to invite us to eat supper with them at a small cooking establishment (run by a sister) in the courtyard behind Elver’s apartment. That last part sounds kind of strange, I know, but that’s the best way I can describe it. It was good to continue my association with them.

While I spoke for a couple of hours with the men from the San Roman San Cristobal church on Tuesday, my work speaking to the whole congregation begins tomorrow (Thursday), and extends through Sunday, six lessons plus those earlier two hours (I wouldn’t normally bother to detail the hours that way, but feel I should for a select few readers). I am very much looking forward to my lessons the rest of the week. Three of them (Thursday – Saturday) will focus on the need for elders and the work of elders.