Dancing Devils and the Body of Christ

On December 6, 2012, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) granted Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity status to Venezuela's “Diabolos Danzantes” (Dancing Devils), With this decision, the Dancing Devils take their place alongside such cultural manifestations as Spain’s flamenco dance, Turkey’s Mevlevi Sema ceremony, and, Mexico’s mariachi music.

For people who are not familiar with the custom, dancers wearing elaborate paper-maché devil masks accompany the traditional Corpus Christi day procession to the sound of heavy drumbeats. The dance stops in front of the doors of the local Roman Catholic church, where the dancers kneel to receive a blessing from the priest. This is supposed to symbolize the defeat of the evil spirits by the presence of Christ's body and blood. The Dancing Devils ritual is practiced in San Francisco de Yare and about 14 other towns and villages in the central states of Miranda, Guarico, Carabobo, Cojedes, Vargas and Aragua.

This is a prime example of the “folk Catholicism” found throughout Venezuela, practices not initiated by and usually not actively promoted by the Catholic hierarchy, but which have come to be at least tolerated by the Church as part of popular piety. The Dancing Devils are rooted in indigenous Latin American shamanism and African religious beliefs brought over by slaves of the Spanish. At first the Catholic Church tried to suppress the Dancing Devils rituals, but later incorporated them into the observance of the feast of Corpus Christi.

Feast of Corpus Christi Procession, Piazza di San Marco (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Corpus Christi” is Latin for “Body of Christ.” The feast of Corpus Christi was first celebrated in 1246 in the Diocese of Liége in what is now Belgium. In 1265, by decree of Pope Urban IV, it became a feast day throughout western European Christendom. It is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, or often nowadays, on the following Sunday. Celebration of the feast of Corpus Christi involves a procession to the church with a wafer of communion bread displayed in a special vessel called a monstrance, usually of a sunburst design.

 The rationale behind the feast of Corpus Christi is this: According to the liturgical calendar of the ancient church, Maundy Thursday was the day to celebrate the institution of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by Christ. However, this aspect of Maundy Thursday often was overshadowed by the great drama of Holy Week (His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, trial before the Sanhedrin, accusation before Pontius Pilate, examinationn by King Herod, torture and crucifixion, and resurrection on Easter Sunday). The feast of Corpus Christi was intended to reaffirm the importance of the sacrament and the real presence of Christ' s body and blood. The feast of Corpus Christi became quite an important event in the late Middle Ages and there are many traditions associated with it in many countries.

A stained glass window, Confessio Augustana, a symbol of the faith of the Church Catholic epitomized in the Augsburg Confession. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the presentation of the Augsburg Confession to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, the northern European princes who had signed the confession refused the Emperor's command to join in a Corpus Christi procession. The observance was banned in Lutheran territories, until mandated by imperial authorities under the infamous Leipzig Interim of 1548. This decree was overturned by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, but the feast of Corpus Christi continued to be marked on some Lutheran church calendars until 1600. In more recent times, there has been a revival of interest in the feast of Corpus Christi among more “high church” Lutherans.

Lutherans, along with many Anglicans, reject the idea that the bread and wine are only symbols of the body and blood of Christ. However, Roman Catholics, along with the Greek Orthodox churches and some Anglicans, believe in transubstantiation. This means that the bread and wine are completely and permanently transformed into the body and blood of Christ when the priest speaks the words of consecration. The bread and wine actually vanish and what's left on the altar is the body and blood of Christ, even though it retains all the outward aspects (taste, smell, texture) of bread and wine. You might put the elements of the sacrament under an electron microscope where they would appear to have the molecular structure of bread and wine, but they really would be the body and blood of Christ.

The Lutheran view often is incorrectly described as “consubstantiation”, that is, the body and blood are somehow fused to, or merged with the bread and wine. The writings of some Lutherans of a more “high church” bent might suggest this, but mainstream Lutherans believe that the body and the blood, and the bread and the wine, are all present at the same time, without the body and blood ever ceasing to be completely the body and the blood, or the bread and the wine ceasing to be completely bread and wine. There is a lot more to the different doctrines of the sacrament, but suffice it to say that from a Lutheran perspective, adoration (worship) of the visible elements (bread and wine) is wrong. The feast of Corpus Christi is all about the adoration of the visible elements. A few Lutherans think that you can have something like a Corpus Christi procession without tempting people to worship the communion bread, but strictly confessional Lutherans do not. And I have not even touched on the wisdom incorporating into this ceremony music and dance so firmly associated with shamanism.

 The UNESCO decision is ironic in light of the fact that is something of a “Ban Halloween” movement here in Venezuela. The argument is that Halloween is an “imported” North American holiday with pagan origins in the ancient Irish harvest festival of Samhain. The first point is fairly accurate, most of the customs that we associate with Halloween gained currency in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Whether that means anything given the European and African background of the “authentically Venezuelan” Dancing Devils is another question. The second claim is a misconception that has become very widespread. In fact, the Christian observance of All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day (including the dates) developed far outside any Irish sphere of influence, and became universally practiced throughout eastern and western Christendom even before St. Patrick set foot in Ireland.

This illustrates that while as Christians we should be well-informed and constantly pray for discernment when evaluating whatever human traditions that we encounter. When I was preparing to leave the United States on my first mission trip, we were told that we must be able to distinguish between what is good and bad (with the Holy Scriptures as our rule) and what is simply different from what we are accustomed to. This is not always easy, especially because, as St. Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 8, certain things may not be forbidden to the Christian by God's express command, nevertheless within certain cultural contexts be so strongly associated with false beliefs and practices that is best for us to avoid them, lest we send the wrong message to others.

Like Venezuelans today, the early Christians of Corinth were surrounded by a highly syncretistic society. “Syncretism” means extractingcustoms, phrases and symbols from fundamentally irreconciliable belief-systems and claiming that you have reconstituted them into a harmonious whole. Not only is syncretism intellectually dishonest, but the Bible roundly condemns it, starting with the First Commandment (“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me”). The point of most of the ceremonial laws set forth in the books of Moses was to thoroughly distinguish the worship of the God of Israel from that of other gods.

The principle is affirmed many times throughout the Old Testament.  “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.” 1 Kings 18:21.

By New Testament times, the Jews had, within their own cultural enclaves, largely abandoned gross idolatry. But the “Hellenized” Jews (who had been more or less assimilated into Greco-Roman society) and the gentiles from whom would grow the early Christian church, had to deal with a society awash in syncretism. They constantly were under pressure to conform to such a society's expectations. The Greeks and the Romans considered themselves quite broad-minded when it came to religion. They were eager to hedge their bets, cover all the bases. No sect or cult should be slighted, in case those devotees might actually have the ear of a powerful god or goddess.

