Crescent Hill Guatemala

More recent updates.

2009-06-14T14:36:00.001-07:00

Check out our most recent updates at: http://saintmathewsstation.blogspot.com

Tuesday conversation

2009-06-09T20:31:00.001-07:00

A group of Crescent Hill folks got together Tuesday evening and called Pastor Gerardo, pastor of the Arca de Noe church in El Estor. Gerardo reported that the Estoreño Presbytery has supported two new churches/churches information – the San Jorge and El Chupon churches – to build new buildings (both apparently since the mission team visited there just two months ago – and both apparently now needing cement for floors). The Arca de Noe church has itself added to its building – in the two years between the two Crescent Hill mission team visits to El Estor – and has been raising money to retire a debt.

Pastor Gerardo’s report that the presbytery has also purchased land in the El Estor area to build a seminary, partly so that, when people visit from outlying churches like the Monte Sinai and Livingston churches, they can stay, sleep, and eat there triggered an interesting discussion. Carlos recalled problems that arose when a presbytery in another part of the country tried to do something similar. Ellen was even tougher, asking what Jesus did when he taught and whether he built any buildings. It seemed that we all listened to each other respectfully.

Gerardo said that folks in the churches have been studying the Acts 2 Pentecost passages and some will get together to share thoughts and feelings about the passages. We hope to learn a little about the substance of that discussion. Gerardo said they might come up with a next scripture for scripture study at that time.

Gerardo repeated thanks he conveyed in an e-mail message for hard-copy photos they received from Crescent Hill a couple of weeks ago, when a PC(USA) World Mission staffer at the Guatemalan version of the General Assembly meeting handed them to Gerardo. But Gerardo did not know whether Rene, the young man with the computer with whom Gerardo works, had not yet received the digital photo of Crescent Hill’s Pentecost Sunday service that I had e-mail-attached to Rene (partly as an experiment to see whether they can get attachments.)

(Incidentally, I thanked Stan Devoogd, the World Mission staffer, in person today. I also told Roger Marriott, a PC(USA) mission worker helped organizing the Amigos de K’ekchi, that I had passed on his e-mail message and e-mail address to someone interested in representing Crescent Hill (Soni) on the Amigos steering committee, which he said had not met (by conference call) yet. I also wished Roger and Gloria – on their way back to Guatemala shortly – safe travels.)

Gerardo and we spent the early parts of the conversation talking a bit about the General Assembly meeting and who won what office. Apparently, those assembled spent a fair amount of time discussing election process issues and the people who won were – like usual – Ladinos, not indigenous people.

Gerardo mentioned in passing and this sparked an interesting discussion among the Crescent Hill folks later. Ellen and Carlos said it’s counterintuitive for Guatemalans to do open theological exploration – like Ellen recalls trying to guide them into – since Guatemalans aren’t used to asking questions and exploring issues. They’re used to people telling them what to do and things being black and white. Ellen recalled introducing the issue of infant baptism (which many Guatemalan evangelicals associate with Catholicism) in an exploratory way with folks in one presbytery. Without this kind of introduction and exploration, dialogue can break down - as in a different Guatemala presbytery, which is currently split down the middle, with those militantly for infant baptism aligned against those against infant baptism.

Gerardo said he was very touched to hear that we are plowing ahead with plans for a vigil and fast to coincide with the start of the presbytery’s annual meeting, on the weekend of September 9-20. He said they were praying for Crescent Hill church regularly. He seemed eager to report on goings on in the presbytery, as well as willing to engage in some dialogue about their construction plans. Ellen and Carlos stressed the importance of theological education, and it seemed that the Estoreño folks – with their own construction-heavy approach – were acknowledging that by focusing some of that energy on seminary development.

Later Ellen made one more point to us. Having been considering the Robert Wuthnow “Boundless Faith” argument, Ellen said Wuthnow may have sold congregations like ours short by simply saying that international mission travel and follow-up would probably only involve five or so people per congregation, and – as important as that was, particularly for the U.S. people involved – congregations couldn’t expect any more to be involved. Not only – as I pointed out – are there a swirling mix of more than a dozen people – involved in Guatemala partnerships trips and planning – at Crescent Hill. But also – said Ellen – the congregation as a whole has been occasionally and fleetingly involved, and we hope to help widen this congregational engagement.

(On books, Ellen again called for giving Crescent Hill folks opportunities to learn more about Guatemalan history and culture. One way to do that would, Ellen said, be to develop a very short reading of books about Guatemala that some Crescent Hill folks who might never travel to Guatemala might be eager to read.)

Speaking of the congregation: One issue we did not cover at either of these two gatherings is the messages that folks from the congregation left for Estoreño folks at two services in May. Lowell gathered those materials up and Ana is to paraphrase and translate them into Spanish, so Ellen can transmit them to Rene and Gerardo. Also speaking of the congregation, I brought to the gathering more pieces of Guatemala partnership displays for the Narthex and Gathering Room. And Ellen brought translations into English of Carlos’ e-mail to Gerardo and Gerardo’s e-mail to Ellen about Pentecost Sunday and other issues, which are slated to become a Crescent Hill newsletter article.

The group retired a little late, many to reassemble Wednesday for the Looking for Lilith fund-raiser.

-- Perry

Gerardo's and Carlos' e-mails translated

2009-06-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Presbytery of Estereño Q’eqchi

Good morning, sister Elena. It is a pleasure for me to greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to inform you that I did receive the photos and they are very lovely and we thank you all for them. (Note: these are photos of our trip in March to Guatemala that Perry sent with Stan DeVoogd to Guatemala in May).

About the Pentecost worship, I received the information that brother Carlos Lara sent to me that told of the worship when you all experienced the power of the Holy Spirit and we too experienced the Spirit’s power. We ask that you all continue praying for us that we would have the strength we need to carry out the ministry that God has given to us. The Arca de Noe Church built a church in El Chupon using 30 sheets of metal of 10 feet each for the roof; walls are made of cane stalks tied together. We hope that God will provide the economic resources so that we will be able to buy some bags of cement in order to make a floor where there is now only dirt.

We send a cordial greeting to everyone at the Crescent Hill Church.

Gerardo PopPastor, Arca de Noé Presbyterian ChurchEl Estor, Guatemala

2 de Junio de 2009

Saludos desde Louisville, Kentucky. Les cuento que el día de ayer Domingo celebramos la fiesta del Pentecostés. Los recordamos en el servicio y también seguimos orando por ustedes y el gran ejemplo que siguen siendo para nosotros aquí al vivir en comunidad. Esto es un reto para los Hermanas y Hermanos de la Iglesia de Crescent Hill.

Les compartimos algunos de los pensamientos que aprendimos en el estudio de la escuela dominical. Pentecostés es una fiesta para celebrar la bendición y el beneficio de vivir en comunidad. Pentecostés es un evento que comunica la vida del Espíritu. El Espíritu nos enseña a vivir en un discipulado permanente formando un espíritu de comunidad en cada uno de nosotros. Creemos en la comunicación del mensaje del Evangelio en el poder del Espíritu nos ayuda para desarrollar y celebrar la vida y sus signos y ritos en la vida juntos.Celebramos Pentecostés comiendo juntos. La fiesta del Espíritu la compartimos en la Cena del Señor y también en las mesas juntos. Pentecostés sigue siendo un aprendizaje del discipulado en el poder del Espíritu Santo. Aprendemos a ser guiados por el Espíritu y compartir con otros la vida de Dios juntos. El Espíritu nos ayuda a mantener el compromiso del compañerismo. Creemos en: la Comunicación, La Celebración, y en la Comunidad.Muchas bendiciones Hermanas y Hermanos.Carlos Lara

Greetings from Louisville, Kentucky

On Sunday, May 31 the congregation of Crescent Hill celebrated Pentecost. We remembered you all during the worship, pastor Jane told about our visit with you in March and how you live in the power of the Spirit. We continue praying for you and giving thanks for the great example that you continue to be for us in how to live in community. This is a challenge for the brothers and sisters in Crescent Hill.

In our study of Pentecost in the Sunday School class we learned that Pentecost is a day to celebrate the blessings and benefits that come from living in community. The Spirit teaches us to live always as a disciple and this same Sprit forms a spirit of community within each of us. We believe that the communication of the Gospel message in the power of the Spirit helps us to develop and celebrate the life and its signs and rites of a life together.

We celebrated Pentecost sharing the Lord’s Supper and a meal together. Pentecost will continue being for us an education in discipleship in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are learning to be guided by the Spirit and to share with others the life that God gives us together. The Spirit helps us to fulfill the promises we have made in partnership.

We believe in: Communication, Celebration and Community.

Many blessings Brothers and Sisters

Carlos Lara

June 6 gathering

2009-06-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Guatemalan mission partnership task force gathered at Nancy’s Bagels Saturday morning, June 6. The group shared prayer concerns about job issues, budget cuts issues, and upcoming trips.

Ellen reported to the group about a recent e-mail message from Pastor Gerardo of the Arca de Noe church in El Estor, which folks were excited to hear about. Gerardo said he had received via PC(USA)World Mission staff photos of Izabal folks that the spring mission team had taken while in El Estor. Gerardo also said he had received Carlos’ e-mail message with thoughts about Pentecost at Crescent Hill.

Later the group agreed that we would try e-mailing the Izabal folks a photo of the Pentecost worship service.

Ellen, Ben, and Carlos would also try to call Gerardo to find out more about in what ways Estoreño folks might have studied the joint spring scripture study scripture (the second chapter of Acts). The hope is that we can get through to Gerardo this week so Ellen can put any information from that conversation with him in an article for the July church newsletter issue. (The phone call is now scheduled for 8:30 p.m. this Tuesday (June 9) at Ellen's apartment at the seminary.) Ellen will translate into English at least part of Gerardo’s e-mail message to us and part of Carlos’ e-mail to Estoreño folks about Pentecost at Crescent Hill, as part of that article. (Those articles have also included prayer schedule information for the month)

There was also some discussion about the end of Gerardo’s e-mail, which dealt with his church’s efforts to construct a building for the El Chupon mission church they’ve helped get started. Gerardo said they’ve built a roof and walls but are now praying for money for cement (or just the cement) to cement the floor. We talked about whether this was a veiled request for money (although also clearly an invitation to join them in prayer about this). Perhaps at some point Crescent Hill church plans will have crystallized enough and our partnership has developed enough that we will feel comfortable devoting a piece of proceeds from a Crescent Hill church fund raising capital campaign for Estoreño Presbytery church building projects. It would be important to deal with the presbytery as a whole, in that case, not individual congregations.

Ellen mentioned that Jeff and Soila are planning to try again after an effort to land Soila a visa so that the two of them could leave Central America for the United States was rebuffed, partly because Jeff had no official job offer yet.

Ellen described in brief the current political crisis in Guatemala, where a lawyer accused the president of trying to have him killed on a videotape shot three days before the lawyer was indeed killed. Ellen also explained that Estoreño folks seem to be OK in spite of the earthquake that struck off the coast of Honduras and Guatemala that did reportedly level a couple of hundred houses in the surrounding Izabal area of Guatemala.

Ellen also promoted a new book by Robert Wuthnow, “Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches,” which describes new international mission patterns with many U.S. congregations sending a relatively small number of folks on short-term mission trips and building international connections and U.S. congregational engagement from there – which Ellen said seems to characterize Crescent Hill experiences. Ellen hoped to read the book and keeps tabs with Guatemalan politics through the “Prensa Libre” Web site.

Soni described the development of the Looking for Lilith theater group – starting with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Young Adult volunteers in Guatemala – and the opportunity to see one of their performances of “Strangers Extranjeras” – which deals with issues of cross-cultural friendships in Guatemala – with six evening shows over the next two and a half weeks, one matinee, and a special fund-raising show with dinner and other featured events this coming Wednesday, June 10. All shows are at the Rudyard Kipling in Old Louisville. More details are available at the “Looking for Lilith shows” blog entry or from Soni.

Perry reported that, at a task force gathering earlier in May, the group had affirmed the week-by-week rotation of prayer partners and suggested we continue with it, starting all over in late June. The group had suggested placing information and photos each week in the Narthex. Perry brought to the Saturday gathering an easel and two choices of boards: a white board or a cork bulletin board. Saturday’s group chose the cork board over the white board. The group encouraged Perry to include a permanent headline that describes the Guatemala mission partnership, and Ben and Ellen agreed to provide some appropriate fabric background for the nearly 18” by 24” bulletin board and small laminated Guatemala map.

The prototype discussed, with the border all around and the map below, would include, printed out, something like:

Guatemala mission partnership
Let’s pray this week with:
Monte Sinai church in the San Carlos Porvenir community
Pastor José Sub
Church members, deacons, and elders

Jane urged us to put the easel in the southwest corner of the Narthex, near the basket of children’s resources, visible but not in the way. She also urged us to not to keep using the whole big Gathering Room bulletin board but to frame the text of the partnership plan with a couple of pictures and the map and put this up in the Gathering Room, more or less permanently. Perry said he’ll work on this.

This week’s phone call and follow-up communication with Estoreño Presbytery folks should give Crescent Hill church folks an idea of how study of the joint scripture study scripture – this spring, Acts 2 – went in Izabal. Even with the flurry of activities within several Sunday school classes studying the scripture, the sending of background and questions to Estoreño folks, and the focus on Acts 2 in the Pentecost Sunday worship service, folks in the group thought Crescent Hill’s Acts 2 scripture study was too diffuse. They suggested next time, instead, a separate scripture study group – perhaps meeting weekly or every two weeks – not during Sunday school, but perhaps during a weekday evening. Folks said that – after the Estoreño folks picked the Philippians scripture for joint study during the winter and we picking Acts 2 for joint study in the spring, it is the Estoreño folks’ turn to pick the next scripture. Hopefully, the phone conversation with Gerardo would give us a better idea of what general ideas they might have for joint scripture study continuing. (Estoreño leaders might want to consult before coming up with another scripture.) Folks at Saturday’s gathering talked about doing the next joint scripture study (for a limited time period) in the fall, or perhaps late summer and early fall as a lead-up to the Estoreño presbytery’s Saturday, September 19 annual meeting.

Saturday morning folks went on to talk about the vigil and fast we had promised to put together to coincide with the start of the September 19 meeting. (Keep in mind that Guatemala is currently two hours behind us – they are normally on what we call Central time, and they don’t currently do Daylight time.) Following up on a conversation at the previous gathering, the group talked about – instead of having any kind of common program – Crescent Hill folks fasting until 12 noon and stopping by church – between 9 and 12? – to pray, perhaps in shifts that the group had pre-arranged before. Jane said we would need to promote this – through the newsletter, bulletin announcements, and a Minute for Mission? – and give people suggestions on how to fast and how to pray at home or at church. Ideas that we join for a light lunch afterwards in the Fellowship Hall or at a restaurant might not pan out if everyone were coming to church at different times.

Initially, Ben and Ellen volunteered to help spearhead this. But Ana said the Worship Council had talked about the vigil and had ideas about doing a Labyrinth – like stations of the cross – apparently in the sanctuary – with photos at each stop along the Labyrinth. Ana and the Council will continue to work on this, perhaps with help from Ben, Ellen, and other Guatemala mission task force folks.

Last summer half a dozen Crescent Hill folks traveled to Nashville to participate in a gathering of the Amigos de K’ekchi, a federation of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and presbyteries working with Guatemalan Q’eqchi’ partner presbyteries. Crescent Hill was not able to send anyone to a follow-up gathering in Spokane this April (that followed both Crescent Hill’s spring Guatemala mission trip and a joint Amigos de K’ekchi trip to north central Guatemala). At the Spokane gathering the federation established had set up a Steering Committee which was slated to “meet” periodically by conference call. Soni expressed some interest in representing Crescent Hill on the Steering Committee.

A few Crescent Hill folks had been talking about the possibility of Crescent Hill church reaching out not only to folks in Guatemala but also to folks from Guatemala and other Latin American countries here in Louisville by setting up a regular program with English as a second language classes (partly for Spanish-speaking neighbors in Clifton and Crescent Hill), with Spanish classes for some of us and others, with children’s activities, and with a meal. But Jane said she’d learned recently that the Mid-Kentucky presbytery had been talking about doing all but the Spanish classes part of this in four sites around the area, and that our sibling congregation on the other end of Frankfort Avenue – James Lees Memorial Presbyterian Church – was slated to be one of these sites. So Saturday’s group talked about some of us becoming involved in the James Lees effort while setting up a (weekly??) Spanish class for Crescent Hill folks and others in the community at Crescent Hill (paying a teacher). A teaching ESL training is tentatively slated for September. Ada is leading the presbytery Latino commission and Perry has also tried reaching some James Lees folks about this. After the gathering, Jane suggested that task force folks check with the Crescent Hill church Outreach Council about the ESL and Spanish class ideas and the idea discussed next. Jane was to help lead the Spanish classes effort.

Soni reported that she had been talking with Marian C. and Jane and hoped to be talking with Marcus and the Outreach Council soon about an idea for a possible Latino-themed fund-raiser or community event to include some Cuban American performing acts Marian had been talking with, perhaps some Guatemalan performance, and even a short performance by the Looking for Lilith folks, perhaps with food, perhaps with donations – along the lines of the Leslie McClure concert or a broad community event Marcus and others had tried to organize last fall. A twist is that some of these groups might want to be paid or do their own fund-raising. Soni and others will continue talking about this, perhaps for this coming fall (?).

At some point during the gathering folks considered two water initiatives – Living Water for the World and Edge Outreach ministries – as possible endeavors in the Estoreño Presbytery. Folks talked about some of the questions raised about the Living Waters approach and wanted to hear more about Edge ministries. For more on Edge, see http://www.edgeoutreach.com/ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqqJPkHxmcs

The group picked for its next gathering: 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, at Soni and Brad’s house in St. Matthews. The group talked up gathering monthly but skipping July. Additional activities that we discussed – scripture study group, Spanish class, English as a Second Language education etc. ministry at James Lees – may develop. We may continue to work with Worship Council on the September 19 vigil and fast and Outreach Council on the Spanish and ESL classes and possible community event.

Summer prayer schedule

2009-06-07T10:23:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, June 7, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Monte Sinai church in the San Carlos Porvenir community near Puerto Barrios, Pastor José Sub, and church members, deacons, and elders.
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On Sunday, June 14, and during the week that follows: Pray with the church in Livingston, Pastor Abelino Tec and spouse Serafina, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, June 21, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Peniel church in the village of Boqueron; Pastor Fidel Juc and spouse Jesus; church members, elders, and deacons; and the church’s building campaign.

On Sunday, June 28, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Familia de Noe church in the Sinai neighborhood of El Estor; Pastor Benjamin Sacul Tiul and spouse Carlota; church members, deacons, and elders; and the church’s building campaign.

On Sunday, July 5, and during the week that follows: Pray with the San Jorge church in the Esperanza neighborhood of El Estor, Pastor Mario Xo Ical, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, July 12, and during the week that follows: Pray with the La Union mission church; pastors Pablo Sacul Chub, Antonio Tec, and Roberto Caal; and worshipers.

On Sunday, July 19, and during the week that follows: Pray with the El Chupon mission church, Pastor Gerardo Ich Pop, worshipers, and the church’s building effort.

On Sunday, July 26, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Arce de Noe church in central El Estor, Pastor Gerardo Ich Pop, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, August 2, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Altar de Noe church in the Los Cerritos neighborhood of El Estor, Pastor Raul Contreras, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, August 9, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Espiritu Santo church in the San Marcos neighborhood of El Estor, Pastor Jose Domingo Xo Ical, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, August 16, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Monte Sinai church in San Carlos El Porvenir community near Puerto Barrios, Pastor Jose Sub, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, August 23, and during the week that follows: Pray with the church in Livingston, Pastor Abelino Tec Chub and spouse Serafina, and church members, deacons, and elders.

On Sunday, August 30, and during the week that follows: Pray with the Peniel church in the village of Boqueron; Pastor Fidel Juc and spouse Jesus; church members, elders, and deacons; and the church’s building campaign.

Pastor Gerardo's e-mail

2009-06-04T11:57:00.001-07:00

Dated 2:17 p.m., Thursday, June 4

Saludes de parte de Presbyterio Estereño Q’eqchi’

Buenos dias, hermana Elena. Es para mi un gusto saludarla en el nombre de nuestro señor Jesucristo. Quiero informarle que recibi las fotos y estan muy lindas y estamos muy agradecidos, hermana Elena.

En cuento al asunto del culto del Pentecostes, recibi el documento que me envio el hermano Carlos Lara cuando sentieron el poder del Espiritu Santo y los sentimos nosotros tambien. Los pedimos a ustedes que siguen orando por nosotros para poder desempeañar nuestro cargo lo que Dios nos ha encomendado. La Iglesia Arca de Noe construyo un iglesia en El Chupon de 30 laminas de 10 pies sin piso. Esperamos que Dios nos de recurso economico para comprar unas bolsas de cemento para poner piso. Les enviamos un cordial saludo a todos y a todas de la Iglesia Crescent Hill.

