When the saints come marching in

On Sunday, November 1, 2020, we celebrated the 503rd anniversary of the Reformation and All Saints Day with first communion for four young women and one adult reaffirmation of faith. 

November 1 is often called “the Day of the Dead” in Venezuela, but it’s not like the Day of the Dead in Mexico, with elaborate rituals involving candy skulls and offerings of food to the departed. Rather, the first two days of November are when people lay flowers on the graves of loved ones, much like Memorial Day in the United States. As with the Mexican holiday and Halloween, it is related to the ancient church calendar which designates October 31, November 1 and November 2 as respectively, All Saints Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. And so is the Reformation.

The tradition of All Saints Day began in the fourth century A.D. as the day to honor all who had died for the faith during 300 years of persecution by the Roman Empire. The original date was May 13 and Eastern Orthodox churches still celebrate All Saints Day on the first Sunday after Pentecost. In western Christendom, Pope Gregory III set the date as November 1 in the eighth century, when he consecrated a chapel to all the martyrs in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. 

In time, a prayer vigil on the preceding evening was added, which is All Hallows (Saints) Eve, from which the word Halloween is derived. Then November 2 was designated as All Souls Day in the 11th century as the day when prayers were offered for souls in Purgatory. By the end of the 12th century, it had become commonplace to ring church bells during these three days to remind people to pray for the souls of their loved ones in Purgatory. Not only was the false doctrine of Purgatory incorporated into these observances, in many regions so were pre-Christian customs associated either with harvesttime or honoring and/or placating the spirits of the dead. 

Lutherans added another twist to this tradition by establishing October 31 as the anniversary of the Reformation. Martin Luther is said to have begun the Reformation when he posted his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on All Saints Eve 1517. This surely was not happenstance, as the 95 Theses deal with medieval conceptions of penance, purgatory, merits of the saints and the authority of the papacy.

The Roman church still teaches that in baptism we receive redemption from original sin and eternal death. We agree and therefore recognize baptism in a Roman Catholic church. But, after baptism, when the Christian falls into sin because of the sinful nature, he must do penance, because repentance is not a change of mind and heart effected by the Holy Spirit, but an act of recompense done by the sinner. If the sinner cannot do enough penance in this life, he may suffer in purgatory before entering the eternal life promised in baptism. Suffering in purgatory is not forever, and the Pope has the authority to cut the sentence in purgatory by a letter of indulgence. This is still the teaching of the Roman church, no matter that no part of it is found in the Holy Scriptures. It is the fine print that denies the good news of the new life in Jesus Christ. This system that contradicts God's Word arose because many did not believe that we cannot do anything to receive God's grace. 

 Furthermore, in the Roman church, the saints are the ones who have avoided purgatory on their own merits. We can know someone is a saint when requests to this person are answered by miracles verified by the church of Rome. The treasure of the church, according to this belief, is the abundance of the merits of the saints that the Pope can apply to the account of others. This idea is not from Scripture either. 

In contrast, Luther wrote thus in the theses: “Any truly repentant Christian is entitled to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters. Every true Christian, living or dead, shares in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted to him by God, even without indulgence letters ... The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God." 

So this year we received five sinners by Adam’s fall and saints by Christ’s resurrection and their baptisms into the full blessing and fellowship of the church. 

Rita Maria Zapata. “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Mateo 28:20b 

Yusmelvis Naikeli Salas Medina. “Delight yourself also in the Lord; and he shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 

Lorena Alexandra Rujano Contreras. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should sho forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 

Anyelimar Katiusca Meza Ruiz. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 

Jariannys Nathaly Rojas Arias. “Jesus sad to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 

Answered prayer 

We had a positive and productive meeting October 23, 2020, with representatives of the Ministry of Education charged with the care and education of preschool children. Most of them had not visited our campus before, and were surprised by its size and condition. They were impressed by our commitment and service to the community as a church (in the sense of a local congregation), tending to both spiritual and material needs. This bodes well for when we reopen regular classes in January. For now, our teachers continue to distribute food and online lesson plans to our preschool families.

 

The Holy Spirit guides us by Word and sacrament

“These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14

A saint is a holy person, someone set apart from what is common or unclean. When Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the doors of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on All Saints Eve 1517, he struck his first blow agains the idea of saints as those who had made themselves holy through good works. All have fallen short of perfect obedience to God’s will (Romans 3:23), yet all have received the new life in Christ through baptism with water and the Word (John 3:5). The true saints are those who have been declared righteous in God’s eyes through the righteousness and innocent suffering and death of Jesus Christ. We are justified by faith in this promise, and not by our merits, and this faith itself does not well from within us, but is given by the Holy Spirit.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism

Dubraska Rachell Alexandra Santana received the new life in baptism on October 13, 2019. Ephesians 4:1-6 was the appointed epistle lesson for the 17th Sunday after Trinity. For her, as for all, baptism was the invitation to the wedding feast that the Lord speaks in the day’s gospel reading (Luke 14: 1-11). It is not the only instance that He spoke of the kingdom of God as a banquet or wedding party.

But St. Paul makes another comparison. If Christ is our Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), baptism is our crossing of the Red Sea from slavery to Egypt (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). But we still have our pilgrimage through the desert with miraculous food and drink to sustain us (1 Corinthians 10:3-4).

To continue in the Word

Anyi Vanesa Garrido received the body and blood of our Lord in the Eucharist on October 27, 2019. On that Sunday, we celebrated the anniversary of the Reformation with our brothers and sisters from Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas, and Christ is Love Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Raimundo Brito, pastor of Corpus Christi, led the service of the Word. I led the service of the Lord’s Supper and the rite of public confession and first communion for Anyi. Eliezer Mendoza, pastor of Christ is Love, preached on John 8:31-36. Starting in the Garden of Eden, Pastor Eliezer said, Satan has twisted God’s Word into a lie to keep us enslaved to sin. But the pure Word brings forgiveness and freedom from the power of the devil. Thos who continue in the pure Word and receive the sacraments as He commanded remain His true disciples.

But what of those who have crossed the Jordan River ahead of us to enter into the Lord’s promised kingdom? “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) For this reason, Lutherans honor them on All Saints Day. As early as fourth century A.D., long before the medieval cult of the saints, the ancient church set aside a day to honor those who died for the faith under 300 years of Roman persecution. Later, all who had died in the faith were remembered.

Trick or treat?

