How we celebrated Holy Week 2025

Reaffirmation of Alfonso Torres.

"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15.

 On Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, we  received into membership Alfonso Torres. We have known him and his family for 23 years. Five of his children were among the first to be baptized at our mission on March 25, 2007: 

Psalm 37:4

    • Yexi Karina;

    • Deisy Yovana;

    • Yaneth Andreina;

    • Yovanny Javier;

    • Jhonny Alexander.

Yaneth was the youngest at 18 months. Deisy brought Yaneth to our Sunday school classes and, from 2 to 6 years of age, Yaneth was a 

 in our preschool. Deisy and Yovanny received first communion on October 25, 2009 (Reformation Sunday). Jhonny received first communion on October 31, 2010 (again Reformation Sunday). 

Alfonso and his wife, Maria Cecilia, welcomed another daughter, Diana Carolina, and she was baptized on January 8, 2017 (the dedication of our current sanctuary). Diana also would attend our Sunday school and preschool. She received first communion on October 31, 2021.
Deisy’s daughter, Emely Antonella Estrada Torres, was baptized on December 24, 2017. Two more of Alfonso and Maria Cecilia's grandchildren, Jesuly and Josué Fernández Torres, were baptized on January 6, 2019. We received Maria Cecilia into membership by reaffirmation of faith on September 15, 2024.

Reaffirmation of Maria Cecilia.

The Torres are an example of how family can strengthen the faith and faith can strengthen the family. The great outflow of people from Venezuela has had a devastating effect on many marriages, which have not survived lengthy separations. Of the Torres children, only Yaneth and Diana remain in La Caramuca, but we give thanks to God that they have a home with both parents present and a church home in our mission.

Second part of the Sanctus

Of  course, we began our observance of Holy Week seven days earlier, on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025.

According to John 12:1, six days before the Feast of Passover Jesus arrived in Bethany, where He had raised Lazarus from the dead. When he left for Jerusalem the next morning, a large crowd came out of the city to greet him. Having heard of Lazarus's resurrection and Jesus' other signs, both the residents of Jerusalem and Passover pilgrims came out to greet him as the multitude had welcomed Simon Maccabeus when he entered to drive the Gentiles from the holy city (1 Maccabees 13:51). But Jesus did not approach Jerusalem as a conqueror coming to free Jerusalem from its oppressors and establish his kingdom by force. He was not mounted on a white charger, but on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9.

He entered Jerusalem as the true King of Kings whose “dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river, the Euphrates, even to the ends of the earth”, but not to make war but to “speak peace to the nations” (Zechariah 9:10).

We remembered this mission with our annual procession of palms and, as we do every Sunday, sang with joy, “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" in the second part of the Sanctus in our Holy Communion liturgy. As on the first Palm Sunday, the words are drawn from Psalm 118:25-26. The first part of the Sanctus is based on the prophet Isaiah 6:1-5.

 The vocation of womanhood

April 13 also was the fifteenth birthday of Luz Maria’s granddaughter, Anyi Vanesa Garrido Santana. We celebrated her quinceañera that afternoon. The quinceañera is celebrated across Latin America as a religious and a social event that emphasizes the importance of family and society in the life of a young woman as she passes from childhood into adulthood. The Roman Catholic version includes a mass and vows to the Virgin Mary, 

But in our Lutheran quinceañera reaffirmed her baptismal vows. She was baptized here on June 19, 2010. Her parents, along with the entire congregation, spoke the vows for her. Why repeat the baptismal vows at this time? Truly, we should remember our baptism daily, every time we pray in the name of the Trinity. Dr. Martin Luther said to remember your baptism every time you wash your face. But it was a special moment for Anyi to reaffirm her identity as a child of God as she contemplated her future direction in life. Especially because, as a woman, that might involve carrying new life in her womb, something no man will ever experience.

Nor did we forget that most blessed among women, the mother of our Lord (Luke 1:28). When the angel told Mary heard that the fruit of her womb would be the Word made flesh, she simply said, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word.” (verse 38). When she heard nearly same words from her relative, Elizabeth, “Blessed are you among and blessed is the fruit of your womb”, Mary broke out into the song of praise we call the Magnificat (Luke 1:47-55). We sang it at Anyi’s quinceañera.

Come, Tell the Story of Salvation
After Palm Sunday, we began a vacation Bible school with the theme, "Come, Tell the Story of Salvation." There are many Pentecostal sects in our area that don't celebrate Holy Week. Their pastors tell them it's a pagan holiday. From Monday to Wednesday, we explained the biblical basis of Holy Week to 20 children. We encouraged them to use the chronology of Holy Week to tell their parents the story of Christ's death and resurrection. It also was the occasion to celebrate the seventh birthday of Emmanuel David Sanchez, Luz Maria’s grandson.