(Pictured above is Pastor Gerardo Ich Pop speaking within the open-air structure being used at the El Chupon mission in March 2009. Below is a wider view of the March 2009 El Chupon structure. Gerardo’s church, Arca de Noe, is sponsoring the El Chupon mission, west of El Estor.)

International connections

2009-06-04T06:24:00.001-07:00

In his new book, “Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches,” sociologist Robert Wuthnow looks how out increased connections among people in different countries, technological innovation, and lower transportation costs are pushing more North Americans to go on international mission trips (an average of 18 per church for one-third of U.S. churches, 100,000 churches in all) and in turn expanding cross-country religious connections. U.S. congregations are making direct connections with congregations abroad and working with international parachurch organizations such as World Vision, instead of working directly with their national denominations. The number of North Americans can abroad into long-term international mission and the amount of money North Americans are giving to religious causes abroad (up to $4 billion) are also both increasing. Only a small number of people in U.S. congregations, however, will ever be able to go on international mission trips, and congregations try to figure out different ways to engage those who don’t. The current economic crisis may be limiting the amount of money available for mission trips and may redirect people’s focus to needs back in U.S. congregations’ local communities. The lead reason for spending the amount of money U.S. congregations have been spending for a relatively small number of North Americans to go on these short-term mission trips is for the spiritual change it helps trigger in those who go. Click here to read more: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/june/14.38.html

-- Perry

El Estor portraits

2009-06-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ben took these or, in a couple of cases, someone else took these with Ben's camera. They were all taken during the spring 2009 mission trip to the Izabal area.

Very early June update

2009-06-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

The national Guatemalan evangelical Presbyterian church (IENPG) met last week in its equivalent of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, and several folks from the Estoreño Presbytery probably participated. A PC(USA) World Mission staffer was to deliver to any one of the Estoreño folks at that meeting prints of some of the photos that Crescent Hill spring 2009 mission trip participants took during the trip in March.

After worship on two Sundays in May several dozen Crescent Hill folks wrote greetings and messages to our Estoreño partners, on a large piece of paper and on Friendship Register sheets. Ada and Stephen have agreed to translate these into Spanish (the ones that need translating – probably doing some summarizing too), and then Ellen will e-mail these greetings to Estoreño folks.

Carlos has also distilled some of the ideas about Acts 2 that came out of the bilingual Sunday school class this month (see "Ideas de Carlos y la clase bilingue"), which Ellen may forward to Estoreño folks also.

Meanwhile, back in Louisville, folks interested in the Crescent Hill-Estoreño mission partnership will gather at 9:30 a.m., this Saturday, June 6, at Nancy’s Bagels at 2101 Frankfort Avenue.

Pray this week for the folks in your Guatemala photo, for Pastor José Domingo and the Espiritu Santo church, for the political situation in Guatemala and relief and development for earthquake-struck areas of Central America in general and Izabal in particular, for the leaders of the Guatemalan evangelical Presbyterian church trying to implement decisions made at last week’s meeting, for Jeff and Soila and their efforts to move to the United States, for Estoreño Presbytery leaders completing their study of Acts 2, and for wisdom, patience, and perseverance for all of us as we try to discern God’s will for the shape the partnership will take during the rest of 2009.

Congratulations to 2007 mission trip participants Andrea, Gabe, Luke, Natalie, and Rachel, who all graduate from high school this week, and traveling mercies to Pastor Jane and D.C. mission trip participants traveling to the Middle East and the mid-Atlantic later this month.

-- Perry

Looking for Lilith shows

2009-06-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Kentuckiana’s Looking for Lilith theater company that maintains a strong interest in Guatemala is presenting eight shows later this month of their new bilingual play “Strangers Extranjeras” – billed as an inspiring story of cross-cultural friendship in Guatemala - at Old Louisville’s Rudyard Kipling, at 422 West Oak Street.

Wednesday, June 10, is a special benefit show plus concert, presentation, and discussion, for $40 a ticket, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. RSVP by this Wednesday, June 3, to Kelly@lookingforlilith.org or at 638-2559.

Other shows are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 11; Friday, June 12; Saturday, June 13; Thursday, June 18; Friday, June 19; and Saturday, June 20; and at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 20. Tickets for these are $15; $10 for students and seniors. Call 638-1311 or, if you want a 6:30 p.m. light Guatemalan dinner before the show, call 636-1311.

Jane's message

2009-06-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Two months ago six of us—representing all of you—were sitting around a table in the sanctuary of a little church in El Estor in Eastern Guatemala. With us at table were pastors and leaders of the various churches of Estoreno Presbytery. For two days we had been visiting their churches, talking with church members, staying in homes, eating fish fresh from the lake, praying, worshiping, and talking with these leaders about ways we could all be in partnership.

The idea came up to continue something we had made a stab at earlier in the year: to study the same Bible passage and share our learnings with one another. Because we knew Pentecost was coming up and because we here at CHPC consider this such a great festival, we suggested we read and study the second chapter of Acts—the story of Pentecost.

There were odd looks around the table. We could tell they were a little ambivalent about this idea. So, we started telling them a little about our service here and the story from Acts and how this is like the birthday of the Church.

The confused looks on their faces unclouded a bit and they became quite interested. Finally one of the pastors admitted they really weren’t familiar with that story—and that they had always just associated the word “Pentecost” with Pentecostal churches. . . not with something related to them as well.

Maybe our friends/partners in Guatemala weren’t familiar with the first part of the Acts 2 story—the whole wind and flames and inspired preaching thing. But, I’ve got to tell you: they are very familiar with the last part of that chapter, the “rest of the story” that I will read now.

Read Acts 2:41-47 (found in the May 6 blog entry "Scripture and questions").

These verses could very well describe what we’ve seen of their life together as the Church. Fellowship, learning, breaking bread, praying, sharing resources, eating together, praising God, adding to their number, and having the goodwill of the people—all in spite of different languages: even when we’re not there adding English to the mix, the folks speak and translate and hear in two languages.

Interesting, I thought, that even though they didn’t think they knew this story: they are living it. Surely that’s evidence of the Spirit at work. Because it is in all those seemingly ordinary acts that the Spirit is at work among them. Somehow the Spirit both inspires those activities—and uses them to form people into church. So, even though our new friends didn’t know the story, they certainly did know the Spirit’s leading.

It all made me wonder about us. What we know. . . Sure, we may be familiar with the story of the first Pentecost—and love hearing the different languages, imagining the wild fire and the powerful wind. Maybe even like thinking about the power and potential of the Wild, out-of-our-control Holy Spirit that we celebrate today.

But, there’s maybe also a part of most of us Presbyterian-types that is just a little relieved this is only one Sunday a year…and that this kind of drama doesn’t really get past our play-acting about it. After all, we decent and orderly Presbyterians haven’t really known this kind of wild, chaotic, unmanageable experience of the Spirit. Even though we read about it, move our worship outside, let in a few more languages than normal, we aren’t much more familiar with the first part of this story, at least experientially, than our Guatemala friends.

That’s why I’m thinking that the last part of this chapter is maybe the part we know best too. We claim the commitment to breaking down some of the barriers between people and know the value of sitting at table together. We know the importance of studying the Bible and learning together—which is why that practice starts with the youngest among us. We love fellowship opportunities. We make prayer and worship high priorities. We might not “sell our possessions and distribute the proceeds to all” or engage in that “all things in common” thing too well but we do share our resources—with one another and the community beyond us. We spend a good amount of time together here at church and often eat together. We’re even catching on to that evangelism thing and adding to our number. This is all just what we do. We know this part of the story. It is ours.

But do we see the connection of all this to the story of the Spirit’s presence among the Church? Do we connect what we do with the Spirit Herself?

Look around…think about the common, ordinary-to-us things we do together: sitting at table with people of all ages with different backgrounds—people we might not usually eat with at any time but who we find ourselves at table with here; sharing food and prayers with these people; learning together; being open to someone new coming into our midst.

What if the Spirit is behind all this, making it happen? And what if the Spirit is present in all this, working through it to change us?

Ponder for a minute just one of those activities and consider how the Spirit is at work in it—forming you personally, forming us as a church, into witnesses of Jesus Christ. How is the Spirit at work in all our learning, our eating, our fellowship? How is the Spirit using these sorts of practices to form us as the Body of Christ?

It’s really interesting, I think, that the Spirit of God chooses to work through relationships and practices that are so common, so ordinary. Maybe that’s because the Spirit is so very Present. The Spirit is not just something that showed up dramatically a couple thousand years ago, but is a burning Presence active and working—right here. Right now. Praise be to God!

-- Jane

Ideas de Carlos y la clase bilingue

2009-06-01T12:57:00.001-07:00

Pentecost is a learning process of the benefit of being Community. Pentecost is a fiesta, or a convivio to celebrate the life of being community. Pentecost is a discipleship act. We are a Community that Comunicate in the power of the Spirit the life together. As Community we believe in Comunication, Celebration, and Community as a life style. Speaking with joy in the power of the Spirit we decided to to live together and share rituals as family to celebrate our joys and concerns, manifesting God's life in our stories. Crecimiento, Compromiso en Comunidad. Creativity and Compassion are our commitment in Pentecost.

Les cuento que el dia de ayer Domingo celebramos la fiesta del Pentecostes. Los recordamos en el servicio y tambien seguimos orando por ustedes y el gran ejemplo que siguen siendo para nosotros aqui al vivir en comunidad. Esto es un reto para los Hermanas y Hermanos de la Iglesia de Crescent Hill.

Les compartimos algunos de los pensamientos que aprendimos en el estudio de la escuela dominical. Pentecostes es una fiesta para celebrar la bendicion y el beneficio de vivir en comunidad. Pentecostes es un evento que comunica la vida del Espiritu. El Espiritu nos ensena a vivir en un discipulado permanente formando un espiritu de comunidad en cada uno de nosotros. Creemos en la comunicacion del mensaje del Evangelio en el poder del Espiritu nos ayuda para desarrollar y celebrar la vida y sus signos y ritos en la vida juntos.

Celebramos Pentecostes comiendo juntos. La fiesta del Espiritu la compartimos en la Cena del Senor y tambien en las mesas juntos. Pentecostes sigue siendo un aprendizaje del discipulado en el poder del Espiritu Santo. Aprendemos a ser guiados por el Espiritu y compartir con otros la vida de Dios juntos. El Espiritu nos ayuda a mantener el compromiso del companerismo. Creemos en:la Comunicacion, La Celebracion, y en la Comunidad.

-- Carlos

Pentecost pictures

2009-06-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

Crises

2009-05-29T15:33:00.001-07:00

Two crises have shaken Guatemala this month. In a video shot before his death, a lawyer for a person who had accused the Guatemalan president, Alvarez Colom, and his family of siphoning money off of government-funded development programs that they help run, accused the president of being behind his killing. The lawyer apparently made the statement in case he was later killed, and associates released it after he was indeed killed (May 10). Protests and counterprotests have subsequently rocked the country.

Critics of the president have called for his prosecution, while supporters of the president have defended him. Colom, who won election in 2007 on a rural development platform, is Guatemala’s first center-left president since 1954, when a U.S.-backed coup toppled the then president. Colom and his allies have for months accused people with links to the general whom Colom defeated in the 2007 election and with links to the military and drug cartels of trying to destabilize the country. Colom has also asked the FBI and the United Nations commission investigating lawlessness in Guatemala to investigate the killings. Click here to read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/world/americas/22guatemala.html

Pictured above are protests (with the slain lawyer, Rodrigo Rosenberg, pictured on the banners) and below is President Colom. Click here to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC_ODpxMA10

Earlier this week an earthquake shook eastern Honduras, Guatemala, and Honduras. Although the earthquake and aftershocks knocked out a bridge in Guatemala and destroyed at least a couple of hundred homes in the Izabal area, our friends around El Estor have told us by e-mail that the earthquake did not do damage around there. Not sure if that means Livingston and Puerto Barrios (where two Estoreño Presbytery congregations are located) are unscathed too.

-- Perry

Mid-May gathering

2009-05-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

A small group of us met as the Guatemala mission partnership task force Tuesday evening. Sunday a week and a half ago we asked people (after worship) to write greetings and messages to folks in Guatemala on a big sheet of paper in the Narthex. About a dozen did so. Tuesday we talked about asking additional people in worship this Sunday (May 24) to add their two cents. Lowell will make an announcement asking people to write greetings on the back of Friendship Register pages and we’ll receive them with the offering. We will ask Ellen or others to translate these messages into Spanish and e-mail them to folks in the presbytery via Rene.

We’ve been praying each week in church and during the week for one Estoreño congregation and its pastors and members. Some weeks Perry has brought a couple of laminated 8 ½ x 11 pictures of the pastor and congregation and occasionally put them up front near the Communion Table (as well as in front of the bulletin board). Other times we have asked Pastor Jane or other prayer leaders to mention the congregation during the public prayers. (It doesn’t sound like posting pictures on Facebook during the week or having posts on the blog about the congregation has caught very mny people’s attention.)

Those at Tuesday’s meeting suggested we continue with one congregation a month, starting over again in mid-June when we have run through all nine congregations. They suggested we check with Ada about other ways to dress up having pictures up front and also have perhaps a thick posterboard – preferably on the wall on the right with the materials for newcomers or on an easel – not back with the bulletin board which people other than visitors are not likely to see – labeled something like – “Praying this week with and for the Estoreño Presbytery’s ___ congregation” (so two sets of pictures would be needed). Folks were less enthusiastic about keeping the bulletin board up in general – although some of what folks suggested essentially involved shifting some of the bulletin board into that front room/hallway.

Perry mentioned requests the group has received in three areas. The group half a dozen of us met with in Nashville the past summer - Amigos de Ke’kchi (friends of the Q’eqchi’) - sponsored a trip through northern Guatemala last month and then, at the end of the month, met in Spokane, Washington. There was some back and forth about the orientation of the group (more for partnership or aid?) and possible resource trade-offs between deepening our Estoreño ties and deepening ties to this group. Roger Marriott had asked that one of us join the Amigos steering committee and be available once every month or so for conference call meetings, perhaps on Skype. Folks generally wanted us to wait and see what others in the group thought and also to see if someone is interested in committing the time to serving on the Steering Committee.

Pastor Jane, Perry, and others have been talking about the possibility of building on our history of Wednesday suppertime Children’s Choir and Fellowship and once-a-month meals before Council meetings to embark on some version of this: once a week, twice a month, or monthly simultaneous youth and adult English as a new language classes, youth and adult Spanish as a new languages classes, and (bilingual?) Children’s Choir and Fellowship, followed by dinner. The possibility of alternating classes with some form of conversation partnering was also discussed. Some people opined that the best way to learn Spanish was intensively (like in Guatemala for six months?) and that we ought to put signs up on Crescent Avenue, Frankfort Avenue, and Brownsboro Road and connect with folks who might know Spanish-speaking families in the neighborhood (like Stephen). The discussion was inconclusive.

Chris and Carlos have been talking about our synod’s Living Waters for the World campaign and concerns expressed about it. One of the concerns expressed was that in Guatemala a beverage company has a monopoly on selling water and, as a result, community and congregational clean water projects are not allowed to sell water, making the projects less economically feasible. Chris had proposed that we might look into how to help get Guatemala’s laws changed so that community groups and church groups could sell water. The group talked about how water in general and clean water in particular seemed like a dire need in El Estor, but this was not something that came up in conversations with the pastors there. The discussion was inconclusive.

The group talked briefly about the Saturday morning, September 18 fast and vigil that we are slated to lead in connection with the start of the Estoreño presbytery’s annual meeting that weekend. Lowell suggested we just have the church open from 9 a.m. to 12 noon – or even starting earlier – and then we sign people up so at least one person is in there praying the whole three hours. With the idea that folks participating (including some folks praying and/or fasting at home or elsewhere) then get together after breaking the fast for lunch. Folks thought we were definitely doing it and that it need not take lots of organizing.

Some but not all of those present thought they’d be able to gather again at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, June 6, and Nancy’s Bagel Grounds at 2101 Frankfort Avenue.

-- Perry

Pastor Abelino of the Livingston congregation

2009-05-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Of the two Estoreño Presbytery congregations on the far eastern side of the presbytery, the newest to the presbytery is the church in Livingston, pastored by Abelino Tec Chub. With its mixed Ladino, Q’eqchi’, and Garifuna populations and Anglo name, Livingston is the most multicultural of locales for presbytery congregations. The Livingston congregation is one of two existing congregations that the presbytery incorporated this winter. In January the presbytery welcomed this Livingston congregation (with Pastor Abelino, wife Serafina, and 44 church members). A month later it was the San Jorge congregation, which Mario Xo Ical pastors.

Although mission team members did not get to visit Livingston, they did get a fair amount of time to visit with Pastor Abelino (an outgoing man with a boyish face) and his family (wife Serafina and younger son Isaac pictured above - late Monday afternoon in Rio Dulce). This is the young family that graced the table Saturday night at the dinner at Iglesia Familia de Noe and hung around during our Sunday morning partnership dialogues at Iglesia Arca de Noe. (The Sunday morning (March 29)” blog entry includes pictures of all of the family, including older son Noe.)

This was also the family that was shunted to the side during the final Monday lunch with Serafina glaring from the back (see “Monday morning (March 30) dialogue”). By late Monday afternoon, Pastor Abelino, Serafina, and their children had been sitting in the microbus with us for two hours and were ready to be home (although they had at least one more bus ride ahead of them). Serafina’s brother was also waiting for them, and so they disappeared before the other pastors arrived and we got to invite them to hang out for a few minutes in our Bruno’s hotel rooms.

- Perry

May 6 gathering

2009-05-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

Folks interested in Crescent Hill’s new mission partnership with the Q’eqchi’ Estoreño, Izabal Presbytery gathered at Ken and Amy Linfield’s house (pictured above) on the South End on Wednesday, May 6.

Ellen led us in a discussion about the second chapter of Acts, the scripture which we are to be studying simultaneously with the Estoreño folks during this month leading up to Pentecost Sunday (May 31). Ellen pointed out that Pentecost was already a Jewish holiday. Jesus’ followers were gathered in Jerusalem awaiting direction, in the weeks after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. At the same time people from all over the world were converging on Jerusalem, some there to celebrate Pentecost (a spring holiday - festival of fruit?).

Ellen, Carlos, and others said that for many people – including Pentecostals – in Guatemala and elsewhere the Acts phrase “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (wording is from the King James Version of the Bible) means working one’s self into a frenzy and speaking in languages no one else can understand. Ellen questioned this approach and suggested that the passage may communicate a different kind of vision in which people from many different cultures are understanding each other despite differences linguistic and otherwise.

Ellen also wondered about what a Pentecost experience would be for us today. Several of the participants in the spring 2009 Guatemala mission trip talked about episodes from the trip that were spirit-filled for them: for Lowell - the two daughters from his host family giving him good-bye kisses, for Ben - witnessing the men play the marimba in church, for Jane - all of us with different personalities getting along, for Ellen - the final coming together and singing of “Unidos, Unidos” at the last church the team visited, and – for me Perry - the partnership dialogues leading up to that song. (Luke?) We also talked a little about what Pentecostal experiences for others in Guatemala and at Crescent Hill might be and could be – including through the partnership.

What we talked about next – how to form the Guatemala partnership task force or working group, how to communicate with our Estoreño partners, and – perhaps most importantly – how the wider Crescent Hill congregation can communicate, educate itself, and engage in the partnership – Ellen said fit into a final pair of questions: what happened in the (Christian) community after the Pentecost experience and what insights into the future of the partnership might this story give us?

Carlos, Ellen, and others stressed that this was not to be a partnership between Crescent Hill individuals (including not just a few mission team individuals) and Estoreño individuals but a congregation-to-presbytery partnership. How to make that tangible, ongoing, and transformative for many people in our congregation (if not also in the presbytery) was a major topic of discussion.

A variety of educational and engagement strategies were discussed: scripture study sessions not conflicting with existing Sunday school classes and other church activities, a revamped and regularly updated Narthex bulletin board devoted entirely or partly to the Guatemala partnership, minutes for mission, newsletter blurbs educating people about different aspects of Guatemalan history and culture, and a DVD screening series (perhaps starting with the Amigos de K’ekchi’ partner’s DVD about Guatemala or the "Cracking the Maya Code" one-hour film shown the previous night).

How to communicate insights from scripture study and other issues in a form that could reach the Izabal area and that we could translate into Spanish was also a topic of discussion. We finally agreed that we would ask Crescent Hill folks on this Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10, to write short (one-word?) phrases about their hopes for the Guatemala partnership – many having sat through the April 26 worship service - on butcher block paper after church in the Narthex. Martha will make an announcement about this as church starts.

The group decided to meet next at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19 (during the furlough week) (in the Youth Room in the Education Building). An additional meeting time – at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, at Nancy’s Bagels on Frankfort Avenue – was also discussed – and we may get together then also.