St. Paul called attention to this when he visited Athens: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you...” (Acts 17:22-23).

The city of Corinth, as St. Paul knew it, was considered “the Empire in miniature.” It was a thriving, multi-cultural center of trade, where every nationality under the power of Rome was represented. Corinth also was filled with pagan temples of every description.

One practice common to nearly all the pagan cults was animal sacrifice. However, when the flesh of these creatures was not consumed as a burnt offering, it remained fit for human consumptions. Usually the priest and priestesses of the temple would be given the choice of the finests cuts of meat. But there still would be a lot of meat left over, and much of it would be consumed as part of the religious celebrations in the dining halls that were attached to most of the temples. Still there would be meat unconsumed, so there usually was a meat market or butcher's shop located in the vicinity of every pagan shrine. Moreover, when not in use for specifically religious purposes, the dining halls would be rented out for public or private parties. The main course at these banquets, of course, would be the meat that had been sacrificed on pagan altars.

 In other words, as a matter of everyday life in Corinth, it was difficult for Chritians to avoid eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. This was just one example of how pervasive paganism was in the culture in which they found themselves, indeed, the culture in which most of them had been raised. One the hand, the Christians wanted to be free of the spiritual bondage of paganism, yet they also believed they had a mission to proclaim the Gospel to their unbelieving neighbors. So what were they to do?

Some Corinthian Christians thought that, since they no lonber believed in the old gods, not only was eating meat purchased from a public market not a problem, attending a feast at the pagan temple wasn't, either. Even if a public banquest were to begin with the invocation of a god or goddess, but since the pagan deities didn't exist, so what? Paul's answer to these people is while, in an objective sense, pagans gods do not exist and are therefore powerless over the Christian, the invocation and worship of these gods does mean something to those nvolved. They are in spiritual bondage, for they have substituted the worship of created things for the worship of the true God. Those who engage in idolatry (worhip of false gods) show that they are enslaved to sin. Enslavement to sin means enslavement to Satan and his angels; therefore, pagan sacrifices are offerings to spirits in rebellion against God, that is to say, demons (1 Corinthians 10:20).

Verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 8 is most likely an early Christian creed or confession that was recited as part of Christiann worship:

There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for Whom we exist.
There is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things for for Whom we exist.

One cannot publicly confess this truth and yet even silently acknowledge the invocation of a pagan god, for to do so is to deny the liberty that we have gained through baptism into Christ. In chapter 10, Paul ties the issue of meat sacrificed to idols to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper by way of emphasizing that full communion in the life of the church is not open to those who participate in syncretistis worship: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread....You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-21)

But beyond an absolute prohibition agains participation in pagan religious ceremonies, the Christian must connsider the context of a particular situation and whether a particular action clearly confesses faith in Christ alone, or whether it will mislead others into thinking faith in Christ is only one of number of equally valid “spiritual paths.” Eating meat is not wrong in itself, regardless of whether the meat originated in a pagan temple, but Paul says it would be better never to eat meat than to tempt “the weaker brother” into a relapse into paganism.

Finally, the Lutheran Reformers had ths to say in the Formula of Concord, published in 1577, in response to the Leipzig Interim and other attempts to force observance of the feast of Corpus Christi and other rites: “We believe, teach, and confess that in time of persecution, when a clear-cut confession of faith is demanded of us, we dare not yield to the enemies in such indifferent things,... In such a case it is no longer a question of indifferent things, but a matter which has to do with the truth of the Gospel, Christian liberty, and the sanctioning of public idolatry, as well as preventing offense to the weak in faith. In all these things we have no concessions to make, but we should witness an unequivocal confession and suffer in consequence what God sends us and what he lets the enemies inflict on us.” (Epitome of the Formula of Concord, Article X. Church Usages, paragraph 6.

God of grace and God of glory, grant us wisdom and courage for the living of these days. Amen.

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Communion wafer conundrum

When I was a boy, my father would from time to time take me with him on his trips into "town". We actually lived in the town of Yale, but the population was only about 200 people. The "big town" was Huron, SD, which today has a population of a little less than 12,000. It may have been a little more back in the 1960s. The South Dakota State Fair has been held in Huron since 1905.

On these trips my Dad would make his hospital calls (I would read magazines in the waiting room or in the car during these), record his monthly sermonette at KIJV radio, and buy supplies for the church, including the communion wine and wafers. As I recall, he would buy a couple of big boxes of the communion wafers.

I never thought much about the communion wafers at the time, since I was more fascinated by the radio station and the Christian bookstore that we sometimes visited (it was there I first encountered the works of C.S. Lewis). For 40 years afterwards, I never thought much about the communion wafers, either. But lately I have been thinking a lot about the ease with which Dad was able to procure them.

Because, at least at that time, Roman Catholic and "mainline Protestant" churches all used the same mass-produced communion bread. It was always a specialized market and nowadays it seems more than 80 percent of all communion wafers used by Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran and Southern Baptist churches in the United States are produced by the family-owned Cavanagh Company of Rhode Island.

The situation is a little different in Venezuela. Communion wafers here are not commercially produced, but rather baked in convent kitchens. The preparation of special altar bread in convents and monasteries is a tradition that predates even the split between western and eastern Christendom in 1054 A.D. (when the churches of eastern Europe and the Middle East rejected the Pope's claim to be visible head of the Christ's church on earth).

Luz Maria's father, Antonio Rivero, died when she was eight years old, leaving behind his wife and eight children. Luz Maria was placed in a convent school, where she lived until she was 13. She remembers the nuns making communion wafers in a device similar to an electric waffle-iron.

So in Venezuela you only can obtain traditional communion bread through convents or Roman Catholic churches. For many years the Catholic institutions were happy to share (unconsecrated, of course) communion bread with Lutherans. You could just go to any Catholic church and receive a package of wafer in return for a nominal sum (a free-will offering, more or less). Unfortunately this situation has changed.

I first became aware of this when I was in Caracas with Pastor Miguelangel Perez, just before returning with him to Barquisimeto for the 15 anniversary of Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) Lutheran Church. He needed communion wafers for Barquisimeto and I needed some for La Caramuca. He said it would be best to look in Caracas, because it was becoming difficult to obtain communion bread in Barquisimeto.

