Praise the Lord for earplugs and a good night’s sleep!  Today was a wonderful day for sleeping in…and then I noticed there was a parade outside my window.  Really.  There is the week long festival celebrating the history and independence of Nebaj, and part of the celebration included a parade this morning that we watched from the second floor of our hotel.  Then our team went for a leisurely breakfast and amazing conversation about the way God works in our world and how we choose to follow him and seek his mission.

The crowd was huge at the dedication ceremony for the Ixil New Testament.  The entire ceremony was in the Ixil language, but I could pick out the occasional “God”, “Christ”, and “thanks”.  It was awesome to see these people reading from a Bible in their own language for the first time.  And to see Ray Elliot reading the same scriptures that he spent years translating…that was a sight to behold.  It’s an honor to be witness to something so historic for him and for his family.  Look at www.reson8.org for more information.

I’m having a wonderful time traveling in a different culture, struggling with the language, and learning as I go.  My traveling companions are the best, and have been making this an even better experience with conversation, insight, and hilarity.  It’s the great stuff of building memories with one another…you build community with someone while sharing a poncho and wading through flooded streets in flip-flops, hoping you’re not stepping in what you think you’re stepping in.  You can’t (and probably wouldn’t)  orchestrate such encounters ahead of time; you just grab them when they arrive and appreciate them for the way the knit us together with one another.