El Mirador

Ester, the three girls and I went to church via bus, Horacio could not get into his room so he did not have church clothes. We rode the bus... like most it was a bus from the States. Over the driver’s head was a sign which said, “This bus is under the survelience of...” and in the spot for the company logo was a picture of Jesus. Made me smile. We arrived as one of the two women who attend was sweeping the floor with water to settle the dust. As the service began a van with a loud speaker kept passing by the church drowning out the words of the service. They have some much to fight through, to persevere through...

As we sat on the worn out benches that were once blue – the color of hope—but now, now the paint is rubbed off, the wood is split, the bottoms are not level, and most of them are empty. I was sitting there, dust still chocking the air and tickling my nose, and one of the few members present asked if they could receive communion more often.

There is hope.

Homecoming

Beatriz came home on the 9th of November and was greeted at the airport just about the same time the sun rose by family. She had been in California for a month helping an uncle recover from surgery. Her young son, Marco Andre was being cared for the Horacio. She was welcomed home with such love. Marco Andre, about 6 years old, had cut a rose bud three days prior and kept it in water to give it to her only to almost lose it as she arrived. Tears and hugs so warm and firm you just knew the depth of love and care were exchanged between mother and son. This family does not usually show affection which made it all the more... como se llama... precious. It was beautiful.

All Saint´s Day Part 2

All Saint’s Day was the one year anniversary of Aurora 8 de Octubre. We celebrated with a church service and building blessings which began at 10pm. In the midst of the serivice, after the creed, the women entered the church silently through the side door with thin taper candles glowing in the dimness of the church. They kneeled before the credence table first, followed by the backwall table and then the altar. Dressed in their traditional shirts and croqueted shirts, most were bearfoot which seemed appropriate for the cermony as they were blessing the church as holy ground, they prayed and left three bowls at each of the three tables... one bowl had bread, one had chicken and I believe the third contained picante. The women brought insence around to each table and then as they concluded left their taper candles on the floor (melt the bottom and it will stand).

When they were down the elders, four men, unwrapped four huge balls of incense and gave everyone a small taper candle. They also had 5 large candles, 4 blue and one white. We all went outside together, men, women, children- those that were not asleep on the church floor at their mother’s feet next to other children- and foreigners. The elders set fire to the insence in a huge kettle inside a space of three walls of palms knees high—the flames were as tall as me and the smoke was pungenant. All prayed outloud or to themselves. It must have been a designated prayer because they all ended at once (it was not in spanish or english). They lit the five big candles and all the small candles were lite from the light of those and them from one another. Into the stillness of the night, four bombs were sent skyward telling the community about the anniversary.

We re-entered the church singing “Together with Brothers and Sisters in Christ” each places our candle on the floor before one of the three tables. The four blue candles were placed in the corners of the church complete with blessing, more incense and water from a palm branch. The white candle was placed in the center of the church. The candles burned until sunrise, we went on with the communion litury and then after two and a half hours were fed another full meal at midnight.
November 2nd was our last day in Aurora 8 de Octubre and was spent being with one another and the members of Ocho. That evening the parish held a cultural evening for us. We listened to songs about their history that they had written and danced. At first the women from the community danced alone and then later on they asked if the women of the delegation would dance with them... to be honest I felt huge being so much taller than the women, and frankly I have no clue how to dance to a marimba. I felt like we were umpa- lumpas from Willie Wonka. The dancing continued, and continued... women could dance with women, men from the community could dance with foreign women, Scotty danced with some of the young ladies not yet married, the little girls would dance with us and the boys would dance with our men. The sociology of the event was very interesting. Thank you’s were also exchanged...

How they became Lutheran…

During their years in Mexico, they more or less maintained their native language… however they have forgotten the Quiche words for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit among other religious oriented words.