So we took a bus to the center of Caracas, then we walked down one street, took a left, walked some more, took a right, took another left, etc. Finally we wound up in front of a grated window on a backstreet. Miguelangel explained who we were to the nun who let us in a narrow door into a very nice convent lobby. She told us she only had a couple of hundred wafers to spare, but we will welcome to them for free. So we accepted the Glad bag full of communion bread.

I realized later that there was no way I could find my way back to the same hole-in-the-wall convent in Caracas on my own, so a couple of weeks ago, when we again needed more communion bread, Luz Maria decided to look in Barinas. She had to go to the main Catholic church, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Pilar (built between 1770 and 1780, it is a fine specimen of Spanish colonial architecture) and do a lot of talking before she was able to get a new supply of communion wafers.

We could order packages of communion wafers on the Internet, but in order to have them delivered to Venezuela we would have to pay the extremely high import duties placed on all food products. More likely we will begin baking our own communion bread, since we have the exact recipe for unleavened bread that is traditionally used in the sacrament. Luz Maria would like to buy a wafer mold like she remembers the nuns using in the convent, but that we have not been able to find on-line or anywhere else.

This may seem trivial, but the underlying reason for our difficulty in obtaining communion wafers is more serious. We have been told the Roman Catholic churches are becoming more reluctant to share communion bread with people who do not have proper Catholic credentials because of the growth of Santeria in Venezuela.

Santeria is a cult that originated in Cuba among African slaves. Most of the slaves brought to Cuba were from the Yoruba tribe that lived in what is now known as Nigeria.

As slaves, the Africans were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism, but continued their ancient traditions by identifying their tribal gods with the Virgin Mary and Catholic saints. Santeria literally means "the way of the saints", but the phrase has a connotation of contempt in Spanish. Among themselves, practitioners of Santeria refer to their religion as "la regla lucumi" or "la regla de ocha" (lucumi and ocha are both African words). The practice of Santeria involves persons becoming possessed by the orisha (saints/gods), animal sacrifices to gain the favor of the orisha, casting of spells and fortune-telling. Many santeros (Santeria priests) insist Santeria is all about white magic (using the power of orisha only for benevolent purposes), but there is ample evidence of black-magic Santeria (casting spells to injure or kill) as well.

This is very similar to other Caribbean and South American cults, such as voodoo in Haiti, candomble and macumba in Brazil, and, of course, Venezuela has its homegrown versions of this type of thing, such as the worship of Negro Felipe (Black Philip), an Afro-Venezuelan deity. Underlying it all is the fundamentally pagan world-view in which the Creator (although identified with the Christian God due to the historic dominance of the Catholic Church) is not interested in the everyday affairs of human beings, but there are intermediate gods and goddesses who will help or hinder one's fortunes depending on their whims.

The existence of these cults is largely the result of forced conversions and Roman Catholic teaching regarding the Virgin Mary and the saints. Catholic theologians try to draw a distinction between their veneration of Mary and the saints and polytheistic worship, but this abstract difference is impossible to maintain in practice (as well as being contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture in the first place).

In fact, the practice of Santeria is growing throughout the Caribbean Basin (and parts of the United States with high concentrations of Latin-American immigrants) precisely because the santeros have become particularly aggressive in insisting that there is no essential difference between their beliefs and practices and those of the Roman Catholic Church.

Santeria may have received something of a political push as well. Reportedly santeros were patronized by people from all levels of Cuban society before the revolution, including one Fidel Castro. When Cuba became a client state of the Soviet Union, Castro began suppression of all religion to conform to Marxist ideology. With the decline of Russian Communism, the open practice of Santeria was allowed to re-emerge and has become a tourist attraction. Today, to the extent that there is a favored religion in Cuba, it is Santeria. As Cuba has developed closer ties with Venezuela, there has been increased movement of Santeria into Venezuela.

What all of this has to do with communion wafers, I am not quite sure. Although there are some things commonly known about the practice of Santeria, the details of many Santeria rituals have been kept secret. There seems to be a reluctance to talk about just what the santeros are doing with communion wafers. But I may have found a clue in "Santeria: The Soul Possessed", a low-budget film, supposedly based on a true story, about a Mexican boy who received a "cursed" communion wafer.

The growth of Santeria in Venezuela and the scarcity of communion wafers are both real phenomena. As is usually the case with matters regarding magic and the occult, I am not sure I want to know more about the connection between the two. But I urge you to pray for us on both these accounts.

10th baptism in La Caramuca

Genesis Noeli Marquina Villamizar was baptized June 29, 2008, in La Caramuca. I assisted Pastor Miguelángel Pérez in this, the 10th baptism here since we started our mission project in 2004.

Genesis, who is one of the children enrolled in our preschool, was born in 2004. It is sobering to realize that many of the preschool children were not yet born when I first visited Venezuela in 2002. Of course, this includes Luz María's three youngest grandchildren. Her fourth-oldest grandchild, Oriana, was an infant when I met Luz María. Now Oriana is nearly six years old.

Sponsors at the baptism included two relatives, Angelmiro Camacho and Ana Julia de Toro Peña, Yepci, Luz María's oldest daughter, and Eduardo, my partner-vicar. There were more than 30 people, children and adults, present for the baptism that Sunday afternoon. Eduardo was not actually present, since he took Miguelángel's place, preaching in Barquisimeto. But Genesis loves Eduardo, so we made sure his name was on the baptismal certificate.

Noel and Jefferson, the two older brothers of Genesis, have been faithfully attending our Sunday school. The boys received the sacrament of holy baptism as infants from a Roman Catholic priest, but Genesis never did, due to the influence of a relative who converted to Pentecostalism.

For hundreds of years, Venezuelans regarded baptism in a Roman Catholic church essentially as an insurance policy in case the Christian God turned out to have the last word after all. They were not helped in their understanding by Roman Catholic teaching which emphasizes the ritual of baptism as being efficacious in and of itself, apart from the Holy Spirit working within the heart and daily life of the believer.

Nevertheless, as Lutherans, we agree with Roman Catholics that God has instituted the sacrament of baptism as the visible means by which the believer receives the promise of eternal life in Christ and thus the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

However, over the last 30 to 40 years, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church has waned in Latin America. This may be largely the result of a worldwide shortage of priests as well as a general dissatisfaction with established institutions due to the persistent wide gap between the rich and the poor in this part of the world. During this same period, most traditional Protestant churches have greatly reduced missionary efforts in Latin America, leaving the field open to Pentecostal/charismatic groups which teach that all may have direct access to the Holy Spirit apart from the authority of the inspired Scriptures and the sacraments instituted by Christ Himself.

