Batopilas area Christmas Trek of 2003

Amid mountain pines in a large clearing the tiny Tarahumara village of Basigochi spreads out with room for each little hut to have crops and goats. In the center is a two-room schoolhouse where the children from the surrounding area learn in their native tongue. We pulled up to the school and asked the teacher if we could do a Christmas program for the children. After receiving the green light to proceed, we did a short version, as the children could understand very little of what was said. Although extremely shy they couldn’t help but laugh at the puppets and their funny voices. Juan de la Parra shared about Jesus with the help of their teacher and then led them in a salvation prayer. Instead of waiting for their own tongue the children repeated the prayer loudly and clearly in Spanish. We felt the Holy Spirit was helping the children to understand what they were saying. Then we presented the gifts to them and marveled at the expressions of awe that crossed their faces as they saw the little toys. I do believe, for most it was the first little car they ever owned. The girls received a color book and crayons.

The last 3-4 hours of our journey to Batopilas is on a dirt road. After changing to the dirt road we never pass up anyone walking along the road without giving them a Christmas sack.

Our team on this trip consisted of Bob and Miki’s family, Norman Gibson, Holly Bertolino, Juan De La Parra, Casimero (Cati), and Calvin & Barbara. On this trip we faced a lot of demonic opposition. We had to stay in the Spirit and fight the good fight of faith. The good news is that we won, people were born again and good seeds of the Gospel planted.

We did a program in the plaza of Batopilas and at schools in Satevo, San Jose, and Basigochi. We distributed gift bags to the communities of Aboriachi and Basigochita and left 200 bags with Pastor Luis Maulas to distribute to other Indian communities where he preaches. We gave out a total of 1200 bags in the area.

The road to San Jose from Satevo is newly cut and quite rugged with washouts in precarious places, so when we arrived at the school and asked to do a program the teacher was quite excited and said that no one had ever brought anything to their school before. (Not surprising!) There were a total of 47 children present and about 20 adults came in as well. The people were very shy when we got there. Then as the program began they started laughing and became so interested in what was happening that they forgot about themselves and became totally absorbed in what was taking place. During the time of prayer everyone was repeating the salvation prayer and one of the school cooks had tears pouring down her face.

The children were totally delighted with the animal balloons we made and with their little gifts.

After the program one mother thanked me for coming and for the manger drama. She told me that none of the children had known about how Jesus was born, and that now they would understand why people celebrate Christmas. It means more than a vacation from school when you eat tamales and your Daddy and uncles get drunk.

At the little town of Satevo the teacher didn’t want anything to do with religion, but probably consented just to break the boredom. The children from both classes moved their desks outside to be able to watch in comfort. Many Mothers came as well bringing their smaller children with them. By the end of the program the teacher couldn’t thank us enough.
 

Click here to read more about the church in Batopilas and the Maulas'.