Caught up in the clouds

 The celebration of the Ascension brings to a close our annual reprise of the earthly ministry of Jesus. He walked among his disciples for forty days to testify to His resurrection. But it was necessary for Him to return to the Father so that His exaltation was complete (John 16: 5-15) . As we confess in the creed, Jesus "ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead." We have no difficulty seeing in the ascension and enthronement of Jesus to the right hand of God the fulfillment of the prophetic words of Psalm 110. That Jesus is to the right of the Father, as a mediator and lawyer, means that forgiveness and sanctification are possible (Acts 5:30-31).

 resurrection of Our Lord was not simply the miraculous revival of a single man. The Scriptures contain other similar stories: the resurrection of mothers’ sons by Elijah and Elisha; the son of Nain's widow; the daughter of Jairus; Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha; and more. God, in His mercy, restored these people to their families, but in the end they were taken from this world. There are also stories in the Old Testament of men who did not die physically, but were taken to heaven. In particular, Enoch, descendant of Adam (Genesis 5: 21-24), and Elijah, in the Old Testament lesson appointed for the Ascension (2 Kings 2:5-15).

But even these miracles of God did not change the common fate of human beings, which is the eternal separation of God because of original sin. Both the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus changed everything for all. They were signs and stamps of His victory, a victory that He won when He died on the cross. It was a victory over sin, the power of the devil and death itself. Those who believe in Jesus Christ may die physically, like everyone else. But for those who believe in Jesus Christ, there is the promise that we also will be raised to life on the last day, not only to see Him return in the clouds as He was taken up (Acts 1:9-11), but also to be "caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Education program continues

On Sunday, May 11, 2025, we presented seven students and three assistant teachers with scholarships from LeadaChild. The assistant teachers who help Luz Maria with afterschool tutoring are all confirmed members of the mission: Anyi Garrido, Yusmelvis Salas and Diana Torres. The students who brought their mothers for Mother's Day also received packages of school supplies. God's providence, the Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday after Easter is John 16:16-22 and the sermon was based on verses 16 to 21:  "A woman when she is in labor has sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man will take from you."

Luz Maria's students are advancing in their studies and have shown distinct improvement in their grades. We have reopened what had been our preschool classroom before its forced closure for afterschool tutoring. We plan to remodel the preschool so that it is more of library and study center for older students.

We were pleased to learn of the high school graduation of Frenyerlin Naleska, a former recipient of LeadaChild scholarships. She was one of Luz Maria´s afterschool tutoring students, attended Sunday afternoon Bible class, and took first communion at our mission on January 8, 2017. Frenyerlin now lives in the city of Coro, Falcon state.

Frenyerlin Naleska, Escarleth Ruíz and Elias Montoya with LeadaChild scholarships.

Ready to serve as deaconesses

From May 1 to 3, 2025, Luz María served as an instructor at the final in-person seminar of the second cycle of the deaconess program sponsored by Concordia El Reformador Seminary and the Juan de Frías Theological Institute in Barquisimeto, Lara state. Other instructors were Deaconess Ginnatriz Vera de Mendoza, and Pastor Eliezer Mendoza, director of the Institute. On Sunday, May 5, eight women graduated from the program and are ready to serve as deaconesses.

The women who graduated from the deaconess program are: Matilde Castillo, Cristo es el Camino Lutheran Church, Barcelona, ​​Anzoátegui state; Cinthia Moreno and Ysaela Cedeño de Lozano of Fuente de Vida Lutheran Church, Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar state; Migdalia Veliz, Cristo el Vencedor Lutheran Church, La Pica, Monagas state;  María Ramírez de Coronado, La Fortaleza Lutheran Church, Maracay, Aragua state; Ana Gómez, Belkys Castellanos and Graciela Peraza de Coronado of Fuente de Vida Lutheran Church.

 

Trabajad, luchad y orad, No. 1037 in Himnario Luterano, is a hymn written by Stephen Starke and translated by Antonio Schimpf.

