Guate 2014: Panajachel

I'm amazed by this country and the people each and everyday! Today a group of us had the opportunity to visit the city of Panajachel. The quickest way to get to Panajachel from San Lucas is by boat, so we sucked it up and took a boat! It's just a shame that this country isn't beautiful! :) No it's amazingly beautiful!

Once we arrived in Panajachel, we walked to the named San Francisco de Assis (St Francis of Assisi) which is the sister parish of Andrea's parish.

We met Father Victorino, who first gave us a tour of San Francisco.

After we visited the Church, Father Victorino answered some questions that Andrea and the people of Divine Mercy Parish in Faribault wanted to know.

Here is what he had to say:

There are 3 Carmelite priests in the community of Panajachel; Father Victorino from Guatemala, 1 from Honduras and 1 from Spain. Those 3 priests alone oversee and celebrate Masses for 32 villages in 5 different townships, the furthest is an hour and a half. Every single day, each priest celebrates 3-4 Masses for these communities and villages. Saturdays and Sundays they celebrate even more Masses. Wow! Talk about shepherds!!!

Panajachel has a population of 44,000. 500 catechists help with keeping the 32 village churches. 5 of the larger villages have Sunday Mass. Some of the smaller villages have it for patron festivals and sacraments while others have Sunday mass 2-3 times a month.

The literacy rate of the villages varies based on age. People under 30 are good. Over 50 it's not so good. Some can't speak Spanish, only native languages.

The average yearly income is 2,000 Q per year, which is approximately $265 per year!!

After we chatted for a bit, Padre Victorino took the rest of the day to take us around Panajachel! What a guy! We had the amazing opportunity to meet 12 children that the parish of Divine Mercy have sponsored with scholarships. They gave us a tour of the school and the older students tested their English skills on us! They were great! They then put on a cultural dance for us and then we sang our theme song, "O Señor" to them in Spanish!

First off, it's so wonderful that divine mercy parish sponsors these students! And it was so rewarding to see first hand, the students that are benefiting from the generosity of others! God is good!

We had a quick bite and then he asked if we'd like to see another one of his churches. "It's only 30 minute boat ride away." So of course, we all sucked it up again and got back on our boat! :)

Padre showed us the parish of Santa Cruz after our hike up the mountain! It was a tough hike but so beautiful!

My philosophy is that no day in Guatemala is complete without at least one "selfie" with the locals! Here is our attempt with Padre and our group near Santa Cruz.