Earlier on individuals discussed the situation of our friend Soila, the Honduran woman who worked with us in 2004 and who helped host the spring mission team in Guatemala City. Soila and her U.S. husband, Jeff, recently went for a “green card” interview at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, where Soila was – for now – rejected for moving to the United States. Part of what U.S. officials seemed to want was for one or both of them to already have a job and for them to have a place to live, which probably couldn’t happen without Jeff leaving for the United States, leaving Soila in Guatemala. (We’ve started suggesting Kentuckiana Spanish teaching jobs for Jeff.)

Also discussed was a tape Stu Bridgman made of the April 26 worship service, which we have transferred to DVD duplicated and hope to spread not only to Crescent Hill folks but also to Estoreño folks.

Thanks to Ken and Amy for hosting our gathering and for all of the others who participated: Jane, Ellen, Ana, Nora, Soni, Janine, Lowell, Martha, Luke, Ben, Stephanie, and Carlos. We’re off to a good start!

-- Perry

Sin Nombre

2009-05-06T08:29:00.001-07:00

Currently screening at the Baxter Avenue Theater is "Sin Nombre," an excellent movie that only spends a few minutes in Guatemala, but tries to depict the lives of Central Americans trying to immigrate through Mexico to the United States. Stephanie said it reminded her of the stories she’s heard from some of her Central American students. The movie deserves its R rating.

-- Perry

Cracking the Maya Code

2009-05-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

I just watched an interesting program on public TV, "Cracking the Maya Code." It is from the “Nova” series. If you go to the Web site, you can find it as video segments: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mayacode/program.html. It seems to me that some people in the congregation might be interested in this kind of thing. As people learn more about all aspects of Guatemala, I think this will help the partnership to take root.

-- Ellen

Wednesday questions

2009-05-06T06:29:00.001-07:00

Here are some possible discussion questions for the discussion about the second chapter of Acts during this evening's Guatemala mission partnership task force gathering:

- What does this verse mean to you, “…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”?
- When you hear the words, “speak in other tongues,” what do you think this means?
- What would be a “Pentecost experience” for you, for us today?
- What happened in the community after their Pentecost experience?
- Does this story give us any insights into our partnership?

Thanks to Carlos, Ellen, and Elmer for their work on these questions.

Scripture and questions

2009-05-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

Below is an English translation of the scripture and discussion questions we e-mailed to Estoreño folks last month:

Acts 2: 1-21

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?

9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o”clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 'In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Questions:

- What was the day of Pentecost? (Lev.23:15,16, Acts 2:1, 20:16, I Cor. 16:8)
- What phrase shows the unity of purpose of the disciples? (1:14, 2:1,46)
- What three impressive phenomena occurred when the Holy Ghost was first given? (2-4)
- What reactions did the observers have? (6,7,12,13)
- From where did the observers come? (5,8-11)
- What four questions did Peter answer in his “sermon”? (7,8,12,37)
- What time of day did the outpouring occur? (15)
- What prophecy did the outpouring of the Holy Ghost fulfil? (16-18, Joel 2:28-32)

Acts 2: 22-47

22 “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— 23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25 For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29 “Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh experience corruption.’ 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ 36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Questions:

- What are six things that Peter said about Jesus in his message? (22-36)
- What prophecy did Peter give regarding the resurrection? (25-27, Psa.168-11)
- What phrase shows that the listeners to Peter’s sermon were deeply affected? (37)
- How did Peter reply to the question “what shall we do?” (38-39)
- Who is the promise of the Holy Ghost for? (39)
- How many were added to the church after Peter spoke? (41)
- What four things did these new converts continue to do? (42)
- What were some attitudes of the early church? (41,43-47)

Discussion Questions for Whole of Chapter 2

- What one word or name helps you remember this chapter?
- How does the interaction between the audience and Peter compare to the interaction between the audience and the speaker in the church services you attend?
- On who did Peter’s “sermon” focus?
- In what state were the listeners when Peter brought the Acts 2:38 message?
- How do your attitudes compare to the attitudes of the early church?

Session minutes

2009-05-06T05:55:00.000-07:00

From the minutes of the April 29 session meeting:

Laura Kelleher moved that Session adopt the Guatemala Partnership Working Plan, as described in the minutes of the last meeting of the Outreach Council, namely:

- Regular prayer for each other
- At least monthly email communication, with sharing of celebrations, prayer concerns, and news (possibly supplemented by telephone)
- Joint Scripture study this spring of the second chapter of Acts, leading up to Pentecost Sunday, May 31.
- A Saturday morning, September 19, CHPC will hold a prayer vigil and fast to coincide with the start of the Estoreño Presbytery annual meeting
- Additional travel and visits, as possible.

The motion was seconded by Eva Stimson and unanimously approved.

-- Peter

You're invited!

2009-04-29T21:43:00.001-07:00

Be part of the conversation about Crescent Hill’s Guatemala mission partnership. Join us at a gathering of the Guatemala mission partnership task force at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, at Ken and Amy Linfields’ home (directions and contact information below). We’ll start with reflections on Acts 2. Everyone is welcome!

Pictures of the landmark meeting

2009-04-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

Laura helped open - with reflection on scripture - tonight's meeting of Crescent Hill church's session, at which elders serving on the session approved the church's partnership plan with the Q'eqchi' Estoreño, Izabal Presbytery. Pastor Jane (below) followed session meeting discussion with a smile.

Ana, Carlos, Anita, and Eva (below) took the discussion seriously.

Stephen (below) listened carefully.

Marcus (below) looked over written information carefully.

Peter took careful notes about the brief Guatemala mission partnership discussion and other debates.

We helped close the meeting (in a still picture and short video clip below) by singing - in Spanish and English - "Song of Hope" - the same song the spring 2007 Guatemala mission team sang in worship services at Iglesia Familia de Noe and Iglesia Arca de Noe a month ago.

-- Perry

We're official!

2009-04-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Having already listed the Guatemala mission trip worship service this past Sunday as one of the occasions in the last month during which they felt God’s presence, elders currently serving on the Crescent Hill church session this evening approved with little discussion the partnership and partnership plan between Crescent Hill and the Q’eqchi’ Estoreño, Izabal Presbytery. We’ll share news of this – and the content of the information given to the session (text below) - with our new partners.

March 29-30 discussions between members of the spring 2009 Guatemala mission team (Perry Chang, Ellen Dozier, Jane Larsen-Wigger, Ben Langley, Lowell Linder, and Luke Van Marter) and leaders of Guatemala’s Q’eqchi Estoreño, Izabal Presbytery produced a partnership plan that include:

Regular prayer for each other.
- At least monthly e-mail communication, with sharing of celebrations, prayer concerns, and news (possibly supplemented by telephone conversations).
- Joint scripture study – this spring, of the second chapter of Acts, leading up to Pentecost Sunday, May 31.
- A Saturday morning, September 19 Crescent Hill church prayer vigil and fast, timed to coincide with the start of the Estoreño Presbytery annual meeting.
- Additional travel and visits as possible.

In May we’ll be praying for the following Estoreño Presbytery churches:
- La Union mission church, pastors Pablo Sacul Chub, Antonio Tec, and Robert Caal, and worshipers there (on Sunday, May 3 and during the week that follows).
- El Chupon mission church, pastors Gerardo Ich Pop and Antonio Tec, and worshipers there (on Sunday, May 10, and during the week that follows).
- Arca de Noe church in central El Estor, Pastor Gerardo Ich Pop, and church elders, deacons, and members (on Sunday, May 17 and during the week that follows).
- Altar de Noe church in the Los Cerritos neighborhood of El Estor, Pastor Raul Contreras, and church elders, deacons, and members (on Sunday, May 24, and during the week that follows).
- Espiritu Santo church in the San Marcos neighborhood of El Estor, Pastor Jose Domingo Xo Ical, and church elders, deacons, and members (on Sunday, May 31 and during the week that follows).

-- Perry

Amigos de K'ekchi news

2009-04-29T14:12:00.006-07:00

Roger Marriott e-mailed us that the Amigos de K’ekchi gathering this past weekend in Spokane went well. The Amigos group brings together half a dozen different Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and presbyteries that have partnered with Q'eqchi' communities and presbyteries in Guatemala. He said the group, which sponsored a trip to Peten earlier this month, is putting together a steering committee and asked our church to nominate a representative. He and Tracey King are to be involved in the committee. Roger is a PC(USA) mission co-worker who works with the K’ekchi in Guatemala. Tracey is the PC(USA)’s regional liaison to Central America. She is based in Nicaragua. Each of the congregations/presbyteries represented in the Nashville gathering some of us attended last July would also have reps on the committee. They might meet by Skype. The larger Guatemala Mission Network will apparently gather in Cincinnati in connection with the PC(USA) mission conference this October. Instead of trying to meet there, Amigos – with reps of partner congregations and presbyteries – might gather next at the Nazarene Center in Coban (pictured above), in north central Guatemala – somewhat a la the Lago Amatitlan Guatemala Mission Network gathering that Stephanie, Ellen, Pastor Gerardo, and Pastor Pablo participated in this past November.

-- Perry

Pastor José of Iglesia Monte Sinai

2009-04-28T20:13:00.001-07:00

Guatemala features two port towns on its eastern coast, on the Gulf of Honduras - one nearer the country's northern border and its border with Belize (Livingston) - which also features an Afro-Caribbean Garifina population - and one nearer the country's southern border and its border with Honduras (Puerto Barrios). Traveling from Guatemala City northeast towards El Estor, if one keeps going on the main road - instead of turning north towards Rio Dulce - one heads straight for Puerto Barrios.

The Estoreño Presbytery now has one church each in or near these two towns (both more ethnically and linguistically diverse than El Estor). The pastor from the farthest away church - the one near Puerto Barrios, José Sub, also traveled to El Estor to visit with us during the summer 2007 mission trip. José is picture above - to the right of his Livingston counterpart (Abelino Tec Chub) - just minutes after he disembarked from the microbus from El Estor - before these two pastors went their separate ways towards the two different port areas.

Pastor José church is the Iglesia Monte Sinai (Mt. Sinai) in the San Carlos El Porvenir village, outside of Puerto Barrios. The church has some 135 members. The presbytery ordained José in November 2007, just a few months after we'd met him during our 2007 trip. It seems that José is one of the pastors whose Q'eqchi' is better than his Spanish. He sat silently while Pastor Gerardo talked during a conversation that took place during the 2007 women's workshops. Then José traveled with a group of us men to the monkey preserve near the nickel mine.

After Pastor Abelino and his family left, a truckload of the El Estor area pastors - who had been - like last time - tailing us - appeared and Pastor José and they walked up to our hotel rooms with us. For a few minutes - while Benjamin went to buy them sodas - they relaxed on the balcony outside of our rooms. Then they we were off - in José's case - headed for a bus to Puerto Barrios, and in the others' cases - headed in the truck back to El Estor. We felt a little sheepish showing off our relatively luxurious hotel accommodations. But we got to say good-bye and I showed some of my pictures to some of the pastors (on the camera itself). We hope Pastor José's bus ride was mercifully short.

-- Perry

En route

2009-04-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Somewhat a la the 2007 trip, the Espiritu Santo church was the last one we stopped at. Wrapping up our partnership discussions with "Unidos, Unidos," having lunch together (without Serafina), and then Ben videotaping some greetings to us (which we saw in Sunday worship), we then jumped in another microbus, with our stuff, that Pastor Gerardo had corraled for us in downtown El Estor. The bus already had a couple of passengers, and Ellen worked hard to have additional passengers they were taking on because she knew Gerardo had already offered what would be a very good price for a very full bus. And so we didn't entirely replicate the experience of bussing to El Estor. Instead of 21 people, there were more like 10. And, in fact, we ended up feeling a little bad as the bus emptied out a little more and the driver wouldn't stop along the way to pick up a woman and child a couple of times. I was chatting so much with Ellen that too my discredit I essentially forgot that the two pastors of Estoreño Presbytery churches near the Gulf of Honduras coast - in the very far eastern part of the presbytery - were riding with us to Rio Dulce. We passed close to the shores of Lago Izabal again on the way.

-- Perry

From the new president

2009-04-26T18:11:00.001-07:00

Below is the text of an e-mail message from the president of the Estoreño Presbytery's new youth and young adult organization, Iglesia Arca de Noe's Armando Chub (shown in the picture above on the far right):

Hermanos en Cristo de la Iglesia de Crescent Hill: Tengo el gusto de saludarles en este dia tan muy especial que nos da o regala nuestro creador y permanece para siempre, para mi es el gusto de saudarle a todo los hermanos de su diglesia los ancianos y pastora y sociedades de jovenes les mando un saludo a todo por recordarle que han venido a visitar a nuestro Iglesia Presbiteriana Arca de Noe de aqui en nuestro municipio de El Estor Izabal me despido de ustedes y atento servidor Armando que dios les vendiga.

Soni's message

2009-04-26T17:27:00.003-07:00

I did not just come back from Guatemala. I was, however, one of 19 who was a part of Guatemala 2007. I am here today because I was asked to share why I volunteered this year to coordinate fundraisers, drive folks to the airport and be a prayer partner when I wasn’t going on the trip.

Before I can answer that question, I need to explain why I went two years ago.

Ben Langley, who helped to coordinate the 2007 trip, had each of us write the answer to that before we left for Guatemala. I wrote that: 1) It would be my first cross-cultural experience in another country 2) I may never have the opportunity again and 3) It would be a vacation like none other. I also wrote that I expected a life-changing spiritual awakening.

When I left for Guatemala I tried to remember something that Jerry Van Marter – a frequent world traveler – had said in one of our orientation meetings: “Set aside what you think you know. And let God step in.”

For me, that meant letting go of what I had heard and read about the abject poverty, strict gender roles and violence-- especially against women. I knew I was going to feel so helpless – knowing there wasn’t any quick fix for the conditions people lived in.

But, I knew that the purpose of our trip was to get to know people in El Estor and see if God might be leading us and them to build relationships to help each other on our spiritual journeys.

I saw for myself in Guatemala just how important church is to the people there. It was clear that it is within the church building that God’s presence is mostly felt.

Stenciled on the church wall at Arca de Noe was “Dios es Amor” – God is love. Those words were also included in the scripture from I John 4:8 that was read and recited and recited and recited as part of my first worship experience there.

Although that lesson is one that I was taught as a child growing up in the USA, I felt it even more deeply in my soul in that small, hot church in El Estor, Guatemala. It’s really hard to explain in words but having the opportunity to witness God’s presence among people who in many ways were so different than me, truly expanded my world vision and understanding of what it means to be children of God.

And so, why did I want to work so closely with this year’s Guatemala group?

Simply because although I wasn’t going, I already felt a part of the experience and had to be involved however I could.

I feel like I did have a spiritual awakening as a result of my 2007 trip. Guatemala is no longer just the name of a Central American country. Instead, it is a place close to my heart. As a child, and as a parent, I sang “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Although I have become more uncomfortable with the male language, I also have become increasingly comfortable with the concept. The whole world is in God’s hands. And, my view of that world has dramatically changed by my involvement with Guatemala.

That’s what’s wonderful about this agreement with the people of the Estoreño Presbytery. It’s an agreement for ALL of us. Anyone can be part of the personal growth that can come through learning of another’s history, culture, language, and life experiences. We can be mutually encouraged by each other in the faith and by so doing, praise a God who embraces us -- as we do each other -- with open hands and arms.

-- Soni

Notes for Ellen's message

2009-04-26T17:27:00.001-07:00

GIFTS WE GAVE,

from ALL of YOU.
YOU went with us,
prayers, financial support, concern and thoughts

"Crescent Hill"

PRESENCE
traveled together,
in van meant for 9, there were 21
back of pickup truck
your pastor on motorcycle
stayed in their homes
ate
slept, "mosquito netting"
worshipped
prayed, sang, heard God’s word

PRIDE in themselves
their abilities
dignity
respect
respect

They prepared for our visit,
trusted one another

a continuing gift

We gave no gifts that we purchased in the store
left no checks
nor made promised that funds would be sent

In the face of overwhelming needs

The gifts of our Presence and their Pride were the important ones
As we enter into life together.

-- Ellen

Jane's message

2009-04-26T17:26:00.001-07:00

Today we are celebrating an agreement for a partnership relationship with Presbyterians in another part of the world -- Getting to this place has been a long and thoughtful and prayerful journey. It began years and years ago with many of us who have had connections of one sort or another in Latin America. It came very much into our awareness three years ago when I went to Guatemala during my sabbatical – and Carlos and his family came from Guatemala to minister among us. It took a real turn when 19 of us went to Guatemala together two years ago – and came home with a keen sense that we couldn’t just let go of this budding relationship. So, that led to congregational conversations about mission in general – and mission as partnership in particular. And all the while we were paying attention to the opportunity in front of us. Several of us gathered last summer with other N.A. Presbyterians who are working among the Kek’chi in Guatemala and learned a lot from them. Then last fall Stephanie Gregory and Ellen Dozier went to Guatemala for a Partnership meeting and met up with Pastor Gerardo and Pastor Pablo there.

After all that, it was decided by our session to indeed pursue a formal partnership agreement with the churches that make up Estoreno Presbytery. And so we dispatched a team of 6 folks to go there this spring for that purpose. We didn’t go to pour cement or even to lead workshops. We went to deepen relationships.

The scripture that became a guide for us as we prepared for this trip was from the introduction of Paul’s letter to the church at Rome.

Listen – for God’s word to us all – here and around Lake Izabal in Guatemala:

Read Romans 1:8-12

This is the text that I read the night I preached at the Arce de Noe church in El Estor. My sermon, like this scripture, was in the form of a letter to the Presbyterians in Estoreno Presbytery – a letter from our Church to them. So, since it was ostensibly from you, I thought I’d let yo know what “you” said! -- (remarkably, Perry was able to decipher my scribbles and has the whole thing on the Blog. But, I wanted to simply share part of it with you today – because it gets at this the heart of why we are where we are today:

Dear Sisters and Brothers of Estoreno Presbytery:

We thank God for all of you. We have heard of your faith from those who visited here before. Ever since that first trip we have been praying for you—and asking God how we can remain in relationship with you. We have been hoping that some people from our church could come to you again. We have worked hard to make it possible . . .We have also talked – a lot because we do that! – about what this means and why we want to develop a partnership relationship with you.

Some of it is that we realize there probably are gifts we have that we can share with you. We have a few skills that may be helpful and we are a congregation who knows a lot about being Presbyterian and maybe we can be helpful in that way. We also can offer moral, spiritual and emotional support as we offer our prayers and encouragement.

But, the more we have talked about this as a congregation and listened to the group who came here before, we realize how much this relationship will be mutually encouraging. You already have helped strengthen our faith. And simply by your prayers for us we are encouraged. But you have so much to teach us – new insights on the Bible; evangelism and church growth, hospitality, helping us see our place in the bigger world and become more aware of the Lake Izabal area as more than just a spot on a map. Learn from your way of life what is important. Give us new eyes for seeing our faith and life – and for looking at our own neighborhood in Louisville.

Mostly though we want to be in partnership with you because it is together that we can best understand what Christ is all about. From one another we learn abut compassion and how to care – which is what Jesus was about. In Christ our lives ARE entertwined – and the more we experience that the better chance we have of understanding what life in Christ means.

Two years ago, after our group left here, one woman shared with us how important the time with you had been. She said: “I’ve never known so much what it is to be a Christian.”

That is our deepest hope for this partnership – that we will all learn more about what it is to be Christians.

-- Jane

Before, during, and after the service

2009-04-26T15:52:00.001-07:00

Program for the April 26 worship service

2009-04-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church
Service for the Lord’s Day
Third Sunday of Easter
April 26, 2009

Liturgists: Guatemala Team

We Gather in God’s Name

Welcome Guests!

The Marimba Calls Us to Worship

Greeting (Elder Elaine Trautwein)
Leader: The grace of the risen Christ be with you.
People: And also with you.

The Life of the Church

Greetings from Estoreño Presbyterians (Ben Langley)

Prelude

*Call to Worship (Carlos Lara)

Leader: In life and in death we belong to God.
People: We trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve. We trust in Jesus Christ. We trust in God. We trust in the Holy Spirit.
Leader: Let us rejoice and worship God with enthusiasm.

*Hymn #472 PH “Cantad al Señor” (Sing in the language of your heart)

*Call to Confession (Carlos Lara)

*Prayer of Confession
All: We rebel against God; we hide from our Creator, ignoring God’s commandments. We violate the image of God in others and ourselves, accept lies as truth, exploit neighbor and nature, and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care. We deserve God’s condemnation.

Silence (for examination of conscience and personal prayers of confession)

*Pouring of the Baptismal Water

*Declaration of Forgiveness (Carlos Lara)
Leader: Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
People: We rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Leader: We have been saved.

*Sung Response #2026 SF
Halle, Halle, Halleluja! Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halle, Halle, Halleluja! Halleluja! Halleluja!

*The Peace in Q´eqchi´ (Perry Chang)
Leader: Chicuank taxak li tuktuquil usilal eriq’uin.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Please exchange signs of Christ’s peace.
(Translation: Peace be with you.)