Three pastors reunited before the altar

On Sunday, May 4, five pastors celebrated the divine service together. Eduardo Flores, Sergio Maita, and I were ordained together at El Salvador Lutheran Church in Caracas on December 8, 2008. The three of us were together once more before the altar. Sergio is now missionary pastor of Cordero de Dios Lutheran Church in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and professor at Concordia El Reformador Seminary, while Eduardo is the pastor of La Santa Trinidad Lutheran Church in Caracas and president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela.

Pastor Maita preached the sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter on the Gospel (John 10:11-16) and the Introit (Psalm 33:5-6; 33:1; 33:18-20). The Hebrew word translated "mercy" in Psalm 33:5 is חֵסֵד (hesed). It can also be translated as steadfast love, loyalty, faithfulness, or kindness. But in the same verse, the psalmist says that the Lord loves justice and judgment. This blend of attributes is seen in the figure of the Good Shepherd, who does what is right for his sheep because he loves them.

The other pastors present were Eliézer Mendoza, pastor of Cristo es Amor Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto and director of the “Juan de Frías” Institute; and Juan Carlos Silva, assistant pastor of Cristo es Amor Lutheran Church.

Luz Maria's granddaughter graduates

On the same Sunday in Lima, Peru, Oriana Montoya, the granddaughter of Luz María, graduated from the same diaconal program. Oriana was born February 7, 2003, baptized that same month at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas; and took first communion October 28, 2012, at our mission. On May 7, 2021 we said goodbye to Oriana; her mother, Yepci; and Aaron and Elias, her brothers. Like many Venezuelans, they sought a brighter future in another country. We give thanks that they were found by the LCMS Mission in Peru.

Bookending birthdays

On the evening before the deaconess seminar started, we celebrated Pastor Eliezer Mendoza's birthday with Pastor Eliezer, his wife, Ginnatriz, their two daughters and the deaconess students. The day after the graduation ceremony, we celebrated Luz Maria's birthday. 

Our time in Barquisimeto also included outiings to local attractions, including Tintorero, a village known as a center for folk art and crafts, especially colorfully dyed hammocks. Luz Maria purchased a traditional Venezuelan coffee maker (see below).

Our time in Barquisimeto also included outiings to local attractions, including Tintorero, a village known as a center for folk art and crafts, especially colorfully dyed hammocks. Luz Maria purchased a traditional Venezuelan coffee maker (see below).

A woman clothed with the sun

We also celebrated Luz Maria's
birthday on May 5.

This year, the church calendar’s “forgotten festival” of Ascension fell on Thursday, May 9, while Mother’s Day fell on Sunday, May 12. But we had our Mother’s Day party with the preschool children on Thursday and celebrated the Ascension on Sunday. The preschool children received their lesson on the Ascension on Monday, May 13.The previous Monday, May 6, the children learned about the miracle of motherhood in general, and the miracles of motherhood recorded in the Bible. That is to say, the birth of every child is a miracle, because God forms a new person in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16). But also there are several stories in the Scriptures in which God grants the gift of a child to sterile women, including some past the age of childbearing (Sarah, wife of Abraham, Genesis 18:1-15; Rachel, wife of Jacob, Genesis 30:22-24; Samson’s unnamed mother, Judges 13; Hannah, mother of Samuel, the prophet, 1 Samuel 1; and Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, Luke 1:1-25). Finally, we have the great mystery of the Incarnation, the God Himself born of Mary, a virgin, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-7). I expanded on the theme of both human life and motherhood as gifts for the opening devotion of our Mother’s Day party on Thursday, with a discussion of Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of Timothy, faithful women who assumed the responsibility of teaching Timothy the Scriptures from his childhood (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).

The gift of motherhood.

Of course, that Sunday we remembered all mothers in the prayer of the church. Furthermore, instead of the straightforward Ascension narrative in Acts 1:1-11, I read the more symbolic account in Revelation 12:1-6. It is clear in John’s vision that the “Child caught up to God and His throne” is Jesus, and the dragon is “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world”. But, who is the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head, a garland of twelve stars”? She is not sim ply Mary; the twelve stars indicate that, in the first verses, she represents the Old Testament people of God, with the twelve sons of Jacob as their patriarchs. In the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), Mary not only names herself the Lord’s maidservant, but says that with the conception of Jesus, God has remembered His servant, Israel, “as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed, forever.”