Luther recognized the corrosive effect of this idea on any objective standard of faith when he said of the Zwickau Prophets, “They have swallowed the Holy Spirit, feathers and all.” Indeed, one of the most active groups in Venezuela today is the United Pentecostal Church, a “charismatic” body that denies the fundamental doctrine of the Trinity. Under the Pentecostal umbrella there are many other lesser-known heresies, generated by leaders who claim “apostolic” authority apart from either an ecclesiastical hierarchy or the Holy Scriptures.

And certainly Pentecostal theology fits in well with the syncretistic stew that is popular religion in Venezuela. The idea of daily supernatural revelations and interventions is very consistent with the practice of brujeria and espiritismo, as is the “health and prosperity” gospel which claims that if you pray hard enough, God will bless you with all of your earthly desires. In fact, this aspect of Pentecostalism may be the most popular of all here.

Finally, there is the notion that if you may receive a “baptism of the Spirit” apart from the visible means of grace, “water baptism” is not necessary at all, despite our Lord's command. We praise God that after hearing Luz María explain the blessing of holy baptisms to the mothers of our preschool children, Zoraida, Genesis' mother, decided she wanted this gift for her daughter. Eduardo and I, and finally Miguelángel, had further meetings with the family to explain what we believe about baptism, and the responsibilities of parents and sponsors.

Miguelángel also preached and administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper that Sunday morning at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. I do not recall now under what circumstances I first meet Miguelángel. It seems he always has been in the picture. He is about the same age as Luz María's older daughters and is an old friend of theirs from national Lutheran youth gatherings. When Luz María and I were living on Tierra de Gracia Lutheran Farm in eastern Venezuela, Miguelángel came to visit us there.

He had been studying for the ministry for nearly the whole time I have known him. He
was finally ordained March 30, 2008, and now serves as the pastor of two congregations, Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) and El Paraiso (Paradise), in Barquisimeto. He originally was a member of Cristo es Amor.

The week before the baptism I attended a seminar in pastoral care in Caracas. Pastor Henry Witte led the seminar. He and his wife, Ruthie, served as missionaries in Venezuela for 20 years and for five years in Panama. They are back in the United States where Henry has accepted a call to Sioux City, Iowa.

The focus of the seminar was following the theology of the cross rather than the theology of glory in counseling the severely ill, the dying and the families of such people. The "health-and-prosperity gospel” is, of course, a form of the theology of glory, which says having a right relationship with God means gaining everything you want in this life. The theology of the cross, on the other hand, says suffering is part of living in a world marred by sin and that the
point of the Christian life is not to avoid suffering, but to withstand the temptation to despair through the hope of life eternal.

I met the Wittes on my first visit to Venezuela six years ago. Ruthie led the children in vacation Bible school in Quebrada Seca, Monagas, in the “Padre Nuestro” song which we now are using to teach our preschool children the Lord's Prayer. This past week I recorded Eduardo and his brother, Francisco Rafael, singing “Padre Nuestro” and other songs for children to guitar accompaniment. Then I burned a CD to play in the preschool even on the days when Eduardo is not able to come to La Caramuca.

Listen to "Padre Nuestro".



We would ask you to remember in prayer the family of former missionary Rudy Blank and his wife, Ramona. Her father, Adrian Rivero, passed away this week. Adrian was one of the first national pastors in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela and remained a member of Principe de Paz (Prince of Peace) Lutheran Church in Sierra Caroni until his death.

Effects of espiritismo

We lost one of the little girls in our preschool. She had lived in La Caramuca with her mother as the only parent in the household, but then the mother's mind became unbalanced as a result of her involvement with "espiritismo", or attempts to communicate with the spirit world. Because of some experience she had while engaged in this occult activity, the woman was found running through the streets of La Caramuca stark naked and stark raving mad. So the little girl and her mother have been taken in by relatives in Barinas and no longer live here. We will continue to pray for them.

This kind of thing is not at all uncommon in Venezuela, where much mental illness is associated with the witchcraft that pervades the culture here. The practice of magic is not confined to the poor and uneducated, but is found among the highest levels of society as well. Astrologers and mediums take out advertisements in the newspapers, television and radio, boasting of their supposed accuracy in predicting the future. especially in regard to the lottery, horse races and other forms of gambling that are so prevalent here. It is often said that when Venezuelans get sick, it is typical for them to consult a bruja (witch) or espiritista (medium) before going to a medical doctor. Of course, many people seek magical aid in gaining either love or revenge, too.

We discussed much of this in the seminar on the Psalms that Eduardo and I attended in Caracas during the last week of May. Our professor was Dr. Rudy Blank, who currently is a member of the faculty of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.

Dr. Blank was born the son of German immigrants in Chicago. He graduated with a master's degree in divinity from Concordia Seminary in 1959, after serving a year of vicarage in Venezuela from 1957 to 1958 (the year of my birth). From 1959 to 1962 he served as pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cambridge, England. In 1963 he returned to Venezuela to serve as a missionary until 2003. During this period, he was also able to complete additional postgraduate studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, Calif., and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. For 19 years he was based in Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, where Luz María lived at roughly the same time. She received much of her theological instruction from "Pastor Rodolfo."

Concordia Publishing House has published several books by Dr. Blank. One of them, "Salmos: Una Ventana Al Antiguo Testamento Y Al Mesías" served as a our textbook for the seminar in Caracas.

There was a lot of material to cover. Perhaps most enjoyable was learning how the Psalms have inspired many hymns in many languages. For example, Psalm 46 provided the basis for Martin Luther's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress" ("Castillo Fuerte" in Spanish) and "Dios es nuestro amparo", which is a favorite at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas:

"Dios es nuestro amparo, nuestra fortaleza,
Nuestro pronto auxilio en la tribulación.
Aunque se traspasen los montes a la mar,
Y aunque la tierra tiemble, tenemos que cantar.
Aunque la tierra tiemble, tenemos que cantar.

"Cielo y tierra pasarán, más Tu Palabra no pasará
Cielo y tierra pasarán, más Tu Palabra no pasará.
No, no, no pasará. No, no, no pasará."

Likewise, Psalm 92 is the basis of another Spanish hymn, "Bueno es alabarte, Jehová," which Pastor Francisco Cabarcas, chaplain of Cristo Rey Lutheran School in Maturin, recalled singing in the small village in Colombia where he was born and raised:

"Bueno es alabarte, Jehová, cantar salmos a Tu nombre.
Bueno es alabarte, Jehová, cantar salmos a Tu nombre.
Anunciar por la mañana Tu misericordia
Y Tu fidelidad de noche.
Anunciar por la mañana Tu misericordia
Y Tu fidelidad de noche."