For western European Christendom, November 1 has been the official date of All Saints Day since 835 A.D, with the observance starting the night before, as with Christmas. Because of the emphasis on remembrance of the departed, many different customs and beliefs associated with death and the hereafter have become associated with All Saints Day. Because of Spanish cultural influence, the first two days of November are when Venezuelans lay flowers on the graves of loved ones. Given the prevalence of witchcraft and all types of occultism in Venezuela, it is a little surprising that’s all there is. No altars and offerings to the dead as in Mexico’s Day of the Dead. On the other hand, Venezuelans who have been delivered from genuine experiences of the demonic are repelled by the foreign holiday of Halloween and regard it as purely satanic.

Halloween as we know it is, as a matter of fact, largely a concoction of North Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. People of a more secularized and rationalistic age began playing with the superstitions and folklore that immigrants brought from their homelands, and some made-in-America legends as well. However, it is not a good idea to play at being a witch in a time and place where witchcraft is serious business. I like to say that what concerns me about Halloween is not where it came from, but what it has become. The original Christian significance has been almost entirely forgotten, and there is an unhealthy focus on death and the demonic. I do not condemn the harmless carving of pumpkins (or the resultng pumpkin pie), but I do think it is better to remember the Reformation on All Hallows Eve and honor the blessed dead on the following day.

Prayers for Chile and Ecuador

We continue to pray for natives and Venezuelan expatriates in Chile and Ecuador. The eruption of street violence in Santiago, Chile, was unexpected because of Chile’s reputation as one of the more prosperous nations in South America. The Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile, including former members of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela who have moved to Chile, have been instrumental in sending needed medical supplies to Venezuela. James Tino, director of Global Lutheran Outreach and former missionary to Venezuela, now serves as a missionary pastor in Chile. So does Adrian Ventura, former pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Maturin, Venezuela, and the first national pastor that I ever met.

Welcome and farewell

One month ago I said that by Rogate Sunday (the fifth Sunday after Easter, which was May 6 this year) we either would be continuing to pray for rain or giving thanks for having received spring rains to recharge our well. ]ndeed, praise be to God that it was the second possibility that came true.

Better yet, on that Sunday we baptized Emmanuel David Sanchez and received into communicant membership Genesis Marquina. Emmanuel David is the son of Eleno Sanchez and Luz Maria’s daughter, Sarai, making him her twelfth grandchild. His baptismal verse was Colosenses 2:12. *Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Baptism is the visible means by which the Lord works regeneration in our hearts. Buried with Christ and dead to sin, we now, through the effective working of the word in Baptism, become partakers also of Christ’s resurrection: We are raised with Him by the same divine power by which God raised up Jesus from the dead. The casual comparison between circumcision and Baptism in this entire passage (Colossians 2:6-15) affords a very strong argument in favor of infant baptism; for the rite of circumcision, as practiced by the Jews, had to take place on the eighth day, and baptism is spoken of as being parallel to circumcision.

In fact, Genesis as one of the first to be baptized at our mission on June 29, 2008. Through baptism Genesis was adopted into God’s family, the church, by water and the Word, through a promise made good by the blood of Christ. Now she has entered fully into the communion of Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament of the altar for the strengthening of the faith created in her at baptism. This is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit as I noted in the sermon. Her confirmation verse: John 10:27-28. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” The Lord here gives us a guarantee against ourselves, against our own weakness and doubt. There are so many factors which tend to stifle faith in our hearts, to make us doubt the sincerity of God’s promises toward us, but this word of Christ must overcome all doubt most effectively.

So Rogate Sunday was a joyous day. But it also was a sad one, as we prayed that the Lord might protect them from material and spiritual danger, Luz Maria's daughter, Yepci Anahis Santana, and her children, Aaron, Oriana and Elias, in their travel to Peru. Like many Venezuelans, they will seek a brighter future in another country, Luz Maria's daughter, Wuendy Santana, has liived in Canada since 2010. Another daughter, Charli Rocio Santana Henrriquez, has lived in Ecuador for a little more than two years, as has Luz Maria's brother, Robert Henriquez Rivero. A niece, Romina Castillo, just left for Ecuador with her family, and another niece, Gabriela, now lives in Spain. So we prayed for them and the millions of other Venezuelans who have fled their homeland.

We ask that you, too, remember us and all Venezuelans in your prayers.

Church or mission?

On January 8, 2017, we celebrated the Baptism of our Lord (Matthew 3:13-17) by baptizing three and receiving five as communicant members by rite of confirmation.

Those baptized were:

• Anyelimar Katiusca Mesa Ruíz;
• Naiker Daniel Ruíz;
• Diana Carolina Torres.

Those publicly professing the faith and receiving first communion were:

• Escarleth Mariuzy Ruíz;
• Maryuri Daniela Rojas;
• Eduar José Garrido;
• José Ignacio Garrido;
• Frenyerlin Novoa.

During the dedication our chapel which opened the Divine Service, I said: Now I dedicate and set apart the edifice of Epiphany Lutheran Church and  all of its (communion) vessels to the glory and honor of almighty God and the edification of our faith, which is in Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It was the first time that I publicly named our congregation, “Epipany Lutheran Church.” Later I welcomed those receiving first communion in the name of Epiphany Lutheran Church and signed all the certificates of baptism and confirmation on behalf of Epiphany Lutheran Church.

Up until now we have identified this place, this project, as Epiphany Lutheran Mission. So what's in a name? Are we a “church” or a “mission”? Well, both, if properly understood.

The first baptism was performed here in 2005. there have 19 baptized and 27 received as communicant members by confirmation or reaffirmation of faith. Our Lord promised that “wherever two or three or gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). This is after He speaks of how to deal with an erring brother and says of the church, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” This is understood as the bestowing the Office of the Keys on the church on earth, even the smallest of local churches.

C.F.W. Walther, in his landmark work, “Church and Ministry”, says “the church”, properly understood, is the aggregate of  all those who, called out of the lost and condemned human race by the Holy Spirit through the Word, truly believe in Christ and by faith are sanctified and  incorporated in Christ. In this true church, there are no liars or hypocrites. The total membership of this true church is known only to God, who knows the most intimate secrets of the heart, thus it is “invisible” to us.