Celebration Mother's Day.

The “war in heaven” described in Revelation 12:7-12, does not represent the primeval rebellion of Satan and his angels, but the victory of Christ on the cross. For the Devil loses his power to accuse us of our sin in the court of heaven (as in the book of Job).
But the woman remains on earth, where she is pursued by the dragon and his angels for a short time (until Christ returns in glory). Here she symbolizes the New Testament people of God, with the twelve apostles as the patriarchs. 

So in the Revelation account, we have the complete cycle of the earthly ministry of Jesus, from the Incarnation to the AscLension, followed by the age of the church and its mission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. God the Son leaves to one side the fullness of His divine power, but honors motherhood and our human nature by being born of a woman, then exalts humanity further by ascending not only as true God, but as true man.

Trinity of Friedensau.

Conviction rather than convenience

My grandparents on their wedding day.

My grandparent' s grave.

In 1974, I attended the centennial anniversary celebration of Trinity Lutheran Church of Friedensau, Nebraska. Recently I was invited to the 150th anniversary on Sunday, June 9, 2024, by the current pastor, José Flores. I thanked Pastor Flores for the invitation, but said I would not be able to attend due the difficulties of travel to and from Venezuela.

What does this small congregation in rural Nebraska mean to me and my family? Henry F. Schabacker, my great-grandfather, served the church as pastor from the late 1890s to the late 1920s, the longest tenure of any pastor to date. He and his wife, Frederika, lived in the first parsonage, and raised 10 children at Friedensau.

One of their daughters, Theodora Amanda, married a young man from Texas who was the teacher in the parochial school and the church organist, despite being paralyzed on one side of his body by polio. His name was David Julius Ernst. My grandparents also raised 10 children at Friedensau and their earthly remains are buried side by side in the church cemetery. Alfred H. Ernst, my father’s older brother, was one of the featured speakers at the centennial. At the time, he was the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lincoln, Nebraska. I do not remember his speech word for word, but according to a local newspaper clipping, “Rev. Ernst praised the church for the record it had made during the past century as it had produced 12 pastors, 27 parish teachers and one parish worker. He said the church had strengthened the faith so that it became a conviction rather than a convenience.”

Spanish Bible from LHF.

During my interesting correspondence with Pastor Flores, he told me how he had been the director of Russian Lutheran Hour Ministries shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. “ On Christmas 1992 I stood on Red Square in Moscow singing Christian carols with other Christians for the first time in 75 years,” he wrote. While in Russia, Pastor Flores met Dr. Matthew Heise,who spent 12 years as Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionary in former Soviet-bloc countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia. I replied that I also had corresponded with Dr. Heise, who is now the executive director of the 

Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) and the author of a book about Lutheran churches under Soviet rule. The LHF has greatly helped our mission and the Lutheran Church of Venezuela by supplying us with Spanish Bibles, translations of the Small Catechism, and other Spanish-language materials. Although we no longer receive printed copies of the LHF magazine "Buenas Noticias" ("Good News") on a regular basis, Luz Maria and I keep our back copies as supplements for Bible studies. 

The Spanish Lutheran Hour ("Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones" or CPTLN) also was of great service while it maintained operations in Venezuela. In addition to broadcasting, CPTLN maintained a large printing operation. Until CPTLN Venezuela closed its doors in 2014, we received and distributed 300 CPTLN tracts per month.

High school students distribute first aid supplies

In anticipation of their high school graduation in July, Eduar Garrido and his classmates have completed a project to distribute first aid supplies to educational institutions in our area. On May 23, they visited our preschool for this purpose. Eduar is a communicant member of our mission congregation and a past recipient of scholarships from LeadaChild, one of our sponsoring organizations. The other students are Cindy Escalona, Yandry Gómez, Tatiana Niño, Franyelis Martínez, Reinaldo Ramírez and Luisana Yañez.