The members of Virgin del Rosario were originally Catholic. They had heard about Padre Horacio and the work he and the Lutheran Church were doing. They started to investigate where and how to reach this Padre Horacio and were told it was dangerous to look for this church. They were told among other things that the Lutheran Church worships a man instead of God. But thank God, they found Padre Horacio with a phone call. They needed him to come but he did not know where they were so they met in the nearest community of Chisec and then came to the community and met in Don Santo`s house. There Padre Horacio told them about the Lutheran Church and where the other communities in the ILAG were located. They decided to join the ILAG.

News got to the Catholic Bishop via other catechists. They have received mixed reactions from leaders in the Catholic church. Despite still being attacked at times by the Catholic Church, they are encouraged rather than fearful. When Padre Horacio came to buy the land for the Lutheran Church he came with tools to work the land with the people, so the members of this congregation know that they are not alone.

Pantelone finished by thanking us for visiting. He said that “the Bible talks about how Christ looked for the poor and not the rich, and you, the delegation, came looking for the poor not for the rich. Because of a calling from God you are coming here. You left your houses not to look for money but to look for community.”

They now, one year later for November 1st was their one year anniversary, have a wood church building and a kitchen for the church… and dreams for much more.
And after this meeting… we helped carry 25lb cement block from the road, over the stream, through the soccer field and up the hill to the church so that the church and 4 members of the church could have latrines. One man carried 12 blocks at once with a forehead strap… I managed one at a time =D

A Chapter of Aurora 8 de Octubre´s History

This chapter of the history of the members of Aurora 8 de Octubre begins in 1981 when, because of the violence in Guatemala, they abandoned their homes and belongings and fled into the mountains. They lived in the mountains without food or roofs over their heads for a year. After a year they agreed to take the initiative to find a refugee camp in Mexico, where they would stay for 11 years as refugees.

The first year in Mexico they were in Chiapas and were received by the Catholic church who gave them food and homes. Living near the border, the Guatemalan army would still cross the border to kill some of the refugees. After a year and a half, the Mexican government moved some of them move to other, better, locations in Mexico. The refugees divided into three groups at this point.

In 1993 the refugees decided to return to Guatemala without conditions, the peace treaty was signed in 1996. Despite two years of negotiation, they had been unable to obtain promise of security or safety for their return, but decided to return anyway in an organized fashion. With the support of the Catholic Church and NGO´s, 5000 refugees returned. They walked for one month from Mexico to Guatemala to a community called 20 de Enero en the department of Quiche. After a year and a half it became apparent that 20 de Enero could not support 5000 people so the group divided… They had looked for farms and/or land and the government helped them find land. They found Finca Xaman which they renamed Aurora 8 de Octubre.

Now they live there and have a place to live and grow their crops. Throughout this chapter of their lives they never thought they would be sitting in a new church in Guatemala telling their story to a group of Americans. As Pantelon said, it is through Christ that we have been connected so that you, the delegation, can learn our story.

The story did not end with their arrival in Aurora 8 de Octubre. By 1995, they had established homes, a school, and their crops. One day (before the peace was official) the army came into the community, marching through the crops, and killed children and a few teachers. 11 were killed and 37 were injured. The Lieutenant in charge of the army had a Quiche last name and yet was killing those of the same Mayan group.

The children were studying at the Finca house when the army started to surround the community. One girl had her notebook in hand, as she was walking she was shot in the shoulder. As she felt the bullet she asked her father what had happened… even as the pages of her notebook turned red from her blood. She said goodbye to her dad and died.

Another boy was fishing in a pond, his corn doll next to him. He was killed. In his morrale (bag) was his notebook and three small fish. He was shot three times in the chest.
Two of the 11 who died that day.

All Saints Day- Part One

Today we “helped” the community. A group stayed by the church to help in the construction of the latrine… but think to yourself… if a group from Guatemala came to your church and asked to build a shed or a garage what would you do? Probably patiently give them tasks that would present the possibility of a major mistake. Yet, we North Americans have a need to do… so we did a little =D Another group went to find and bring back palms for decorating the church, and two other groups went to fetch wood for the kitchen.