Maundy Thursday in Barinas

We celebrated Maundy Thursday with divine service at the Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barrio El Cambio, Barinas. The epistle designated for Maundy Thursday (1 Corinthians 11:23-32) contains the same words of institution of the Lord's Supper as in the three synoptic gospels. For Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it is part of their account of the Passover meal that Jesus shared with the apostles before his crucifixion. However, in John's gospel, we do not find these words, but rather the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. In the ancient world, footwashing helped prepare people for specific tasks. 

In the Old Testament ritual context, footwashing was a symbol of purification. Priests were required to wash their hands and feet before entering the Holy Place and offering the sacrifice on the altar (Exodus 30:17-21; 40:30-32; 2 Chronicles 4:6). In Exodus 29:4 and Leviticus 8:6, footwashing is part of the priestly consecration rite. There are parallels in Greco-Roman literature. In the works of Homer and Strabo, people routinely wash their feet before entering a sacred place.

We observed Good Friday at La Caramuca with a Tenebrae service. This liturgical ceremony originated seven or eight centuries after Christ. The purpose of this service was to remember the dark moments that occurred in Jesus' life, from his euphoric entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday until the night of Jesus' burial on Good Friday. The most notable aspect of the service is several lit candlesextinguished one by one while Scripture readings are shared to tell the story of Holy Week.

Roosters crow like clockwork

One of the most poignant moments in the Passion story is when the Apostle Peter realizes that he has denied his Lord three times before a rooster in the vicinity of Pilate’s courtyard has finished calling the watches of the night. Listening for cockcrow as a way of marking the passage of time between midnight and dawn is an ancient and worldwide practice. Roosters will crow several times soon after midnight, and again at the dawn of day. The birds have an internal rhythm that tells them when to crow. Although roosters can occasionally crow at any time of day, the majority of their crowing is like clockwork, peaking in frequency at time intervals roughly 24 hours apart.

We have firsthand experience of this. Backyard chicken flocks are a staple in Venezuela, as they were in the rural South Dakota of my childhood. Once, during a Skype call, my mother, who grew up on a farm, heard one of our roosters crowing and closely guessed its age by the tone of its crow. I was quite impressed.

Besides the crowing rooster in the parallel Gospel accounts of Peter’s denial of Christ, our Lord speaks of a rooster in Mark 13:35. Hens and their chicks are mentioned in Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34. There are no clear references to chickens in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word, zarzir, in Proverbs 30:31 is sometimes translated “strutting rooster”, but other translations render it, “greyhound”, while in Job 38:36 the word, sekvi, also is of uncertain meaning. Sometimes it is translated as “rooster”, but otherwise as “heart”.
In 1932, an onyx seal was found on a tomb 12 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem, dating back to the the seventh century BC. It features a fighting rooster, with the inscription: “Belonging to Jaazaniah, servant of the King”. This could be the man named in 2 Kings 25:23 and Jeremiah 40:8.

Why roosters are worth the noise

Our flock has grown to 20 hens, two roosters and 60 chicks. We sacrificed four hens who were no longer laying (not in a propitiatory sense) for Easter dinner for our congregation. It has been some time since we have had to buy eggs (which are selling for $5 for a carton of 30). In fact, Luz Maria has sold eggs to people who want a farm-fresh, organic product. Once I got into an online debate with people who tried to tell me that it’s not worth the trouble to keep roosters. They are noisy, when there’s more than one, they fight over the hens, and hens will lay eggs anyway. But the hens are healthier when they maintain their natural reproductive cycle, you do not have to buy new hens to replace the ones that have stopped laying, and many people here consider eggs produced with the help of roosters to be of higher nutritional quality. In addition to providing eggs and meat, free-range chickens help us control termites and biting ants.

César Delgado confirmed on Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024, we received into communicant membership César Miguel Delgado Rojas. He chose as his confirmation verse Isaiah 41:13, “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not, I will help you.” The second part of the book of Isaiah, chapters 40 to 66, is known as the Book of Consolations and pictures the restoration of the remnant of Israel, the messianic King, and the final glory of the Church. “Fear not, I will help you” or “Fear not, I am with you” is a favorite phrase of the prophet.

Deborah, woman of God
On March 8, 2024, we concluded “Old Testament I”, an online course for deaconesses in training, with a study of the Book of Judges. Deborah, prophetess, wife and judge, was a woman who loved Jehovah and his Word. God gave her wisdom from her and she used it for the good of her neighbors, giving them advice from her.

We know more about Deborah than about the five Old Testament prophetesses, including Miriam, Moses' sister; Huldah, advisor to King Josiah (2 Kings 22:8-20; 2 Chronicles 34:22-28); Isaiah's wife (Isaiah 8:3); and the mother of King Lemuel (Proverbs 31:1). Prophetesses mentioned in the New Testament include Anna, the widow who blessed the Baby Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:25-35); Philip's daughters (Acts 21:9); and the prophetesses of Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:5).