Just as enlightening, but more sobering, were the parallels between the culture in which the psalms were written and that of Venezuela today, especially the psalms which declare the sovereignty of God over all other powers, whether those of human government, the forces of nature or spiritual entities.

"Ba'al" was a Canaanite word that meant, in its broadest definition, "lord". It was used in reference to human kings and heroes as well as many local deities. The great Ba'al spoken of in the Old Testament, the chief god of the Canaanites, was believed to have the power to send rain for annual crops and fertility for crops, livestock and humans. The priests of Ba'al were believed to have the power to foretell the future and cast spells. Worship of Ba'al included animal and human sacrifice, self-mutilation, and acts of ritualized sex, both hetero- and homosexual, all aimed at placating the god and gaining his favor.

Perhaps even more terrifying than Ba'al was his consort, the goddess Anat, who, it was said, liked to bathe in the blood of her enemies. Worse than either Ba'al or Anat was Mot, the god of death and chaos, who was Ba'al's chief adversary. Nevertheless, Mot had his worshipers, too.

There were many other cruel and capricious deities worshipped by the nations surrounding Israel, such as Moloch, the Phoenician god who specifically demanded child sacrifice.

Many of the ancient Israelites believed that the supplication of these dark deities could be harmonized with the worship of Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who revealed Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai. In an age of tribal gods, they thought perhaps the power and authority of Yahweh had geographical limits. Or, if Yahweh seemed distant and unwilling to answer their prayers, other deities could be called on to lend their aid.

Attitudes in Venezuela today are not very different. The Triune God is only one among a number of spirit-beings to whom one may appeal. These may include the Virgin Mary and the saints, pagan deities peculiar to Venezuela, and "imported" cults such as Santeria (a Caribbean-based cult derived from ancient African beliefs) and the cult of Santa Muerte (Holy Death).

The cult of Santa Muerte is similar to ancient Canaanite worship of Mot, the god of death and chaos. As a modern cult it originated in Hidalgo, Mexico, in 1965. Now with millions of adherents in Mexico, the United States and Central America, the cult has made some inroads into Venezuela. It is a revival of the worship of the Aztec goddess of death, who in ancient times was offered animal and human sacrifices. The cult is especially popular among drug traffickers, other smugglers, gangsters, prostitutes and homosexuals, but also claims followers among the higher classes. The basic idea is that by making a pact with Santa Muerte, one can gain invulnerability to death, the power to inflict death upon one's enemies, or other benefits in this life.

Thank God the Psalms affirm now, as they did in ancient Palestine, that the practitioners of witchcraft and idolatry, whether they are simple con artists or actually in communion with demons, have no real power. As Psalm 96 says:

"For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised,
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens."

It is the Triune God who is truly Lord of creation and in Whom we can trust for whatever we need. We also have the messianic promises of the Psalms which have been fulfilled in Jesus, as in Psalm 110:

"The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.
The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion,
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!"

We say in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty because in the imagery of the ancient Near East this means Jesus has been invested with all the authority of God the Father and speaks for Him. Likewise, "Till make Your enemies your footstool" refers to the custom of a conqueror placing his foot on the heads of the kings that he has vanquished, who have been forced to lie face down in the dirt.

And finally, we have the promise of Psalm 22:

"All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the Lord's,
And He rules over the nations."

Crash course in the commandments

Sometimes it is best when you have only a limited time to speak. It helps you focus on what is important. On Sunday, March 2, we presented a crash course on the Ten Commandments, the objective being to finish up that first section of the Small Catechism with our confirmation class students in La Caramuca and move on to the Apostle's Creed. Things did not work out precisely as planned.

The week before we invited not only our regular students, but all of their families, including parents, to attend our overview of the Ten Commandments. Eduardo and I were able to visit personally many of the students and parents in their homes. Our plan was to have Pastor Ted Krey, who would be visiting La Caramuca that afternoon, speak on the first three commandments, Eduardo would speak on the next three, and I would present on the last four.

The attendance was good, about 30 people including adults and children. The teaching was interspersed with Eduardo leading the group in song with his guitar. We also had someone keeping the rhythm with our pandareta (a kind of tambourine). One hymn that is becoming a favorite here is “Cristo, Vida del Viviente” ("Christ, the Life of all the living”).

The only problem that arose was that by the time it was my turn, the sun was going down (we had gathered in our covered patio which offers protection from the elements, but no electric lights) and the children were growing restless (they had been marvelously patient and attentive up to that point). So basically I had about 10 to 15 minutes to finish up the Ten Commandments.

I took Edwar José, Sarai's infant son, and placed him on my shoulder. “Look at Edwar José,” I said. “His parents, José and Sarai, share their home, their food and many other things with him. But what has he done to deserve this? If his father were to ask him to help with his construction work, would Edwar be able to do so? If his mother asked him to go in the kitchen and fix dinner, what would Edwar be able to do?

“Why do parents care for their children when their children can do nothing in return for them? Because every child is a gift to his or her parents from God, our Father in Heaven. If your father gave you a nice shirt, would you throw it in the dirt and stomp on it? No, you would take care of it so it always would look nice and show people what a fine gift you father gave you. Every child is a gift from God the Father to his or her parents, so it is natural for parents to love and care for their children.

“Likewise, since God is the Father of every one of us, we all are dependent on him for every good thing in life. All the good things we have are gifts from God that He given us out of His love and grace, not because of anything we have done to merit them. So we should be thankful for all that we have, and not look at the good things that our neighbors have and want those for ourselves as well. In fact, not only should we not jump on people, hit them and take what they have, like the men who stole Eduardo's cell-phone, we also should share what we have with those who lack the basic necessities of life, like food and clothing. For if we trust God, He will not only give us what we need, but more than what we need.”

I am not sure how much of that I got across, but at least I hit the high points.

The following Sunday, March 9, Eduardo, Luz María and I filled in whatever points we had overlooked about the 10 Commandments for the children in La Caramuca. For example, Eduardo talked more about what it meant to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. He emphasized that “the church” is not a grand building, but a community of believers gathered in one place for worship and prayer. “Each of us are the living stones that make up the structure of the church,” Eduardo said.

I also preached that morning at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas on the resurrection of Lazarus. You can read the text of the sermon (in Spanish) here.