However, Scripture also calls the visible aggregate of all the called, that is, of all who confess and adhere to the proclaimed Word and use the sacraments, which consists of good and evil persons, “church”. So also it calls local congregations, found here and there, where the Word of God is preached and the sacraments administered, “churches”. Wherever there are Word and sacraments, there will be found true Christians, even though there may be false Christians in the visible assembly. God ultimately will judge those put on a false show of faith (Matthew 13:24-30), but for the sake of the faithful in the visible assembly, He recognizes the right of the smallest congregation, even one consisting of two or three people, as possessing all of the authority which He has given to the whole church. That is, to proclaim God's Law, the message of judgment, to the unrepentant, but the Gospel, the message of salvation and forgiveness, to the repentant sinner.

Even the smallest congregation has the right and the responsibility to call and place men, who have been properly prepared and examined, into the office of the holy ministry, which is the office of publicly proclaiming the Word and administering the sacraments in the name of Christ and His church. Local congregations also have the right and, indeed, the responsibility to send and support called and ordained ministers to preach and administer the sacraments in places where a stable community of professed Christians has not been established.

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. but how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”  Romans 10:13-15.

This generally is what is meant by “mission” or “mission work”. But it is the same ministry of the church: Preaching and administration of the sacraments. The Great Commission ties it all together: And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).

But we may distinguish, in common usage, between those who send and those who receive. We speak of a “mission” or “mission congregation” as a group of believers who do not have the resources to materially support a ministry in one location, much less send missionaries to distant shores. Other congregations (“churches”) may contribute toward the support of a resident pastor, construction of facilities or other needs.

Ideally a newly planted congregation would quickly grow to the point where it can not only support its own ministry, but mission projects outside its own locality. But any number of factors, both spiritual and material, may impede that progress.

Epiphany Lutheran Church of La Caramuca, Venezuela, has been a local church effectively since that first baptism in 2005. We remain a mission in both senses. We continue to try and reach those who do not know the hope of eternal life in Christ with the Gospel, and to show them God's love in action by helping them with their material needs. Also, we continue to depend on donations from concerned individuals, mission societies and other congregation in order to continue being a blessing to our community.

Most of the families that we serve have for generations been plagued by instability in work and personal relations. It was one of our objectives from the beginning to help them break the cycle of poverty imposed by false beliefs through Christian education. Now the entire country is gripped by an economic crisis in a world that seem to be gripped by fear and uncertainty. We ask, that if you have the means, please consider helping keep shining a light in the present darkness. You may donate on-line at this Web site. Thank and God bless.

The confirmation of Sotera del Carmen Zapata

On August 3, 2014, we received Sotera del Carmen Zapata as a communicant member by confirmation. Sotera is a widowed lady who lives a few doors down from us. She began attending our Sunday service occasionally, then more frequently, and finally expressed her desire to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Luz Maria and I began visiting her and studying Luther's Small Catechism with her. In a short time she was ready to be confirmed. The Old Testament lesson appointed for the seventh Sunday after Trinity, Isaiah 62:6-12, provided her confirmation verse: "Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him." I preached the sermon on this text. You can read the English translation here.

For her confirmation, I presented Sotera with a copy of the Bible (the Reina-Valera Spanish translation) with Luther's Small Catechism included as an appendix. We just received another package of these Bibles, published by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation of Macomb, Michigan, thanks to the efforts of Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones (CPTLN), the Venezuelan arm of Lutheran Hour Ministries. We are grateful to have received the shipment, because importing any type of merchandise into Venezuela is not easy these days.

Soon after becoming a communicant member, Sotera accompanied Luz Maria and her daughter, Yepci Santana, to a regional convention of the Venezuelan Lutheran women's organization, Sociedad Luterana de Damas Venezolanas (SOLUDAVE) in Taguay, in the state of Aragua. Thirty-two women from the Western and Central Zones of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, three national pastors, and Alexander Pérez, director of CPTLN Venezuela, attended the gathering. Alexander Pérez presented each participant with a copy of the Reina-Valera Bible plus Small Catechism. Luz Maria distributed 15 sets of flash cards explaining the Lutheran liturgy.

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Confirmation and first communion for Gianny Vanessa Roa Ruiz

 Here is the English text of the sermon that I preached for the confirmation and first communion of Gianny Vanessa Roa Ruiz. It was based on Proverbs 9:1-10 and Luke 14:15-24, the appointed Old Testament and Gospel readings for the second Sunday after Trinity, according to the one-year lectionary.


Grace and peace in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Many of you are here at the invitation of our sister, Gianny Vanessa Roa Ruiz, because today is the day of her confirmation and first communion She wants to share her joy with you.

We find an invitation in our reading of the Old Testament. "Wisdom has built her house, hewn out its seven pillars killed her victims, mingled her wine, and set her table. She has sent her maids on the topto the rooftops of the town to cry, Whoever is simple, come here.”

In the book of Proverbs, the concept of wisdom is symbolized by the figure of a woman. In chapters before the ninth, is the contrast between the figure of Wisdom, who is good, and a tempting adulteress. These women represent two lifestyles, or two ways. Wisdom is the way of the Lord, that is, how to live according to the will of God. This is the way of happiness that lasts forever. The other is the path of destruction, in which there is the promise of many vain pleasures, but in the end is only a trap.

There is something more, because in our text for today we have a picture of a great feast, prepared by the figure of wisdom with an invitation for everyone. "Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed." T his is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, who would be the true incarnation of divine wisdom and who has invited us to eat bread and drink wine, and also His body and blood in the Lord's Supper.
Furthermore,in our gospel for today, our Lord tells a parable, ie a symbolic story, of a man who prepared a great banquet and invited many. "And at the time of the banquet he sent his servant to say to those invited, Come, for everything is now ready."

But what happened? "And they all began to make excuses. The first said: I have bought a field, and I must go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I'll try them out, excuse me. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot go. "

What was Jesus talking about in this parable? Obviously, the father of the family is God the Father Almighty. His feast is eternal life in heaven. Why do so many refuse the invitation?  They do not see with eyes of faith the invitation to hear the word and receive the sacraments as a preview of the eternal feast in heaven. They are preoccupied with their businesses or their own personal matters. The same contrast is found in the book of Proverbs. Earthly affairs often seem more urgent or more attractive than seeking first the kingdom of God. However, the wise man, his mind enlightened by the Holy Spirit, understands that heavenly joy lasts forever, not just for the moment.

Furthermore, although the invitation to the Lord's Supper is free and for all, it is available only for a while. When our earthly life is over, so is the invitation and there is no second chance.