Although the Scriptures mention prophetesses, none were public speakers during a meeting of God's people or priests in his temple or apostles or pastors of the church. In fact, St. Paul's reference to prophetesses in 1 Corinthians 11 occurs in a passage that emphasizes the leadership role of a husband. The Scriptures always distinguish the roles of men and women. Women can proclaim God's Word publicly through song (like Miriam and Deborah) and privately through counsel. Furthermore, the Scriptures strictly warn against false prophetesses (Ezekiel 13:17) such as Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14) and Jezabel (Revelation 2:20-23).

Continuing deaconess training

On March 19, the Rev. Dr. Sergio Fritzler from Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic began the orientation of 16 pastor various countries for the next course, "Diaconal Practice 2" with a devotional on the mercy of God. The next step was the orientation of more than 40 women from Venezuela and other countries on March 21, 2024.

Medicines from GLO distributed

On Sunday, March 3, 2024, we distributed the bulk of non-prescription medicines received from Global Lutheran Outreach. The rest were distributed through in-person visits to those whose disabilities prevented them from leaving the house.

After the pandemic, the palms

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

On April 2, 2023, we marched through the streets of La Caramuca in our first Palm Sunday procession since April 14, 2019. A number of our sister congregations in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela did the same.

Although the Venezuelan government continues to urge citizens to take preventive measures, and some medical facilities and businesses still require masks for people to enter, most restrictions on personal mobility have been relaxed. As of April 30, the Venezuelan government reported 267 active cases of COVID-19 throughout the nation, with 17 hospitalized, nine in Comprehensive Diagnostic Centers, eight in private clinics, and 233 receiving supervised community care. With these figures, 1,140 days after the COVID-19 crisis was declared in Venezuela, confirmed cases total 552,627 with 546,504 recovered patients, which corresponds to a recovery rate of 99 percent, and 5,856 deaths.

“Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel, who comes in the name of the Lord!" (John 12:12-18) is the second part of the Sanctus in the liturgy we use today. Both the hosanna acclamation and the words, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” come from Psalm 118:25-26. Psalm 118 is a processional psalm celebrating God's repeated deliverance of his people through the centuries. The faithful would enter through the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem with palms to receive the priestly blessing of verse 26. These words of the psalm also were understood in a messianic sense, like the Old Testament lesson for Palm Sunday, Zechariah 9:9-12.

Something of a Passion play

On Wednesday of Holy Week, members of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, our neighboring congregation in Barinas, presented a dramatization by their youth of what they had learned about the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Our young people were invited to participate as well. The abbreviated Passion play included Jesus washing His disciples’ feet as recorded in John 13:1-17. Following that were the words of institution, recorded in Matthew 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-23; and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, also were included. We are grateful to Pastor Raimundo Brito, and his wife and deaconess, Sandra, for arranging this event. Their daughter, Sara, brought Easter eggs.

I should explain that this was not the service of the Eucharist dressed up as a modern Jewish Passover seder. This is an important point for us, because surrounding our Lutheran mission are neo-pentecostal sects that teach true Christians should not celebrate Christmas or Easter according to “man-made traditions,” but should observe Old Testament festivals like Sukkot, the Feast of Booths. Some even say Christians should observe Hanukkah, which is not a holiday ordained in the Old Testament, but originated in the intertestamental period. Our role as Lutherans is not to collaborate in the confusion, but in the freedom of the gospel, we approach the Eucharist with all reverence and all clarity.

During the existence of the Tabernacle and later of the Temple in Jerusalem, the focus of the Passover festival was the sacrifice of the lamb, which not only recalled the deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-36; Exodus 13:1-16) but also pointed to the sacrifice of the Messiah (Isaiah 53). In our Lord's time, Passover was one of the three pilgrimages, the name given to the three festivals during which the Jewish people used to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem and offer offerings and sacrifices. The others were Shavuot, also called Pentecost, and Sukkot.

Each family large enough to fully consume a young lamb was to offer one for sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem on the evening of the 14th day of the month of Nisan, and eat it that night, which was Nisan 15. If the family was too small to finish eating the entire offering at one time, an offering was made for a group of families. There could be none of the meat left in the morning. The slaughter of the lamb took place in the atrium of the Temple of Jerusalem. The slaughter could be carried out by a layman, although the rituals related to blood and fat had to be carried out by a priest.

This all came to an end with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. Today, in the absence of the Temple, no sacrifices are offered or eaten at the seder. Rather, a set of Biblical and rabbinic passages dealing with the Passover sacrifice is recited after the evening prayer service on Nisan 14, and is celebrated with the zeroa, a symbolic food. placed on the seder plate (but not eaten), which is usually a roasted leg bone (or a chicken wing or neck).

The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was instituted in the context of the Old Testament Passover but it is not the same. Christ, our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:6-8) has been slain, once and for all. We would not and could not offer another sacrifice. We now celebrate only the Lamb's own feast as instituted and ordained by Him. For us Lutherans, the Paschal Lamb is not a memory. He lives!