You shall be my witnesses

To the end of the earth Acts 1:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our activities in the preschool and our Sunday Bible class for the youth centered on the Ascension of our Lord, which we celebrated on Sunday, May 21, and Pentecost, May 28. Pentecost brings us to the midpoint of the church calendar. From here on, the emphasis of our Scripture readings shifts from the earthly ministry of Jesus to the mission of the church to continue what “Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1) to the end of earthly history when “this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Ascension.

St. Luke tells the story of the Ascension twice. According to the closing verses of his Gospel (Luke 24:50-53), after witnessing the Lord carried up into heaven, the 11 remaining apostles returned to Jerusalem “and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God.” This is important to bear in mind when reading the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. There we read that upon returning to Jerusalem, the apostles met regularly in an upper room for prayer and supplication. 

Pentecost.

This was different from the week following the crucifixion when the risen Christ appeared to them as they were cowering behind closed doors (Luke 24:33-43; John 20:19-29). The Lord had appeared to many other witnesses during the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension, the Roman and Jewish authorities were having trouble explaining away the empty tomb, and the apostles were not afraid to thank God for all of this in public. But the growth of the church, the new royal priesthood, did not begin until the visible and audible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, not just on the apostles, who now named Mathias as one of them, but all the believers who were gathered with them (Acts 2:1). These included, according to Acts 1:12-15, “the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers...altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty”. The women certainly were those that had ministered to the Lord, even in Galilee, and later had made the journey to Jerusalem to be present under the cross and became the first to see Him resurrected on the third day.

Perfect score for Reinner Ortega.

As St. Peter told the gathered crowd, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, in which the Spirit would be poured out on all the faithful, regardless of sex, age or social status. And with that, the marks of the church appear, for after Peter’s preaching, 3,000 were baptized and those baptized “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayers” (Acts 2:42). It is this water baptism, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promises in Acts 1:3, not the outward signs that established the presence and action of the Holy Spirit for that time and place. It is this same baptism which empowers Christians today to carry on the Lord’s mission and be His witnesses to the uttermost ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Update on teacher’s strike

A visit by primary education students.

Well, it’s not quite over. Our schools are not completely shut down, but since their salary demands were not met, most public schoolteachers are only working two to three days per week. Thanks to your support and the dedication of our preschool teachers, we have been able to keep the preschool open four days per week.

Happy birthday, Wilker Flores!

There is a cloud on our horizon for which we would ask your prayers. Every morning we have the preschool children form two lines, boys on one side and girls on the other, to sing the national anthem, say the Lord’s Prayer and listen to a Bible reading. Our teaching reflects the truth that “male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27) and institute marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman for mutual companionship and the nurturing of any children with which God may bless their home. So far, by God’s grace, we have not had to deal directly with la ideología de género or gender ideology, as it is known here. In 2021, the Roman Catholic bishops of Venezuela issued a

Happy birthday, Nelson Rodriguez!

statement of concern over growing pressure to legalize abortion, euthanasia and gender ideology in the country.

However, we have heard of “experimental” program in a neighboring state in which preschool children are taught that there are not just two, but many genders and corresponding pronouns for them. We hope this program does not serve as a model for something that will be made mandatory, and, if it does, that God may grant us the courage and wisdom to stand up for His order of creation.

Fiber-optic is the fashion

When I arrived in Venezuela 20 years ago, most people in Venezuela had access to the Internet only through cybercafes with row upon row of networked PCs. Internet service in the home was limited to a 56k dialup modem connected to standard landline. Wifi and mobile Internet access were unknown. Times have changed.

Installation of fiber-optic line.

As of the first month of 2023, according to Statista, overall Internet home Internet access in Latin America stood at 74.63 percent of the total population. Venezuela stands near the low end with 61.6 percent. The region of Latin America and the Caribbean has seen continuous increase in the proportion of the population using mobile internet, with more than half of the population connected in 2019, according to GSMA. According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP), only 38.1 percent of people had access to fixed-line connections at home as of October 2021. Although 80.4 percent of people owned smartphones with which they could access the internet, around half of respondents reported daily failures in cellular data service. As of August 2022, according to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, median mobile speeds in Venezuela were the third slowest globally, with Venezuela ranking 138th of 140 countries reviewed.

