Having Faces: Being Neighbor

I came to Guatemala with a Graduate Preaching Fellowship in 2004 to learn to be neighbor. I was ordained at the St. Paul Area Synod Assembly in June 2007 as a pastor of the Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala and commissioned for service by two Synods of the ELCA and the Global Mission Unit of the ELCA. I serve in Guatemala with the ILAG as a missionary and a pastor.

Name:
Location: Guatemala

Thursday, November 25, 2004

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.

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