Resurrection and baptism

We celebrated Easter Sunday with the baptism of Pedro Jesús Gael Santana Marquina. Little Pedro happens to be Luz Maria’s 14th grandchild. He was baptized with a cast on one leg because of being born with a malformed foot. Thanks be to God, he received the necessary orthopedic operation and later the sacrament of baptism.

For the Gospel lesson, I read all of the last chapter of Mark’s Gospel, which is the succinct account of the empty tomb, the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus, the Great Commission and the Ascension. Mark 16:16 is a key passage used in the Small Catechism and in our baptimal rite.

“What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Which are these words and promises of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanations, Concordia Publishing House, 2017).

Titus 3:5 was the special baptismal verse for Pedro Jesús. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” God uses baptism as a means to transmit and seal to the believer the inestimable benefits of salvation. The baptized is born anew to eternal life. As is implied in the dialogue between the Lord and Peter in John 13:6-10, but the renewing thus begun by the Holy Spirit continues throughout the life of the Christian until completion in our own resurrection.

For we have this promise in Romans 6:3-5, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”

News from the chicken coop

Nothing gets you moving in the morning like the cry of prairie hawks circling above the chicken coop. We did some renovation this month to improve protection against predators and make more room for our growing flock. (By “we”, I mean Luz Maria’s grandsons, Eduar and Ignacio Garrido. Eduar turned 16 on April 26). We now have 8 hens, four of which are laying, four roosters (we need to get rid of three; males are expendable), and 35 young chickens. A dozen eggs costs about $3.21, while less than a penny per kilo of chicken feed keeps our hens laying four to six eggs per day.

The beauty of the butterfly

Butterflies are not mentioned in the Bible, although moths in Scripture represent the frailty of humans and of human existence (Job 4:19; 13:28; Isaiah 50:9; 51:8) and the temporary quality of earthly possessions (Matthew 6:19-20; Luke 12:33; James 5:2). Butterflies and moths undergo a similar transformation from larva to adult by way of a dormant stage (the pupa or chrysalis), but perhaps the beauty of a butterfly compared to a caterpillar led Christian artists to see it as a symbol of the resurrection. The butterfly is sometimes seen in paintings of the Virgin and the Christ Child, and is usually in the Child’s hand. It points to the resurrection of Christ, and in a more general sense, the resurrection of all men.

Butterflies appear in the illustrations of the Arch Book that I used to tell the Easter story to our preschool children. For their arts and crafts activity, we used a coloring page of a butterfly provided by LeadaChild, one of our sponsoring organizations. We also had our youth color the butterfly as part of our Easter Sunday Bible study. The most pertinent passage of Scripture is 1 Corinthians 15:35-53.

“But someone will ask, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

As the crawling caterpillar “dies” and emerges alive as a flying butterfly, the body of the resurrection is not the same weak, aging body that was laid in the grave, and yet there are not two different bodies. Rather, the body of the resurrection, is the outgrowth of the new life that began in baptism and was nourished by the hearing of the Word and the receiving of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.

Our relationship with LeadaChild dates back to 2006, when the Kansas-based mission agency was known as Children’s Christian Concern Society. Luz Maria and I were privileged to meet the founders, Edie and Jim Jorns. I had heard about their pioneering work many years before when I lived in Kansas.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo (not that one)

Luz Maria celebrated her birthday, May 5, with another trip to Caracas. With her sister deaconesses, Elsy Machado and Ginnatriz Mendoza, she helped Pastor Sergio Maita with one last seminar for deaconesses in training from May 4 to 6. Sergio is the pastor of “Pan de Vida” (Bread of Life) Lutheran Church in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, and an instructor at Concordia El Reformador Seminary. He also is a native of Venezuela and in 2008 was ordained with me and Eduardo Flores, the current president of our national church and pastor of “La Santa Trinidad” (Holy Trinity) Lutheran Church in Caracas. The theme of the seminar was “Suffering, the Cross and Mercy: Theological Fundamentals of the Diaconate”. Sergio taught the same short course for deaconess students in his hometown of Maturin in eastern Venezuela from April 28 to 30.

The 39 Venezuelan women will graduate from the seminary’s deaconess program next month along with 24 from Guatemala, 23 from Mexico, 12 from the Dominican Republic and seven from Panama.

A Prayer for Pascua (Easter)

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank and praise You that You have raised Your son from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand, from which He will come to judge the living and the dead. Fill us with the Holy Spirit to carry our His commission to make disciples of all nations as You have made us His disciples. In His name we pray, amen.

(Lutheran Book of Prayer, Concordia Publishing House, 1970.)

Quarantine may be lifted before the Ascension

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

Our new confirmation class.

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

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

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

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

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

Luther's morning prayer by Karla Frias 

 

Swing low, sweet chariot

More Bibles and books from Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! In this joyous Easter season, we remember our Lord’s victory over the condemnation of sin, the power of the devil, and, especially that last enemy, death. For 40 days the risen Christ walked among His disciples and was seen by as many as 500 at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). We continue to celebrate His resurrection until the day of Ascension, when He was taken up into the clouds with the promise that one day He would return among the clouds. Alleluia!

