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God’s Kingdom the Latest to
Rule Mexico’s Yucatan
by
Gregory J. Rummo
Yucatan
Peninsula, Mexico—Business for Wilbert Nadal
Hernandez isn’t brisk along the
Paseo Montejo, the main drag here in Merida, this
bustling metropolis in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.
But it’s only 7:30 in the morning. Later as the sun
climbs higher into the tropical sky and the
sweltering
heat drives thirsty customers his way for a cup of
shaved ice in an assortment of flavors or slices of
chilled mango and papaya he’ll hopefully cover his
costs for the day.
“It’s a side business,” he tells me in a blasé
manner, while sitting on a bench in the shade under
a tree near his stand. While it’s OK for the locals
to indulge in one of Hernandez’s frozen
confections,
for a Gringo like me, it’s almost a sure bet I’d
develop a case of Montezuma’s Revenge. You can
never
be sure where a street vendor gets his ice, even if
he swears up and down it was made from agua
purificada. The water in Mexico—even in a modern
city like Merida—is simply not suitable for
drinking.
Hernandez’s push-cart business stands in stark
contrast to the extravagant wealth on display
across the street where a blinding white
colonial-style mansion sits elegantly behind a
black wrought
iron fence; the lawn and gardens meticulously
manicured and neatly edged tightly up against the
long,
cobblestone driveway.
Such are the contrasts in the Yucatan peninsula.
Centuries ago, beginning in the 9th century, the
Mayans ruled this part of the world from their
capital city, Chichen Itza where today, acres of
well-preserved archeological ruins draw millions of
tourists annually.
References to Mayan culture are ubiquitous, often
intermingling with the culture brought over
from Spain when a party of shipwrecked sailors
landed in 1511. Something as simple as a drive
along
Highway 180 where the large green overhead signs
pointing the way to places with names like Xmozon,
Hecelchakan and Poc-Boc serve as reminders that it
wasn’t just the Spanish that laid claims to this
area.
And now, almost 500 years later, another kingdom is
quietly laying claims to the Yucatan
peninsula.
Roy Seals knows the Yucatan like the back of his
hand. He grew up here as a kid when his
parents moved to the peninsula as missionaries
about 40 years ago. They first settled in Cuernavaca, a
45-minute drive outside of Mexico City. But Seal’s
father, Odis, was a country boy at heart and the
family finally settled in Merida.
Odis loves children—the family has adopted four
Mexican girls—and he first reached out to
them by teaching Bible stories on a flannel board
he set up in an abandoned lot around the corner
from
the Seals’ rented house.
Children and adults alike responded to his
evangelistic efforts and La Iglesia Bautista El
Calvario de Merida was born.
After establishing national leadership in the
church, Odis moved out to the countryside with his
family to a small town called Tecoh. There, from
out of the rain forest, he carved a house, a
church,
and a Bible institute. For the children of Tecoh,
he made a huge playground that even includes an
electrically powered merry-go-round.
His son, Roy, pastored Calvary Baptist Church for a
number of years until finally turning the
work over to the church’s current pastor, a
national named Manuel Verde, who became a Christian
when a Gospel of John was slipped under his door.
“Manuel filled out the coupon that was inside the
Gospel, requesting a correspondence Bible
course,” Roy explained. “One day my wife and I went out to visit them. They joined the church and
eventually he became the pastor.”
Roy continues to stay in close contact with Manuel
and the work in Merida. Together they
started “Project Yucatan for Christ” and Seals
brings groups of young people with him several
times a
year to distribute Gospels of John door to door in
the towns and villages throughout the Yucatan
peninsula. He prays they will fall into the hands
of those who are willing to hear the Gospel. “You never
know if there’s another Manuel Verde out there,” he
says.
During our week-long stay, we embarked on Gospel
distributions in a few areas in Merida, in
Campeche where we assisted another church and in Chuburna Puerta, a small fishing village on the
gulf where we later feasted on fresh filete de
pescado empanizado at an outdoor restaurant called
“Costa Azul.”
We gave out over 11,000 Gospels of John, hardly
putting a dent in the 300,000 Roy shipped
down last February. And he’s planning to ship
another 250,000 next month.
“The Peninsula of Yucatan has been under the
influence of the impressive Mayan Civilization
and the Spanish Conquistadores,” Seals says. “Ours
is the privilege of introducing the Yucatecan
people
to the greatest of all kingdoms, God's Kingdom!”
It is an ambitious endeavor, yet, in the words of
Jesus, truly the Yucatecan people are “not far
from the Kingdom of God.”
Gregory J. Rummo is a syndicated columnist. Read
all of his columns at
www.GregRummo.com
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