Coban or bust?

Crescent Hill folks are still in communication with Presbyterian mission co-worker Roger Marriott and others involved in the Amigos de K’ekchi, a federation of PC(USA) congregations and presbyteries involved in partnerships with Q’eqchi’-speaking evangelical Presbyterian groups in Guatemala, including those from Washington state and the Nashville area, about possible 2010 gatherings in Guatemala. The notes from the October 2009 Amigos gathering in Cincinnati suggested that Amigos folks would reconvene in Coban, a north central Guatemala city that is a center of Q’eqchi’ culture, for a gathering with Guatemalan partners. We had talked about visiting cultural sites in the Coban area (Pastor Delia Leal's area) and gathering somewhere outside of Izabal with our partners for Bible study and further conversation. The Amigos gathering we thought might combine these two schemes. More recent Roger Marriot e-mail, however, suggests a shift from summertime to this April (soon!) (both are during the rainy season) and stresses either kicking off the term of a Q’eqchi’-speaking mini-seminary in Coban, which Roger hoped Crescent Hill and others would financially support, or possibly a school construction project, which Presbyterians in the Carolinas were interested in. Crescent Hill folks are likely more interested in the cultural sightseeing, Bible study, and conversations with other North Americans and Guatemalan partners than they are in seminary or school construction. But the conversation continues – although so far mainly with Roger Marriott.

-- Perry