I am pleased to report that we have achieved one of our goals for the material benefit of the mission. That is the purchase of a 2008 Volkswagen Golf station wagon, kept in excellent condition by its former owner, a schoolteacher. This will be a great help in overcoming the problems we face with the increasing scarcity and unreliability of public transportation. (No photos of the car for security reasons.)

In Parque del Este, Caracas.

On April 27, Luz Maria left for Caracas to investigate leads on cars for sale there, accompanied by her brothers, Robert and Moisés Henríquez, and her nephew, Roamird Castillo (the son of her sister, Rosaura, not Robert or Moisés). They expected to be gone only two or three days, but spent the entire week in Caracas.

This was because on April 30, there was another uprising against the socialist regime. It was significant that, for the first time, members of the Venezuelan military openly supported the opposition. In a bold move, the soldiers freed Leopold López, an opposition leader, from house arrest. Lopéz appeared with Juan Guaidó, president of the opposition-led National Assembly, in a press conference outside La Carlota Air Force Base. The soldiers then acted as bodyguards for Lopéz and Guaidó as they led a day of street demonstrations. The backlash was brutal, however, as troops on the other side attacked even the unarmed demonstrators. Images of armored vehicles running over protesters were broadcast by international news media and social networks. By the end of the day, four young people had been killed and dozens were injured.

Planning Lutheran women's gathering.

Thanks be to God, Luz Maria and company were unharmed. But, at the risk of sounding flippant, it really complicated the closing of the deal on the car. Luz Maria had to stay through the weekend. But this gave her the opportunity to sit in on a meeting of women from our sister congregations in Caracas, who were planning the next national convention of the Venezuelan Lutheran women’s organization.

Upon finalizing the deal, Luz Maria immediately put the car to use by transporting back to La Caramuca boxes of Spanish Bibles and copies of “A Child’s Garden of Bible Stories” in Spanish, both published by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

Keeping the lights on

Our next project will be setting up an electrical backup system to cope with continuing power outages. Blackouts now last about six hours at a time, occurring at least once a day, but sometimes twice. I would like to install an inverter (which would switch to backup power when the grid goes down), batteries and auxiliary power source, such as solar panels or a gasoline-powered generator. All of these things could be found in Venezuela. However, although I have a general idea of how such systems work, I have no experience in designing one. If anyone could offer me advice on estimating load, capacity, quality of materials, etc., I would appreciate it.

Remember in prayer

1. All of Venezuela as the country’s crisis continues.

2. Eleno Sanchez and Anyi Garrido, who have begun studying Luther’s Small Catechism. Eleno’s goal is to join the church by profession of faith; Anyi looks forward to her first communion.

3. The many Venezuelans in exile. Praise be to God for the missionaries who minister to Venezuelans in Chile and Peru, but especially remember the expatriates in Ecuador, where there is no confessional Lutheran presence.

Praying for rain

Sharing water with neighbors.

A blessed Eastertide to all! We have made it through Lent, the season of special emphasis on reflection, fasting and repentance; relived the drama of Christ’s suffering and death during Holy Week; and celebrated His glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. The next festival day in the church year rightfully is Ascension Day, which this year we will observe on Sunday, May 13. However, this year we await with special anticipation, the preceding Sunday, May 6.

The fifth Sunday in the Easter season is known as Rogate Sunday. Rogate comes from the Latin rogare, meaning “to ask” or “to pray.” The key verse in the appointed Gospel reading, John 16:23-33, says this: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. " Here Jesus reveals to His disciples that after He has been raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, He will be the one Mediator between God and man. He promises that all prayers addressed to the Father in His name will be heard and answered.

We hope for heavier rains.

 It also so happens that in most parts of the world, Rogate Sunday falls during the period when farmers hope for plenty of rain for a bountiful harvest of spring crops. Due to crop failures in fifth-century France, Mamertus, bishop of Vienne, introduced the custom of penitential processions for this purpose, not just on Sunday, but also on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension Day (the fortieth day after Easter, because that’s how long the risen Christ appeared to believers in visible form before His Ascension). These were called the Rogation Days as the custom spread from France throughout western Christendom. Nowadays, in an increasingly urban society, the observance of Rogation Days has been largely forgotten, but if, like me, you grew up in the rural midwestern United States, you may remember Rogate Sunday as the Sunday especially dedicated to agricultural concerns.

Light evening rain.

Now Venezuela lies north of the equator, so there technically are four seasons as there is the same progression of increasing and decreasing daylight hours. But the variation is less extreme than in, say, the Dakotas or northern Minnesota. Daytime high temperatures remain between 80 and 90 degrees F. and the only way you can tell it’s supposed to be mid-winter in January, for example, is that the temperature drops to 60 degrees in the wee hours of the morning. That’s here on the plains. Up in the mountains, the temperature may drop below freezing and never get far above 70 degrees F. So it is said there really are only two seasons in Venezuela, the rainy season and the dry season.

