Nueva...

After leaving Santa Elena, we drove north into the Peten in order to visit three more of the ILAG parishes. These parishes had not attended the National Council Meeting and were feeling forgotten... Padre Horacio had not been able to visit for six months because of his heart.

We arrived in Nueva Guatemala and once again were in the middle of nowhere, I had no idea how common of a place nowhere was and just home many people live there. Padre Horacio unbuttoned his shirt and showed the men gathered the scar the runs down the middle of his chest, telling them that he would have visited them if he could... but he is here with them now and Christ has never abandoned them. That being said, the men told their pastor their fears and pain...

They only returned from Mexico four years ago and already many are talking about moving. A damm is being put in near their land which could either won’t have water or the fields will be flooded... either way their crops will not survive. The idea was to sell together and buy new land together so they would have more power, but some have begun to sell and buy on their own so fear reigns. Their children are also not being provided an education so these people need to appeal to the government to uphold its promise of education.

This congregation is the parent congregation to Aurora 8 de Octubre and Santa Elena 20 de Octubre, yet it is struggling the most...

Tiempo de la esperanza... adviento! Padre Horacio dijo que, “Todos hijos de Dios no olividara a Uds!” No matter what God will be with them. Padre Horacio told the men gathered to go home and tell their wives and neighbors that we would be having mass together later that night... the men did not think many would come... Padre insisted that they would come...

The four of us, Padre Horacio, Esther, Horacio and I each went to separate houses for dinner because the people were too poor to feed more than one extra mouth... and when we returned to the church an hour later it was full, full of people who craved the Word, the promises of our Lord for them... and that is what they received.

Law and Gospel...

In Santa Elena during their celebration, I saw an ironic image... to the right of the altar was the pulpit... and to the left, sat the pipe through which they launch the bombas... law and gospel if you will.

Out go the lights...

Santa Elena, 20 de Octubre had their one year anniversary of being a Lutheran congregation on 28 of November. They literally had 24 hours straight of activities planned to celebrate... people from Aurora 8 de Octubre came to celebrate with them, walking into the community through 4 kilometers of mud after riding in the back of pickups to get to the road into the community... Aurora members brought in sound equipment and someone from yet another community even carried in a harp.

As the daylight ended and those gathered waited for the service to begin, someone thought to amplify the harp... as the man plucked the strings a younger boy thumped the base of the harp... amplified it sounded like a heartbeat, and could be heard from anywhere in the community... as if the heart of their lives was the church... and even more so the word of God.

The service began at 10pm... by then the days activities coupled with the warm temperature and the multitude of bodies in the wood plank church had already lulled many into sleep. During the service, two girls received their first communion and their was one baptism.

Between the bombas, which I am not getting used to, calling all to worship, the amplified harp beat and the multitude of people... the celebration drew some attention. During the baptism, the son of the mayor and two other youth who were sons of the Catholic Catechists cut the lights to the church... and we fell into complete darkness. How fitting it is that Advent was upon us when we are reminded that Christ is the light of the world. The child was baptised... light or no light... her light will shine through the power of the Holy Spirit. And the light returned.

While we continued, Santiago confronted the boys. He told them not to bother us because we were serving God. They responded by punching him and running. So... after the service was over (two and a half hours later) we skipped out on the next five hours of activities in order to sleep. We had to be walked to the houses we were staying in to insure our safety.

Educational Needs

Education is such a precious aspect of life… and it is not given the support or resources that it, our children and leaders, needs.

The ILAG, here in Guatemala, has two schools in Guatemala City for primary school. These schools are a necessity for the children that are attending. For while every child here has the right to be educated, when public school class sizes are capped and you do not make the list, if you cannot pay to go to private school… you do not go. In the communities of internally displaced many children do not make the list and by no means can afford to attend a private school… these are the communities with which the ILAG school’s provide opportunity, and hope.

The children pay a modest fee… by paying a fee to attend, they are more likely to attend as it feels more valuable to them… and wear uniforms. While considered private schools, there is no requirement at these two schools that the children be Lutheran to attend... in many communities the children have to be Catholic to attend secondary school as it is the only one available and the school requires all students to be Catholic.

The ILAG, however, needs to renovate one of the schools or the Department of Education will not allow them to remain open… which will leave those children without an opportunity to go to school. At this point, the ILAG does not have the funds to renovate, and are hoping and praying for support from the United States and their sisters and brothers in Christ.
Email me aolson@luthersem.edu or ilag@intelnet.net.gt if you want to know more.

My turn to teach...

During this visit and another one a week later to Santa Elena 20 de Octubre, I tried my hand and my new language at teaching. In La Esmerelda, I taught bible classes to the 4 to 6 year olds for three days. I was so nervous... especially when while Esther told me I only had to prepare for 20 minutes of instruction, so I did... and it ended up being 2 to 3 hour sessions. But we survived... all 17 of us, learned, colored and ran around a bit too. I taught two classes to the women in La Esmerelda as well... one class about Mary and the other about Advent in which we made an Advent wreath for the church.

Having got my feet wet, and still amazed that I was understood, I also taught two classes in Santa Elena, one to the women and one to the kids. The experience in Santa Elena was nuanced by the need to have everything I said in Spanish translated by one of the men from the congregation into K`kechi. Most of the women do not know Spanish and are teaching their children the language they know… the children learn Spanish in school.