John, Vicki and I went out with Teodoro, Felix and Salmo to cut and bring back wood. We walked for thirty minutes and then the men attempted to cut the wood… Vicki attempted to shew away the cattle, but when she put her hand out they thought she had salt so only came closer until Teodoro gave her a large stick. The men gave each one of us what looked like just a stick to carry back; they tied each end to some bark strips and showed us how to place the middle of the strip on our forehead and let the stick rest on our back. The wood pieces looked insultingly small, until we tried to pick them up and realized that the “little” sticks were actually about 40lbs each. The men knew our limits and even pushed them a bit even as they picked up logs to bring back that were easily 150lbs if not more.

That afternoon as we rested and talked in the courtyard between the church and kitchen, several of the women in our delegation brought out some fingernail polish. Once we found out it was acceptable, all the little girls received a coat of paint on their nails. It was a beautiful sight to see each little girl receive special one on one attention from a woman from Texas. They, both the girls and the women, just beamed as one after one in the crowd of girls received her coat of pink.

Eric, Lindsay and I attempted to teach American football to three of the men from Aurora 8 de Octubre. We laughed and actually managed a few plays. There are a lot of rules in American Football and frankly I would not know how to teach in English let alone in Spanish but nonetheless it was fun.

Thankfully, soccer is easier to understand and play without too much knowledge… So we played a game together… international relations… Guatemalan vs. American with a few people crossing over to play for the other country. None of the women from the community played but three of the American women played which I am sure was an eye-opening experience for the men in the community. After all Lindsay had played for Gustavus in college and I had played for St. Olaf… so we actually held our own… The best part was that the game ended in a tie after about an hour and a half of play!

After our soccer game, and showers, we looked on as the women demonstrated how they croquet the morrales. It turns out that Santo, male, was the first to learn how to make the bags. He taught his wife and now she is teaching others.

Community building, making connections… stretching eachother and caring for one another.

Service of First Communion

Five young girls adorned in white veils and shy smiles of expectation holding in their hands bouquets of beautiful hand- picked flowers around white taper candles entered into the incense filled wood board church along with seven young men dressed in clean white shirts holding bouquets as well.

Padre Horacio takes a moment to explain the practice of first communion to the delegation, and to the congregation who understands Spanish. He explains that while in many communities women do not learn to speak Spanish, as if they are not allowed, that in church we are trying to go around the problem of woman’s roles and give opportunities to women. Here there are two steps together… usually first communion is at seven years old as the children start being adults and have work responsibilities. At fourteen they are preparing for marriage and need to be confirmed before they can be married… so this community is newly Lutheran and the two come together today.

The text for the day was Zaceo, up in his tree… Padre Horacio sang the Zaceo song… same tune and everything and then asked if we, the delegation knew it. We did, so we sang the song as well. It was a moment when culture melted away through music, we shared the same song, the same bible story… watching the faces of the community members when we knew the song as well spoke volumes for at that moment for some reason it became clear that we were indeed brothers and sisters in Christ.

After the confirmation and communion service was over, the youth who were confirmed all planted orange trees outside of the church so that they could remember this day.

Night time

Our first night in Aurora 8 de Octubre was Saturday the 30th of October. As I laid on my wood planked bed and gazed through the gauzy pink mosquito netting up at the metal roof, I was at peace. The sounds of crickets, laughter and marimba filtered their way through the snoring of some of the delegation to lull me, and remind me once again why I love it here in Guatemala.

After another long day of travel… but this time all but the last quarter mile were in our bus… we were greeted on the gravel road first by several of the elders, the church president and some boys who had walked out to meet us. They boarded our bus and soon we saw before us 30 or more members of the church waiting for us by a bridge. They had palm branches waving in the air, smiles on their faces and a beautiful home made banner of Mary, the churches name is Virgin of the Rosary, stretched out for us. We all got off the bus and processed together, American and Guatemalan, hand in hand towards the church… palms waving all the while as if Christ was once again coming… Hosanna! In a way, Christ was coming once again… for the community, we were Christ incarnate in their midst and for us, they were greeting us as Christ… that we were indeed brothers and sisters in Christ could not be doubted.