Litany of Parting
Congregation: May God be with you there.
Children: May God be with you here.

We Hear and Proclaim God’s Word

Prayer for Illumination (Ellen Dozier)

The Scriptures
Psalm 133 (Ellen Dozier)
Romans 1#8-12 (Jane Larsen-Wigger)

The Message
Jane Larsen-Wigger
Lowell Linder
Ben Langley and Luke Van Marter
Ellen Dozier
Soni Castleberry

We Respond to God’s Word

*Hymn #377 PH “Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore” (Sing in the language of your heart)

Gathering the Prayers of the People (Lowell Linder)
Response:
Leader: . . . In your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.

The Offering

Offertory Marimba Video

*Sung Response “Unidos, Unidos”

Spanish:
Unidos, unidos, en tu nombre unidos.
Unidos, unidos, en tu nombre unidos.
Pues en este mundo—paz ya amor—tendremos,
Pues en este mundo—paz y amor—tendremos.
Unidos, siempre unidos, tomandonos las manos
Iremos por el mundo cantando al amor.
La Gloria de Jesus, al fin resplandecera
Y el mundo llenara de amor y de paz.

English:
Together, together, in your name, we gather.
Together, together, in your name, we gather.
Then we’ll have in this world—peace and love—around us.
Then we’ll have in this world peace and love—around us.
Together we’re united;
We hold hands as we struggle;
We walk into the world singing God’s song of love.
The glory of our Lord, resplendent ever will shine.
The whole world will be joyful with love and peace.

We Give Thanks to God

*Prayer of Thanksgiving (Perry Chang)
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

We Go in God’s Name

*Hymn #432 PH “Song of Hope” (Sing first in Spanish, then in English)

*Blessing and Sending

*All: Alleluia! Amen.

Service Notes: The Call to Worship, Prayer of Confession, and Declaration of Forgiveness are taken from A Brief Statement of Faith—Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Announcements

Leading today’s worship service include the members of the team which recently made a visit on our behalf to Guatemala: Perry Chang, Ellen Dozier, Ben Langley, Jane Larsen-Wigger, Lowell Linder, and Luke Van Marter. Also assisting are Carlos Lara Gabb and Soni Castleberry who were both very instrumental in planning for this trip.

You can contribute at any time to the Guatemala Mission Partnership Fund which supports partnership activities between CHPC and the Q´eqchi´Estoreño, Izabal presbytery. Make checks payable to CHPC with the designation “Guatemala Mission Partnership Fund.”

Pray for our partners in eastern Guatemala: For the San Jorge church in northern El Estor; Pastor Mario Xo Ical; church elders, deacons, and members; and their building program.

Partnership dialogues pictured

2009-04-24T22:26:00.001-07:00

Ben took these pictures of us talking about a possible Estoreño-Crescent Hill partnership - above and immediately below - on Sunday morning outside Pastor Gerardo's home in the Iglesia Arca de Noe campus.

Ben took additional pictures of us as we contined the dialogue in the Iglesia Espiritu Santo sanctuary.

Hangin' at Gerardo's

2009-04-23T19:27:00.001-07:00

Along among us, Benjamin and Lucas stayed at the same house, on the campus of Iglesia Arca de Noe, with the family of the pastor, Gerardo Ich Pop. Benjamin and Lucas probably spent more time with members of their host family, because we also spent all Sunday morning near the manse. Benjamin and Lucas also got beds (pictured above), conventional toilets with toilet seats (not pictured), and a fan (pictured below)! Ben found time to take some pictures (above and below).

Benjamin and Lucas took a crack at making tortillas - ultimately, tortillas cooked in this outdoot kitchen, next to the manse, were part of our lunch meal, Sunday.

Gerardo's kids appeared to get a kick out of posing for pictures with Lucas.

Wood seemed to be the main source of heat for cooking, and I believe this stack of wood was outside Gerardo's home.

-- Perry

Unidos (Together)

2009-04-23T17:19:00.004-07:00

This is the song we sang with the Estoreño Presbytery leaders as a closing prayer that appeared to seal our partnership. We'll sing it in Sunday's service. Click on either of the two pages to see the words (in Spanish and English) and music enlarged. Sing loudly and clearly - all together!

Mujeres y jovenes

2009-04-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

We learned by e-mail today that the Estoreño Presbytery’s Presbyterian Women and youth & young adult organizations did indeed both meet during the past week and elected officers:

QUIERO INFORMAR COMO PASTOR Y SECRETARIO DEL PRESBITERIO ES LO SIGUIENTE:

El 16 de Abril se organizó la nueva Presbiterial Q'eqchi' Estoreña Izabal comisionada por la hermana Marta Loiz y Petrona Yat Maas los que fuern electas

Presidenta, Maria Coc Tiul su Iglesia Arca de Noé
Vicepresidenta, Margarita Rax su Iglesia Peniel
Secretaria, Marta Pitan su Iglesia Altar de Noé
Tesorera, Adela Caal su Iglesia Espiritu Santo
Vocal I, Maria Magdalena Ché su Iglesia Monte Sinaí
Vocal II, Maria Mucú si Iglesia Familia de Noé
Vocal III, Macarioa de Caal, su Iglesia Arca de Noé

Su consejero o consejera hasta en la seccion Ejecutvo se elegirá quien es el pastor quedará. Representante en la Union Sinodica hasta que venga una commission especial a visitar la nueva Directiva Presbiterial.

EL 21 DE ABRIL SE ORGANIZO UN DISTRITO JUVENIL Q'EQCHI' ESTOREÑO IZABAL ELLOS SON:

Presidente, Armando Chub Quib si Iglesia Arca de Noé
Vicepresidente, Isaías Cajbon Caal, su Iglesia Famalia de Noe
Secretario Del Acta, Fernando Quib su Iglesia Arca de Noé
Secretario Corresponsal, Rolando Tiul, su Iglesia Altar de Noé
Tesorero Manuel Xol Caal, su Igleisa Familia de Noé
Vocal I, José Cao May, su Iglesia Peniel
Vocal II, Carlos Pop Cucul, su Iglesia Espiritu Santo
Vocal III, Hugo Lorenzo Mucú, su Iglesia Altar de Noé
Consejero, Gerardo Ich Pop, Pastor Arca de Noé

HERMAN AL MISMO TIEMPO LE AGRADESCO POR EL FOLLETO QUE NOS ENVIARON Y CADA HERMANO TIENE UNA COPIA PARA QUE LO ESTIDIEMOS, QUE DIOS LES COLME DE MAS RICAS BENDICONES DE DIOSEN SUS VIDAS DE LOS HERMANOS DE LOS ESTADO UU.UU EN ELSANTO MINISTERIO DE JESUCRISTO. ATT, PASTOR GERARDO POP.

Monday morning (March 30) dialogue

2009-04-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

During our Sunday morning partnership discussions with the Estoreño pastors, we started out in a very wide circle, then narrowed the circle. When the Crescent Hill mission team members and the Estoreño pastors started talking Monday morning, we all sat around a long, rectangular table (closer than before). Others – Pastor José’s wife Serephina, the Espiritu Santo elders and deacons – sat outside this narrowing circle. After one discussión, a break with the two groups talking separately, and another big group discusión, we stood in prayer, in a circle holding hands.

As on Sunday morning, during our discussions Benjamín and Elena did some simultaneous Spanish-to-English translation and translated for the Estoreño folks – into Spanish – some of what Juanita, Lucas, Raul, and I said in English. Plus the Estoreño folks would periodically take a break and Gerardo or Pablo would translate what we’d been saying into Spanish and they’d have a de facto little caucus also..

As we wrapped up the first half of our discussions, we threw the Q’equchi’ folks for a loop. As the members of their presbytery’s council (and simultarneously the members of the presbytery’s missión partnership task force), they were empowered to approve any agreement with us. But we were just a missión team of the church, and anything official the church session (of which only two or three of us were members) would need to consider and possibly approve. A couple of months before the team left, some of us started to pore over partnership agreements that other congregations had with Guatemalan and Q’eqchi’ presbyteries and congregations. Our idea was that we would pick one or two to share with folks in Izabal. But the fact that we never got to this might have presaged what we did next. Elena suggested that we come up not with a set of abstract principles for our partnershp, but a partnership work plan, which said what we are going to do.

The six of us and the Estoreño folks then each took a break and caucused for about half an hour. When we returned, we each read what we’d come up with.

Earlier, befote the break, Pastor Benjamín had outlined the following prayer concerns of theirs:

- The building program of the relatively new congregation in San Jorge (the first church we visited Sunday afternoon, with Pastor Mario preaching and the sound turned up).

- The presbytery effort to raise money to buy land, apprently for new church development.

- The Barrio La Union missión church, so that it might improve or replace its building.

- The Barrio El Chupon missión church (sponsored by the Arca de Noe church), so that they might buy the rented building where they have been meeting or build or buy their own building.

- The building program of the Peniel church at Boqueron, which Fidel pastors.

Coming back after the break and our separate discussions, Pastor Raul outlined the following prayer requests:

- Pray for the presbytery committée and whole presbytery, on the first Monday of every month (at 8 p.m.?).
- Pray for building projects.
- Pray for the presbytery (¿).
- Pray for youth and young adult ministries.
- Pray for new missions (such as the San Jorge church).
- Pray for the session of Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church.

It seemed that the presbytery executive committee meets on the first Monday of every month (just as the Crescent Hill board of deacons does), and that’s where some of this prayer would take place. Pastor Raul also suggested that the presbytery would try a prayer chain, as we had suggested.

The pastors then began to develop an elaborate monthly schedule – apparently for Crescent Hill’s session, board of deacons, and partnership task force – in which we would pray for different of their churches on different months. But I’m afraid I lost track of this and we have adopted our own weekly prayer schedule – more or less going in the order in which we visited the different churches.

Outreach and church planting is very important to the Estoreño folks. Since we had talked earlier in the morning about other ideas, we were a little surprised about the relatively exclusive focus on prayer for Estoreño building projects. During the Sunday morning conversation, Pastor Gerardo had shushed Pastor Fidel up, when he began to make a relatively explicit funds development pitch for the Peniel church building program.

However, the two proponed partnership work plans complemented each other, and the pastors did not seem to mind that we picked up on different elements of our conversatinos earlier Monday morning. At other times during the discussion they also pledged to pray for us weekly or monthly – at what turn out to be regular presbytery meeitngs. We also promised to pray for them at meetings of different church groups – implicitly, the session, board of deacons, Outreach Council, Guatemala misión partnership task force. As I mentioned earlier, at another point, they began to work on a monthly schedule for us, in which our congregation as a whole would be praying all month for one of the Estoreño congregations. But I couldn’t always figure out what they were saying and I probable didn’t write it all down right. And so I eventually came up with a week-to-week schedule in which we pray for each of the Estoreño congregations more or less in the order in which the 2009 mission team member visited them.

Here’s the proposal that we shared in response:

- Prayer – for churches and the presbytery committee

- Write each other at least once a month – by computer – with news, celebrations, and concerns – during the first week of the month.

- Find out ways to learn together – in the first case, about Acts 2 (between then and Pentecost Sunday, May 31) – together, with us finding resources for each other and us sharing interpretations of the scripture.

- Day of vigil and fasting – at Crescent Hill Church – during September 18-19 – timed to coincide with the start of the Estore o presbytery annual meeting

- Visitation – continue to have visits as much as posible.

We also proposed that the partnership have an initial term of three years. Gerardo said they had been thinking of five years, but they seemed OK with three years. We stressed that the partnership need not end at three years (although it could), but this would give everyone a formal time to evaluate how the partnership was working out.

It was at some point in here that we intentionally embarked on a brief discussión of the sacrifices that members of all three various mission teams that had visited Guatemala had made, and the sacrifice the congregation behind them had made. We talked about the lengthy period of orientation the first group had participated in, the lengthy period of discernment the church had undergone befote deciding how to follow up on the first trip, and the funds development that we had put into all the trips – including selling paches after church, just as folks in their churches frequently sell food ítems outside church after church.

They seemed to relate to the image of us selling food after church, just as they do. They said they understood this kind of sacrifice, as well as our sacrifice in leaving our confortable and familiar U.S. homes to visit theirs.

We also stressed that we know that they too had made sacrifices – all of the presbytery leaders and churches to transport, feed, and tool us around – and the individual familias to have us in their homes. Although we made no promises, we also said we’d love to be able to host some of them and others some day in our own homes.

We seemed to like each other’s proposals. Earlier they had seemed OK with our joint scripture study idea, and cheered us on when Pastora Juanita suggested the Acts 2 passage as the topic of study. After the break during the more formal proposals, some of the pastors seemed particularly excited about our proposal that we fast and vigil during the very tour that their presbytery annual meeting would take place (maybe in part because this picked on suggestions that they had made earlier).

Even with the communications promises, we figured communications might continue to be a challenge.

A key part of the start of any in-person dialogue of this sort – at least with these Guatemalan Q’eqchi’ folks – is the systematic one-on-one greetings between each person the room – at least the formal negotiators – as each new person arrives. Towards the end of our discussión, just about every pastor present had gotten a chance to make at least a short statement. Only Pastor Fidel – perhaps because he’d started to make the funds development pitch on Sunday – was sometimes ignored (along with the elders and deacons, pastor’s wives and other women, and children not sitting with us). There’s no doubt that the oldest and two best educated of the pastors among us – Pastors Gerardo and Pablo (and perhaps briefly Arca de Noe layman Luis Botzoc) occasionally dominated the discussions – more late morning Sunday – and Gerardo functioning as the Spanish-to-Q’eqchi’ translator gave him certain auhority. But still each of the pastors got to talk, especially at the end at which time several said what it meant to them to be part of this dialogue and part of this burgeoning partnership. It was quite an experience for us to be particiipating in a dialogue that , for the most part, the Guatemalans really facilitated and essentially led (from planning when and where it would be to setting up a formal program to Pablo and Gerardo essentially chairing the meeting) and that – despite tendencies in Guatemala in opposite directions – each of the Guatemalan pastors got to participate in. But it was also quite an experience to find ourselves moved and inspired to feel things and say things we wouuld not have thought of just days befote, back in Louisville.

I mentioned earlier that we closed the dialogue by standing in a circle around the table, holding hands, and – as a form of closing prayer – singing the hymn “Unidos” – which I’ll repoduce later and which we’ll sing in Crescent Hill’s April 26 worship service. What I want to add was that Pastor Pablo, I understand, introduced this prayer/hymn by saying let us begin our partnership by singing “Unidos” (United). And, thus, without any signing ceremony – and pending approval by the Crescent Hill session – it seemed that our partnership had begun.

All of this made this final segment or two of our two-day partnership dialogue to be a key high point of the trip (along with Juanita’s sermón with Elena and Gerardo translating).

A down side of our interchange became obvious during the lunch that followed and cemented the dialogue and partnership. Pastor José and his wife and two children, from the church in Livingston, apparently arrived in El Estor around the same time that we did Saturday evening. So I was pleasantly surprised that all four of them joined us for dinner at the Familia de Noe church (in hindsight, perhaps because they did not know the protocol). In fact, most of the other pastors sat on one side of the table – in this initial encounter – and most of us sat on the other side – except for Pastor José and his family, who sat with us. During the Sunday morning dialogues and especially by Sunday lunch, Sarafina and their children were less in evidence (although I’ve got pictures of them from Sunday morning).

By Monday morning, this was even more pronounced. The handful of folks there during these dialogues who were elders or deacons from the Espiritu Santo church or were members of Pastor José Domingo’s family seemed OK with being excluded from the dialogue and the lunch (they ate lunch but hung back and did not eat at the table). But Sarafina – who I’m guessing was – as a pastor’s spouse in somewhat faraway Livingston – not used to being excluded from church affairs – seemed furious that she was not invited to sit at the table and eat this final lunch with us. She had to hold one plate and eat while she stood or sat in a chair in an outer circle of chairs and also tried to feed her young children. As a guest from out-of-town, she did not fold into the group of the host pastors’s wife, her daughters, and other church women cooking and serving (and eating last) – or did not fold herself into these groups – but was also not permitted to join the men (and us).

I looked sympathetically over towards her (and over towards the presbytery leaders) but did not make space and invite her to the table. I’m not sure who at this point was more important to please – the pastors (who actually seemed not to be paying attention to any of this) or Sarafina. But I may have erred by doing nothing, as she likely got the message that despite the coed nature of our group we really weren’t interested in pushing even modest steps towards women’s incorporation (like permitting one of the pastor’s wives to eat lunch with us at the table). We’ll see what happens next.

-- Perry

José Domingo's family and friends

2009-04-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

On the way into the Iglesia Espiritu Sasnto for serious discussions about a possible partnership between Crescent Hill church and the Estore o Presbytery, we got a chance to speak with members of the family of the pastor of the church hosting Monday morning's discussion, the same church that bid the 2007 mission team adieu. Winston was one of Pastor José Domingo's sons who traveled around with us in the truck Sunday afternoon. Pastor José Domingo's family, like many families in El Estor, kept pigs, and later his family fed the pigs.

A couple of the young people also showed me two-week-old baby chicks thay had.

Winston had two older sisters, both married, whose husbands were away working in Puerto Barrios. Both of these women lived with their family.

Here are the pigs eating tortillas family members had fed them.

-- Perry

Pastor José Domingo

2009-04-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

José Domingo Xo Ical is the pastor of the Espiritu Santo church inteh San Marcos neighborhood of northern El Estor. Pastor José Domingo was the owner of one of the houses whose floors that 2007 mission team members cemented - a house it turns out that a family member lives in, while JoséDomingo lives in the manse near the Espiritu Santo church a little across town. Pictured above is José Domingo, one of the pastors who greeted us in Rio Dulce, the gateway to Izabal.

Iglesia Espiritu Santo

2009-04-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

This church - Iglesia Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit church) - also known as Tercera Presbiteriana (Third Presbyterian) - was one of two churches the 2007 mission team visited - in this case - for a farewell worship service with a full band with amplified drums, bass, and guitar. This time the group had visited more churches, and we arrived early Monday morning for partnership conversations with a limited number of people, rather than a full-blown worship service (plus for lunch). Last time I also don't remember the church having the more traditional marimba instrument. This time - upon our request, if I remember right - the Estore o folks serenaded us on the marimba: Pastor Raul, the oldest son of the Espiritu Santo church pastor (Winston), and one of the church's elders or deacons (the three I met were elder Angel and deacons Calixstacula and Earvin Estrada). This church has some 157 members and is located in a neighborhood on the northern end of El Estor called San Marcos. The pastor is José Domingo Xo Ical.

Some other folks from the congregation bid us adieu as we started to pull out of El Estor early Monday afternoon.

-- Perry

Monday (March 30) schedule

2009-04-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

Reunion en la Iglesia Espiritu Santo 30 de Marzo 2009.

- A las 8:15 de la mañana continuacion de hablar sobre compareñerismo.
- A las 10:30 receso
- A las 11:30 a 12:30 un pequeño evaluacion de lo que se habia hecho.
- A las 12:30 almuerzo.
- A las 13:30 horas ir a dejarlos a los visitantes en Rio Dulce.

Old friends

2009-04-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

During our visit to El Estor, Elena met two old friends from another part of Guatemala, closer to where she lived. Both now live in the El Estor area. Antonio (below) told Elena that business interests (palm oil growers?) had offered his community money for their land, and they eventually sold out. Elena had worked with Lucia (pictured above with her eyes shut) with her work with Presbyterian Women. We ran into Lucia at the Sunday night service at the Arca de Noe, after which Elena - unfortunately - had to run to go home with her host family. We got to talk with Antonio a little more leisurely because we saw him Sunday afternoon at the two mission churches we visited, which he is helping pastor, and the next day during our conversations at the Espiritu Santo church. Elena (who lived in Guatemala for 11 years) has lots of friends in Guatemala, and - unfortunately - on short, intensive trips, it's difficult for her to see any of them. During our last day or so in Guatemala, Elena did call a few friends on her Guatemala cell phone.

-- Perry

Pray for women and youth

2009-04-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

Starting on Easter Sunday, this week Crescent Hill folks are praying for Estoreño adult women (like those of the Peniel church in Boqueron pictured above) and young people (like those of the Arca de Noe church in El Estor pictured below). Estoreño congregations' women leaders and youth and young adult leaders will be gathering separately over the next week to cement the establishment of presbytery-wide Presbyterian Women and youth and young adult organizations. Safe travels and good gatherings to all!

-- Perry

Tax Night conversation

2009-04-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

Carlos and Ellen met Wednesday night (April 15) to settle on resources about Pentecost to pass on to the Estoreño leaders and ended up also talking with Pastor Gerardo of the Arca de Noe church in El Estor. Ellen and Ben had both talked with Gerardo during the last couple of days of the mission team’s stay in Guatemala, and Ben had talked with Gerardo soon after our return. Ellen had also exchanged e-mail with Rene. But this was the first full-blown conversation after some time had elapsed since the trip.