For several years, we have had entirely wireless Internet access at the mission through a cellphone network, but this has not been the ideal solution, as the above statistic indicates. Now a local company that has provided basic cable television service to our community since 2007 offers fiber-optic Intenet access. We have had this installed and have experienced a marked improvement as this chart would suggest. This is important to us because of increased use of videoconferencing in distance learning.

Giving thanks for those who gave us life

Mother's Day cake.

Mother’s Day fell on May 14, so giving thanks for mothers was on the top of our prayer list for the sixth Sunday of Easter. However, also on that morning we remembered in prayer Aurora Torrealba and her family, recipients of medicine shipped by GLO, upon the loss of her husband, Manuel Rojas.

This was our prayer for Mother’s Day:

Honoring mothers.

Kind Heavenly Father, you formed us in our mother's womb and sent your Son to be born of a woman to live and be tempted like us. On this day we give you thanks for the gift of life that you gave us through our mothers. We thank you for providing them to love us, care for us, and share your Word with us. Bless mothers everywhere with love, patience, wisdom, understanding, and strength so they can raise their children to love and honor you. Grant that in our homes reflect the joy of Easter. Let the good news of the resurrection reach all nations, so that men may behold the glory of Christ and find abundant life in the fruits of his victory over death. Amen.

 

Rainy days and Sundays

As I grew up in a Midwestern U.S. farming community, I learned to expect a special prayer for spring rain on Rogate Sunday, the fifth Sunday after Easter. This seemed just common sense, since April to May was the time for tillage and planting of spring crops. Many years later I learned this was a vestige of a tradition dating back to 470 A.D. Days of penitence and prayer, including a procession outside the church, were historically observed on April 25 (St. Mark’s Day on the historic church calendar), and on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord.

These were called Rogation Days and, like Rogate Sunday, the name is derived from the Latin verb rogare, which means to ask or pray. The appointed Gospel reading for the last Sunday before Ascension is John 16:23-30, in which Jesus tells His disciples (verse 23), “In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” There are two Greek words translated as “ask” in the passage. The first, ἐρωτάω, in context, means “to ask a question”, while the second, αἰτέω, means “to petition or request”. “In that day”, after Jesus has ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit will answer our questions of faith through the inspired Scriptures while we may petition the Father for all of our material and spiritual needs in the name of Jesus. See my May 22, 2022 sermon.

The farmer’s prayer typically is for just enough rain at just the right time to assure a bountiful harvest. In Venezuela the Rogate Sunday petition often is to hold off a little on the rain. Venezuela is located just north of the Equator, so daily temperatures vary only slightly throughout the year. As a rule, it is cooler in the mountains (many mountain towns have both the altitude and daily high temperature posted on the city limit sign) and hotter in the lowlands. However, there is a dry season (which usually runs from mid-December to mid-April) and a rainy season (usually, from late April to mid-November). Average yearly rainfall amounts in the lowlands and plains range from a semiarid 430 millimeters (17 inches) in the western part of the Caribbean coastal areas to more than 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) in the Orinoco Delta. We live on the western plains, where there difference between the dry and rainy seasons is especially sharp. During the rainy season, the prairie turns into a network of wetlands and the cowboys who work the region’s large ranches often wear rubber-soled boots.

April and May of this year have proved true to form for us, with many days of torrential rain and strong winds. More frequent, prolonged power outages probably are a result of this and we are grateful for our solar panels and a pedal-powered emergency backup system, courtesy of K-Tor.

Mother’s Day and the gift of life

In Venezuela, Mother’s Day is a secular holiday celebrated on the second Sunday in May, as it is in the United States. This year’s date, May 8, coincided with the third Sunday after Easter. The appointed Gospel reading, John 16:16-22, was quite appropriate for the occasion.