Wating for water.

The heavy rainfall usually starts in April and this year we are looking forward to it. The reason is that the public water system in our community is off-line and may stay that way for the foreseeable future. We are relying on the well on our property to supply water not just for our home, preschool, livestock, and fruit and vegetable crops, but also for neighbors who have no wells of their own. So far we have been able to meet the demand by being frugal in our use of water, but the water level in the wells keeps dropping. We really could use timely rains to recharge the well. By the fifth Sunday in Easter, either we will be giving thanks or renewing our prayers for rain.

Oh, God, most merciful Father, we beseech Thee to open the windows of heaven, and send fruitful rains upon us, to revive the earth, and refresh the fruits thereof. Graciously hear our prayer in this our necessity that we may praise and glorify Thy name forever; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Praying for peace and liberty

Holy Week of 2017 began with an explosion heard around the world as two suicide bombings killed 44 people at Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday. The attacks constituted one of the deadliest days of violence against Christians in Egypt in decades.

But some of the violence that marred Holy Week 2017 struck much closer to home for us. Political tension in Venezuela came to a head and five people died as encounters between anti-government protesters and the authorities turned violent.

On Wednesday, a pro-government mob attacked Jorge Urosa Savino, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Caracas as he prepared to celebrate Mass at Santa Teresa Basilica. According to reports, members of the news media also were attacked, and worshippers attending the Mass were robbed of cell phones and other valuables.

 Thousands took to the streets on Caracas on Maundy Thursday for a rally that remained peaceful until the end, when young men clashed with hundreds of riot police who lobbed tear gas to break up the crowd.

During our Holy Week services on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, we remembered in prayer both the Coptic Christians and Archbishop Urosa and his flock in Caracas. We have stressed, for the benefit of those confused by such events as Pope Francis participating last year in a Reformation Day Service with officials of the Lutheran World Federation in Lund, Sweden, that as confessional Lutherans we are not in full doctrinal agreement with either the Roman Catholic Church or the Lutheran World Federation. However, we recognize freedom of conscience and belief as a basic human right, because faith properly belongs to God's kingdom of grace, not to His kingdom of power. Furthermore, any attack on the name and symbols of Christ is a threat and an offense to us as well.

The events of Holy Week 2017 reminded us that as the shouts of “Hosannah to the Son of David” on Palm Sunday turned to “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” on Good Friday, the fame and favor of the unbelieving world is fleeting. We understand that good government, which preserves the safety of the streets and national borders, is a blessing from God, part of the “daily bread” for which we pray in the Lord's Prayer. But we also understand that the only true peace in this world is that which we have in anticipation of our own resurrections on the day when the Lord returns in glory.

Therefore we prayed a prayer based on this collect suggested by the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod Worship Ministry:

Almighty God, heavenly Father, Your beloved Son assured His own that they would suffer in this world and yet called them to rejoice in His promise of a life no death could ever take from them. Strengthen all Your children living under persecution and threat of violence; fill them with Your unshakable peace and use their witness to bring salvation even to their persecutors and slanderers and, according to Your gracious will, bring an end to the bloodshed and violence; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Preaching to spirits in prison

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him." 1 Peter 3:18-22

On Holy Saturday, between our remembrances of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, it is good to meditate on this, the Scriptural passage which provides the primary basis for the assertion that Christ "descended into hell" found in both the Apostles and Athanasian creeds. Christians also have seen references to this doctrine in other scriptural passages such as Ephesians 4:8–9 and Romans 10:6–8. As Lutherans, we did not interpret "preaching to the spirits in prison" to mean that Jesus set free from hell the souls of unbelievers who died before the Flood or the souls of Old Testament patriarchs and saints from some kind of limbo. Rather, Christ descended into hell to declare His triumph as God’s Messiah over death and the power of the devil. “We simply believe that the entire person (Jesus Christ), God and man, descended into hell after the burial, conquered the devil, destroyed hell’s power, and took from the devil all his might” (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article IX).

This was a part of the punishment which came upon the condemned and upon the demons in hell that they saw and heard Christ proclaim Himself as the Victor over death and hell, and were obliged to tell themselves that they might have partaken of this glory of the great Hero of mankind, if they had not deprived themselves of this blessing by their revolt against Him and by their unbelief. Thus the descent into hell was not part of Christ's state of humilliation (in which He divested Himself of His divine power), but rather part of His exaltation (in which He took up His divine power once more).

Among the spirits in prison to whom the victorious Christ manifested Himself were the souls of those people who in the days of Noah had refused to heed the preaching of that man of God, and probably jeered at him for building his big ship on dry land. For one hundred and twenty years the Lord had Noah preach repentance to his neighbors. But they refused to heed his warning and have thus become an example to the unbelievers of all times, all of whom may expect to meet with the same condemnation. As unbelievers were destroyed by water in the days of Noah, it is by the water of baptism that we now enter into the ark, that is, the church, and are saved from the destruction by fire that is to come. Yhe spiritual gifts and blessings which are the result of the resurrection of Christ, the certainty that God has accepted the sacrifice of His Son and granted forgiveness of sins to the whole world, are transmitted to the believer in baptism.

