Death in a Mixtec Village

Posted on: 
March 1, 2019

Yesterday we went to the visitation of a sixteen-year-old boy. We took along a case of Pepsi as a gift to the family, according to the custom of the village. Other people brought Pepsi as well, or flowers and candles to place around the corpse.

As we entered the small, one-room house, we were invited to sit down with a few of the family who were gathered. We asked about the boy– when he died, and what he died from. They replied that he had died suddenly, and that he had died from a sickness. What sickness? They didn’t know.

Two of the village men present are helpers in the Catholic church, and they soon sat down next to the shrouded corpse and began to read Catholic prayers. “Mary, Mother of God, hear us. Look on us with mercy, and help us. May our sins be forgiven...” On and on they droned, vain repetitions that reached no higher than the roof tiles. The feeling of despair hung heavy in the room. The smell of death was faint in the air. The only signs of grief were the weary faces of the mother and sister, and eyes that had been crying.

One of the elderly men making small talk with us was the boy’s grandfather. He is the most respected (or feared) shaman in the village, and according to local gossip, this has led to the untimely deaths of five or six of his children, and now his grandson.

A bit later the mom offered us some beans and tortillas to eat. As is the custom, the family of the deceased prepares food for everyone that visits, and also gives them Pepsi to drink. We ate and soon left, wishing for a way to comfort a family without Hope. They don’t hug, so a sympathetic look and some murmured words of sympathy were all that we could leave with them… along with our prayers.

Later in the afternoon, I hauled the casket to the graveyard in his truck. Accompanying me were the family and a few relatives and elderly women who carried flowers. The men were drunk and silly, numbing their senses with cerveza (beer).

A few more prayers were recited over the open grave, a handful of water tossed in on top of the casket, and the grave was filled. Another soul has passed into eternity, and our hearts are heavy.

We have since been asked by several people, “Why did the boy die?” We are regarded as powerful white people and “religious”, so surely we would know what malicious spirit or spiteful person caused the death.

A few months ago another young boy died in the village, and his family killed the man they suspected of working sorcery on him. We pray that a similar scenario is not repeated with this death, but rather that God would use it in some way for His glory.

________________
We joyfully welcomed our baby daughter into our family in September. “It’s good,” they tell us, “another little girl to help make tortillas and wash clothes!"

We are excited to have started translating the book of Luke into Yoloxochitl Mixtec. It’s a challenge and a joy to see the Word of God come alive in another language! One ongoing and very great need is for translation helpers. We dream of a team of mother-tongue translators catching the vision and taking up the work, but the reality is that we have only had language help maybe 5% of the time over the last three years. It looks impossible, but what is impossible with men is possible with God! Please join us in praying for helpers as the Lord lays it on your heart.

—the Wagoners of Mexico

Support the Mixtec project!

Category: 
  • “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
  • “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witness of these things.” Luke 24:47, 48
  • “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19
  • “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
  • “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel.” Ephesians 3:6
  • “That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21
  • “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’?” Mark 11:17
  • “Ask of me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance.” Psalm 2:8
  • “Behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes.” Revelation 7:9
  • “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1
  • “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
  • “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
  • “As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country.” Proverbs 25:25
  • “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:10
  • “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.” Psalm 22:27
  • “Truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.” Numbers 14:21
  • “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.” Psalm 96:3, 4
  • “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14
  • “That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.” 1 Kings 8:60
  • “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations.” Malachi 1:11
  • “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.” Psalm 86:9
  • “For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:11
  • "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10
  • "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3, 4
  • "You are worthy. . .; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God." Revelation 5:9, 10