When we got to the limit of where the road could take the bus, we unloaded all our belongings and the parish members all grabbed a bag until all we had to hold were the hands of the children as we continued to the church. That evening we were fed and we worshipped together… each of us received a morrale that a woman from the parish had made… and the delegation presented their gift of a new bell to call people to worship.

As the sun went down, the activity in and around the church continued since they have electricity, but we retreated to our beds that were a gift as well since while we slept in the beds they slept elsewhere… one of the hardest gifts to accept.

That night I wondered what the days ahead would bring, but I also trusted that the Holy Spirit would indeed use these days for good… and the next morning at about 5:45am we were greeted with the sound of a bomb (think of those bang fireworks on the 4th of July) which was sent skyward to tell parish members it was time to begin to gather for the days activities and worship.

Getting away…

I just returned yesterday from the community of Aurora 8 de Octubre near Coban (kind of) with a delegation from Texas… Rev Steve Youngdahl and members of the congregation of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Houston and Rev Eric Youngdahl and members of the congregation of House of Prayer Lutheran Church in Austin.

So in the next few blogs I will do my usual and relate some of the experiences in the community. This time the getting there was not all that exciting… but the return was a bit. We left the community at 9am and headed toward Chisec which was about 2 hours away mostly on gravel. In Chisec, we found out that we might not make it through Coban because EX PAC members were staging protests throughout the country, mostly in rural areas. EX PAC, briefly and over simplified, were civilian para military during the war. They basically were Big Brother and watched the community for the government, turning in anyone expected of being a Guerilla or organizing people. At times they also participated in making people disappear. They were conscripted for the most part and are now demanding payment for their services… which is being contested. Well, thanks to the rain the protest on our road ended early (in other areas roads were blocked all day) and we made it home without incident.

Well… one incident. In Chisec, we stopped at a restaurant… the same who had stopped at on the way to Aurora 8 de Octubre (named that being of a massacre on that day). The restaurant had a monkey tied up and many members of the delegation were standing near it without a problem. I joined the group, thinking nothing of it… and suddenly the monkey was climbing up my back, trying to bite me… I was a bit scared and did not want to move in case moving would make it bite hard enough to break my skin. Then it tried to bite my head while it grabbed two fists full of my hair. Eric was able to pull it off me, only to have the monkey grab his shirt and start for his head as well… I was fine or was Eric; the monkey did not break through my skin with its teeth. Other than an elevated heart beat, messed up hair and a new respect for the strength of a monkey’s hands, I was fine. We even had a doctor in the delegation who made sure that I was indeed okay.

Tomorrow, I will write about the bombs that went off every morning to wake us up and during worship as well (do not worry, they are good bombas!)

The Church

For those of you who thought the reformation was dead… tonight at dinner I was discussing the church and relationships between different religions here (meaning between Catholic, Evangelical, Lutheran, etc.) with Padre Horacio and Esther. Padre Horacio said that we are catholic because Christ is in the center of our church and we are apostolic because we preach only the gospel of Jesus Christ. When those two things are present there is church, he said, and when those two things are not present it is not church.

And because he and others dare to preach Christ alone, they suffer. He has received death threats, suffers from various groups spreading lies about him and the ILAG, has been asked to leave churches because he works with the poor and the indigenous instead of only with the wealthy and many others.

Yet… people keep hearing about the work of this church and coming to them for help, to hear the gospel when others have turned them away or not handed over the gospel to them… instead demanding money or other things before they can receive the sacrament, marriage, forgiveness, or burial. The church is growing.

Yep, Christ is at work in His church through the Holy Spirit and at times church is happening here in Guatemala just as it is happening at times wherever you are attending. What a gift!

So as Padre Horacio said to a woman who came to ask where she should go to church, “Which church is near your home? Go there, and if you need to you are always welcome at the Lutheran Church as well.”