Gerardo indicated that Estoreño folks continued to be energized by our conversation. He said people were looking forward to Crescent Hill folks returning for another visit – with more people – as they hoped more families could host us – as visiting angels. Carlos and Ellen promised to send Pentecost resources no later than next week. Later they also said we might supplement at least monthly e-mail exchange with at least monthly telephone conversations. The two of them reached Carlos when he was at Arca de Noe’s mission church west of town, at El Chupon. Carlos and Ellen – and I, after I arrived – again talked about a possible future visit of Estoreño folks to the United States and our hopes and fears about this.

Gerardo also said that women active in Estoreño congregations would cement formation of a presbytery-wide Presbyterian Women organization tomorrow (Thursday) by installing Estoreño PW leaders. Leaders within the national evangelical Presbyterian Church’s Presbyterian Women, with which Ellen and Amanda have worked, would attend. Ellen knows some of these women and says they will have traveled some 12 hours from near the Pacific coast – all the way across the country – to reach El Estor. This coming week a similar gathering will take place for a new Estoreño youth and young adult organization.

During Easter Sunday worship and throughout this week, Crescent Hill folks have been praying for adult women and youth and young adults assembling in these gatherings. We hope and pray that the official selection of designated presbytery youth and young adult and Presbyterian Women leaders will give all of us an opportunity to involve Estoreño young people and adult women more directly in partnership conversations with us (conversations that male pastors have dominated on their end).

Carlos and Ellen talked about two sets of resources they had in front of them and decided to take a Spanish-language text with background information about Pentecost (which is coming up in about six weeks) – which I have asked them to translate into English – and excerpt. They are taking out a few sentences that clearly reflect Roman Catholic theology – which might turn off among others our Estoreño partners – and then leaving paragraphs on the history of Pentecost, on the meaning of Pentecost, and on a couple of symbols of Pentecost, plus a closing prayer. From a study resource in Spanish and English that I found on the Web, they opted to send to the Estoreño folks the entire second chapter of Acts text – broken up into two halves – which sets of half a dozen study questions – pretty cut and dry, factual, basic reading-comprehension questions for the most part. These questions may seem rather narrow to some Crescent Hill folks. By sending these – plus the text itself – we’ll be suggesting that our partners start off with the kind of study guides they’re most used to – and go from there. Immediately before or after Pentecost Sunday, we may send a couple of broader, more critical reflection questions.

I will also post the English versions of this text and the questions. Many of us may profit from starting off with this more cut and dry approach, and not only to be in solidarity with our partners.

-- Perry

Juanita's message

2009-04-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a version of Pastora Juanita's message at the Sunday evening, March 29, 2009 worship service at the Arca de Noe church, in El Estor, Guatemala - translated then into Spanish by Elena and into Q'eqchi' by Pastor Gerardo - as gleaned from her sermon notes:

[The] Apostle Paul [was a] missionary. [He] preach[ed] the Good News of Jesus. [He] visited churches. [He] even started churches, like you do so well. But he couldn’t always be there [at the churches old and new] so [he] wrote [them] letters.

Much of the New Testament is letters sent to whole churches.

Today’s reading is from Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. [Paul was] getting ready, hoping to visit [folks at this church]. In the mean time, he wrote a letter to be read in worship.

The introduction of this letter express so well how we have been feeling as we have prepared to come to see you. So we have used these verses as “our” scripture. [We] talked about [these verses] together and with our congregation.

So these words to the church at Rome also express how we feel about the churches of Esoreño Presbytery.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at least succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you – or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s face, both yours and mine (Romans 1: 8-12).

In the spirit of Paul’s letter to the church, my message today is in the form of the letter. Think of it not just from me, but from Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. This really is a message from all of them to all of you.

Sisters and brothers of Estoreño Presbytery: Dear friends around Lake Izabal:

We thank God for all of you. We have heard of your faith from those who visited here before. Ever since that first trip we have been praying for you - and asking God how we can remain in relationship with you.. We have been hoping that some people from our church could come to [see] you again. We have worked hard to make [this] possible. [We] had a concert to raise money and fixed paches and tres leches to sell so we could help these friends come [to visit]. Today – and every day [thoughout] the trip – we are praying for you all. As a congregation, we have also talked – a lot because we do that! – about what this means and why we want to develop a partner relationship with you.

Some of it is that we realize there probably are gifts that we have that we can share with you. We have a few skills that may be helpful. We are a congregation that knows a lot about being Presbyterian. Maybe we can be helpful in that way. We can also offer moral support and emotional support. We can love, listen, pray, and encourage.

But, the more we have talked about this as a congregation – and listened to the group that came here before – [the more] we realized how much this relationship will be mutually encouraging. [Already] you have helped strengthen our faith. And simply through you prayers for us we are encouraged. But you have so much to teach us about what is most important:

New insight on the Bible
Evangelism and church growth
Help us see our place in the bigger world
Be aware of El Estor not just as a spot on a map but . . .
Learn from your way of life
New ways of seeing our faith and life
And for thinking about our own neighborhood in Louisville . . .

Mostly, though, we want to be in partnership with you because it is together that we can best understand what Chris is all about. From one another we can learn about compassion and how to care, which is what Jesus was about.

Because we are in Christ, our lives are intertwined. And, the more we experience that, [the more] we have a better chance of understanding what life in Christ means.

Two years ago, after our group left here, one woman shared with us how important the time with you had been. She said: “I’ve never known so much what it means to be a Christian.”

That is our deepest hope for this partnership – that we all will learn more about what it is to be Christians.

With that hope, we thank you for receiving with such generous hospitality these friends who come in our name and with our love and prayers. . . .

May God bless you all.

From the brothers and sisters of Crescent Hill church

Iglesia Arca de Noe

2009-04-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

After meeting some of the pastors in El Estor very early Sunday morning, our 2007 mission trip to the Izabal area really began with Sunday school and morning worship in the Arca de Noe (Noah’s ark) church in El Estor. (This is a church with Pastor Gerardo Pop and some 235 members whose facilities - the most elaborate of the church facilities we've visisted in the area - are located just blocks from downtown El Estor and from the whaffs on Lago de Izabal.)

Having spent time Sunday morning – during this year’s trip – talking about partnership on the grounds of the church, we returned to the sanctuary for a final worship service of the weekend after dinner with our host families Sunday night.

There’d been a big crowd in church there – apparently some from one of the mission churches – after Sunday school – while we were in partnership discussions – Sunday morning. Again, in this service, pastors from most of the churches (including Pastor Pablo – pictured below) participated.

One of the high points was interactions with the youth and young adults, who sang us a song and then came back to receive one of the banners that our youth group produced from Benjamin and Lucas. (Pastor Raul borrowed my camera during part of this and so he took some of the pictures flash of this.)

(Pictured below – the man in the middle of the line - is Armando Chub, an unemployed teacher whom Estefani and I had met during the 2007 trip. We’d gone down with him to the lake and met his fisherman brother coming in on a boat with his catch. This time Armando accompanied us on the Sunday afternoon trip to the mission churches and confirmed it was he who e-mailed and called us to try to get a visa and money to fly to the United States. We hadn’t been sure it was really him, as a conversation about possible “reverse” mission trip by Estoreño folks went awry.)

Another high point of this service – and of the whole trip – was Pastora Juanita’s wonderful sermon during the service. The sermon time came relatively close to the end, and Pastor Juanita situated, read, and preached on the passage from Romans

Back in 2007 Juanita had preached a very short sermon. Here she worked with a text she had written out partly during the long airplane and bus rides from Louisville to Rio Dulce.

Not feeling 100 percent and speaking amidst the din of crying children louder than at Crescent Hill, Juanita nevertheless impressed me by delivering a sermon with the same style and grace that she would have back at home. This was all the more impressive because we did three-way translation. Elena translated into Spanish, pausing as she tried to get Juanita’s meaning just right but also sometimes insert important context. Pastor Gerardo translated from Spanish into Q’equchi’, and he had his own style also. Gerardo plowed ahead in a booming voice in Q’eqchi’, as if he’d heard Juanita’s sermon in Spanish several times before and knew exactly how to translate it. It was a beautiful sermon, and they were a great team.

Another minor high point was acquitting ourselves better singing in English and Spanish – sharing one sheet with the words and music – than we did the previous night at the Familia de Noe, where - with minimal lighting – we couldn’t really read the Spanish.

After the service, after some quick good-byes we were soon whisked back away to our host families – except with the added benefit of part of another worship service for Juanita (see “Pastor Raul of Iglesia Altar de Noe”).

-- Perry

Sunday PM (March 29) worship bulletin

2009-04-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Programa de Culto en La Iglesia Arca de Noe a las 7:00 p.m., 29 de Marzo 2009

Y entregara el pulpito el pastor a quine dirige el culto.

- Dirigente Luis Botzoc Xol, con un coro “Donde Estra el Espiritu de Dios:”
- Lectura biblica con el Pastor Fidel Juc en Efesios 4:1-16
- Himno por el Predicador Raul Contreras sean el Q’eqchi o Castellano
- Participacion de los jovenes de la Iglesia Arca de Noe
- La ofrenda los recogera los diaconos
- Mensaje por alguno de los visitantes.
- Oracion final, por el Pastor Gerardo Pop “Feliz Noche - Hasta Mañana en La Iglesia Espiritu Santo a Los 4:15 a.m.”

Trading words

2009-04-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

When Estoreño folks and we got together during our visit, one of the more popular activities was teaching each other words in English, Spanish, and/or Q’eqchi’. We did this with our hosts and with other adults and children. While Carlotta cooked dinner late Saturday afternoon (on the fire pictured above), Pastor Benjamin and I traded words. Here are a few words.

House is casa in Spanish and ochoch in Q’eqchi’.
Tables is mesa in Spanish and mex in Q’eqchi’.
Dog is perro in Spanish and lin tzi sak rix in Q’eqchi.
Car is carro in Spanish and bele bal chich in Q’eqchi’.
Faith is fe is Spanish and pabal in Q’eqchi’.
Holy Spirit is Epiritu Santo in Spanish, which is Santil musiquej in Q’eqchi’.

Benjamin transforms into Miche and Pedro in to Lu’ (in Q’eqchi’).

Noah’s family is Familia de Noe in Spanish and ralal xc’ajol aj Noe in Q’eqchi’ (apparently pronounced ralal shick ajol ah Noe).

Church is iglesia in Spanish and xtenamit li k’acua in Q’eqchi’ (apparently proncounced shetaynamee lee cahquq. The last bit of that – k’acua’ – is God or Dios.

Benjamin and I tripped over a few words. They asked me if I could write anything in Korean and, instead, I wrote Japan (or Nihon) in Chinese characters (or kanji). I tried to explain the origins of the Chinese characters of pictographs (what I drew on my notepad for them pictured below). But I failed because the Chinese character for origin in Nihon (origin of the sun) looks like the root of tree. But I couldn’t get them off a literal interpretation of root – I wasn’t able to communicate a metaphor (root more or less equals origin)..

Early on in the afternoon I confessed that my family and I go at least once a year and worship in a Catholic church in New Albany, where annually a number of Stephanie’s students are participating in their first communions at St. Mary’s, a New Albany Catholic church with ministries for Spanish speakers. I didn’t know how this would go over, since part of many Guatemalan evangelicals’ identity is that they are not Catholic. Benjamin asked me a question in response to this that included the word predicador, which I believe means preach. Was he asking if I preached in the Catholic service in Spanish? I don’t know. Because this could be a sensitive topic, I didn’t want to guess wildly what he was asking. I resolved to ask him to repeat the question when we were around good translators, like Elena or Benjamin, but never remembered to do this. Perhaps next time I’ll remember.)

-- Perry

Plan for April 26 worship service

2009-04-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Service for April 26, 2009

The Marimba Calls Us To Worship - Ben

Greeting and Announcments
Greetings from Estoreño Presbyterians - Ben

Prelude - Raul (the Guatemalan one!)

Call to Worship - Carlos

Hymn #472 PH - “Cantad al Señor” - Sing in whichever language you want

Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession - Carlos

Declaration of Forgiveness - Carlos

Sung Response ? (Debbie may have an idea)

The Peace (in Kek’chi) - Perry

Sending of the Children?

Prayer for Illumination - Ellen
The Psalter: Psalm 133 - Ellen
The NT Rdg: Romans 1:8-12 - Jane
The Message
- Jane
- Lowell
- Ben & Luke
- Ellen
- Soni

Hymn # 377 PH: “Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore” - Whichever language
Prayers of the People - Lowell lead; Perry? Ben? Work on photos - Have photos being projected on the screen PLUS pass around baskets of photos for people to take with them to remind them to pray. Let all these photos call us to prayer for the people and churches of Estoreno Presbytery.

Then lead into other, general prayers of the people.

The Offering - Should we remind people that we have a separate special “Guatemala Partnership Fund” which they can designate money for at any time during the year???

Offertory - Marimba video - Ben

Response: “Unidos, Unidos” - Carlos or Ellen finding

Prayer of Thanksgiving - Perry

Closing Hymn #432: “Song of Hope” - Sing first in Spanish, then in English

Blessing and Sending
Alleluia! Amen.

Leading today’s worship service include the members of the team which recently made a visit on our behalf to Guatemala: Ben, Ellen, Jane, Lowell, Luke, and Perry; also assisting are Carlos and Soni who were both very instrumental in planning for this trip.

-- Jane

Pastor Raul of Iglesia Altar de Noe

2009-04-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

Only one of us on the trip got to the church of the most outgoing of the pastors, Raul Contreras (pictured above right, with Jose Domingo to his right). Raul is a pastor in training who we met two years ago. Pastora Juanita stayed with Pastor Raul’s family, and later Sunday evening Juanita returned to the Contreras home, which turned out to be a manse near the church itself. (Both are located in the El Cerritos neighborhood of El Estor.) Worship at the Iglesia Altar de Noe (Noah’s Altar church) (a church of some 140 members) was still going on when Juanita arrived home, and she went over and checked it out. I believe she may have spoken briefly also.

During the whole weekend, we’d been half joking that we could learn something from the Estreño Presbyterians not only about spirituality, evangelism, and church growth but also about sound amplification. We’ve been having some trouble with our church sound system. Several weeks earlier a sudden loud sound coming from the Crescent Hill church sound system – during worship – had spooked many of us there – including Juanita, who had just had heart surgery.

Most of these tiny, poor churches had good sound systems, with the one at Pastor Mario’s San Jorge church, readers might recall, was turned up particularly loud. Juanita said that the system at Altar de Noe also seemed strong, until, while Pastor Raul was leading a closing prayer at the church, a loud noise (like at our church, but longer) started up. Two church people tried frantically to turn it down, while Raul just continued to pray. Juanita said that Raul calmly finished the prayer, and then walked over to the sound system and unplugged it. Then worship was over.

Like most of the pastors, Raul was married and had a number of kids. Juanita said she talked little with Raul’s wife, whose Spanish may not be great. He was also a musician. In the various churches he sang, played marimba, and played electronic keyboard, and he also shared with us a CD of his music.

One of Raul’s other prized possessions was obviously his motorcycle. He showed up dramatically, with Juanita riding behind him on the motorcycle, arriving there for the Sunday morning partnership discussions. I failed to snap a picture of that entrance. I did, however, get a picture of Raul and Juanita’s exit from the El Chupon mission church – again, on Pastor Raul’s motorcycle (below).

-- Perry

April 8 meeting

2009-04-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

Soni, Carlos, and the six members of the spring 2009 Guatemala mission team met at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, to plan for a special April 26 Sunday worship service focused on the Guatemala mission partnership. Elena proposed that the gifts we received and the gifts we gave during the mission team’s Estoreño Presbytery visit be a theme of the service.

Elements of the service we discussed were:

- Call to Worship – a few sounds from the African version of the marimba that Rowell (Lowell) had brought in – by Benjamin

- Greetings - including greetings from Estoreño presbytery leaders – as videotaped by Ben and as projected by Perry (elder of the week?)

- Prelude – piece from Pastor Raul’s music CD

- Call to Worship, Prayer of Confession, and Pardon – all by Carlos

- Passing of the Peace – in Q’equchi’ – led by Pedro (John 20:26 – last four words?)

- Message – 2-3 minutes each – by Juanita, Raul (Lowell), Lucas, Benjamin, Elena, and Soni

- Song: “The Lakeshore Song”- Prayers of the People - led off with silent montage of photos of Estoreño Presbytery people and places – with photos by Benjamin and Perry – projected by Perry

- And then prayer – with prayer request cards and spoken thanksgivings and prayer concerns – all led by Raul

- Offering – video with audio of Estoreño church leaders playing the marimba – shot by Benjamin and projected by Perry – or a piece from Elena’s marimba music CD

- Song:: “Unidas Unidas” (Elena or Carlos are looking for the words and music)- Prayer of Thanksgiving – by Perry

- Song: “Song of Hope” (in Spanish and English?)- Blessing - Juanita

Although no Crescent Hill folks will apparently be able to go to the Amigos de K’ekchi event – on the same weekend as the worship service in Spokane – closer to home in Cincinnati in October will be a PC(USA) mission conference that may also include a Guatemala mission network gathering.

Elena shared the book “The Art of Political Murder” and Pedro cited his receipt of the book “Seeing and Being Seen: The Q’eqchi’ Maya of Livingston, Guatemala, and Beyond.”

-- Perry

Evangelizacion en el Barrio El Chupon

2009-04-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

We had one more afternoon stop, at a second small mission church - this one just a month ago - also in a rural area west of El Estor. The area's biggest evangelical Presbyterian church, Arca de Noe (Noah's Ark), was sponsoring this mission, in Barrio El Chupon. This is the first church we visited that had one of the Guatemalan national instrument, the marimba, a big xylophone-type instrument, which we had fallen in love at the Arca de Noe church in 2007. Here Pastors Jose Domingo and Raul Contreras serenaded us after our arrival.

It had been a long, hot afternoon, and both Guatemalans and North Americans were feeling some effects of the heat and travel.

But Pastor Gerardo Pop (speaking to us below) - who had helped negotiate the trip by phone - and - as pastor of the Arca de Noe church and secretary of the presbytery - was at least also nominally in charge of this mission church. Like Raul (Lowell), he had seem to be fading, but he revived as he spoke about the mission.

Antonio Tec, an old friend of Elena and a pastor from another part of the country, was listed in the brochure as helping out with the other mission church west of El Estor, Iglesia Puerta del Cielo. But he seemed to be at work in this El Chupon church also.

A marimba performance, short talks by Pastor Gerardo and others, and then we were on our way back to our host families' houses for dinner, before worship back at Arca de Noe.

-- Perry

Pastor Pablo and Obrero Roberto

2009-04-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Pastor Pablo Sacul Chub (pictured above in front of the pulpit at the Iglesia Puerta del Cielo in the La Union village west of El Estor) is the president of the presbytery. Pastor Gerardo and he were the two men the presbytery sent this past November to participate in the Guatemala Mission Network gathering at Lago de Amatitlan and talk with Elena and Estefani. Reportedly 73, Pablo opened several of the worship services and the partnership dialogues. He and his family also hosted Raul (Lowell) at their home. He's the father of Benjamin Sacul, pastor of the Familia de Noe church and the presbytery's representative to the synod (the national church).

We know less about Roberto Caal, the man who seemed even more part of the Iglesia Puerto del Cielo. His wife and several children were evident during the brief event for our visit at the church. I’m guessing the presbytery would categorize Roberto as an obrero. (An obero is something akin to an inquirer or perhaps a commissioned lay pastor in PC(USA) parlance.) (The official presbytery publication that Rene put together also ties Antonio Tec to this church although we spoke with him at the Barrio El Chupon mission of the larger Arca de Noe church.)

-- Perry

Iglesia Puerta del Cielo

2009-04-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

From the Iglesia San Jorge in northern El Estor (on Sunday afternoon) we went to the first of two small, very new missions on the outskirts west of town. The first one was not too too far from where Raul (Lowell) was staying. In fact Pastor Pablo Sacul was officially listed in charge, as was Elena’s friend Antonio. But the man who seemed to be in charge was Roberto Caal. When we first arrived at this small building in El Barrio La Union, the church was locked. But Roberto and others showed up, and their church with five families and some 22 members, just a couple of months old, was a nice counterpoint to the loud and charismatic style San Jorge church. (When we first got in, a boy of the church goofed around a bit in the pulpit. Notice the thin walls that let both sun and ventilation (no doubt as well as rain) in.)

Two shy young women – I think Roberto’s daughters – with no sound system – sand and quiet, sweet duet, and before and after Roberto and maybe one or two others spoke

And then we were whisked away in the truck and down the road again.

-- Perry

Greetings from Amanda

2009-04-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

Ellen was kind enough to send a message Friday morning that you had returned, although she alluded to a long trip. Were you all delayed in Houston?

It was great to see the group, and I really appreciated your willingness to transport things for me. The children's books will come in handy very soon!