Jesus says in verses 20-22, in reference to His death, resurrection and ascension: “ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Many prophetic texts of the Old Testament also compare the tribulations that the people of God must endure before the arrival of the Messiah to the pain followed by joy of childbirth: Micah 4:9-10; Jeremiah 13:21; Isaiah 21:2-3; 26:16-21; 66:7-14). Read the sermon text in English here.

Friday, May 27, was the day after the actual Ascension Day (40 days after Easter, but we celebrated the Ascension on Sunday, May 29). That is when we began, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, a series of consultations with pregnant women of the community, offering them moral support and advice. An opening devotion is my responsiblity, and I began with prayer on meditation on classic pro-natalist texts. That is to say, texts which explain that children are a blessing from God, life begins at conception and all human life is precious to God at all states of development.

The Lord says to the prophet in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Likewise, Psalm 139:13-14, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Our lives belong to God by the order of creation. As He directly formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him, He gives the gift of life to all people using human parents as His instruments. That is why the first of all commandments in Scripture is “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27). Marriage was instituted by God before the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, and procreation was to result from God’s blessing.

Every new life also belongs to God by the order of redemption, because Christ died for the sins of all human beings. St. Paul writes in Galatians 1:15, “But when God who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.” Before the Lord appeared to the former persecutor of Christians on the road to Damascus, He had ordained his birth and influenced his entire life, his education, his intellectual development in such a manner as to enable him later to become a chosen instrument.

Finally, we have St. Luke’s account of the Visitation, when Mary, who had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, came to the house of Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is it granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:42-44). The evangelist says that it was the Holy Spirit that moved Elizabeth to prophecy that Mary’s child, already growing in her womb, would be delivered as a healthy baby and would deliver the entire world from sin. And her unborn child shared in her joy.

O Author of life, who did not reject our first parents in their disobedience, but gave them the hope of salvation in Eve’s Offspring. Turn the hearts of all who believe they hold the power of life and death, and who trust in the choices of the sinful heart over the promises of God. Bring them into the knowledge of what is good, that they may know the profound value of all human life, which You have created and redeemed, and the everlasting truth of salvation in the Offspring who has crushed Satan’s head forever; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

Quarantine may be lifted before the Ascension

Did you know the word quarantine means 40 days? It is derived from the Latin word for forty, quadraginta. So is its Spanish equivalent, cuarentena, and so is the Spanish word for Lent, Cuaresma. We spent most of the 40 days of Cuaresma under national cuarentena, which has been extended to May 15 at least. But here’s a thought; the Feast of the Ascension is May 21, forty days after Easter. And, if we cannot celebrate the lifting of the national quarantine on the final day of our Lord’s exaltation, there’s Pentecost on Sunday, May 31.

Our new confirmation class.

In that light, it is good to reflect on our Gospel reading for this fourth Sunday of Easter, John 16:16-23. In this chapter, Jesus tells His disciples that after His resurrection, they will see Him again for a time, but then He must return to the Father that the church might receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s power on Pentecost. After the Ascension, He will not be with them in visible form until He returns in glory. But He makes this promise: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” Times of trial and suffering which turn to joy in the end wll not only be the pattern of the church’s story until the Lord’s return, but also our lives on this earth until we are called home to heaven.

We also are conscious of what the Apostle Peter writes in Sunday’s epistle (1 Peter 2:11-20. “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

The current situation in Venezuela is hard to assess. There are many who think the official coronavirus count is much too good to be true. Nevertheless, no one in our immediate vicinity seems to be affected by the virus itself. All of us are dealing with the consequences of the plan to control its spread. No one is supposed to go out on the street without a facemask and must stay at least a meter apart in public places. Certain businesses may open for a few hours during the day.

As far as I know, there are no specific rules in regard to religious activities. Luz Maria and I, of course, can enter the chapel without going out into the street. If it came down to it, just the two of us could worship together (Matthew 18:20). But if we leave the doors open and people enter, the same people who come to us every day for food and water, shall we turn them away?