We give thanks for recent generous contributions from Chuck and Chris Hewitson of St. John's Lutheran Church, Vancouver, Washington, and Children's Christian Concern Society of Topeka, Kansas. Thanks to these gifts, we were able to purchase a desktop computer for $300 (including the monitor). This opportunity coincided with the offering of a class in computing taught by Zulay Puerta, a member of Corpus Christi. As part of her teaching position with the public school system, Zulay was assigned to teach a course in Ubuntu Linux in the nearby town of La Mula. Luz María has been taking about a dozen children from La Caramuca to this course every week.

Ubuntu Linux is the operating system that I have installed in the old desktop system that I brought down from the United States. I have used various iterations of Linux since 1997, starting with Caldera OpenLinux and progressing through Mandrake, SuSe and now Ubuntu. I think Ubuntu 6.06 is the best so far, although all the distributions have their strengths and weaknesses. I have had experience with other operating systems as well, including Windows, OS/2, Macintosh OS 7, OS 9 and OS X Jaguar. Linux is the best and keeps getting better. Lack of security and vulnerability to viruses alone makes me wonder why anyone uses Microsoft products.

Anyway, about the time that Zulay started teaching her course, we heard that Eliana Carrasco, a member of El Paraiso Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto, had a son who was closing his cybercafe business. So he had a lot of inventory he needed to liquidate at a discount.

The computer we bought is a Compaq Deskpro ESX. I recall using an earlier model of the Compaq Deskpro as managing editor of No-Till Farmer and Ridge-Till Hotline for Lessiter Publications in Brookfield, Wisconsin. I always appreciated the quality workmanship. This one is a little different than that 1980s-vintage Compaq: It has a 1.4-gigaHertz processor, 128 megabytes of RAM and it did have a 20-gigabyte hard drive until I replaced that with a 40-gigabyte disk from the no-longer-functioning computer that Luz María had.

Then I wiped the system clean of Windows and installed Ubuntu Linux and placed the computer on a mobile cart. The idea is that the children will have a computer with which they can practice their lessons while leaving our “office computer” free. God willing, as we expand our school, we would like to join the computers in a wireless network to share an Internet connection. That way several people (teachers or students) could access the Internet for study.

Internet access is important to our project as most education, but especially theological education, is by distance learning. As Luz María and her daughters, Yepci and Charli, work toward their public certification as teachers, they have received more and more assignments that require on-line research. Also, hard copies of Christian educational materials in Spanish are rather difficult for us to obtain, but it is easier to download and print what we need.

We have received an invitation from the family of Sarai's husband, José, to travel to the neighboring state of Apure during Holy Week and lead a vacation Bible school. Actually, a number of our preschool and Sunday school children are members of the same family (like many small towns, La Caramuca really consists of three or four large, extended families to whom everyone is related either by blood or marriage). This is a great opportunity because, to our knowledge, no representatives of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela have ever visited Apure. At first we thought we would all go, but Eduardo and I are committed to leading Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services at Corpus Christi. If we had our truck or van, we would be able to take a group from La Caramuca on a flying trip to and from Apure on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week b,ut we are limited by the logistics of public transportation. So now the plan is for Luz María, Charli, Sarai, José, Edwar José and maybe one or two other children to travel to Apure while Eduardo, Yepci and myself stay here.

May God bless each and every one of you this Holy Week.

Carnaval 2008

The preschool children enjoyed their Carnaval party Friday, February 1. Perhaps most North Americans will understand the celebration of Carnaval as equivalent to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It is supposed to be a time to get any mischief out of your system before the beginning of Lent, 40 days of fasting and solemn reflection on the Passion of Christ. Lent is an official part of the Lutheran church calendar while Carnaval or Mardi Gras, of course, is not.

Carnaval is a cultural event in most Latin American countries, often for a much longer period than in Venezuela. Here only the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday are state holidays, so for Venezuelans, Carnaval is essentially a long weekend with public parades and street parties. I am told that Carnaval in Brazil, for example, not only lasts longer, but is much wilder and crazier as well.

I saw my first Carnaval parade in the eastern Venezuelan city of Maturin. The girls in skimpy costumes did not surprise me, but the number of men dressed up as girls in skimpy costumes was a bit of a shock. You would not see that in a parade through downtown Bloomington, Minnesota, I thought at the time. But I have lived in Venezuela for nearly five years now, so maybe things have changed up north.

For Venezuelan children, however, Carnaval is something like Halloween in the United States. They get to dress up in costumes and masks, receive treats and play pranks. They know about Halloween here, but it is considered an "imported" holiday. More common is the observance of the Day of the Dead on November 1. In Venezuela, the Day of the Dead is mostly free of the occultic aspects that it has in Mexico. It is more like Memorial Day in the United States: The day for placing flowers on the graves of the honored dead.

So our preschool children put on their costumes, had cake and soft drinks, and elected a "Queen of the Carnaval". Last year Luz María's granddaughter, Oriana, was chosen as queen. This year it was Oriana's best friend, Jeiximar Arellano ("Pollita"). Oriana (who is four years old) threw a little tantrum, since she did not understand that she would not be queen every year. She screamed that Pollita was much uglier than herself. Ah, the "innocence" of children (and their Bible lessons have focused on the virtues of sharing with and caring for others, too). Nevertheless, she and Pollita remain best friends.

After the cake and soda, the children lined up and marched through the barrio, carrying our preschool banner and blowing whistles. Aside from Oriana, a good time was had by all.


Eduardo Flores and I were installed as vicars the following Sunday, the Day of the Transfiguration, at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. I first met Eduardo when I was staying with Pastor Ted Krey in Maracay. He was 17 then, now he is 21.

The service was led by pastors Abel García and Ted Krey. Abel is the pastor of a congregation in the coastal city of Barcelona and is the new director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute.

We also had an interesting visitor that Sunday, too. He introduced himself as Francisco Galeano. Some 40 years ago he had been a Roman Catholic priest. Then he fell in love with a woman and left the Roman church to marry her (she has since passed away). He did not lose his faith, however, but joined the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands.

Persons of Protestant background may not be aware of this, but the doctrine of papal infallibility did not become official, binding dogma in the Roman Catholic Church until after the First Vatican Council in 1869. At that time, some European clergy and laypeople separated themselves from Rome and turned to the Archbishop of Utrecht, the Netherlands, for spiritual leadership. The See of Utrecht, established in 695 A.D., had been semi-autonomous for centuries and had been repeatedly accused of being a hotbed of heresy (most notably Jansenism, which basically was a revival of the Augustinian view of original sin as opposed to the semi-Pelagian position which has been the prevailing view in the Roman Catholic Church since the Council of Trent). The Archbishop of Utrecht was excommunicated by the Pope in 1723. In the 1870s, the Archbishop of Utrecht began ordaining bishops of the Old Catholic Church.