-- Written at 11:18 a.m. Monday by Amanda

Pastor Mario

2009-04-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

The young pastor from the Iglesia Presbiteriana San Jorge, in the northern part of El Estor, with the booming voice and booming sound system and talented children, was Mario Xo Ical (pictured above left with Pastor Benjamin Sacul, who is to his left). What kept me back at the church - as others boarded the truck - after we had declined the beverages - was Pastor Mario - alone among these pastors (we already had Pastor Gerardo's number) - wanted to give us his phone number.

-- Perry

Iglesia Presbiteriana San Jorge

2009-04-05T19:53:00.001-07:00

Sunday afternoon we road in a big truck to three newer or smaller congregations. The first one was in the northern part of El Estor, in the San Jorge (St. George) neighborhood. The Iglesia Presbiteriana San Jorge is one of two congregations that earlier this year affiliated with the Q’eqchi’ Estoreño, Izabal presbytery (San Jorge in February). (We were told the church was two months old, but the story we're told also implies that the congregation predates the Valentine's Day February 14 affiliation date.) The congregation has some 70 members. The pastor, Mario Xo Ical, is an energetic, crew-cut younger man with an evangelical preaching style. With minimal real walls to its building, which made being in it cooler, and a very loud sound system, which we envied in some ways after the sound system challenges at our church, the sound of the early Sunday afternoon worship service boomed throughout the little neighborhood. I had sat right next to one of the speakers, and so I heard the music and words emphatically. (Short videos I shot with my camera of this service one has no trouble hearing the audio of.) Pastor Mario’s children joined in the worship, and one of Pastor Mario’s sons (pictured with his father above and below) played a pretty sophisticated electronic keyboard, which he sometimes programmed (including with percussion) before the songs began.

Pastor Mario sang and preached – sometimes with the music in the background. The high point for me was his contemporary Spanish-language version - with booming bass and percussion - of “How Great Thou Art.”

In addition, a young woman from the congregation came up and sang (and most of those in the congregation – except for the pastors traveling with us – were women and children). And then the pastors called for one of us to speak and – after hesitating – at the drop of a hat – our Benjamin launched into an abbreviated version of his “luz” sermon from Saturday night, as we basked in the glow of God’s light shining through them. The whole service had a somewhat more evangelical or even Pentecostal feel to it – perhaps like at the Espiritu Santo church where we would not be worshiping this time – and we sang and clapped – though I noticed that some of the other pastors there did not join in the clapping (although one of our theories was that at least one of the pastors wasn’t feeling great - although it's also possible that the pastors thought this congregation's worship was too un-Presbyterian - or thought that we might think so).

I believe this was one of the churches where they brought beverages to us after worship – for brief refreshments before we continued on our way – but we had to decline because the beverages were made with the local water, which we couldn’t drink. And then we were bounding into the truck onto the next congregation.

-- Perry

Communications liaison

2009-04-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

There are several Izabal pastors whom - when I got home - I discovered I have not really good pictures of them. A person with whom we barely spoke, but who is nevertheless very important to our mission partnership endeavor is René. René is a young man who was paralyzed in an accident and who - as Pastor Gerardo described to us Sunday morning - had nearly given up hope on doing anything productive. But prayer and the work of an institute has turned René into the IT and communications czar for Gerardo's Arca de Noe church and for the presbytery as a whole. Although phone calls between Carlos, Elena, and Benjamin, on the one hand, and Gerardo and Soila, on the other hand, were a catalyst for the March 2009 trip, we began occasionally exchanging e-mail with René and - through him - with Gerardo and other presbytery leaders - before and - now - also - after the trip. Through our partnership building we have committed to exchanging e-mail at least once a month (us during the first week of the month). We are to share news, celebration, and prayer concerns, among other things. Phone conversations and regular mail may supplement. All of the e-mail will go through René and then through Gerardo and then to other presbytery leaders. It was also René who printed all of the beautiful worship service and daily schedule programs - in color - for us and others in Izabal. We wondered out loud - we can't afford to keep color ink in our color printers or to even have anything but black and white printers! We called René over about half way through our Sunday morning discussions, and he wheeled over in his wheelchair and sat in the discussoin while Gerardo told his story. Several of us got a chance to talk with informally a few minutes later. Unfortunately, although I took some pictures during all of this, none of these shots turned out, and so we are left with no photographic image of René. (Embedded above is the program René put together for the Sunday evening worship service. Click on the program to enlarge it.)

-- Perry

Sunday (March 29) morning

2009-04-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, after sleep and breakfast with our bost families, the families help get all of us to the Iglesia Arca de Noe, the largest Presbyterian church in town, which had essentially been our base of operations in 2007. We chit chatted with each other – including some calls on Raul’s cell phone home (including one that told us the bad news about the Louisville-Michigan State basketball game). (Above, many of us posed for a picture, including Jesus, a woman I remembered from the 2007 trip - and a woman who my notes suggest is married to Pastor Fidel of the Iglesia Peniel church. ) (Below Pastors Jose Domingo and Raul and Pastors Benjamin and Abelino Tec chat.)

Then we sat down together. Two years ago some of us had sat down with presbytery leaders, David Wiseman, and Martin to negotiate the plan for workshops and cementing floors of homes, while the children’s workshop went on. Somewhat on purpose, most of us sat on one side of a large circle, and many of them sat on another side. This ostensibly allowed Ben and Ellen to do nearly simultaneously translation from Spanish into English. These two also took turns translating what the rest of us said in English (except for what we said to each other) into Spanish. Periodically, Pastor Gerardo – Arca de Noe’s pastor and the presbytery’s treasurer – translated from Spanish into Q’equchi’ – as some of the pastor’s Spanish skills were weak – and – eventually – sometimes some extended Q’equchi’ conversation ensued.

As the program (see “Sunday (March 29) schedule”) shows, Pastor Pablo – the presbytery president – read some scripture and began with some remarks, and then there was general conversation. Pablo and Gerardo and Pastora Juanita, among others, each said something about their hopes for the possible partnership. And we also spent some time giving each other background information about the presbytery (Estoreño) or the church (Crescent Hill). In this the information in their pamphlet (found in “Information about the Estoreño Presbytery” blog entry) was invaluable. They stressed that theirs was a presbytery committed to growth and new church development, with some three or four congregations started in the previous six months. We stressed that we were a medium-sized church, struggling like them with issues of (slight) growth and building improvement, with some theological expertise, creativity, curiosity, and Spanish speakers and familiarity and interest in Latin America cultures. (Below Pastors Gerardo and Benjamin and our Benjamin talk while others listen.)

Half way through the discussion we took a break and several of us wondered down to some stores – including the bakery – that had been staples of our 2007 trip. (Several hours later, on our way to the next stop, we drove a couple blocks away from our 2007 hotel, but we never did get all the way down there and see the lake, the docks, and the bright colored City Hall.)

Early on we had been seated in a relatively wide circle. As the sun shifted, we moved our seats also. And after the break we moved our chairs closer, starting a process that would continue Monday. After 12 noon we wrapped things up, to be continued Monday. I was very impressed with the Estoreño folks. There were moments when many of them spoke up, instead of the most educated and skilled in Spanish speaking up. At one point a new person, Luis Boztoc, the vice president of the presbytery, a Arca de Noe layperson who had been important in 2007 (including taking the men to the monkey preserve and nickel mine), appeared and joined us. I was also excited about how the conversation had gone, but still was a little anxious about how we’d do coming up with something on Monday.

(One distracting feature of the discussion before break was there was a worship service going on – partly with people from a mission church we would visit later that day – that was quite loud at times. This made it hard for everyone to hear.)

We had lunch – fish again – in a room near the sanctuary. And we relaxed some before our departure, as Luke continued to play frisbee – and occasionally soccer – with some kids who had gathered (who asked a lot about where Douglas (Yeager Jr.) was), and occasionally adults.

(Pictured below is Pastor Abelino Tec and his wife Sarafina and their children Noe and Isaac.)

-- Perry

Sunday (March 29) schedule

2009-04-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the schedule the Estsoreño Presbyterians supplied us for Sunday:

Programa a Tratar el Domingo 29 de Marzo de 2009

- Saludos y bienvenidos a los visitantes y a los que van a participar en hablar sobre compañerismo cada uno dira sus nombres y que cargo tiene y en que lugar viene o representa.

- Lectura biblica por el presidente

- Buscar la direccion de Dios por medio de una oracion dirigido por el tesorero.

- Resumen de Filipenses 2:2, 3:13 25 De donde dice el compañero 28 y 29 recibe su visita con todo su corazon. En Romas 1:11-12 donde dice repairtir dones para que nuestra sean firmes en el Señor que seamos uno en Espiritu a traves de la oracion constantemente si nosotros aromas por nuestros hermanos de Estados Unidos y estamos con ellos y ellas, ellos y ellas con nosotros.

- A las 10:30 horas receso.

- 11:00 a 12:30 continacion

- 12:30 almuerzo

- A las 2:00 de la tarde salir a visitor campos del presbiterio: Barrio San Jorge, Barrio La Union, Barrio El Chupon

- 18:00 de la tarde cada visitante ira a cenar donde se quedo hospedado

- a la 7:00 de la noche un cluto en la iglesia Arca de Noe

- despues del culto cada visitante puede ir a descansar donde se quede hospedado

Saturday (April 4) update

2009-04-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

I wrote a short note to René Thursday night and he replied,

Muchas gracias a ustedes hermanas y hermanos por su visita y gracias a Dios que hayan llegado sin novedad y saludes para las hermanas de la iglesia de EE UU. fue una gran bendicion para nsostros haberlos tenido en nuestra iglesia y pueblo.

Ben spoke with Gerardo on Thursday evening as well to assure him that we had safely arrived home.

-- Ellen

Greetings from Soila

2009-04-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hola amigos (as) y familia,

What a beautiful time we had in Guatemala with you guys. Hopefully you had a good and safe trip back home. I am still missing you and thinking of you and all our time together. Jeff has been very happy and saying how great people you are. I think he loves the idea of knowing that Lowell likes cigars and also my host dad (Jerry) does. Jeff is good at imitating voices or sounds and with you guys I'll say that he does well trying Luke and Perry's voices. I forgot to mention to you that he does really similar with the Dean of this seminar and another coworker - very funny!!

We miss playing cards and we are trying to find some brave people to play with us, especially with me now that I have become an expert :) haha... Thanks Luke, Ben and Perry for teaching me how to play. As it was in Louisville in the past, I am always learning from WONDERFUL people...

Thanks for introducing us to Amanda and her husband Omar. They are a great couple and Amanda is just a sweet and friendly person. Again, thanks for all your love, friendship, and gifts and thanks for the lunch in Antigua not just as a friendship moment but also for the birthdays. It was wonderful to receive hugs from you all. I loved that I saw the same spirit with laughs and jokes and humble people such as Jane, Luke, and Lowell (joking and insisting in washing dishes... NO). I loved meeting Ellen, Ben and Perry face to face. There were a lot of great moments. You are good representatives of CHPC.

A lot of love for you all from us (Jeff and me). Thank Perry for updating the CHPC blog. I'm sure we will be following your activities.

-- Written at 6:45 a.m. Friday by Soila

Staying with families

2009-04-02T18:04:00.001-07:00

One of the relationship-building mission trip innovations we talked about in advance with folks in Izabal was while we were in El Estor having us stay with families, instead of in a local hotel, as we did in 2007. A couple of people in particular pushed for this. Partly because the Familia de Doe church was a little east of town, everyone - I think - went home to their host families' houses by car (mostly by cabs). The arrangements were somewhat different. Lucas and Benjamin stayed at the parsonage/manse at the fanciest church in town, Arca de Noe (Noah's Ark), which was the center of our activities in 2007. Although Benjamin and Lucas slept on the floor, they also had a real shower (with just cold water) and two real toilets. (I can't remember if they had their own room or rooms.) The two women stayed in the same rooms with big families who like most families (those of Pastor Jose Domingo and Pastor Raul and their families) all stayed in the same rooms. This arrangement gave them little privacy when changing clothes or considering washing. Raul also roughed it by staying with Pastor Pablo and his family out on the western edge of town, with little tree cover but a breathtaking view of the mountains surrounding El Estor and the Lago de Izabal lake - and in a house with no electricity. I stayed nearby with Pastor Benjamin whose family owned and operated a store - and a car! I take it this was a sign of some (relative) affluence. I've written before about how Benjamin was not only a pastor and a storekeeper but also a parent of six daughters and a (parafin) candle maker.

Thanks in part to the store, I had two conveniences. First, I worried that if I forgot to bring something for the stay or discovered I needed something, it would be difficult to go out and get in El Estor. But Pastor Benjamin's family had plenty of stuff in the store - including toilet paper, which I had belatedly bought, and a flashlight and batteries - critical to see what time it was on the watch Juanita lent me and to go out to the outhouse in the evening. Second, I slept in a little alcove off the store. It was next to the street, and so I heard a lot of street noise even late at night, but the family and I had a lot of privacy. In fact, while Juanita and Elena were sleeping in the same bedrooms (probably because the families were more comfortable having the women around their kids, Stephanie opined), I actually never saw the family bedroom in Pastor Benjamin’s family’s house. The house appeared to have three rooms (the dining room, where I ate alone with Pastor Benjamin and then afterwards his wife and daughters crowded in there), the bedroom (where I imagine they all slept), and the store, plus my little alcove. Outside there was a driveway where Pastor Benjamin parked the car, an area where the family burned wood for cooking, and a familiar (from the last trip) three-sink contraption behind a wall behind the carport . All of the families we stayed with - except during a couple of winter months - only got some water access during the nighttime. In Pastor Raul's family, women in the family got up at 3 a.m. to wash clothes by hand and then hang them up to dry. In Pastor Pablo's family, Pastor Pablo's wife got up at 4 a.m. to fire up the fire, and then slept for a while before starting to make tortillas (which all of these families served dozens and dozens of, piping hot) at 5 a.m. I never heard or saw any of this. But I believe members of Pastor Benjamin's family got up early to bathe, stockpile some water, and start making and cooking tortillas. This family was unusually not self-sufficient, in that they seemed to raid stuff from the store that they needed, and had no fruit trees in the yard and no small maize (corn) patch which they harvested, then took to the grindery nearby to have ground, and then made meal for tortillas with. Like the other families, however, Pastor Benjamin's family did have the outhouse in the back yard, which was not easy for us North Americans to deal with. (Two possible signs of the family's poor diet, hygiene, and water quality: at least two of the kids were sick while I was there (including the youngest: 1 1/2-year-old Narde Valesca, who cried a lot the first night) and both the bed and outhouse were a little too short for me (short stature being partly a result of poor nutrition). Most of us had some luck talking with the pastor and some of the kids we were staying with. Some of the kids and spouses were more shy. Carlota Tut, Pastor Benjamin's wife, talked with me some. Some others were more adventurous at helping the women out. In the house I stayed in, Carlotta and the older daughters did much work, while Benjamin and I talked or ate.

The farm animals around the yard, where cleaning up after them was not always easy (or attempted much at all), was a feature of almost all of the houses that we visited. Benjamin's family had no coches (pigs), but had platos (ducks) and pollos (chickens - including those that supplied the eggs I ate for breakfast Sunday and Monday mornings, with beans and hot homemade tortillas - Pastor Benjamin, who said his family ate meat once a week - said they bought the chicken for the fried chicken we ate for dinner Sunday). One other key sign of affluence: Benjamin's family had a dog. Most El Estor dogs are thin strays many of which ostensibly have rabies (and none seem spayed or neutered - given the number of stray dogs in general we see and the number we saw in 2007 having sex with each other). But this family had Blanca, a cute 10-year-old dog that also served as a kind of watch dog (barked at me when I went to the bathroom relatively late one night). The 13-year-old, Sara Elizabeth, whose father said was particularly intrigued by the United States, showed me little hot dog things that came from the store that they fed the dog. Many El Estor families could not afford to feed companion animal dogs. Below is one of Pastor Benjamin's family's chickens, eating the corn meal that not only forms tortillas but also helps feed the farm animals.

Below is Carlota and Narde Valesca.

Below is 13-year-old Sara Elisabeth.

Below - I believe - is 11-year-old Elda Mariscela. All of the daughters (who are old enough) apparently go to school. I believe that Elda Mariscela and 6-year-old Judith Estere went off in their school uniforms (which of course cost money) to go to the elementary school across the street Monday morning. Sara Elisabeth and 16-year-old Irma Yolanda were to head for secondary school later in the day (most of these pictures - including the one below - were taken on Sunday - which of course was not a school day - but note that Elda Mariscela does not have traditional Q'eqchi' dress on).

Here's Blanca (in front of the car in the driveway, standing near the sink apparatus). Blanca of course means white in Spanish (or Castellano, as the Q'eqchi' sometimes call it), and so the dog's name in Q'eqchi' was ... (white). The rope around the dog's body served as a kind of collar.

Below is one of the ducks in the area between the car and the little wall that separated the "car port" from the sink area.

Below is another prize possession of the family: the car, a 1989 4-door which like our old Ford Taurus had one back door that didn't work (in fact - as with ours - on the driver's side). From this vantage point, at the back of the carport is a kind of gate, which the family locked, I believe. When Pastor Benjamin - who seemed like a rather gentle man - instead of opening the gate himself, honked his horn, and one of his daughters came running to open the gate. That's Narde Valesca in front of the cars. Of course, she was not one of the daugthters who opened the gate. I can't remember if she always had those diapers on.

This is the bed, with a kind of mosquito net over it that worked pretty good, which I slept in. Most of us slept under mosquito nets, and some members of our host families did also. Only two of us (Juanita and I) took Chloroquine, an antimalaria medication, and I believe I only sprayed my stuff with permetrine and used some DEET-based insect repellant while in El Estor (which like Rio Dulce is in the malaria risk zone). None of us recall mosquitoes biting us. I do remember ants at the hotel in Rio Dulce. Of course, I was terrified about contracting scabies - tiny microscopic insects - which I'd gotten before - indirectly - from sheets in a cheap hotel in Guatemala - and I can't be sure yet whether or not I did (contract scabies).

Pictured below is part of the tienda (store) in Pastor Benjamin's house. Although some customers entered here, the outside wall between the store and what passes for the family's front yard and the street, included a little window and shutters. Many customers simply stopped by the window - as if they were stopping at an ice cream stand - and asked for what they wanted from Irma Yolanda, Sara Elisabeth, or Elsa Mariscela.

Below is a picture of the car and the table that Benjamin and I sat around late Sunday trading information about Q'eqchi', Spanish, and English words (and even Chinese characters!). Behind the table is the little area where the family burns wood to cook on. (I introduced myself to the various churches as someone who is an ancieno (elder) of Crescent Hill church and someone who works for the national church (I was not able to explain very effectively in Spanish what it is I do for the national church (research).) I might also mention that my esposa (spouse) Estefani (Stephanie) and my hijo (son) Vincente were there in El Estor two years ago and that Estefani was at the workshop on partnershp at the camp on Lago de Amatitlan this past November.

Sunday morning when we got up (usually around 5:30 a.m. for me - with the sun coming up early because of no daylight savings time and the street noises and roosters crowing when it was still pitch black) - despite having stayed up until 9:30 or 10:00 talking - Pastor Benjamin and I got up early enough for him to drive me all the way across town back to his church (where we had had dinner and worshiped the night before). In the church bathroom (in a kind of outhouse - like a portable toilet) was an OK toilet (no toilet seat, of course) and a shower, which I used just to wash partially. Except for this time, almost every other time Pastor Benjamin and I drove to or from the house we drove maybe 3/4 of a mile away - on a maze of extremely bumpy, pot-holed streets - to the house of Pastor Pablo, Benjamin's father and other family members. There we picked up Raul, Pablo, and others. Mainly because the trees had all been chopped down in this areas, the vistas from around Pablo's house were incredible, as you could see easily up the mountains surrounding the town's area. On Sunday morning, Raul got up in the dark very early in the morning and briefly got lost walking around the area.

-- Perry

Pastor Benjamin

2009-04-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

Iglesia Familia de Noe's pastor is Benjamin Sacul Tiul (pictured above seated), who turned out to be both my host and the son of Presbytery President Pablo Sacul. The presbytery ordained Benjamin two years and a month ago, on March 1, 2007, several months before we arrived for the first time in El Estor. Pastor Benjamin, readers will find out soon, is (besides being a tad why) also a parent (of six girls), husband, store owner and operator, and maker of candles. Benjamin later told me a relatively involved story (in Spanish) about how he came to be a candle maker also. From what I gathered, he prayed for a long time about what else he could do to support his family and his ministry economically, and God answered his prayers by helping show how he could make the candles and helping connect him with suppliers and customers (mainly in his neighborhood - on the west side of El Estor). With his church on one side of El Estor and home, store, and candle workshop on the other, Benjamin may have been the only Izabal Presbyterian we met who has a car, which I rode in several times a day for our 48 hours there.

