Last week Nancy and I visited Yaxcopoil, a hacienda about 25 miles outside Merida. At the turn of the century the hacienda system was in full operation, providing much of the hemp the world had needed for sailing ships and continued to need for rope and material for World War I. The income from the henequen plant made enough people rich for Merida to claim the world’s highest “millionaire-per-capita” title—but it also kept many people in servitude in a way comparable to the plantation system in pre-Civil War United States. Then in 1932 the president of Mexico broke up all the haciendas, which were huge land grants, giving title of the land in parcels to individuals and communities, and the culture had to change. Some time later nylon was invented, the world stopped using hemp, and the industry died.

This particular hacienda we visited began as a cattle ranch in the 1800’s and in the time of its greatest splendor stretched for around 22,000 acres. It now consists of a large, partly decaying, main house, remnants of the old production and warehouse buildings and machinery, and a few acres around them. One of the rooms is the Maya Room, and contains artifacts found on the grounds over the years. The hacienda continued to process henequen until 1982, although the amount of production was not great. Other haciendas have been restored for tourists, but this one was just right for us. The guide who showed us around had actually worked on the hacienda while it was still operating, as had his father and, I suppose, his father’s father. He was obviously proud of the old house and eager to give us a positive impression of it—which we received.


This morning I preached at a church in the south part of the city of Merida. It was the anniversary of the church, and, along with me as guest preacher there were three invited special music groups and one soloist. One of the groups was a trio, which sang contemporary Christian music.

A second was a men’s chorus—strong and enthusiastic in its rendition of both traditional and contemporary songs. The third was a guitar duet that played traditional Yucatecan tunes with Christian words. The soloist sang beautiful contemporary works. All together there were fourteen special musical numbers…And my preaching. They had canceled the Sunday School hour expecting the service to be a bit longer than usual—and their expectations were met…


After the worship service there was a convivio , that is a small meal. This worship was my fourth since arriving here, and the fourth which included a convivio. And each menu was the same—coca-cola and corn tortillas wrapped around shredded chicken and onion. Delicious and no digestive problems…

Then this evening I preached at the church of our host, Don Bito. This service was shorter (less music, not less preaching) and did not have a convivio, which meant a stop at Subway on the way home. The spirit of the people was very good and the quality of music had vastly improved since the last time I was there, a year ago. Back then I noted that the group leading the music half way through the musical set basically abandoned all pretext of tonality in favor of volume. This time the leaders, drums, guitar and keyboard were pretty good. You could tell someone had been working with them.


It is a great privilege to share in the worship of God in these services. Nancy and I are always greeted as special people and honored in some way. I have conversations with the people, and usually end up joking with some of the little children. The old men and women are patient and the younger ones energetic. Huipil (traditional dress) and contemporary clothing is mixed, and children play on the floor. In all of it God is honored, and we are thankful that we can be a part of it.