Mayan Kekchi and Hebrew similarities

This report was written January 17, 2021

Yesterday we met a very special young man and his wife.  There is a huge construction project on the way to Cahabon (where we will be living soon), and they only let people through every hour, on the hour.  If you get there early you have to wait until the top of the hour.  While we were waiting, a young man approached us and asked if he could be our guide in Lonquin, to see the amazing natural wonders of that area.  We were not so interested in site-seeing, but we did need a interpreter to help us find a good hotel for the night, se we spent some time talking to him -- because he spoke English.  He could speak four languages: Kekchi, Spanish, English and Hebrew.  He said he had not been able to go to school when he was young, because the transportation to the school was expensive, and his family could not afford it.  But he learned to read, and has spent a lot of time reading.  We asked why he learned Hebrew, and he said a lot of people from Israel come here -- and he learned it mostly from them.  Then he said something really powerful!  He said that there are a lot of words in the Kekchi language (the native language of the people who live here) that are similar to words in Hebrew.  Because of that, he said it was easy for him to learn Hebrew.  Then he said, "I don't know how that could have happened."  And I said, "We know!"  And then we proceeded to tell him about Lehi's family coming from Jerusalem 600 years before Christ was born.  He is very interested in to him how the people, 600 years before Christ, left Jerusalem and came to this continent, and the native Kekchi people are descendants of those people.  We asked if he had heard of the Book of Mormon.  He had not, but said he was interested.  We asked if he would like a book, and he said he would.  He would prefer reading it in Kekchi, but either Kekchi or Spanish would be OK.  Then his wife came over to give us their phone number.  She is really a sweetheart.  We think this is a very golden couple, and will continue to keep in touch with them.

I contacted Mike Peck, my Kekchi teacher, and he said: "Very interesting!  Yes, for that very reason I started up a certification program in Hebrew last year.  I've always noticed curious similarities and wanted to find out if they are coincidences (as they often are between languages), or if there's a legitimate connection.  Do you know in what order he learned all those languages?  Which is his native language.  I responded that Kekchi is his native language.  My teacher is planning to contact him and get more information.