-- Lu'

Iglesia Familia de Noe

2009-04-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

After dinner at the Familia de Noe (Family of Noah) church in the Sinai neighborhood in eastern El Estor (with some 161 members), we shifted into the first full-fledged worship service. Although Pastor Benjamin Sacul is pastor of the church, all of the pastors led the service. Above Pastors Raul Contreras and Pablo Sacul (the presbytery president who also turned out to be Pastor Benjamin's father) helped start things off. Below Pastor Jose Domingo, on your right, joins in.

(Made with wood more than the Peniel church with its concrete blocks and only a few years old, the building of the Familia de Noe no doubt could use some work, and in fact that the congregation had a building fund jar displayed prominently in front of where I was sitting, to the right of the pulpit. I saw a few folks in the congregation putting money into the jar during worship.) High points of worship included both the pastors and then the congregation's youth singing, our Benjamin and Lucas presenting Familia de Noe's youth with a banner that the Crescent Hill youth had designed, and a fiery sermon by our Benjamin. Below Lucas stands up on the raised platform readying to speak briefly before the banner presentation.

And below Benjamin and Luke speak.

Below the president of the (mixed-gender) youth group, a young woman (which seemed unusual in El Estor), received the banner as Benjamin looked on. (Familia de Noe is said to be a youth-oriented church, and this was one of three congregations we visited in which an official youth group played some role in worship. For this presbytery, as for us, youth ministries seems important. Children are also in evidence in worship.)

Before we left, we had decided that Benjamin would preach during this Saturday evening worship service and Pastora Juanita. Juanita planned to preach at greater length than two years ago. We tried to be careful at this since the presbytery's congregations have no female pastors, elders, or deacons, and it's easy for them to start thinking that men among us - including Benjamin, a minister ordained in another tradition - are the pastors, not Juanita. But Benjamin's Spanish is at least as good any of those on trip, except perhaps for Elena, and this arrangement insured that Juanita didn't have to prepare two different sermons. Benjamin spoke somewhat extemporaneusly about the luz (light) evident that night (even though without Daylight Savings Time it was very dark outside by then and relatively dark in the sanctuary lit dimly with some electric lights). Those of us with mediocre Spanish didn't pick up every word, and we don't know how the many women and others who may or may not have spoken Spanish well picked up on it. But Benjamin no doubt used relatively simple language and has a decent accident. He used a fair amount of body language to get his point across, and he triggered some call and response with a technique he said he learned from pastors in the Dominican Republican (if not also from his South Carolina Southern Baptist upbringing), saying "Amen?" And getting back increasingly thunderous "Amen" from the congregation.

As Benjamin finished up, worship was quickly over. There was a little confusion about which of us were staying with which - and a little jockeying - but quickly we were whisked away - mainly by cab - to houses of the pastors of the various El Estor area churches. And so the staying with families adventure began.

-- Perry

Saturday dinner

2009-04-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Like others among us - with the microbus long gone - I got to ride in the back of a pick-up truck, with Pastor Jose Domingo from the Espiritu Santo church, for the short ride from the Peniel church to the Iglesia Familie de Noe, which turned out to be pastored by the husband/father in my host family. Jose Domingo knew what he was doing. He quickly sat right behind the cab and eventually I did too. It is the dry season in Izabal and dust blew hard at us as the truck proceeded down the dirt road. After trying it for one year a couple of years ago, Guatemala - still a pretty agrarian country despite the sprawling Guatemala City - is not on Daylight Savings Time. So it becomes light very early and gets dark early (even though days should be somewhat longer here, since it's closer to the equator). So by the time we got to Iglesia Familia de Noe, it was already getting dark. We ventured into the church's kitchen, and Pastor Jane tried her hand at making tortillas. I'm sure we actually ate this one. We had tortillas with every meal - but unfortunately not beans. Pictured below was my meal. (Notice the beautiful skirts, camisoles, and japiels (sp?) (thin shawls?) on the women helping cook. At home the women might just where the camisoles and the skirts. But this whole outfit is the only obvious signature to us of Q'ueqchi' culture. Some of the pastors (men) were dressed not that differently than I - in khakis and white shirts - but I noticed some bright shirts and once in a while a cowboy hat - which might make the men slightly distinctive compared with North American men, if not Guatemalan Ladino men.) I believe in deference to North Americans like me with Weight Watchers-type diets, at two group meals we were served lots of fresh, uncooked vegetables, which Ellen reminded us we couldn't eat. We felt bad because they would normally have had beans and rice, which we could eat. Uncooked vegetables - presumably watched in water we can't (and no one should) drink wouldn't cut it. We felt bad turning back their hospitality and wasting all the food, which looked good. Our hosts remembered we had liked the fish (local fish, presumably, caught within a day or two out on Lago de Izabal) on the final big day of our 2007 mission trip, and I had told others I wanted fish (I miss Florida fresh fish). And, sure enough did we get fish - whole fish at two of our three group meals. Last tie we got whole fish too, and serving the fish whole (and our hosts at least eating almost all of the fish - I didn't eat the eyes or parts of that side of the head) reminded me of Korea. I'm squeamish about eating with my fingers, but others certainly weren't, which made it easier for them to eat the fish. Using your fingers, it wasn't hard to get around the bones.

It was already getting quite dark inside, but pictured below is part of our table. For the first and only time, the one pastor from far out of town who had brought his family (Pastor Jose from the Livingston area) and his wife, Sarafina, and their two kids (none of them pictured here) ate at the table with us. The next two meals, only the pastors and us ate at the table, which I believe irritated Sarafina (and it was unusual, I suspect, that a Guatemalan woman would make this obvious to us).

-- Perry

Late Saturday schedule

2009-04-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

It turns out that all we have for the Saturday schedule is what the Izabal folks e-mailed us in advance. There was no separate, hard-copy Saturday schedule. E-mailed to us for Saturday was:

ACTIVIDADES A REALIZAR EL DIA 28 DE MARZO DE 2009
1) estaremos esperandolos a las 3:00 de la tarde en Rio Dulce
2) a las 5:14 estaremos pasando a visitar la Iglesia Peniel El Boqueron
3) luego 6:00 de la tarde estremos en la Iglesia Familia de Noé en una sena
4) despues a las 7:00 de la noche un culto dirigido por el comite ejecutivo, uno de los visitantes ba a predicar
5) despues del culto cada pastor llevara un visitante en la casa pastoral

Pastor Fidel

2009-03-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

Out of chronological order - from an event later during our visit - pictured above (in the middle with the shirt that was not just solid and with his eyes closed) is Pastor Fidel Juc of Boqueron's Iglesia Peniel. (Fidel, whom me met somewhat during our 2007 mission trip, was ordained as a minister of the Word and Sacrament just two months after we left the area, on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, on September 11, 2007.)

-- Perry

Iglesia Peniel

2009-03-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

As we approached the El Estor area in the truck and microbus, we made our first stop in two days plus of church visiting at Iglesia Peniel, in the outgoing town of Boqueron, near where in summer 2007 we boated and swam in the canyon. (The church has some 86 member.) Fidel Juc is the pastor, but the presbytery president, Pastor Pablo Sacul Chub (pictured above), with whom Estefani and Elena met in November, helped welcome us. A modest-sized crowd (pictured below) sat in the small church building with us, with additional women and children milling around outside.

An amazing thing about this visit was the very high level of organization on not only the part of Benjamin, Elena, Pastora Juanita, Soni, Patricia, and other Crescent Hill folks but also on the part of the Izabal folks, who typed up detailed information and got us to almost everything on time. Even with our bus running late and waiting for 30 minutes for the micraobus, we got to the Peniel church on time (the program was scheduled to start at something like 5:07 p.m.! And it did!) (I'm missing the presbytery's agenda for Saturday). They pushed us to make it to the next church on time. (We joked that we'd no longer be able to talk about Guatemala time - We'd have to go back to talking about Crescent Hill time (running late).) On the way out of the Peniel church, we took some pictures of the congregation outside.

We also took a picture of some in the congregation milling around. The pastor here was the one who pushed most aggressively raising funds for the building projects of the churches (including his own), even risking irritating his colleagues (if not also us).

The woman to our far left is Jesus, a woman I remember talking with in 2007 with whom I talked again at Iglesia Peniel and Sunday at Igelsia Arca de Noe. As you can already see, women were a majority (f not most) of the participants in the churches. They were barely represented, however, in leadership. Perhaps connected with us, many of the women were quiet, if not also tired. Still, in worship, women were often enthusiastic.

-- Perry

Information about the Estoreño Presbytery

2009-03-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

From a Spanish-language pamphlet prepared by and about the presbytery earlier this month:

Resumen Informativo
2008 a 2009

Institución Indígena
Presbiterio Q’eqchi’ Estoreño, Izabal
Iglesia Evangelica Nacional Presbiteriana de Guatemala C.A.

Traducido por: Pablo Sacul Chub
15 de Marzo 2009

Nuestro Gran Mision Pastoral

Por tanto Id y haced discipulos a todas las naciones, Bautizandolos en el Nombre de Padre, del Hijo y del Espiritu Santo.

Vision Pastoral

Para hacer mas grande el presbiterio en un pacto de Dios en el area Q’eqchi’

Geograficos este presbiterio tendra como area que todo el pueblo que habla Q’eqchi’ Departamento de Izabal y del Peten, según nuestra constitución de la iglesia.

Consistorio:

2.a. Iglesia Arca de Noe tiene 235 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. El pastor de esta iglesia es: Rev. Gerardo Ich Pop

2.b. Iglesia Monte Sinai tiene 135 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. Su pastor es: Rev. Jose Sub. La iglesia esta en San Carlos El Porvenir, en Puerto Barrios Izabal.

2.c. Iglesia Familia de Noe tiene 161 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. El pastor de esta iglesia es: Rev. Benjamín Sacul Tiul. La iglesia esta en el Barrio Sinai, en El Estor, Izabal.

2.d. Iglesia Peniel tiene 86 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. El pastor de esta iglesia es: Rev. Fidel Juc. La iglesia esta en la Aldea Boqueron, en El Estor, Izabal.

Congregaciones Formal

3.a. Iglesia Altar de Noe tiene 137 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. El pastor de esta iglesia es: Pastor Predicador Raul Contreras. La iglesia esta en el Barrio Los Cerritos, en El Estor, Izabal.

3.b. Iglesia Espiritu Santo tiene 157 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. El pastor de esta iglesia es: Pastor Predicador Jose Domingo Xo Ical. La iglesia esta en el Barrio San Marcos, en El Estor, Izabal.

4.a. Fue recibido la ordinacion como Pastor El Hermano Benjamín Sacul Tiul, primeros dias de Marzo de 2007, en el Barrio Sinai, en El Estor, Izabal.

4.b. El hermano Fidel Juc fue ordenado como pastor, en Comunidad El Boqueron, en 11 de Septiembre 2007.

4.c. Hermano Jose Sub fue ordenado como pastor en 22 de Noviembre 2007, en San Carlos el Porvenir Puerto Barrios, Izabal.

5.a. En el 23 de Enero 2009, el presbiterio fue recibida una nueva congregación con su pastor predicador Abelino Tec Chub y 44 miembros, en el municipio de Livingston, Izabal.

5.b. En el 14 de Febrero 2009 fue recibida una congregación de 70 miembros, hombres, mujeres, niños, niñas, jóvenes, y señoritas. El pastor de esta iglesia es: Pastor Mario Xo Ical, en Barrio San Jorge, en El Estor, Izabal.

6.1. El Barrio La Union hay un campo de evangelizacion con 5 familias y un total de 22 miembros incluye niños. El encargo de la obra Pastor Pablo Sacul Shub, Antonio Tec, y Roberto Caal. Es en El Estor, Izabal.

6.2.La Iglesia Arca de Noe esta haciendo la evangelizacion en el Barrio El Chupon en El Estor, Izabal, ministrado por el pastor, Gerardo Ich Pop.

6.3.Representante ante del Sinodo, 2008-2009, es Pastor Benjamín Sacul

6.4.En la asamblea pasada se acuerda organizar un presbiterial, a nivel presbiterios y tambien al mismo tiempo se cuerda a organizar un distrito juvenil a nivel presbiterio para levantar mujeres jovenes señoritas en un nuevo organización para Cristo.

6.5.La sesion de la Asamblea del presbiterio Q’eqchi’ Estoreño Izabal, los dia 20-21 de Marzo de 2009 en la Iglesia Presbiteriana Boqueron nuestro predicador Jose Xo Ical.

6.6.Los dias 28-19-30 nos estara visitando unos hermanos Presbiterianos Norte Americanos para buscar un lineamiento entre ambos la iglesia de UUEE. Y el presbiterio Estoreño Izabal. Para crear de unificar esfuerzos tanto material, espiritual y moralmente para la Gloria de Dios y Cristo.

Cuerpo Ejecutivo del Presbiterio

Pablo Sacul Chub – Presidente
Luis Botzoc – Vice-Presidente
Gerardo Ich Pop – Secretario
Ramiro Quib Caal – Tesorero
Jose Domingo Xo Ical – Vocal 1
Raul Contreras – Vocal 2
Benjamín Sacul Tiul – Vocal 3

El Estor, Izabal, Marzo 15 de Izabal

Rio Dulce

2009-03-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

The end of the bus drive came relatively soon, as I had hoped. The view from the bridge over Rio Dulce ("Sweet River"?) is breathtaking. This is a river that flows from Lago (Lake) Izabal to the Caribbean Sea/Gulf of Mexico/Gulf of Honduras. You can't see the sea or even the lake (not very well) from the bridge, but it's still a beautiful spot. Crossing the bridge also meant that we were seconds from ending our bus trip and meeting our Izabal friends again.

They weren't quite there when we arrived. We had feared they would be waiting for hours. But - unlikely last time - we could call them on our cell phones. And a few minutes there they were - pastors whom some of us recognized and new folks on both sides. Ben greeted unidentified pastors.

If the express bus trip was somewhat trying, what came next was also very trying - and adventurous. The pastors and several other people appeared to have all driven there in one pick-up truck. We had talked before about riding over a bumpy road for two hours in pick-up trucks. but later were told the presbytery had access to a van. We piled our luggage with others on the pick-up truck, and then piled into a public/private microbus that was headed with several other passengers from Rio Dulce to El Estor. As we filled up with some dozen people, Ellen joked that we'd be waiting for a while to fill up the van more. Or I thought we were joking. After we waited another half an hour in high humidity and 90 degree weather - in still air because either the windows weren't open or there was no breeze because we weren't going anywhere. As the six of us and some of the pastors and others sat there in pools of perspiration, the little microbus filld up with no less than 21 people - and finally departed.

Once we left on the road from Rio Dulce to El Estor, we faced two surprises: With the windows open and the breeze - and with the road (where - it turns out - the first half) newly paved, the drive (with its occasional vistas of Lago Izabal) was rather pleasant. And on we traveled towards the El Estor area.

-- Perry

Across the country

2009-03-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Soily stayed with us for almost an hour at the Linea Durado bus station, in Guatemala City's Zone 1, the historic downtown area where Ellen and Jane noticed hotels they've stayed in which the U.S. government now tells their own employees to stay away from because of security concerns. We checked some of our luggage and went through airport-style metal detectors on the way onto the bus. Getting out of Guatemala City was an adventure, because we got caught in traffic - including driving into a one-lane street that appeared to be one way the other way - and so we backed up back down the street. On the bus an odd sight greeted us: a two-hour movie on the life of Jesus IN ENGLISH with no subtitles. Raul (Lowell) (pictured below) and I watched some of the movie. Some of the terrain (it was supposed to be the Middle East of course) and characters depicted looked like they could be in the parts of Guatemala we were driving through.

Ellen tried calling her friends and our contacts around Guatemala on a cell phone left over from earlier days in Guatemala. Much more so than on our first trip, we've stayed in touch with people by cell phone. Raul and others have used his cell phone - same one he uses in Louisville - to call people at home.

Half way through the trip we crossed what must be the Central American version of the continental divide, very arid and reasonably tall mountains.

After a couple of hours plus we stopped at a different rest stop than we did two years ago and all had lunch. I only had rice as I was feeling especially queasy. (This was a fancy express bus on the country's main east-west highway, but it was bumpy and curvy and the buses all spend a lot of time passing slower vehicles on a two-lane road which couldn't help but sometimes make passengers like us nervous. Also, the air conditi0ning which barely worked when we left Guatemala City, the driver warned us accurately, would not work much at all once we got in the mountains and then the humid lowlands. Soon we had the windows open, but it was quite warm - not that different from in one of the vans in 2007 when Stephanie felt ill.)

After another half an hour we made the turn away from Puerto Barrios, towards Rio Dulce, which put us - I estimated - within half an hour of getting off the bus.

-- Perry

Bus violence

2009-03-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

We drove on the way from the seminary to the bus station (but we in the seminary lodge's van with Jeff driving) down a four lane urban highway that was the source of some of the news that made us pause about the trip earlier in the week. Besides some attacks on intenational buses coming from or going to other countries, killings of intra city Guatemala City bus drviers whose companies or who themselves do not pay protection money to organized crime elments have increased nearby, especially on the highway in which we drove and especially at a major interchange we drove over. This past Tuesday, March 24, bus drivers protested the killings by driving their buses down this highway and then all stoppinig and parking the buses on the highway near this interchange. This brought traffic to a standstill and disrupted some traffic throughout the city. It was apparently this protest that triggered a phone call to one of us that caused us to study and assess the security situation.

(Pictured below are the red intra-city buses, on the highway where they are often attacked, with the bus drivers being killed.)

On top of the attacks on ¨social undesirables¨by police, paramilitary forces, and others that many Guatemalans support, and on women, this bus violence may be tolerated because it creates instability and further undermines the government of President Colon, who won the presidency in fall 2007 as a center left candidate by carrying the rural areas. The candidate who carried the city but Colon narrowly defeated nationwide was an Amy general with links to paramilitary activities, including to the assassination of a Guatemalan bishop. The general ran as a law and order candidate, which is somewhat ironic given his possible support for the bus attacks. In Guatemala, it´s hard to know about any links among the country´s leading families, the miliary and th epolice, gans, drug traffickers, and even former anti government rebels. The rebels and Army were active in the 30 year civil war that eventually evolved into an Army campaign against the country´s originally rural Mayan indigenous population. Tens of thousands of people died, and many others were displaced, some into sprlaing barrios in Guatemala City. (Pictured below - from a bridge during the intercity bus drive out of town - is a barrio like the ones that many indigena internal refugees from the civil war first built.)

Peace accords negotiated in the early 1990s were supposed to end the civil war. The government, however, has not lived up to all of the terms of the accords. And some call the whole Guatemalan government a ¨failed state¨in which social undersirables are killed and the powerful and connected to unpunished and untaxed while many public services are de facto privatized, for those who can afford to pay high prices for them. Hence, the private security guard at teh house of Jennifer´s host-landlored´s house, the school uniforms and textbooks that families in El Estor must buy if their kids are to go to ¨public¨secondary schools, and the bottled water that El Estor families that can afford it drink while others drink the unsanitary water from the public water supply, if and when they can even access that.

In a sense, Guatemala reminds me of what I´ve read about Haiti. It´s difficult to have a functioning government and even a functioning government, with the rule of law, when there is a massive chasm in welath and status between the rich, lighter skinned people who speak one language and the poor, darker skinned people who speak other languages, when there is such a cultural and economic divide. Foreign visitors of course cannot expect to swoop down here and quickly turn the situation around. Others in the Amigos de Kékchi associaiton have worked on water projects with Kekchi congregations and communities in the Northern part of the country. We are trying to start out getting to know Kekchi evangelical Presbyterians in the Izabal area and facilitating all of us learning more about each other that may yield new insights, new energy, and perhaps joint endeavors.

One thing we may have to share with Kekchi Presbyterians in Izabal is some different ideas and practices we have related to gender roles, with our female pastoral and lay leadership and also other gender practices. We expect to learn plenty ourselves about congregational change, faith and spiritual, youth and young adult ministries, and even personal relations including relations between women and men, among many other things, over time, from folks here. May it be so.

Written on Saturday on the bus between Guatemala City and Rio Dulce, by Perry

Jennifer and Soila

2009-03-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

We met two intersting women on our way into Guatemala. Jennifer (pictured above) is a San Francisco Bay area native who is spending a year or two with her husband in Guatemala. After undertaking a project outside of Mumbai, in India, she shifted to Guatemala. She and her husband live in a parent in law apartment type accessory apartmen which looked beautiful from the pictures next door to an evangelical church in a villagel outside of Antigua on the edge of one of the Aniigua area volcanos. Jennifer volunteers 15’20 hours a week with kidsa andn adults with cerebral palsy in a Catholic institution run by nuns. Jennifer was fun talking with for a couple of hours berfore Jane (pictured below) and I took naps.

Soila was someone four of us already knew. A native of Honduras, Soila came to the United States in 2004 through a now defunct ¨reverse missionary¨program. At the last moment she wound up as a missionary to us at Crescent Hill and James Lees churches. Soila lived with the Simton Van Marters during this year. (Pictured below are Luke and Soila in her Guatemala City apartment.)