Look, many of you have received an invitation card for a wedding. The invitation is a gift for you. It's yours. Nobody can offer money to buy an invitation to a wedding. But what if someone takes an invitation card and throws it in the trash? He is not likely to get another invitation.

It is a more serious matter with the invitation to the Lord's Supper. We speak of the two kingdoms, the kingdom of God's power nd the kingdom of God's grace. The kingdom of divine power is the order of creation, the domain of His Law. The moral Law is the universal will of God for our lives. All humans are suubject to this Law and only one has fulfilled the Law, the will of God, perfectly. Therefore, to live under the Law is a sentence of physical and spiritual death.

However, one has fulfilled all the Law in our place, Jesus Christ. He paid the price for our sins, so we have our invitation to share in the joy of the Lord's Supper. One day we will be with Him in heaven, but in this world we have the opportunity to receive His body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine of the sacrament. "Do this in remembrance of me" does not just mean looking back to the first century, but also to anticipate the great feast with the church triumphant after the end of the world.
We have eternal life only by grace. No one can buy it and nobody earns eternal life on their own merits, however, we may decline the invitation and there is no other chance to escape eternal death.

We receive eternal life by faith alone through baptism. By our baptism, we are members of the body of Christ, the communion of saints, which is the church. The Bible says the invitation to baptism is for all nations, all families, men, women, old, young and babies. Why not share the sacrament with everyone?

In the Lutheran Church, we recognize only two sacraments, not seven as does the Roman Catholic church. By our definition, a sacrament should be instituted and commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ, should be a means of grace (forgiveness), and must have a visible element linked with the Word of God. In the case of baptism, the visible element is water, in the Lord's Supper the visible elements are the bread and wine.

 Confirmation is not a sacrament, it does not give a measure of grace that baptism that does not deliver. It is a ritual that marks the culmination of the preparation for first communion. The difference between the sacrament of baptism and the Lord's Supper is the warnings that to receive the Lord's Supper worthily, a person must examine his conscience and consciously repent of his sins, and discern the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament. To receive the sacrament unworthily is to receive condemnation, not a blessing.

So we teach these things to young believers with the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, written for parents to teach their children. The catechism contains the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father and basic doctrine. Confirmation is a public testimony of faith and a sign that the believer is ready to receive the sacrament.

Now our sister, Gianny Vanessa, has chosen the better portion, like Mary of Bethany. She is a wise girl. Let's welcome her as a communicant member.
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The peace that passes all understanding be with each of you forever. Amen.

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Oriana's confirmation

We began the Sunday service by singing “Castillo Fuerte” (“A Mighty Fortress”). Then I explained why I was wearing a red stole and pectoral cross, and why the altar paraments were red.

First, because the Holy Spirit appeared as fire on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:3), and also the Scriptures say, “he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire” (Mateo 3:11, Luke 3:16); and “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). So the color of fire symbolizes the force and energy of the Holy Spirit, active among us through the preaching of the pure Word and the administration of the sacraments as our Lord commanded. Since no one can confess Jesus as Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), on Reformation Sunday we recognize the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the public confession of the blessed Martin Luther, who stood before the powers of the world and declared his consciences was captive to the Word of God. Thus began the Reformation, which we accept as proof that the Spirit still guides the Church and keeps it in the true doctrine, not by new revelation, but rather by reaffirmation of the faith once delivered to the saints.

Second, red is the color of blood. For us especially, it symbolizes the blood of the holy martyrs, those who confessed Christ at the cost of their own lives. While God does not lay this destiny on all of us, He does demand that all of us offer ourselves as living sacrifices. That is to say, we are to be in every aspect of our lives, witnesses to Christ. The word “martyr” means “witness”, and so, with the martyrs as our examples, we understand every act of public confession to imply the promise that we formally make in the rite of confirmation, to remain faithful to the teachings of Christ to the point of death.

I preached on the appointed Old Testament lesson, 1 Samuel 3:19-21), explaining that in the context of this chapter, Samuel was a small boy, dedicated by his parents to the service of the Lord's temple in Shiloh where he lived and worked as the servant of the high priest, Eli. But Eli and his sons, the priests of Israel, were worldly and corrupt, and there were no true men of God to preach the Word of God to the people, and the people lost sight of God's will and drifted into unbelief.

But the Lord called audibly to Samuel while he slept, and the boy, thinking it was the high priest calling him, interrupted his master's sleep. Understandably irritated, Eli said that he had no called and told the boy to go back to bed. This happened three more times before Eli figured out that perhaps something unusual was taking place, and told Samuel the next time to answer the voice directly and immediately. This Samuel did, and received the first prophetic message that he was to deliver in the name of the Lord: To pronounce a judgment of death against Eli and his sons.

Of course, Samuel was afraid to do this, but since he realized he could not change the Word of the Lord and dare not disobey God's command, he did so anyway. Eli did not punish the boy, but, because of the remnant of faith left in his heart, recognized God s judgment as just and accepted it. The Lord continued to bless Samuel and as he mature, made him into a mighty and faithful prophet.

The application for us today is that as Christ has won for us salvation and eternal life through His death and resurrection, we must live by this truth and confess it publicly, even if it does not win us any popularity contests and even it means risking the loss of our lives. For we must love and obey God rather than men. “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God” (Lucas 12:8-9).

This story of the boy Samuel was especially appropriate as the sermon text, because following the sermon, Luz Maria's granddaughter, Oriana Montoya, came forward for confirmation. At nine years of age, she is the youngest person who has been confirmed as a member of our mission congregation.

Oriana was born and baptized a few months before I arrived in Venezuela in 2003. I suppose that I can say that I have known her all of her life, and that she cannot remember a time when I was not a part of her life and her grandmother's life.

There was no rite of confirmation apart from the sacrament of baptism in the early church. Unlike baptism, confession and absolution of sins, and the sacrament of the altar, “confirmation” was not instituted or commanded by Christ. It emerged as a separate ceremony and eventually was declared a “sacrament” in itself by the western Latin-speaking Church. In Eastern Orthodox churches to this day, both infant children and adult converts are baptized, anointed with the laying on of hands (“chrismation”), and communed on the same occasion, in unbroken succession.