However, to show that we do respect the government’s efforts to control COVID-19, we are not offering weekly communion for the time being. Rather we follow the order of morning prayer. We did celebrate the Eucharist on Easter Sunday, and, God willing, we may do so again on Ascenscion Sunday or Pentecost. Please pray that Venezuela might be spared the worst of the pandemic as we pray for the whole world on Sunday and every day.

Luther's morning prayer by Karla Frias 

 

Looking to heaven

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11

On Sunday, June 2, we will celebrate the Ascension of our Lord. This is the third great festival of the church year, although, unlike Christmas and Easter, it is largely forgotten by the world at large. The traditional date of Ascension Day is 39 days after Easter Sunday, which always is a Thursday. Some nations today recognize this date as a national holiday, including some countries that you might not expect, like Indonesia and Burkina Faso.

Venezuela is not among those countries, so we follow the custom of observing the Ascension on the next Sunday. The event is of such theological importance that the maximum number of our congregation should be in attendance.

Of course, we have been anticipating the Ascension. This week I talked to the preschool children about it.

The 40 days from Easter to Ascension are supposed to recreate the 40 days in which the risen Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples before being taken up into the clouds. Most of our appointed Gospel readings have been from the 16th chapter of John’s Gospel. Here we find a portion of a long discourse that Jesus gave to His disciples on another “Holy Thursday”, the night of the Last Supper.

In these verses, Jesus explains that He will “return to the Father”, a process of which His death, resurrection and ascension all will be a part. In His death on the cross, Jesus gained the victory over death, which made possible His exaltation in the resurrection and the ascension. The resurrection revealed to us His victory and the promise of our resurrection into eternal life. The ascension then had to happen so that He might receive all power and authority from the Father, to use that authority on our behalf as our Advocate and High Priest, and that in the exaltation of Christ in His human nature as well as His divine nature, we might share in His everlasting life.

Jesus also assured the disciples that He must return to the Father that they might receive the Holy Spirit to guide them to all truth and support them in the trials that they would face in this world until the Second Coming of Christ in glory (John 16:5-7).

Jesus warns His disciples, not only in the first century, but also today that they will face trials in life that they would not face if they were not Christians. Ridicule and ostracism, even bigotry and hatred toward Christ breaking out into violent persecution. We see pleny of evidence of that in our time, in which even the BBC reports that persecution of Christians around the world is at an all-time high.

But with the warning are words of consolation: “These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The crisis continues in Venezuela

Recently, two articles about Venezuela appeared on-line in Lutheran media. "The Reporter", official newspaper of the LCMS, posted this article, "Crisis in Venezuela: Resting in God while hoping for change" with a quote from Luz Maria.

The Lutheran Heritage Foundation published "As Venezuela crumbles, God's Word brings comfort", with quotes from yours truly.

So far, we have not had a repeat of the nationwide power outage that left 90 percent of Venezuela without electricity or communications for three days. However, we have experienced localized power outages every day, lasting six or more hours. I would like to install more solar-powered lamps around the property for greater security at night. Also, we are looking into the possibility of a solar panel backup system at least to maintain the security cameras and wifi network during the blackouts.

The spring rains have arrived, so we have plenty of water in the well. We need to replace a valve to supply water to our public restrooms (we have an outbuilding with restrooms and showers for large gatherings of people). The power outages present us with a challenge to running our electric pumps, but we have our gas-powered generator. Of course, one difficulty with that is the rationing of gasoline.

The scarcity of gasoline also means we have to carefully plan our use of the car. But already the car has allowed us to make much more efficient use of our time in town. Long periods of waiting for a bus have been eliminated, and we can bring back much more than we can carry in our hands. We expect soon to receive a shipment of medicine from Global Lutheran Outreach and the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile. The car should make it much easier to distribute the medicine to the people who need it.

 

Prayers for protection answered

On Rogate Sunday, May 27, we asked God’s protection for people in Peru. The country was rocked by a magnitude 8 earthquake early that morning. We prayed especially for Venezuelan expatriates in Peru, and especially for our Lutheran brethren who have become part of the LCMS mission in Lima. Thanks be to God, everyone that we know was unharmed.