This past summer, Jeff and Soila got married in Honduras. They then moved to Guatemala, where they help run a program for a Mennonite seminary in Guatemala City. The seminary has a lodge where itinerant seminary students and others stay. This is where we stopped for our first night in Guatemala, Fridasy PM, and where we´ll return Tuesday and Wednesday night. (Pictured below is Soila showing us into the grounds of the seminary, late Friday night.)

The lodge, which can house 75 people, has a beautiful rooftop view of the valley in which Guatemala City sits and the surrounding mountains, a 24 hour computer center, a dining hall with three meals a day, a ovely coutyard with an avocado tree, and rooms with kitchennetes and hot showers as nice as anywhere else we have stayed in Guatemala, except for Carlos´brother´s hotel in Anigua. Interestingly, the seminary complex is surrounded by a wall with electrified barbed wire which probably made us more secure. (More recently during the trip, we´ve talked about the possibility of jointly sponsoring with the Kekchi presbytery a retreat for pastors in the presbytery at the seminary and lodge.) (Pictured below is Raul (Lowell) l and my room at the lodge.)

(Pictured below are Juanita (or Juana or Jane), Lucas (Luke), and Benjamin (Ben or Benji), at the lodge dining hall, during Saturday AM breakfast.)

(Pictured below are views of Guatemala City and the mountains that surround it, as well as the seminary lodge courtyard, from the seminary lodge rooftop.)

(Pictured below is the courtyard, from ground level. Es bonita.)

Jeff and Soila picked us up in the seminary van from the airport Friday and took us to the bus station today. It´s possible if we tour Guatemala City or Antigua Wednesday, one or both of them will go with us.

Soila and Jeff may wrap up their service in Guatemala soon and hope to go to the United States. Siola is preaparing for a ¨Green Card¨type interview which she will undergo at the U.S: consulate in Honduras. In this setting she and Jeff will seek for her permission to enter the United States and permanent residency status. Jeff´s parents may sponsor her. This will be a stressful process for them and their families, as they will likely be asked to document their marriage as Homeland Security tries to police purely ¨green card¨marriages. We´ll look forward to seeing Soila and Jeff in Guatemala City later this week, if not also in the United States later this year. Please pray for them and their families during this time of transition for them.

Written on Saturday on the bus between Guateamala City and Rio Dulce by Perry

Pictures of the outbound trip

2009-03-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

We met in the sanctuary to talk about the security situation, plan the trip, and pray together.

Outside we said our good-byes and then left one car at a time.

Below we arrived in the Cincinnati airport.

Below Jane sleeps after an exhausting sermon-planning discussion with Ben.

Our plane from Cincinnati to Houston was very small.

Pictured below is us changing planes in Houston.

Ben and Luke sat behind Jane and me.

In the Guatemala City airport, Ben and Luke (pictured below) exchanged dollars for quetzales and Ben and Ellen got bank machine money.

Greeting us - with their van - were Jeff and (pictured below) Soila with their van. Thanks, Jeff and Soila!

-- Perry

On the runway in Houston

2009-03-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Written at 8 p.m. Central time:

We had dinner in a fancy seafood restaurant in the airport, keeping an eye eventually on the Louisville-Arizona game. We've occasionally had some trouble staying organized and we'll see how well we all get along. This trip is different from the 2007 trip in that there are only six people, and so we can't play social musical chairs as much. Obviously, in El Estor we're going to spend time - as individuals - with different host families and in worship, meetings, and social gatherings with friends old and new in Izabal. We're already immersed a little in Spanish-speaking culture. There's some Spanish in the Houston airport, and we've talked with some of our fellow passengers - Spanish- and English-speaking - including a U.S. woman who is living in Guatemala for a year or two. If this trip is anything like the last trip, we'll get lots of time to know each other (the six of us) much better.

-- Perry

On the runway in Cincinnati

2009-03-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Written at 3 p.m. Eastern time Friday:

The mission team arrived two hours before our flight was to leave. It turns out we needed the extra tim as the security line was very long -- apparently spring break traffic and some new security measures.

At our gate we had some extra time as the plane was really late. I took time to call colleagues at the Presbyterian Center to find out about layoffs there. But little information was available. Ellen waited but did not receive a call from one of her colleagues.

I was surprised how anxious I was as I dialed the Presbyterian Center number on a pay phone. I joked - but only somewhat - that suddently I wasn't as anxious about getting bus-jacked in Guatemala. Two of us (Ellen and Perry) work at the Center, both parents of another one of us (Luke) work at the Center, and the spouse of another us (Ben).

We know that the fate of the national church and the job status of our Center colleagues - as well as the outcomes of our Guatemala trip - are in God's hands. We trust God to do what is best - Still, we feel bad for probably at the very least for several dozen Center colleagues who are losing their jobs (if not us too) as I write and our friends in Guatmala who must live in some long-term vigilance even with their trust in God.

God - Watch over us on the trip and help us make the most of our time and encounters here in giving service to YOu and our brothers and sisters in Guatemala and Kentuckiana.

-- Perry

They're offf!

2009-03-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

The official representatives for our church are off on their trip. Carlos, Faith, Ted, Stephanie, Vincent, Ben, Ellen, Jane, Luke, Eva, Lowell, Janine, Perry, Soni, Bob, and Wanda gathered this morning at 10 a.m. to see our group of representatives off. After final discussions of whether the trip should go on, given the increase in violence in Guatemala City, a group prayer was offered up for safe keeping. Bob and Wanda drove Lowell and Luke to the Cincinnati airport. Stephanie and Vincent drove Perry. Soni drove the rest of the troops (Ellen, Ben, and Jane).

We met around 12:30 for final good-byes. After a long delay going through security they landed safely in Houston. Last I heard they were heading to board their plane after a nice dinner together.

---Stephanie

Advice

2009-03-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

I was looking for what God might be saying to us today and to friends at the Center in Scripture today and found it in the daily lectionary reading for today, Romans 8:28-39, especially the first and last verses,

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who are called according to his purpose.....For I am sure that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The Word of God for the people of God.

-- Ellen

Thursday afternoon

2009-03-26T12:56:00.001-07:00

We have learned from several sources that there has been an increase in violence in Guatemala in recent weeks, including bus violence. Several of our sources believe that much of the violence is concentrated in intracity buses in Guatemala City - buses that we would not be riding anyway.

While we believe that we should continue with the mission trip, we want everyone on the trip - and their families and prayer partners - to know about this increased risk.

Whatever folks on the team and their families decide about their participation, we also ask that everyone continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Guatemala, most of whom do not have the luxury of deciding whether to stay in the United States instead of traveling and staying in Guatemala. But please also pray for the Crescent Hill travelers - however many there end up being -including for our health and safety.

-- Perry

New update

2009-03-26T07:57:00.001-07:00

I just talked with Karla Koll who is in Guatemala City, has been there for several days teaching classes at Cedepca. This is what Karla says,

"There are no riots in Guatemala, violence is not widespread. Cedepca is not telling groups not to come to Guatemala.

Our group needs to know that there is an increased number of places in the country affected by violence, violence is targeted; the chance of being in a trouble spot is not great.

When there are problems in the capital, traffic is a mess and so the group needs to be flexible (meaning we may have to wait to get where we want to go). The area of the capital where we will be staying has not experienced problems. We should avoid travel in the capital at peak travel hours."

"Obviously this is an unsettling situation for those we will visit but this is the reality in which they live and we need to walk along side them."

I have also talked with morning with K.T. Ockels who is one of the people in PC(USA) responsible for security. She checks everyday all the possible trouble spots in the world and at this time can find no new news about problems in Guatemala. She always continues to check during the day and will alert me if she finds anything. I also receive bulletins from the U.S. Embassy in my email and have not received any new bulletin since that issued I think on March 22. I will also check the online site of "Prensa Libre" (the newspaper).

I hope this information helps all of us to be clothed with the peace of Christ.

-- Ellen

Update

2009-03-26T06:29:00.001-07:00

We are investigating news of possible disturbances in Guatemala that we heard from one of Amanda Craft's PC(USA) mission co-worker colleagues in Guatemala.

-- Perry

Contemplating the trip

2009-03-25T20:40:00.001-07:00

Session members listened Wednesday night as Carlos passed on word of his communications with Pastor Gerardo in Guatemala and Gerardo's greetings to our session.

Thoughts

2009-03-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Three things I noticed looking over the Estoreño presbytery leaders’ schedule for our visit:

- Even though I know Ben, Carlos, and Ellen were involved in helping set up this schedule, it’s impressive to see something coming from the Estoreño folks that we know that folks like David and Martin – as much as we love them – didn’t spearhead, that came more from the Estoreño folks themselves.

- I’m impressed how much time is going to be devoted to trying to hammer out a convenio for compañerismo.

- This is a packed schedule. From the minute we get up at the seminary Saturday morning until we retire at Bruno’s hotel in Rio Dulce Monday night – and especially from 3 p.m. Saturday through 3 p.m. Monday, we’re going to be on. There will be little room for us to have attacks of introverted-ness or heat exhaustion from the 104 degree weather. We may be able to take it easy in Guatemala City, but- for 2 ½ straight days - we’re going to be running. Selfishly, I don’t know how I’m going to find any time to blog in El Estor. We’re not going to be able to take any long afternoons off like we occasionally could during the 2007 trip.

It’s starting to look real, brothers and sisters!

-- Perry

Itinerary while in the presbytery

2009-03-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Pastor Gerardo e-mailed Pastor Carlos the following Spanish-language itinerary Wednesday:

DE NUEVO EL DOCUMENTO DONDE ES`PECIFICAMOS LAS ACTIVIDADES A REALIZAR EL 28 DE MARZO

ACTIVIDADES A REALIZAR EL DIA 28 DE MARZO DE 2009
1) estaremos esperandolos a las 3:00 de la tarde en Rio Dulce
2) a las 5:14 estaremos pasando a visitar la Iglesia Peniel El Boqueron
3) luego 6:00 de la tarde estremos en la Iglesia Familia de Noé en una sena
4) despues a las 7:00 de la noche un culto dirigido por el comite ejecutivo, uno de los visitantes ba a predicar
5) despues del culto cada pastor llevara un visitante en la casa pastoral

ACTIVIDADES PÀRA EL 29 DE MARZO
1) cada visitante recibira su desayuno donde se que hospedado a las 7:00
2) a las 8:15 de la mañana reunion en la Iglesia Arca de Noe, hablar
sobre le convenio de compañerimo
3) a las 10:30 de la mañana un receso
4) a las 11:00 a 12:30 continuacion del tema de convenio
5) a las 12:30 a 2:00 de la tarde almuerzo
6) a las 2:00 de la tarde visitar unas congregaciones o campos del
presbiterio los campos a visitar son:
a) Barrio San Jorge
b) Barrio la Union
c) Barrio el Chupon
7) a las 18:00 de la tarde recibira sus cenas a los visitantes donde se esta hospedando
8) a las 7:00 de la noche un culto en el Iglesia Arca de Noe dirigido
por el comite Ejecutivo uno de los visitantes predicador
9) despues del culto cada visitante ira a descansar donde se esta
quedando hoespedado

ACTIVIDADES DE PARA EL 30 DE MARZO
1) a las 7:00 de la mañana deseyuno donde esta hospedado el visitante
2) a las 8:15 continuacion sobre el tema de covenio en la Iglesia Espiritu Santo Barrio San Marcos
3) a las 10:30 un receso
4) a las 11:00 a 12:30 almuerzo
5) a las 13:30 de la tarde despedida e ir a dejar a los visitantes en Rio Dulce.

On the verge

2009-03-25T19:43:00.001-07:00

Pastor Carlos talked with Pastor Gerardo (pictured above this past November), of the Arca de Noe church, El Estor’s largest evangelical Presbyterian church, Tuesday night. At an Estoreño Izabal presbytery meeting this past weekend, those assembled were excited the coming visit by Crescent Hill folks. Gerardo was particularly excited our session was meeting this week and he wanted Carlos to pass on his greetings to the session.

Gerardo alerted Carlos to some slight changes in the schedule. On the drive from Rio Dulce to El Estor Saturday, the mission trip folks will stop at two congregations in the presbytery, along the way. At the second of these congregations, the group will participate in a full-blown worship service. Late Wednesday Ben agreed to preach at this service.

Sunday morning and Monday morning the mission team will talk with presbytery leaders about the principles and hopefully text of a congregation-to-presbytery partnership covenant. Sunday afternoon and evening the group will visit THREE congregations, with worship Sunday night in the last of those three congregations, with Pastor Jane preaching.

Monday – after partnership negotiations in the morning – we will visit one more congregation. I can’t recall if this will include a full-blown worship service. On the whole, this trip will connect us more directly with more of the growing number of congregations in the presbytery than the 2005 trips.

As I understand it, the basic schedule of staying and visiting with our hosts families (Saturday and Sunday – but when will we have time to visit?) and eating with them (Sunday breakfast, Sunday supper, and Monday breakfast?) and all together (Saturday supper, Sunday lunch, and Monday lunch?) will stay the same.

On the weather/apparel front, Ellen said the high at an airport near El Estor will be 104 degrees and back in Guatemala City will be 84 degrees. No coats will be needed, she said.

-- Perry

Tips

2009-03-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ellen suggests mission trip team members bring candy (like Hersey's kisses) as gifts also, as these are very expensive in Guatemala. She also suggests we bring snacks (like granola bars) on the trip, partly for breakfast Saturday.

-- Perry

Expanded prayer partner list

2009-03-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Ben: Ariana, Izzy J., James A., and Rachel
Ellen: Chris, Gayle A., Maria, and Nora
Jane: Amy, Bridgmans, Patti, and Yeagers
Lowell: Bob, Deborah, Gayle T., and Phil
Luke: Andrea T., Eva, Jane P., and Luiz
Perry: Anita C., Joyce, Laura, and Soni

-- Ben

Treating our clothes

2009-03-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend I sprayed most of the clothes I plan to take to Guatemala and my duffle bag, sheets, and pillow case with Permetrin, a long-term mosquito repellant. It was a pretty day to distribute these toxic fumes.

-- Perry

Sending litany

2009-03-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 22

Prayer of Dedication (by Carlos)

God of all mercies,
We give you thanks
for all your goodness to us and to all people.
Give us such an awareness of your mercies,
that with truly thankful hearts
we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips but in our lives,
by giving up ourselves to your service.

We ask your special blessing on these people
Who stand before us this day.
Bless their trip and their mission and these gifts
They will carry with them.
May it all help further our partnership,
Not just with Guatemalan sisters and brothers,
But also with the Christ whom we follow.

In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Commissioning (led by Stephen)

Amigos – God has called you to a particular mission
To visit our Kek’chi sisters and brothers
And to move toward establishment of a partnership relationship
With Estoreño Presbytery.
Do you welcome the responsibility of this service as a
Part of your commitment to follow Jesus, to love neighbors,
And to work for the reconciling of the world?
(I DO)
Do you, prayer partners, accept your special ministry of prayer
On behalf of these friends and commit to supporting them
In daily remembrance to God?
I DO.
And do you all, members and friends of Crescent Hill Church,
Promise to support and encourage all of these friends in this
Ministry?
WE DO.

Ben, Perry, Ellen, Lowell, Luke, Jane:
You are commissioned to service on our behalf and in the
Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Go with our prayers and be mutually encouraged
Through your visit with our Kek’chi sisters and brothers.

Cards for Soila

2009-03-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

Flight itinerary

2009-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Outbound flights:

Depart at 2:40 p.m., on Friday, March 27, from Cincinnati, Ohio, on Continental Airlines flight #2523
Arrive at 4:24 p.m., on Friday, March 27, in Houston, Texas.

Depart 7:15 p.m., on Friday, March 27, from Houston, Texas, on Continental Airlines flight #453
Arrive at 9:05 p.m., on Friday, March 27, in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Return flights:

Depart at 6:00 a.m., on Thursday, April 2, from Guatemala City, Guatemala, on Continental Airlines flight #457
Arrive at 9:00 a.m., on Thursday, April 2, in Houston, Texas

Return flights:

Depart at 10:55 a.m., on Thursday, April 2, from Houston, Texas, on Continental Airlines flight #2520
Arrive at 2:12 p.m., on Thursday, April 2, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

All times are local times in local time zones. Houston is in Central time. Guatemala is essentially in Mountain time. Pictured above is the interior of the Houston International (Bush) Airport.

-- Ben

Preventing mosquito bites

2009-03-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

For mission trip participants taking the anti-malaria medication Chloroquine, today is the day to take the second dose. Also, mission team members planning to spray the anti-malaria treatment Permetrin on your clothes and luggage who have not already done so, this weekend would be a good time. Apparently the treatment can survive some time and washings, and so it’s definitely not too soon. Recall that the University of Louisville International Travel Clinic map puts El Estor in the malaria risk area.

-- Perry

Paches and partnership

2009-03-18T20:33:00.002-07:00

Andrea (above) pondered her drawing, while Ben (below) dove right in.

Kim (below) looked away.

Ellen (below) contributed to what became a text-heavy banner.

Nora and Ana (below) explained how the paches were made and how they can be eaten.

Chris (below) listened.

Ana handed out plates of paches and bread.

Lucy, Cara, and Shaylee (below) split on whether to go with the paches or shift to macaroni and cheese.

Paches made Leyla (below) smile.

Ethan (below) considered his options.

This was the table (below) whose conversation Luke eventually reported on to the whole group.

This (below) was bread and paches, with its banana leaves covering and potato-based filling.

Pictured below was the alternative meal.

OK - I blew it. On a table in the Fellowship Hall Amy had laid out the dozen plus tea towels that Crescent Hill folks had decorated. Mission team members will give a couple of these each to their host families as a symbol of gratitude. I didn't get over to the table in time to examine or photograph the towels. Below is a sample that Amy got out for me.

Below is Amy, who spearheaded the tea towel effort, and Ken, who helped prepare the paches.

Below are cloth banners, one each for the churches and fellowships in the presbytery the team is visiting, that youth group folks constructed.

And further below is a single banner.

-- Perry

March 18 meeting

2009-03-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

The mission team participants (Ben, Ellen, Jane, Lowell, Luke, and me) – plus Luke parents Eva and Jerry - met for the first time by ourselves Wednesday, after the light Guatemalan supper and mission partnership conversation. The church cleared about $1,200 from the Leslie McClure concert and dessert event for the Guatemala mission partnership fund (and a little bit from the light Guatemala partnership supper and mission partnership conversation preceding this meeting). We agreed that the trip would cost $800 for each of us – meaning that some folks still owed a second, $400 installment payment to the church. There was some discussion as to whether one of the organizers (Ben) would have his way paid.

The team will meet at church at 10:30 a.m. next Friday, March 27. Bob, Soni, and Stephanie will drive. Our flight out of Cincinnati will now not leave until 2:40 p.m., giving the team a little more time. The team will fly on Continental through Houston. Guatemala is not on Daylight (or vice versa) – meaning that it’s essentially like on Mountain time there – there is a two hour difference. That’s mean that when the team arrives in Guatemala City at 9 p.m., it will feel like 11 p.m.

The team is slated to fly out of the airport at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning, April 2, and so team members may get little sleep. Arrival time in Cincinnati is slated for 2 p.m. Because Stephanie cannot pick up, Jerry may also drive back.

Continental allows each passenger to bring one bag weighing no more than 50 pounds. The team will also bring a bag for Amanda, the former Presbyterian Center staff person who recently landed Ellen’s old job in Guatemala (which the team will pay extra for). Another extra bag may be needed to bring gifts, etc. Trip participants, for themselves, should not plan to bring conventional suitcases or 50 pounds of luggage, as that will not work on the bus. Packing light in duffle bags or knapsacks is the way to go.

Trip participants are encouraged to bring one pair of shorts – possibly for bathing – and a sheet, pillow case, and towel – which they may end up leaving there with their host families. Also bring toilet paper, but always put toilet paper in the trash can next to the toilet or latrine, never in the toilet.

Participants should not give gifts to anyone – except for things we’ve agreed upon before – probably a packet of two towels for each host family, the banners the youth group made for each church and fellowship in the presbytery.

Mission team members should not drink water or consume ice. Ben and Ellen will be responsible for buying water. Eating fruits and vegetables are only OK if cooked or if peeled (like bananas – fruits and vegetables with real thick skins – not mangos).

In countries such as Guatemala (as sometimes in the United States), there are riots and robberies. Don’t bring jewelry or flash cameras. If you’re asked for something in a robbery, give it up. Don’t take pictures of people without asking. You might get a special passport pouch to wear under your clothes.

The team will get together a card to take with Soila, the Honduran woman who lived and worshiped as a missionary among us in 2003 who helped make arrangements and will host us at the Mennonite seminary complex, as well as a special gift. Crescent Hill folks will get a chance to sign and write notes on the card Sunday, when the congregation will also during worship dedicate and commission the mission team members and their prayer partners.

-- Perry