Had I known where we were going and what we were about to experience, I would have never gone; especially with my kids.

What started out as ‘educational tour’ through a quaint indigenous pueblo turned into a disturbing memory we will never forget. Santiago is a Mayan town situated on the shores of Lake Atitlan between two perfectly shaped volcanos.

It didn’t take us long to realize that our tour guide was an “evangelist” for Maximon – the Mayan god of at the lake, who promotes smoking, drinking and promiscuity. She passionately shared about how after performing a ritualistic ceremony and sacrifice, she was healed from epileptic secures. This just went from being a far-fetched religion that some people believed in, to the reality that this darkness was real.

As our guide led us through a narrow and winding passage way, I began to feel very uneasy. I knew something was wrong.
Rounding the corner a wave of incense flooded our nostrils – we were at the shrine of Maximon.

This cramped one roomed shrine was filled with smoke, porcelain statues, colorful flowers, and a glass casket containing a crucified Jesus. Our attention was quickly drawn to the middle of the room where burning candles surrounded a small unimpressive, wooden carving of an old man placed on top a chair.

Kneeling in front of the carving was a shaman (witch doctor) chanting, waving incense and calling on the statue to do something supernatural. He proceeded to put a cigarette in wooden carving’s mouth and light it. More chanting. Then he poured whiskey down its mouth… This is it? This is the great and powerful Maximon? Really? How do people believe in this? and why?

Even as I write this, my eyes are filling with tears. This culture is riddled with fear and superstition that keeps people bound. It breaks my heart. Why do they believe in a statue that can’t talk, breathe or move? Tradition? Yes, but there is more. The truth is that there is actually a power behind the idol of Maximon – Satan. Satan is a powerful being that interacts with the real world we live in. Behind that small statue, there is a real darkness and power that holds this region in bondage and fear. And we felt it. Actually, all three of my kids walked right out of the “shine” almost as soon as they stepped foot in it because they felt the darkness.

You might say, “Isn’t Guatemala Christian? Haven’t they heard the good news of Jesus?” I wish it was that simple. When the Spanish came in the 1500’s they forced the Mayans to stop worshiping their pagan gods.

Our guide told us, “When the Spanish came, they didn’t know our language, so we changed the names of our gods to the names of the Catholic saints.”

The Mayans continued to worship their traditional gods through endless superstitions and rituals while mixing in a sprinkle of Catholicism’s terminology and ceremonies.

I asked our guide why in the ‘shrine of Maximon’, there was a glass casket with a statue of Jesus. “In our culture,” she replied, “Jesus is the ‘corn god.’ We Mayans believe that we came from corn, and just like a corn kernel dies when it is placed in the ground, it rises again to new life, like Jesus.”

Other colonial era statues lined the room, redressed in Mayan apparel. Our guide proceeded tell us which Mayan god was represented by each of these Catholic statues – mother goddess of the lake; god of prosperity; goddess of fertility… the list went on.

Afterwards we visited the historic 500-year-old Catholic church and noticed the walls were lined up with the same statues of Catholic saints dressed up in the same elegant clothes. When I asked about it, our guide said these were the 10 Mayan altars. In the church!? What? She further explained that they even hold Mayan rituals and ceremonies in the church because the church was built on an old Mayan temple – it was sacred ground.

The poverty and desperation of the average person here in Guatemala is so heart breaking. It’s their need for immediate results that helps to keep them in bondage to superstition. So how do we reach people who are so deceived? How do we help break down the generational strongholds that hold so many in this nation captive? There is a dramatic need for reformation!

Logic, well planned arguments, food, and building projects will not break this down. Religious doctrine, old style yelling preachers and ‘holy huddles’ will not work. It’s starts with prayer! “The weapons of our warfare are not of this world” (1 Cor. 10). When believers begin to diligently pray and fast, God will begin to break strongholds that have bond this region for Centuries!

I believe there is a need for courageous pastors in Guatemala to rise up like Caleb and Joshua to face the ‘giants’ this nation with a new vision.

Will you join me in praying for this nation every day for the month of June? Pray that God to awaken the hearts of the right pastors and leaders here to step up and boldly lead this nation into the freedom Jesus has promised!

God Said:
  “I am sending you to open their eyes, so they may turn
from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to God.
Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and become a part of God’s
people, who are set apart by faith in me.”
Acts 26:17-18