The Lutheran Reformers decided to retain the rite of confirmation, while denying that it was a divinely appointed means of grace, and against infant communion. This is because while the Scriptures place no reservations on who may receive the blessings of baptism, there are stern warnings against receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper “unworthily.” In order to participate in the sacrament of the altar, one must be able to examine his or her conscience and repent of sin (1 Corinthians 11:28), and discern the presence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament (1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:29). The Reformers accept the western tradition of age 7 as the minimum age at which this level of understanding was possible, and 16th Century Lutheran church orders specify ages 7 to 12 as the optimum range for preparing children for first communion.

Later, in the 17th Century, under the growing influences of Calvinism and rationalism, the typical age of Lutheran confirmation was raised to 14 to 16 years, as confirmation came to be viewed more as a rite of passage into adulthood and the “completion” of a process begun with baptism.

Theologically speaking, however, baptism is the point of entry into the communion of the saints, and it isin baptism that one is covered with the righteousness of Christ, adopted as a child of God and receives the full promise of eternal life. There is no need to “complete” this process. On the other hand, it always has been the Lutheran understanding that catechesis, or instruction in the faith, is something that is a necessary part of sanctification (the Holy Spirit's work of molding us into the people God wants us to be), a process which is not complete until death. Therefore, catechesis should not stop at age 9, 12 or 16, but rather continue throughout adult life.

Therefore, having instructed and examined Oriana, and knowing of her desire to receive first communion with all of her friends and family as witnesses, I welcomed her into communicant membership in our mission.

As we prayed for Oriana and all those who had been baptized and confirmed at La Caramuca Lutheran Mission, I thought of another girl that I had known from birth through confirmation: my niece, Ashley Baltazar. I had stood up as a sponsor at her baptism, but at that moment I was particularly reminded of her confirmation at Zion Lutheran Church in Matteson, Illinois.

It was a congregation of mixed ethnic background in a similarly mixed community, and Ashley was confirmed along with young people of Caucasian, African and Latin American ancestry. Since Ashley's father, Mark, comes from a family that is Portuguese, Irish and Filipino, but mostly Filipino, the confirmation dinner consisted of traditional Filipino food. For me, mixed with the joy of Ashley's confirmation was a vision of what could be, a foreshadowing of Revelation 7, with a great multitude of all nations, all tribes and all races gathered around the throne of the Lamb. And it got me to thinking about the overseas mission field.

So at that moment I prayed for Oriana, for Ashley and for all who had made their vows of faith, that the Lord might keep them always in the true faith, strengthen them and call them back if they might stray. Amen.

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Six confirmed on Reformation Sunday 2010

Six young people were confirmed at our mission on Oct. 31, 2010. Here is the list of their names and confirmation verses:

• Jeison Manuel Arellano Farías, Philippians 4:7
• Jimmy Orlando Pérez Chinchilla, Joshua 1:9
• Angie Yoximar Pérez Chinchilla, John 10:27-28
• Yhonny Alexander Torres Ortega, Philippians 4:13
• Pedro José Santana Reimi, Psalm 50:15
• Karelis Santana Reimi, Psalm 51:10

This is the message that I had for them:

Today, Reformation Sunday, is a day of confession in two ways.

First, the confession of our sins. Every Sunday we begin the Divine Servie with the general confession of sins and receive absolution before the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This is the day of first communion for six of you.

These six have been instructed according to the Small Catechism of Martin Luther, so they understand the importance of confession and repentance of all immorality and false belief before receiving the true body and true blood of Jesus Christ in, with, and under the bread and wine. Because he does not believe the words “given for you” or “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” or doubts them, is not worthy, nor is ready to receive Christ's body and blood. As St. Paul says, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29).

By confession, we also mean public confession of the faith. In today's text (John 8:31-36), our Lord tells us, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The freedom Christ speaks of is freedom from sin. The truth of Christ, that is to say, His sacrifice on the cross, frees us from slavery to sin and Satan. Christ paid the price for the sins of the whole world on the cross, and so we are justified by faith in Him, and not by our own works. However, to remain true disciples of Christ, we must abide in His Word.

In holy baptism we received the complete assurance of eternal life in Christ and began the life of faith, we were born again of the Holy Spirit. Baptism was our first confession of faith by the work of the Holy Spirit. As it says in Mark 16:16, “He who believes and is baptized, will be saved; but he does not believe, will be condemned.” In baptism we receive the gift of saving faith.

But, it is possible to lose the benefits of baptism, if we do not abide in the Word of God. We have this Word in the Holy Scriptures, the source and rule of our faith. The Scriptures, written by the apostles and the prophets, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, tell us all that we need to know for our salvation. In the Bible, God speaks to every one of us.

But abiding in the Word is not just a matter of listening, reading and reflecting inwardly. The Word at times demands a verbal response.

For it also is the work of the Holy Spirit when we say “I believe” in the Word of God. As St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”

Also, when Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” our Lord replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah; for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

On the day of their wedding, a bride and groom promise each other to love and live together until death. But, for them to fulfill this commitment, it will be necessary, at times, to reaffirm these vows in the years to come, in times of joy or grief. What do you think, should it be sufficient for a man and wife to say to each other, “I love you” on their wedding day and never again? For a man to kiss his wife on the wedding day and never again? Of course not!

In the same way, the promise of salvation and faith that we receive in baptism is for always. But a times we must reaffirm our trust in the Word of God, not just to reinforce our own faith, but to testify of Christ's truth to the world.

That is why on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany, calling the church back to the basic truths of the Holy Scriptures: justification by faith alone, salvation by grace alone and the Scriptures as the only infallible rule of faith. Later, Luther, a simple German monk, stood before Charles V, in his day emperor of all Europe and as King of Spain, ruler of the Spanish colonies in the New World, including Venezuela, and representatives of the Roman church and the empire and confessed this faith.

Karelis, Pedro, Jeison, Yhonny, Angie, Jimmy.

They said to him, “Recant the teachings of justification by faith alone, salvation by grace alone and the Scriptures as the only rule of faith under pain of death.” And Luther replied, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicteyd each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

In your confirmation today, six of you will publicly confess the faith in which you were baptized. Let us thank God that we live in a country where there is freedom of conscience, so that you do not confess under pain of death at this very moment. However, as you have abided in the Word of God until this moment, you must testify to its truth with your lips. Also, today we remember Luther and others who risked their lives for the pure doctrine of the Bible and express our solidarity with believers in countries where Christians are persecuted.

May God bless you richly on this Reformation Day, and this day of your first communion. Amen.