Yet we communicated… the women benefited as much from my attempting to speak my new language, a witness to the fact that it is not easy to learn a new language… and the children, from one community with no electricity and another where only a few have it, colored pictures of the birth of Jesus that I printed off of the internet.

Time for Class

Up in La Esmerelda, following the National Council Meeting of the ILAG, were classes for the leaders of the church. Leaders from most of the churches in the ILAG attended. It was fun for me to hear them talking about the Marburg Confession and the 95 thesis of Martin Luther along with discussing what it means to have a new life in Christ using 2 Cor 5:17 and Eph. 1:14. These classes that the leaders all participated in contained much of the same material that I learned over my four years at Luther Seminary as I was prepared to be a pastor in the church.

The group was split into two groups for most of the time… one group had lessons in Spanish inside the church and the other group had classes in K`Kechi (still not sure how to spell that) by the church’s oven outside. Spanish is a second language for most of the members of the ILAG. Every three months or so they gather, in different parishes, and prepare themselves to be not only better leaders but some hope to be Pastors, Catechists, or Ministers of the Word. They do not go through candidacy or official seminary classes at an accredited university or seminary… they cannot afford to leave home and family and for many life in Guatemala City would be too foreign. But the church needs leaders and is using its resources to prepare these who come forward or are chosen to deliver the gospel to the people.

Repeatedly, I have heard Padre Horacio say that the ILAG is one of the churches that preaches the truth of the gospel… one not the only one. Teaching the leaders in one way that ILAG preaches the truth.

That being said… as a woman I have an interesting role. I am not ordained, though I hope to have a call one day, but if I was the community churches are not ready to accept a female as a pastor. El Tuerto, in the City, has expressed a desire to have one of the women in their church ordained… they are ready. She has been working among them for a long time. Padre Horacio is working on improving the role of women in the church and in the communities, but it takes time. He wants me to teach some classes to the leaders in the up coming sessions… on the church year and on confession/absolution… I cannot wait!

A Mary in our Midst

Santa Maria is such an important person in the lives of the Guatemalan people. Her quite faith and witness... from the Magnificat and from her life... serve as good examples for the women of these communities who are poor and humble as well as women of great faith.

During the National Council Meeting each parish gave the report of what they have been doing and along with their financial report to the other parishes. As this agenda item was coming to an end, Caterina proudly reminded Padre Horacio that the women’s group had yet to give their report. As she began, she apologized that she has trouble reading… after stumbling over the first few words, Herlinda took over. She struggles too especially with numbers, but all listened patiently and when she could not figure a word or number out, Fabian, who was sitting beside her, quietly helped her out.

When she finished, everyone clapped—the only report that received such a reception—and congratulated them on their work. The men from the other congregations will take the example these women gave home with them. It was beautiful for me as well… for many reasons.

Early Morning Wake-Up

The morning after arriving in La Esmerelda for the National Council Meeting, I was sleeping snugly in my wood-plank bed. The floor was exposed rock… I don`t think the bed had too many fleas… I was looking forward to hopefully sleeping through the mill while usually starts running at 5:30am to grind the corn so the women could make fresh tortillas for breakfast. The roosters and fighting dogs had long sense stopped being a problem for me… I can about 99% of the time sleep through them now. There was hope that I could sleep in until 7am… that was at least until the hen woke me up by landing on my chest as she entered my bed. I did not know what had landed on me at first… and was scared that for some reason I was being attacked by who knew what… I could not move my arms for they were secure in my sleeping bag. So in part I was relieved when it was just a chicken on top of me as I opened my eyes. As she moved off of me, I figured out how to pick her up… I have never picked up a chicken before, I had no clue how tightly I could or should for that matter hold her and if she would try to peck me.
So I finally grabbed her, she didn`t peck me and I threw her out of my bed and climbed back in my sleeping bag. About 10 minutes later, I was woken up to her landing on my chest once again… so again I removed her from my bed… 10 minutes later she was in bed with me again… I could not figure out why she was so insistent!

I grabbed her one last time and opened the door to my room and threw her outside. However, as I was walking back inside content that I had triumphed, the two little girls told me that the hen needed to be in my room because she lays her eggs in the bed… Yep, IN the bed… so defeated I let the chicken back in my room and let her jump unmolested into my bed. I covered my backpack and sleeping bag with a blanket and went to take my very cold shower at 6am. When I returned… sure enough one newly laid egg was waiting in my bed.

National Council Meeting of the ILAG: Stewardship

Four to Six times a year, the leaders from the various churches in the ILAG gather in one of the communities to report, to connect, to worship and to attend theology classes. Some traveled 2 nights and three days to get to La Esmerelda... by bus and in the back of pick-up trucks... leaving behind family, and responsiblities in the fields to come. I had packed a large bag... and felt a bit guilty when the five men riding in the back of the pick-up for the last half of the trek (8 hours driving total, but we did over a day and the next morning) had less room because I had brought so much. We reached La Esmerelda early on Saturday morning and the Council Meeting began at 9am. After devotion time each congregation presented the acts of their parish in the last four months, including their financial reports. The financial reports recorded expendatures down to the Quetzal and then the representative reached into their pockets and pulled out their tithe... 10% of the offering for the last 4 months... for many it was not more than 30 or 50Q (about $4 to 6)... but the reality and the humbleness of their tithe was inescapeable. Stewardship.