In the context of the preceding verses of chapter 3 of his epistle, the Apostle Peter is urging Christians to live in piety and brotherly love, even in the midst of suffering and persecution. Christians may sometimes have to bear evil for a season, but nothing can really work lasting harm in their case, for they are under God’s care and protection. No enemy can take away from us the true, eternal blessings: God’s grace and mercy, forgiveness of sins, righteousness, peace with God, joy in the Holy Spirit.

As a missionary church, we have the task of proclaiming God Word into all the world. As the parable of the sower teaches us (Luke 8:4-15), we have no guarantee that the seed, which is the Word of God, will fall on good soil and yield an abundant harvest. That is up to the Holy Spirit. We first must call all people to repentance, that the Lord's lost sheep may be gathered in the fold of the Church and be saved. But, as in the days of Noah, there will be many who will scoff and refuse the call to repentance. We must continue the proclamation of the Word in the face of widespread rejection, not only in the hope of saving some, but also that our witness now may be testimony against the unrighteous on the day of judgment.

It may happen that the malice of our enemies will reach a point where the very fact of Christians leading a blameless life will act as a spur to their hostility, and make them all the more determined to cause us suffering. There seem to be too many cases of this to count in our world today. But we remain steadfast in the assurance that the Jesus who died, descended into hell and rose again from the dead, is seated at God the Father's right hand with all power and authority given to Him.

Here at Epiphany Lutheran Mission, we live in a country in rocked by a crisis with political, economic and humanitarian dimensions. This crisis is not the result of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, drought or flood, although we have had all of those things in recent years. It is not the result of a lack of human or natural resources.The crisis is mainly a result of the destructive power of false belief. When our Lord lived on earth, there were those who thought that the promised Messiah would be a Jewish superhero who would throw out the hated Romans and restore Israel to its ancient glory. After the feeding of the 5,000, there were those who wanted to seize Jesus and make Him their "bread king", someone who would always provide them with whatever they wanted without anyone having to work. Even in Latin America today, people still look for these types of "messiahs", but, of course, false gods always fail and bad ideas have bad consequences.

Nevertheless, it is not our mission to agitate for political or social reform, but rather to point people to the true hope of eternal life in Christ, the true source of every blessing. We give thanks to God, that with the prayers and financial support of many, we have been able to proceed with the construction of a chapel and learning center, despite the difficulties surrounding us. 

My flesh also shall rest in hope, because you will not leave my soul in hell. Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord !, God of truth. You, Lord, I have trusted, let me never be confounded. Amén.

A tale of two donkeys

A meditation for the day of the Annunciation, March 25, 2015.

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

On Monday we began our activities with the preschool children to prepare them for Holy Week. The first activity in the Book of Holy Week that each received was coloring a picture of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We will celebrate Palm Sunday, the first Sunday of Holy Week, this next Sunday.

When they saw this drawing, children, without prompting, suddenly began to sing a Christmas song, "Mi Burrito Sabanero.”

Con mi burrito sabanero voy camino de Belén.
Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén.

And then:

Navidad,navidad,hoy es navidad.
Es un día de alegría y felicidad.

Why? In this picture Jesus is seated on a donkey, in the same way that in the drawings of the Virgin Mary, she is sitting on a donkey for the journey to Bethlehem with Joseph. In a sense this link is appropriate because today we remember the Annunciation, when the archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to greet her and announce that she would be the mother of the Savior.

In the historic church calendar, March 25 is the day of the Annunciation. Why do we remember this story of Christmas in the middle of Lent, the season of the suffering and death of our Lord?

A part of the answer is another question: Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25? The Bible does not give a precise date of Jesus' birth. So why the December 25?

Today there is a great lie that the date, December 25, is derived from a pagan festival of worship of a god other than the Triune God. The truth is slightly more complicated, but it is important to understand.

A third question: Why is the date of Easter is variable? Why not celebrate Easter on the same date every year? Because Christ's Passover is linked with the Passover, which is the celebration of the Israelites' liberation from slavery in Egypt.

Our calendar, that of Spain and other European countries, is a form of the Roman calendar, which is based on the movements of the sun. The Hebrew calendar is based on the movements of the moon, so its months does not correspond exactly to those of our calendar. The date of Easter in our calendar follows the Hebrew calendar, so it varies according to our calendar.

However, according to an ancient calculation, the date of Passover in the year of Christ's death was March 25. So Christ died on March 25 and at the time of the Greco-Roman culture, people placed great importance on symmetry in the universe. For example, they believed that the deepest point of the sea should be equal to the height of the highest mountain in the world. Today we know that is not the truth, but it made sense to them.

