On November 11 we flew from Santiago to Gavilanes, a small, inaccessible Cora village perched up on a rugged mountain deep in the Sierra Madres in the Mexican state of Nayarit. We had been invited by Pascual the pastor of a small group of Cora believers.
Gavilanes is north of Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico. It can be reached from the end of the road by 6 hours on a donkey, or by foot...or by plane in 25 minutes.
A phone call informed us that our host was transporting bags of cement on donkey train all day long and wouldn't be back until dark on the day we arrived. So we were left to find a place to wait.The airstrip runs through the center of town. We were let out of the plane and the pilot said he would pick us up at 9 in the morning on the 13th. We talked to someone who said that Pascual lived "over by those trees" and so we headed off in that direction. When we got to where we thought the house might be one of the few people passing us said that Pascual wasn't there. So we sat down in front of a house, in the shade and waited.
It turns out the place where we found to rest was Pascual's house. It was right across the street from the Albergue, a boardinghouse for children who had to travel to Gavilanes to go to school.Soon a giggly little girl appeared and told us that her daddy was Pascual. Soon her grandmother came out, greeted us, and led us just one house down and showed us simple rooms that had been prepared for us. We had been waiting on Pascual's doorstep. There were two rooms swept clean, with beds where we stretched out and fell asleep.
We woke starved, I was wishing that we had packed a lunch, as our host and hostess were not to return until later. They had not expected us until the next day. But their daughters Ester (9) and Delicia (12) made us some hot tortillas and served us water....and did that simple meal taste wonderful!
It got dark early it seemed and by 6:30 P.M. the Milky Way was bright in the sky. Lina arrived, and then Pascual and we ate some more tortillas and a little eggs with tuna and talked into the night.
A lonely Cora church
Earlier that day, as we sat in the car waiting for the plane to take us to Gavilanes, Jay outlined his purpose for our visit. He said we would be going to encourage Pascual and the church and also assessing how to support Pascual's ministry without creating dependency.
In Oaxaca we work with a Mixtec church that is well supported in many ways, with fellowship, leadership, plus physical and medical support. They know that they are not alone. But here on this mountain is a man called of God, and his extended family with very few other believers for miles around.
Pascual sharing his testimony and what it is like being the only Cora believers in their village. It is quite a remarkable story. His father's testimony is also remarkable. Make no mistake, God can make Himself known to the seeking heart without a missionary if need be.Of course everyone hears about the believers who are out by themselves, alone, persecuted by those around them. But this was the first time I witnessed the hunger for fresh springs of living water from a visiting minister. Pascual quickly called together the church of about 10 adults and we had meetings at 10 AM and then again at 6 PM.
Jay preaching on the importance of using the gifts God gives us to serve the body.Preaching to the Cora
To reach the heart of a people the gospel needs to be presented in the language of their heart. And so Jay and Faith have been working at learning Cora, studying and having biweekly sessions with their "maestro" in Mojocuautla, the Cora village nearest their home and mission base in Cofradia de Cuyatlan. Jay and Faith lived with their family in Mojocuautla last year to try and get closer to the culture.
Jay and Faith found that the language of the Cora in Gavilanes was clearer and more precise than what they are trying to learn. However, although there are those who do not understand Spanish, almost all of the people, especially the children, speak Spanish. This is very different from the areas we serve in Oaxaca where only the men seem to speak Spanish.
Jay with his "Proclaimer" the New Testament in Cora. The battery is rechargeable by plugin, crank and solar power.
The Cora Church in Gavilanes
Lina and Pascual sing a duet.
The Cora people in this village are very different than the Mixtec we work with in Oaxaca. They are open and friendly, the little girls giggling as they walked by us. They responded with "buenos dias" as we greeted them. Eddie and I were used to suspicious looks and avoidance in regard to strangers such as ourselves and were impressed with the difference.
Pascual and Lina's children, Ester 9, Delicia 12, Eliezar 1 and Josue 4. They have two teenagers in a school in Durango. Eddie and I have made more trips up into the mountains and eaten more indian prepared tortillas than we can count, but we have rarely had this kind of reception. The kind where you are given the best beds, and when you eat you know that the people can barely spare what they are giving you.
Breakfast, yes, that's a blue tortilla!The most trying part of the trip was the bathroom situation. Simply, almost no one has bathrooms. When we asked Delicia where to go she looked at us blankly and gestured toward the hillside that drained downward toward the canyon. There is a boarding home for the school which serves other villages in the area and on three occasions Faith and I asked permission to use their bucket flush toilets (oh, ah, heaven!)
The bathroom area, not the shack. Actually, it didn't smell, and the pigs seemed to keep it pretty clean.But at night we had to walk out to the hillside to the communal toilet area turn off our flashlight and squat in the dark. Gratefully most people experience convenient constipation in these situations.
We toured the Central Salud, a clinic manned by one doctor and aide which serves at least 5 Cora villages in the region.
Merchandise and supplies are brought in either by plane or donkeys.
There is always a little celebration when you return to toilets and civilization. We celebrated by going to SUBWAY!
One last word, please keep Jay and Faith and their children in your prayers as they seek how they are to fulfill their call of "church planting" among the unreached Cora people.
