Every October 4th, there is a fiesta in Panajachel to celebrate their patron saint, who is San Francisco. They have parades to honor him, school and work are canceled for the day and vendors come from all around to sell their wares.
The strangest and saddest part of this fiesta is the Mayan/Catholic synchronization that goes on, as you can see here. The masks and costumes are Mayan, as well as the incense and music. It is commonly accepted even with most evangelicals as a kind of fair day. Public and private schools participate in the parades and they even have a band competition from the schools that most of the kids participate in.
This Maya culture and mindset is the reason we are here. Even believers have as their central belief system, a Maya belief. This is why we are encouraging the evangelical churches to participate in a program to teach moral values based on Bible stories in the public schools. Reaching the children for Christ is the only way to change this acceptance of the culture. This program will begin in Feb. of next year, but we still need Bible teachers to commit to teach - our primary prayer request this day.
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| Marimba music had it's start in the Mayan culture and for this reason, many evangelical churches will not have marimba music in their buildings. |
At this time, more than normal, you will see many drunken men just lying in the street. People just walk over and around them. Whatever they drink is extremely potent and when it hits, they just hit the pavement. Alcohol is a huge problem here. People who drink get drunk and many families are destroyed by it. For this reason, alcohol drinking is prohibited by evangelicals. However, many of our Christian men have a drinking problem and the church doesn't seem to know what to do about it.
Amusement rides are brought in from who knows where or when to be enjoyed by all. Some of the kiddie rides would remind you of the 40's and 50's in the states - really cute and old! Some of them are actually run by hand.
We had four ferris wheels this year, put together by rubber bands, I think. But the price was only 1 quetzal per person, which is about 15 cents, so Niel could not pass that up, so he talked me into riding it. It was a unique and a bit scary experience!
