Chontala, Guatemala
Since 2005, Incarnation has built a Sister Parish relationship with the small indigenous community of Chontala in the western highlands of Guatemala, about 90 miles northwest of Guatemala City. The partnership was established with a group of twelve Mayan women whose husbands had, in 1983, been killed in a military raid on their community. From that core group, a broader Chontala Sister Parish Committee was created in 2010 to design and administer a project through which Incarnation can financially and spiritually assist the Chontala community.

















Chontala Travelers Return Home
After some tearful farewells, Maria Louisa, Rafaela, Tomas, and Tomas flew back to Guatemala on Monday, February 18. During their week in Minnesota they participated fully in the life of the Incarnation faith community by worshiping here on Ash Wednesday and Sunday morning. At 10:45 worship, they gratefully received the 800 mugs that were donated by the SPARK programs and the Incarnation Preschool. These cups will be donated to the primary school in Chontala so that the children can receive their morning snack of milk.

Throughout the week, the visitors also visited Como Park, St. Paul’s West Side, Scandia Shores where they met with some Incarnation residents and a supermarket where they got a taste of American grocery shopping.

They got a taste of what it’s like to live in Minnesota in February as they went ice fishing on Lake Minnetonka.

 















They even got the chance to play broomball and one of the Tomases laced up skates to see how it felt to glide over the ice.

















Tomas, Tomas, Rafaela, and Maria Louisa got a taste of school spirit as they visited Mounds View high school and even took in a basketball game!


The SPARK kids club learned to make tortillas from the “pros” and the Incarnation preschool had visitors who were truly interested in what the students were doing.

One of the highlights of the trip was, believe it or not, a trip to Northview Dental where they received much needed dental care. Rafaela even went home with a brand new smile! Our visitors were able to contribute to other ministry partners of Incarnation by packing food at Feed My Starving Children and visiting the Wellness Center at First Lutheran Church in St. Paul. They were so grateful to the many people at Incarnation who invited them into their homes or drove them to their activities.

Through visits like these, our horizons are expanded. They experience our way of life, just as we do when we travel to Guatemala. Once again, the Action Group thanks all those who attended the summer fundraising dinners, contributed to Buck a Mile and so warmly welcomed our visitors - we couldn’t have done it without you. Once again, you have demonstrated that it truly takes a village!

January 2012 Incarnation Delegation Visit to Guatemala

Throughout the ages, the writers of the Bible have represented the tops of mountains as holy places, special places where people might experience the presence of God more fully. For the ten members of Incarnation’s fourth delegation to Chontala, Guatemala, God was present in the hospitality of the host families and in the faces of the children who are everywhere in Chontala. In many ways, this trip was similar to previous trips, but in one important way, it was much different. The people of Chontala are Mayans who have, for centuries, been victims of genocide at the hands of the military and because of this; they are normally a bit leery of “Ladinos” (people of European descent). On past trips, it has taken a little while to reestablish the bond between the travelers and our hosts, but this time, our hosts seemed genuinely happy to see us and to receive us into their homes.

Many people at Incarnation sponsor primary school children from Chontala and the travelers have always wanted to visit the village school and talk with the teachers. During this trip, the delegates had the opportunity to meet with all of the primary school teachers for an honest exchange about the education system and what the typical day for a student in grades 1-6 might look like. We learned that they study three languages (Quiche, Spanish, & English), mathematics, citizenship, artistic expression, and physical education. The kids are in school from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. between January 16 and October 20. Since all of the families are subsistence farmers, it’s important for the students to help with harvesting at the end of the rainy season (beginning of November).

The delegates lived and ate with members of the community. The meals were simple and delicious and always included tortillas. Each evening, the women would remove the kernels of corn from the cobs, soak them in lye and cook them to remove the shells. Early each morning, each family would take a bucket of this cooked corn to the mill where it would be ground into a corn paste. This paste is what was used for making the ubiquitous tortillas. It was amazing to see how the tortillas tasted a little different at each home. Usually the meal also included either eggs or beans, often with fresh salsa.

After the day’s activities, one of the best parts of the day was playing with our host children. They would gather around us and as we sang to them or read the small books that Laura Rivers-Kleppe first year Spanish students wrote for the village kids. In one home, Julie Omland and I had the opportunity to play “American Idol” as Juan, one of the eight kids in the house played M.C. with a rolled up piece of paper into which we took turns singing silly songs.

One of our best days in Chontala was the day we spend the morning with the sponsored students. They all came with their mothers and it was so sweet to see their smiles as they received letters from their sponsors. Brie Medin led the “scholars” in an active game that had everyone laughing. Lanny Houston, our “official” photographer took photos of each family and these will be presented to the sponsors with the letters that each student presented to us to give to his or her sponsor. Several of the people in the delegation sponsor students, so it was very heart-warming to watch these students meet their sponsors for the first time. It made this connection between Incarnation and this remote village in Guatemala even stronger.

