But the Church grew

From my journal… We met today with a man named Ramando. He the Director of a Christian School in Chajul. It is connected with to the local Methodist Church. He showed us around his Church and we toured the school. Then we finished up in a beautiful sanctuary where about 600 people cram into the pews every Sunday for a 6am service (which last two hours – mas o menos). They have home groups and offer a VBS program.

He told us a little about the history of the church – specifically around the war years. He showed us an interesting looking garden area. Apparently during the war – the army forbade them to go to the river to hold baptisms. So they built this tub like structure behind the church. There they continued to secretly hold baptisms until the war was over. After the war they filled it with dirt and planted a garden. From it new life continues to emerge. During the war, everyone needed to be inside their homes before dark. Ramando explained how the army would scatter empty cans all around. In the pitch black of night if the soldiers heard the cans being kicked, they would start shooting. The next morning they would often find dead dogs which had been shot as a result. Sometime there were friends who had stumbled on the cans on their way to the bano during the night. They were shot and often killed as well. He told of the instance when one night the Army hung a dead body over the doorway of the church – saying that only death mattered. The Church did not matter - it was a waste of time. He said; “The army was trying to destroy the church. But the Church grew during this time. God can not be deterred. To this we said, Amen.

Rich