Two confirmed on Reformation Sunday

Dexi Yovana Torres Ortega and Yovany Javier Torres Ortega were confirmed as members of our little flock on Reformation Sunday, October 25, 2009. The siblings were baptized together at La Caramuca Lutheran Mission on March 30, 2007. Since 2004 we have had 11 baptisms and seven confirmations here.

This was the first time I presided over the rite of confirmation (prior to my ordination in December 2008, baptisms and confirmations were conducted by visiting pastors when they had the time to travel to La Caramuca).I have attended many confirmation ceremonies in my life (my own was 37 years ago), so I was familiar with the order of service, but it was like looking at it from the other side of the looking-glass, so to speak.

Since it was Reformation Sunday, our hymns included the Spanish versions of "A Mighty Fortress" ("Castillo Fuerte") and "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word." ("Sostennos Firmes, Oh Señor"). I do not have recording of our congregation singing "A Mighty Fortress", but I do have one of the members of El Redentor (Redeemer) Lutheran Church in San Antonio de Capayuacuar singing it on Reformation Sunday 2004. Their version sounds a lot like that of La Caramuca Lutheran Mission.

My sermon text was John 8:31-36, which contains the often misinterpreted saying of Jesus: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." In fact, the text itself indicates that Jesus' original listeners misinterpreted His words. They thought he was referring to political liberty. To live as free citizens under a just government is a great blessing from God, as are things like plenty of money in the bank, many friends, a nice house, a happy marriage and children. But the greatest gift from God is the spiritual liberty that we have through justification by faith in Jesus Christ.

Justification by faith alone is the central doctrine that had nevertheless been almost forgotten by the time of Martin Luther. As the epistle reading (Romans 3:21-28) said, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

This truth frees us from the most profound slavery, the slavery to sin. We may have this spiritual liberty even in the absence of all the blessings mentioned above, including political liberty. As the hymn says, "Take they our life, goods, fame, child or wife, the Kingdom ours remaineth." On the other hand, without this spiritual liberty, we will not find lasting happiness in any of the other blessings of life. In fact, the power of sin will in time destroy them all.

We also gave thanks for Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the moveable-type printing press. During the week I had talked with the preschool children about this in terms that I hope they understood. I told them once upon a time, books were very expensive, about the price of a house or a farm, because every copy of a book had to be written out by hand. So many people did not bother learning to read and they did not have copies of the Bible translated into their own language. Then a man made a machine that could print many copies of books at one time. The first book he copied with his machine was the Bible, because so many people wanted to read the Bible for themselves.

Soon there were many translations of the Bible, and many people were reading it and talking about it. And their faith was greatly strengthened. Soon many other books were being printed and people were reading them. That is why it is a blessing from God that we all have the opportunity to learn to read, and study the Bible and other books for ourselves when people in the olden days could not.

A day of the living, not the dead

The following Sunday was All Saints Day and also in Venezuela, the Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead celebration originated with the ancient indigenous cultures of the Aztecs, Mayas and others who for 3,000 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus observed rituals in honor of their ancestors. It is a relatively innocuous custom in Venezuela, the day on which people honor the departed by bringing flowers to the cemetery to adorn the graves, which they also take the time to clean. There are no important rituals or feasts associated with the Day of the Dead outside of the privacy of the home.

Remembering friends and family members who are no longer with us is not itself a sin. But, as I explained, in other Latin American countries, like Mexico, where the Day of the Dead involves graveside altars and offerings of food and drink to the ghosts of ancestors, the people have crossed the line from respect for the dead into idolatry. Likewise, the Bible says there is a great gulf between our world and where the souls of the departed await Judgment Day. So it is wrong on the one hand to consult witches and mediums, and on the other, to pray for the souls of departed Christians or to ask them to intercede with God for us, for we cannot help them and they cannot help us.

Also as Christians we need not fear the power of ghosts or fallen angels. Halloween is gaining ground in Venezuela as an "imported" holiday. The custom of "trick or treat" seems harmless, but in its cultural context it is based on a belief that is contrary to the Bible, too. That is, on one night each year, the spirits of the dead and other supernatural beings are able to enter our world and do harm to those who do not offer them food and other gifts.

So why as a church do we celebrate All Saints Day? In part to remember those Christians have gone before us into God's kingdom of glory as examples for us to follow in our own lives. but more to celebrate our own hope for the future. For the word "saint" does not mean someone who is more righteous than anyone else, but all who belong to the Body of Christ through baptism. For us, All Saints Day is a day of those who are living, now and forever, not a day of the dead.

Education for older children

Not only do we have 20 children, ages 2 to 6, in our preschool every morning, every afternoon Luz Maria is tutoring 18 older children (ages 6 to 11). Many in this age-group in our community need remedial classes in reading, writing, arithmetic and other subjects. Most of our confirmed youth (Dexi and Yovany Torres, Noel Marquina and Sandro Perez) are helping Luz Maria with this project.

We are thankful that we have been able to continue the preschool and the tutoring despite that the fact that power outages have continued, plus the community was without a public water supply for 15 days. Because of our water storage system, we were able to weather this storm by conserving our drinking water and pumping water for washing from our well. Fortunately, we were not struck by the double whammy of the electricity being down when we needed to pump water (our pump is electric).

Baptisms, confirmations and impending ordination

Well, more baptisms and confirmations.

Maria de los Angeles Brito was baptized in La Caramuca, Saturday, Novermber 29, 2008. Maria actually lives in Barinas and attends Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, but her father wanted to attend her baptism and was not able to do so on Sunday, November 30. So Maria was baptized by Pastor Ted Krey on his last official visit to Barinas and we had our second service of Holy Communion for the newly confirmed in our mission. I am happy to report that Sandro Pérez was once again released from the hospital and was able to attend.

The following day there were three baptisms and four confirmations at Corpus Christi. The children baptized were Moisés, Olgret and Ricardo Rivero. Confirmands were Maria Brito, Maria Eugenia Vera, Yelitza Pérez and Luís Eduardo Jimenez. Since Eduardo Flores personally instructed these four young people, it was a great way for him to end his year of vicarage in Barinas.

Eduardo and I will be in Caracas this week, preparing for our ordinations on Saturday, December 13. I have received and accepted a call from the Lutheran Church of Venezuela to serve as a missionary in western Venezuela. I will be based in La Caramuca (and authorized to preach and administer the sacraments there, but also will have the privilege and responsibility of searching for new locations to plant churches (we already have made some contacts in the neighboring state of Apure, for example).)