The Old Catholic Church today is in full communion with the Anglican/Episcopalian churches of the world. Be that as it may, there are very few Old Catholic or Anglican churches in Barinas, Venezuela. None that I know of, in fact. "Padre Francisco", as he still is known, was not aware that there was a Lutheran church in Barinas until he bumped into Pastor Krey in a bodega (small neighborhood market) that weekend. He now is interested in learning more about Corpus Christi.

Eduardo and I led the Ash Wednesday service, February 6. Eduardo preached the sermon and played the guitar while I handled the liturgy, one long confession of sins which included the reading of Psalm 51 and the ancient ritual of marking the foreheads of the worshippers with the sign of the Cross in ashes. We followed the form of having everyone write down a slip of paper a sin for which they particularly desired God's forgiveness. Then the pieces of paper were burnt to make the ashes.

It was the first time I had performed this rite, and I learned there is a trick to putting just enough ashes on your finger to make a mark on the forehead without flicking ashes in someone's eyes. (Hot tip: Moistening your finger with your tongue is not an option.)

Since Ash Wednesday, Eduardo and I have led another Sunday service, made some home visits and begun planning Bible studies. Eduardo's musical ability has been a great blessing, as he has not only provided musical accompaniment on Sundays, but also led the children of our preschool and Sunday school in song.

Unfortunately, this week Eduardo was attacked and robbed on the streets of Barinas. The hardest blow came from a knee to his abdomen. The thieves took Eduardo's cell phone. Despite still having a few aches and pains, Eduardo was not seriously injured. There is a high level of street crime wherever you go in Venezuela, and it is wise to always be watchful. Please pray for our protection always as we do the Lord's work.

Elemental spirits and vain philosophy

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."
Colossians 2:8

I rely on the Internet to keep up with what is going on in the world outside of Venezuela. One blog that I regularly read is getreligion.org. On this site, professional journalists of various religious backgrounds post comments about how the "mainstream media" covers news about religion.

One contributor is Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist who is also a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and, in fact, a pastor's daughter. On June 28, 2007, she cited a Los Angeles Times article that she thought was a good example of writing about religion, especially for the sports section of a newspaper. The article actually had to do with Venezuela.

More specifically, it had to do with Santeria and Ozzie Guillen, the Venezuelan who is manager of the Chicago White Sox. Guillen became a national hero here after the White Sox won the World Series. Here is what sportswriter Kevin Baxter reported about Guillen:

"Guillen’s religion is Santeria, a largely misunderstood Afro-Cuba spiritual tradition that incorporates the worship of orisha — multidimensional beings who represent the forces of nature — with beliefs of the Yoruba and Bantu people of Africa and elements of Roman Catholicism. And Guillen, born in Venezuela, is one of a growing number of Latin American players, managers and coaches who are followers of the faith..."

“When you talk about that religion in the States, people think you’re a monster,” said Guillen, whose children were baptized in the Catholic faith and have become, like their father, babalaos (followers of Santeria). “Sometimes you have to be careful what you say about religion and when and how.

"Because in this country there’s so many different ideas, people get offended so easy.

“People call me a criminal because we do stuff with blood and animals. I don’t blame these people. They believe what they believe and I believe what I believe. Have I ever killed an animal in the States to do my religion? No. I did in my country.”

Ms. Hemingway's only criticism of the article was that the writer repeatedly described Santeria as "misunderstood" without offering any evidence of that being the case. My observation is that the rise of Santeria in Venezuela, Latin America and the United States is something to think about the next time you hear someone say there is no need for Christian mission work in Latin America.

In addition to Santeria, there are in Venezuela, as I have mentioned before,various other forms of witchcraft and occultism. For example, there is the cult of Maria Lionza, who combines aspects of a fertility goddess, a water elemental and elements of the Roman Catholic concept of the Virgin Mary. Even before I came to Venezuela, I was struck by pictures of a 15-foot-tall image of Maria Lionza located next to the Caracas freeway. The figure depicts a nude woman astride a tapir (a pig-like animal native to South America) who is holding a human pelvic bone above her head. Worshippers adorn this image (idol) with flowers and other offerings every year. Vibrations from heavy freeway traffic have done some structural damage to the statute and there has been talk of moving it. One proposal is to relocate it in the same district as the city's main mosque, synagogue and Maronite Catholic church. Needless to say, Muslims, Jews and Maronite Christians are as one in their lack of enthusiasm for this idea. (Ironically, the presence of a large Maronite church, and of Maronites, an ancient people from Lebanon and Syria, in Caracas is the result of native Christians fleeing the Middle East in the face of Muslim persecution).

Maria Lionza actually is supposed to "live"on a mountain in the western state of Yaracuy. Devotees gather there annually during which time it is said non-believers who value their lives are best advised to stay away.

Maria Lionza is said to be one of the three most powerful spirit-beings in Venezuela. The other two are Negro Felipe (Black Philip), an earth elemental who also represents the spirituality of African-Americans, and Chief Guaicaipuro, a wind elemental who represents the wisdom of the indigenous tribes.

In addition to these beliefs, you can also find throughout Venezuela Masons (despite the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to Freemasonry), Rosicrucians, Gnostics, practitioners of yoga and New Agery, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists (the last two being particularly numerous around Barinas).

July 12, 2007, marked the end of my fourth year of living in Venezuela. As the date rolled around, I took some time to reflect on some of the things I have described above and other things that I have learned during my time here. One important lesson has been the importance of apologetics (reasoned defense of Christian doctrine) in mission work. Even when working with children, as we do, a shallow understanding of what you believe and why you believe it is not enough. Subjective experience is not enough, nor, in the grand design of things, is your "personal testimony" particularly important. Above all one must present the promise of eternal life in Christ, revealed in Holy Scripture, as sure and certain. If you believe this yourself, you can do no less.

Many people want to reduce the faith once delivered to the saints to a series of vague platitudes that no one in their right mind would disagree with. For people in Latin America and other parts of the world where life is still a series of storms and trials, platitudes are not enough. Everyone needs solid truths to live by and to die by, when their last hour is at hand. If we believe we have the pure, apostolic doctrine, we cannot stand silent when there are so many peddling spiritual counterfeits.