It was sad to leave these friends, but the Chontala Action Group is beginning to plan for our next meeting, which will hopefully take place as several people from Chontala travel to Incarnation in 2013. We thank God for this ministry partner and we look forward to many years of growing in faith and friendship with them.

Sister Parish

Incarnation’s partnership with Chontala is through Sister Parish, which offers inter-cultural faith experiences and long term, transformative relationships between people in the United States and Central America. The goal of Sister Parish is to foster mutual understanding and a commitment to peace and justice among people. To accomplish its goal, Sister Parish establishes linkages between churches in the United States and faith-based communities in Central America. The linkages are based on direct, person-to-person contact, with delegates living in each other's homes and sharing each other’s realities.

Delegations from Incarnation have visited Chontala in November 2007, February 2009 and October 2010. With each trip our knowledge of the community and the number of people with whom we have interacted has grown. Each side now feels a personal bond with the other.

Learn more about the Incarnation/Chontala Sister Parish Partnership: 2010 Delegation Report

Community of Faith
Although not a traditional “church,” all of the people who we have met in Chontala belong to local congregations ranging from Methodist to Catholic to Pentecostal. One still practices the ancient Mayan religious traditions. Notably, the Mayan and Catholic faiths have found ways to respect and coexist with each other, even merging aspects of each into Catholic worship spaces.

Religious faith is everywhere in Chontala, and services can be lengthy and intense. Our Incarnation delegations have been invited to participate in worship services during each visit. Most recently, we attended and participated in a Methodist Church service that was devoted entirely to celebration of the high school graduation of one of its members.

The People of Chontala
The truly amazing thing about Chontala is its people. One cannot help but notice that while living conditions are primitive, the people of this community are generally a harmonious and happy family. Adults are hospitable and generous, more than willing to engage in conversation (despite our lack of knowledge of their primary language, which is a Mayan dialect known as QuK’iche’ (Kee-CHAY)). Many are fluent Spanish speakers. So with the help of our Sister Parish interpreter and the fact that some delegates have also been Spanish speakers, communication has never been a show-stopping issue.

Everyone is busy doing something productive from dawn to sundown. The women cook, carry the babies on their backs, and do much of the farm work. Children play together without fighting, and no one seems to worry about where they are or what they’re doing. They’re at the neighbor’s or playing together in the bare earth courtyard. Not enough of them are in school, because primary school, while free, is still beyond the reach of many due to the cost of uniforms, extra fees and school supplies.

Scholarship Program
While it has never been the intent to build this relationship around a project, we know that friendships develop and communication flows more freely when we encourage and support each other.

As the delegates questioned local leaders about their vision of the future, the answer that slowly emerged was that there were ways that we could help. Their committee could have asked for a public building, improvements to sewer and water or money for food or all types of improvements. All of these more immediate needs were set aside; instead the proposal focused on the education of their children.

For the past year people at Incarnation have sponsored 25 students in grades 1-6. Sponsors and students have exchanged letters and this past summer, the sponsors received the report cards of the students. The $85 fee per year helps the families provide school supplies, uniforms, and extra school fees. This is a great gift to families who often have three or more children and who are subsistence farmers and make a meager living on selling extra produce and woven items.

Currently, due primarily to the ongoing burden of these costs, about 25% of those enrolled in primary school (“primaria”) complete grade six and go on to middle school (“basico”). A very small fraction of these students go on to complete high school (called “diversifacado” because it focuses on one of a limited number of career paths). The students currently being sponsored were chosen by the committee using criteria they developed to identify children who have special potential. One of the hopes is that many of these students will complete “diversifacado” and return to Chontala to develop businesses and staff much needed services in the village.

The plan is to support these students with their annual costs, direct encouragement and prayer, until they either graduate or for some reason leave school, at which time another primary school student will be chosen. At each stage, the out of pocket cost rise somewhat. That is, basico is more expensive than primaria and diversificado is more expensive basico.  There are a limited number of scholarships left.  If you are interested in sponsoring a student, please contact Lynda Thompson.

Travel Opportunities

Watch for information about the next delegation visit to Chontala. Because of the relative ease of travel to Central America, the trip is about 7 days and land costs are quite reasonable.

Check out Incarnation's other mission partners:
Mkwawa Lutheran Church: Iringa, Tanzania
LifeHaven/Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota: St. Paul, MN
Solid Ground
Feed My Starving Children
Hunger Ministry

For more information on mission partners or mission trip opportunities, contact Lynda Thompson at lthompson@incarnationmn.org or 651-484-7213.