Eduardo and our fellow “seminarista” Sergio Maita will be ordained and installed as instructors at the “mini-seminary” that has been established in Caracas. Sergio has completed his vicarage at Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church in the eastern city of Maturin. In addition to teaching new seminaristas (there are six prospects so far for this next year), Eduardo and Sergio will take turns serving the congregations of La Paz (Peace) and La Santa Trinidad (Holy Trinity) in Caracas. Neither of these congregations have full-time pastors.

Pastor Abel García, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute, will be moving from the city of Barcelona, Venezuela, to Caracas in order to supervise the seminary.

The Juan de Frias Theological Institute was founded by Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionaries 45 years ago and based on the concept of theological education by extension (TEE). This concept, TEE, was pioneered by Presbyterians in Guatemala in 1963 as a way of meeting some of the challenges of training pastors within a Latin American cultural context.

After some apparent initial success, the TEE model became widely promoted throughout Latin America by many denominations. But, in Venezuela at least, after 45 years that as a total replacement for a seminary education, TEE leaves something to be desired.

The New Testament does not mandate any specific method for training pastors. We have the example of Jesus teaching the Scriptures in the typical manner of a Jewish rabbi, and selecting 12 men from among those who listened to His teachings. To these men He gave special training for three years before commissioning them as apostles (there were, of course, only 11 by that time, Judas Iscariot having dropped out of the program in a spectacular fashion). So according to the model of our Lord Himself, there should be several years of preparation and examination before one is qualified to receive a call into the public ministry.

This preparation does not involve only “book learning”. We read later in the New Testament that although Saul of Tarsus was highly educated by both Jewish and Greco-Roman standards, approximately 17 years passed between the time of his conversion and when he was ready to embark on his first missionary journey as the Apostle Paul (Galations 1:16-2:1). Preparation for the public ministry is a matter of character formation as well as intellectual development.

Finally, we may note the importance of Biblical instruction starting in early childhood for Paul's protege, Timothy. Before receiving Paul's special training, Timothy was taught the basic doctrines of the Holy Scriptures by his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14-16).

It also is important to consider that the original 12 apostles were devout Jews, too. Jews in the first century A.D., like Jews today, placed a great deal of importance on religious education. So, despite being “simple” fishermen and tradesmen, they did not start from a position of ignorance when Jesus chose them as his disciples.

The modern, North American system of recruiting young men for the seminary presupposes this kind of religious upbringing. The grooming of a pastoral candidate from early childhood on can greatly speed up the process of pastoral formation. In addition, a shared faith motivates a family to make the sacrifices necessary to support the prospective pastor for four years of college plus four years in the seminary.

Beyond the family, Missouri Synod Lutherans historically have recognized the importance of undergirding seminary training with formal Christian education at all levels. This is why the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod developed the second-largest network of private preschools, elementary schools and colleges in the United States (surpassed only by the Roman Catholic Church).

One problem throughout much of Latin America is these preconditions for seminary training often do not exist (although there are Lutheran seminaries in the larger, more prosperous countries of Brazil and Argentina). In Venezuela, second- or third-generation Lutherans are rare birds. Members of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela often are the only members of their extended families who are practicing Christians of any sort. So the young man who wants to become a pastor may not have a role model within the family to emulate, plus the family may not be keen on the idea of the young man being taken out of the workforce for eight years only to receive wages considerably less than what he could expect in a secular profession that required an equal amount of education.

Likewise, in Venezuela even the Roman Catholic Church does not support the vast network of parochial schools that one sees in the United States.

Then there is in Latin America the wide cultural gap between those who have received some form of higher education and those who have not. This gap exists to some extent in the United States between those who have gone from high school to four-year liberal arts colleges and classmates who ended their formal education with a high school diploma or maybe two years at a technical college or business school, but the difference in Venezuela and other Latin American countries is much more pronounced. Young people who have left their rural village or urban slum for the university may find it very difficult to reassimilate into their old community.

The TEE alternative is to offer theological training to people already recognized as leaders within their communities without requiring them to change their place of residence or abandon their means of earning a living. The students are given printed materials to study on their own time and meet periodically with an instructor to discuss and review what should have been learned. The student can take as many courses as desired and advance at his or her own pace. Involvement with a local congregation is supposed to provide the opportunity for practical application of the knowledge acquired.

Over the past 45 years, the Juan de Frias Theological Institute has offered theological education by extension to all interested parties, with the proviso that one must complete the more basic courses before continuing to a more advanced level. This approach has proved successful in providing laypeople with the basic grounding in Christian doctrine that they may not have received as children or teenagers.

As a method of training pastors, TEE has proved to have a number of shortcomings:

1. It assumes an extraordinary degree of self-discipline on the part of the pastoral candidate, assuming that he will devote himself to daily study for an indefinite period while working to support himself and his family, and assuming leadership responsibilities within a local congregation. The result is a high drop-out rate as students become discouraged by these demands. I should also note that in Venezuela it is, in the first place, quite difficult to find a) a job that b) pays enough to support a family while c) allowing one enough free time for night courses and church activities.
2. The Lutheran Church of Venezuela is struggling to fill its existing pulpits in the face of an urgent need for pastors to plant new churches. Doors are open that probably will not remain so permanently. Yet training pastors solely by TEE has proven extremely time-consuming. The historical average for achieving the training needed for the pastoral ministry by means of Juan de Frias TEE courses is 13 years.
3. The TEE approach does not promote a sense of dedication to the pastoral office. Jesus told Peter, Andrew and the rest to leave their fishermen's nets and follow Him to the ends of the earth, if need be. He also said that heeding His call might well mean leaving family and friends behind (Mark 10:28-31, Lucas 9:59-62). He did not say, “Stay in Capernaum where you can witness to the people with whom you feel most comfortable when you have the time.” According to a Lutheran understanding of mission, not every Christian is called to be a missionary, but all pastors are called to be missionaries wherever the Lord may lead them. It is the responsibility of the whole church to send pastors to preach and (the sacraments, even into the poorest and most remote areas.

While not an inherent flaw in the strategy of theological education by extension, another problem the Lutheran Church of Venezuela must consider is this: LCMS World Missions withdrew nearly all of its ordained missionaries from Venezuela in 2003. Theodore Krey, the last LCMS-sponsored theological educator in Venezuela, will leave in January 2009. The Lutheran Church of Venezuela lacks the financial resources to support theological educators whose only task is to travel regularly to the far corners of the country to teach theological extension courses as the LCMS missionaries did.