This past Wednesday, July 12, was also the day that we had a graduation ceremony for the children that will be leaving us for first grade. Each one received a little banner inscribed with Psalm 16:7: "I will bless the Lord who counsels me and gladdens my heart."

Unfortunately I have no photos of this event. Nor do I have photos of the great progress that has been made on our new fence. My digital camera is broken (to make a long story short, it's the monsoon season here and I had to walk over a mile in a tropical downpour). Now I have to decide between getting it repaired (very expensive here; they want more than I paid for it in the first place) and seeing if someone will bring me a replacement from the United States, where anything electronic is much cheaper.

Finally I would like to note that we continue to pray for the family of Kent Heidenreich, a member of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, Freeburg, Illinois, who recently died in a farming accident.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Luz Maria and I now have seen "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest" twice: one in the United States with my mother and sister, Deborah, and once in Venezuela with Luz Maria's daughter, Wuendy, and Wuendy's husband, Jesús.

I do not mind having seen the movie twice. I have always enjoyed stories of real or imaginary adventure on the high seas, from Homer's Odyssey to the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and Herman Melville to C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader" -- even Acts 27-28, which although a brief account, remains one of the most gripping accounts ever of shipwreck and survival at sea (Rudyard Kipling thought so, too, since he wrote a short story retelling the story of Paul's voyage to Rome from the ship's captain's point of view). Then there is the life's story of John Newton, writer of "Amazing Grace" and other well-known English hymns. He ran away to sea when he was 11 years old and eventually became the captain of a slave-trading ship. On one memorable voyage, his crew mutinied and left him lashed to the mast of his ship and drifting alone on the open water. He prayed for the first time in many years. A ship appeared in time to rescue him and that was the dramatic beginning of Newton's journey back to faith.

But "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" piqued my interest for three additional reasons.

First, it's fun to see on film places that you have visited in real life -- or at least, places that are similar to those you have seen in real life. From what I know of Venezuela's coast, I can testify that the waters of the Caribbean really are that blue and the tropical sun does shine that brightly.

Second, the movie reminded me of when Dr. David Coles of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, came to Caracas and taught a short course on church history, with an emphasis on Latin American missions. During the period when Protestant missionaries were banned from the region, Reina-Valera Bibles (the Reina-Valera translation is the Soanish equivalent of the King James Bible) and Protestant tracts nevertheless showed up in some places. No one is certain how this happened, but one theory is that real pirates of the Caribbean (many of whom were of Anglican, Huguenot and even Lutheran backgrounds), included Bible smuggling among their clandestine activities. I still find this possibility intriguing.

Third, like the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, this one is a fantasy filled with ghostly sailors, sea monsters, cursed treasure and the like. Its metaphysical musings were interesting, especially this one:

"Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?"

Interesting because, while phantom ships and magic compasses are imaginary, this way of thinking is as real as the crystal-blue sea and golden sun.

Many North Americans, perhaps most, think all religion is wishful thinking, although in a good way. That is, people will believe in myths and legends that make them feel good about themselves and their world, and if that seems to keep them healthy and happy, what's wrong with that? But here in the sunny Caribbean one encounters a darker reality on a daily basis.

In Venezuela it is a common belief that making a pact with spirit beings, even evil spirits, can bring one worldly wealth and power. A majority of Venezuelans are involved in the practice of witchcraft and divination on at least a casual basis. The more deeply one becomes involved with brujeria (witchcraft) or espiritismo (spiritism), however, the more difficult it becomes to break off the relationship. There are people who are afraid of what they have become involved with, but more afraid of what might happen if they tried to get out. There is the quite physical danger of assault on themselves and their families. There are other risks, that whlle quite real have less tangible causes. Psychiatric wards in Venezuela are full of people with problems that stem from their involvement with brujeria and espiritismo, and the drug use that often accompanies brujeria and espiritismo.

Some time ago I read a story in the Barinas newspaper about two infants from different families stolen almost literally from under their parents' noses. One baby was taken in the street and the other, a newborn, from its hospital bed. Those I asked about this story matter-of-factly told me it most likely a professional job and the children had been taken to be sold. The most lucrative buyer would be an illegal adoption ring. Because of the prevalence of contraception and abortion in North America, there are never enough healthy babies to supply all the childless couples who want to adopt. So a black market in babies from Latin America, where birth rates are still high, has developed.

But if the illegal adoption rings wouldn't take them, the children would be sold to one of the cults that practice human sacrifice in order to curry favor with powerful spirits. I do not know whether to completely believe this. I know I really do not want to believe it. But it is all too consistent with a "spirituality" based on an awareness that there is a dimension of life that defies naturalistic explanations, but is based on fear, lust and greed rather than faith, hope and love. It is truly spiritual bondage and a primary reason for mission work here.

Last night I listened to my friend Edgar Coronado lament that so many of his fellow Venezuelans are caught up in this darkness and do not know the light of Christ. Luz Maria and I have been in Caracas this past week, attending an intensive course in systematic theology taught by José Pfaffenzeller, director of Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I have found the study of systematic theology to be intellectually stimulating since the days when as a small boy I would slip into my father's study to read Franz Pieper's "Christian Dogmatics." However, the discussion really livened up when we got to the topic of fallen angels and the possibility of demonic activity in today's world. Nearly every Venezuelan present was able to relate experiences which were...let's just say uncanny.

Sometimes you hear certain Bible verses read and explained just when needed. At this time of year and in this place I especially recall the first New Year's sermon I heard in the 21st Century, preached by Pastor Phil Bickel at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Bloomington, Minnesota. It was based on Revelation 22, verse 16:

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

"Root and descendant of David" of course is a reference to the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. While the implication of the title, "bright morning star" is less clear, once explained, as it was in Pastor Bickel's sermon, it is most comforting to us in our situation. For in the Greco-Roman world, the morning star was called "the light-bearer" or, in Latin, Lucifer. There are two who claim the title "light-bearer" and in this verse Jesus spells out for us who is the real one.

Likewise, in 2 Corinthians 4:4, Satan is called "the god of this world" or "the god of this age", depending on your translation, and in Ephesians 6:12 it is written:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

But we are promised the victory. The gates of hell will not stand.

We return to La Caramuca tomorrow. Luz Maria's daughters, Yepci and Charli, have been assuming more and more responsibility for the preschool and Sunday school, allowing us time for some travel. But it will be good to see the children again.

My pirate name is:

Black Davy Flint

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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