Crossing into 2012

 

Happy New Year and a blessed Epiphany to everyone! We would especially like to thank all who contributed to the donations that we received by the end of 2011. Your support is critical to the work of La Caramuca Lutheran Mission and we are very grateful.

Last Sunday was not only the first day of 2012, but also, by the church calendar, the day we celebrate the circumcision and naming of the infant Jesus. I was struck by how appropriate was the appointed Old Testament lesson, Joshua 24:14-24. Under the leadership of Joshua (the Old Testament figure for whom Jesus was named), the people of Israel finally had crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. They stood on the threshold of a new era. They were offered a new beginning - and a choice.

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that  your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers  served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in  whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

In this new year of our Lord 2012, we all are presented with an opportunity to start anew, yet the same choice. May God grant that we should fear and love Him above all things, and not worship other gods, whether in obvious or more subtle forms.

Looking ahead

We have replaced the water pump that was stolen and modified the connections so that it may be detached from the well and stored in a more secure place at the end of the day. The plan is to set the pump in place once a week or so, to fill the tank that will supply our public restroom/shower faciiy, as well as our house and preschool in times of emergency. This project, the renovation of the well as an auxiliary water source, and the construction of the restroom/shower facility, is nearly complete. It will greatly enhance our ability to host larger groups of people.

But this is only preparation for what we hope to begin this year: The construction of a freestanding worship/classroom building. Up to now we have been meeting for Sunday service under a covered patio. The roof protects us from the intense tropical sun, but not from the wind and rain, which we have in abundance in Venezuela. A white plastic lawn table draped in the appropriate liturgical color serves as our altar. There is no pulpit or lectern. Aside from exposure to the weather, the biggest drawback to this arrangement is this: When we was have especially good attendance, the patio is filled to capacity and it becomes difficult to maintain a line of separation between the "chancel" and the "nave". Often it is difficult to serve Holy Communion because of the lack of space between the "front row" and the altar.

"The church is people, not a building." This is true. It's even biblical: "As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house,  to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pedro 2:4-5). But as people we live in a world of the five senses and of spatial relationships. That is how we understand things.

That is one reason why "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). It is also why our Lord instituted the office of the ministry of Word (that through public preaching the inspired message might be heard audibly) and sacrament (the administration of visible means of grace). And it is just common sense that as creatures of five senses, we are able to dedicate ourselves to certain task better in the appropriate environment. We hope the new building will provide that environment, plus some additional space for Christian education beyond the preschool level.

In fact, our long-term vision is of an center for Christian education serving all of our southwestern region of Venezuela (actually it was first Luz Maria's vision and now I share it). We have had our property plotted and we have the space and plans for six-room complex, plus playground, courtyard and parking lot. May God grant that these plans come to fruition.

Bittersweet sound of the bell

Sometimes our mission receives gifts from people in Venezuela. Last year a woman sewed uniform pants for all of our preschool children (ordinarily the families must buy the required clothing). We also have received as donations, one six-stringed and three four-stringed guitars (we're still looking for someone with the skill, patience and dedication to teach our young people how to play them) .

Now we have been given a bell to signal the start of our services. Once, a long time ago, it was a schoolhouse bell. I actually can hold it in my hand, but its chime is strong and clear. We used the bell for the first time October 30, to begin our Reformation Sunday worship.

;The sound of the bell is bittersweet for me. It takes me back through the years to the church where I was confirmed, Immanuel Lutheran Church of Plymouth, Nebraska. Immanuel's bell was bigger; when it was my turn to ring the bell, I would have to pull down on the rope with all my strength. Then the rope would pull me off the ground as the bell rang.


Once I climbed up into the steeple to take a look at that old bell. I remember the steeple well, too. We lived in the parsonage next to the church, and late at night you could hear the steeple creaking in the wind. But, like the bell, that was a comforting sound. The steeple had withstood the storms of the prairie for 70 years, and I thought it would do so for at least 70 more.

The sad part is that, like many Midwestern rural congregations, Immanuel closed its doors in the 1980s. All that is left is the graveyard, with the old church bell set in a monument in front the gate. It still stands, as it were, as a sentinel over the tombs of the people it once called to worship. One can only hope that on that great and final day of the Lord, when the dead will be raised, that old bell will ring once more.

Built on the Rock the Church doth stand,
Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in every land,
Bells still are chiming and calling,
Calling the young and old to rest,
But above all the soul distrest,
Longing for rest everlasting.

Hymn #467
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Eph. 2: 19-22
Author: Nicolai F.S. Grundtvig, 1837
Translated by: Carl Doving, 1909, alt.
Titled: "Kirken den er et gammelt Hus"
Composer: Ludvig M. Lindeman, 1871
Tune: "Kirken den er et"

Losing more than a companion

It has been nearly a month since our dog, Peluso, died. (“Peluso” is the masculine form of “pelusa”, which means “fuzz” or “hairball”.) He had lived with us since 2005. We think he died of a heart attack, since the one thing that terrified him was thunder and lightning and we found him without a mark the morning after a tremendous thunderstorm. Peluso was more than a companion, he was our watchdog. Every night he would patrol our property. The wall that we have built keeps humans and animals from casually strolling on and off the grounds, but a determined and able-bodied man can scale the wall, especially under cover of darkness. I believe that thanks to Peluso, we have been spared the losses due to theft that have plagued our community as the crime rate has spiraled. In the past few months, two large public preschools on the other side of town from us have been robbed of all their computer equipment. So has La Caramuca's elementary school.

Sure enough, late one night last week, someone stole the electric pump that we had installed to provide water for our new public restroom facility. Now we will have to replace the pump and beef up the security on the outbuilding we built to house the pump. We also are looking for a new dog, but for some reason watchdogs are in short supply right now.

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