Starting in 2006, the Juan de Frias Theological Institute has attempted to balance its TEE offerings with a program of resident or semi-resident study in a central location for pastoral candidates. Eventually this program will be supplemented by regional centers for theological education which will not only serve to teach basic doctrine to the laity, but also recruit pastoral candidates. One of our goals is to establish La Caramuca Lutheran Mission as one of these regional centers.

I began taking Juan de Frias courses during my first year in Venezuela as I realized my continued presence in Venezuela would require at least the capacity to teach Bible classes in Spanish. At first I did not seek the responsibilities of the pastoral office, but eventually I realized that our mission in La Caramuca would require the attention of a resident pastor and that I was the most likely candidate for the position. So it was a great blessing when I was invited by the national church to participate in the pastoral study program in 2007. The program requires a five-year commitment: one year of intensive, resident study; a year of vicarage; and three more years of attending seminars in Caracas and other locations.

This program has allowed me to study for the ministry without interrupting the development of our Lutheran school in western Venezuela.

Over the past five and a half years in Venezuela, I have had the privilege of receiving instruction from the following visiting profesors:

• Dr. Douglas Rutt and Dr. David Coles of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
• José Pfaffenzeller, Concordia Seminary, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Dr. Rudy Blank, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
• Mark Braden, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Cleghorn, Wisconsin, and a Greek tutor at the Fort Wayne seminary.
• Paul Brink and Henry Witte, both former missionaries to Venezuela currently serving Latino missions in Iowa.

I am grateful to these people and also to Phil Bickel, another former missionary pastor to Venezuela, and Dale Saville, agricultural missionary in eastern Venezuela, who awakened my interest in mission work as a second career and in Venezuela as a mission field.

Five confirmed in La Caramuca

"So, when's your second communion?" That was the question from Elihu, a boy just old enough to understand that we had a "first communion" service for five confirmands, Sunday, November 2, 2008. It is a very good question, one that we are asking ourselves. Only for us it is more in the form of a prayer to the Lord to help us follow this great first step with many more.


Each confirmand received his or her own Bible with their confirmation verse written on the first inside page and signed by Pastor Krey, myself and Eduardo Flores. The confirmands and their confirmation verses are as follows:

Aaron Josué Montoya Santana:

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble" Psalm 46:1.

Adriana Karolina Talosa Mendoza:

"Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying: I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall
not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" John 8:12.

Dariana Estefania Talosa Mendoza:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" Matthew 6:33.

Noel Alexander Marquina Villamizar:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" Joshua 1:9.

Sandro José Pérez Pumar:

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1.

We sang songs based on some of these verses, including "Dios es nuestro amparo" (Psalm 46) and "El Señor es mi luz y mi salvación" (Psalm 27). Psalm 46, the appointed psalm for the day was also the inspiration for Luther's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress".

Earlier that morning we sang both "Dios es nuestro amparo" and "Castillo Fuerte" ("A Mighty
Fortress" in Spanish) at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas, because November 2 was Reformation Sunday according to the liturgical calendar used by the Lutheran Church of Venezuela. In many countries, Reformation Sunday is celebrated the Sunday before October 31, if the 31st does not fall on a Sunday. (Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.)

So we had red paraments on the altar in both Corpus Christi and La Caramuca to symbolize the continuing activity of the Holy Spirit in the Reformation and in the church today through Word and sacrament. We also will have red paraments next Sunday, November 9, as we celebrate the Sunday of the Fulfillment. On most liturgical calendars, the Sunday of the Fulfillment, when the church looks forward to the second coming of the Lord Jesus to take His redeemed people into heaven, is observed on the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent season. However, according to our Venezuelan church calendar, November 16 will be All Saints' Day, a commemoration of all Christians who have departed this life, but especially the blessed martyrs. On November 23, the last Sunday in the liturgical year, we will celebrate the festival of Christ the King, which is combined with the observation of the Sunday of the Fulfillment in many churches. During these last two Sundays of the Pentecost season, the paraments on the altar will be white.

This arrangement of the church calendar, while somewhat unusual, is consistent with the tradition that the last Sundays of Pentecost focus on the end times, in anticipation of Christ's Second Coming, even as we prepare to remember His first appearance on earth during Advent.

I should also mention in regard to October 31, that Halloween is known in Venezuela, but is more of an imported, totally commercialized holiday. In fact, the Venezuelan government has tried to discourage the observance of Halloween for this reason. A more authentic Venezuelan tradition is el Día de los Muertos on November 2. Like the Day of the Dead in Mexico, the Venezuelan holiday has roots deep in pre-Columbian culture. But the Day of the Dead in Venezuela avoids some of the more occultic aspects of its Mexican counterpart. There are no skulls made of sugar and no graveside altars with offerings of food and beverages to the departed. Rather, much like Memorial Day in the United States, it is the day to lay flowers on the graves of loved ones.

Sunday, November 2, 2008, also was notable for the baptism of Luís Gabriel, infant son of Lusveidis and Luís Orellana in Corpus Christi. I got to hold the bowl of water (there was no baptismal font) while Pastor Ted Krey baptized the child. I played a more active role in the administration of Holy Communion in Corpus Christi and La Caramuca, distributing the bread while Pastor Krey distributed the wine.

Which brings me back around to the question: What happens next for our little flock in La Caramuca? Pastor Ted Krey, who has been the supervising pastor for myself and vicar Eduardo Flores, will leave for the Dominican Republic at the end of this year. The good news is that I
have been extended a call from the Lutheran Church of Venezuela to serve as a national missionary in the Western Zone, with my base of operations in La Caramuca. I will be authorized to preach and administer the sacraments myself to those who need them. The date of my ordination has been set for December 13, 2008, at El Salvador Lutheran Church in Caracas.

La Caramuca Lutheran Mission will continue to depend on the prayers and financial support of our friends in the United States, as there is no large, strong congregation in the area to support our work, and the national church-body does not have the funds to support all the mission
work that must be done. There is an urgent need for Christian schools and churches here despite the widespread poverty. That is why I have taken the rather unusual step of remaining in Venezuela rather than returning to one of the seminaries in the United States and seeking a
call to the ministry after graduation there.