It also made sense to them that Christ died on the same date that He was conceived, the day the Archangel appeared to Mary. So, according to this view, Christ died on March 25 and was conceived on March 25. And, what date is nine months after March 25? The 25th of December!

In this way they developed our church calendar. True, no one knows the exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ. Our church calendar, however, is a great tool to remember the life of Christ in the course of one year. And the whole life of Christ had only one purpose: to keep the Law of God in our place, suffer the punishment for our sins and die in our place on the cross. Because of His death, we have forgiveness of our sins, and because of his glorious resurrection on the third day, we have the promise of eternal life.

God has His will for our lives, to live as His sons and daughters. However, because of our sinful nature, none of us can fulfill God's law perfectly. But Christ has done so in our place, and suffered the punishment in our place. And because of His victory over sin and death, one day we are going to rise from the dead and live forever with Him,

For this purpose Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, and in the season of Advent, in preparation for Christmas, we remember His destiny. Also in this Lenten season, we give thanks for the gift of Jesus the angel announced first to Mary.

In this gift we hope for the future, so at this point, let us pray with confidence for the future of our children, for our country and for peace and the resolution of all our problems.

In Christ we have the peace that passes all understanding. Amen.

We celebrated the Annunciation with the preschool children and their famlies

Adapting to uncertainty

 How very quickly the "festival half" of 2013-2014 church year has passed for us, but especially the seasons of Lent and Easter. We observed Ash Wednesday amid political unrest that claimed  a number of lives, left many more people injured, and led to the suspension of traditional pre-Lenten festivities in many Venezuelan cities. Since then, annual inflation of Venezuela's currency has topped 60 percent, resulting in spiralling food prices. In the first quarter of 2014, inflation climbed by 10.1%, the highest jump in Venezuela's history for the first three months of the year since 1996. According to the newspaper, El Universal, spiraling inflation comes hand in hand with signals that the economy is heading towards recession, amidst a slowdown in manufacture, construction, trade, and stagnant oil production. Recession plus high inflation could mean a new increase in poverty, which in 2013 soared to 27.3%.

 Shortages of basic products, like milk, paper and medical supplies, have continued and extended into new categories. Venezuelans, who place a great deal of importance on personal grooming, have had to get used to scarcity of shampoo, cosmetics and deodorant. Coffin production has dropped between 20% and 30% this year for lack of materials, forcing funeral and burial delays. Power outages have continued as well. El Universal reported that on June 18, localities in the Venezuelan states of Anzoátegui, Sucre, Nueva Esparta, Aragua, Carabobo, Miranda, Vargas, Mérida, Zulia and Falcón all suffered power outages at the same time. Of course, these blackouts do not make national or international headlines if they are only on a local scale.

Here in La Caramuca, we experience power outages at least once or twice a week, usually lasting two to three hours. Last weekend we were without power for 12 hours. These lengthy blackouts result from the fact that workers for the state-owned electric utility receive less than 40% of the materials needed to fix generation and distribution facility breakdowns. These problems have led to continued protests, a shake-up in the federal goverment and, of course, increased uncertainty about the future for many Venezuelans.

We have adapted to this constantly changing situation as best we can, primarily by growing more and more of our own fruits and vegetables on our property. In keeping with the objectives of our mission, we have shared our produce with the neediest members of the surrounding community. We also have offered cooking classes to teach the preparation of nutritionally balanced meals in the most economical way possible.

 And we have continued to celebrate with joy the great festival days of Easter, the Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. One Sunday we used white wine for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper because there was no red wine available.  I explained to our congregation that we would not change any aspect of the order of Holy Communion to suit our own whims, but the general scarcity of everything now included red wine and that Scripture only requires that  the visible element must be wine and not grape juice.  The color and other secondary attributes are not of the utmost importance. By God's grace, someone took my little speech to heart and through personal contacts located a place where we were able to buy a case of red wine.

Members of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas joined us for our Easter Sunday service. The Corpus Christi congregation was planted years before our mission in La Caramuca, but has not had its own pastor for some time. We pray for them as Miguelángel Pérez, the presiding pastor of the western zone of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, helps them in extending a call to a new pastor (in fact, Miguelángel and myself are the only ordained pastors of Lutheran Church of Venezuela in the western third of the country at this time).

 In my Ascension Sunday sermon, I emphasized that the Ascension of Christ is linked with the mission of the church, which is this: To prepare people for the second coming of Christ, when He will come in glory to judge all nations. How do we do this? By proclaiming the gospel, to call people to repentance and salvation before the second coming of Christ. We could not do this without the Ascension of Christ, because with all authority in heaven and earth, He sent the church the Holy Spirit to help proclaim the gospel everywhere. Like the angels, this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven said, will come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. Clouds hid Christ, and Christ in the clouds revealed. Among his Ascension in the clouds and his return in the clouds is the time to proclaim the gospel, to repent for his glory in Christ as Lord and Savior. But the apostles had a question for Christ before His Ascension. "Lord, will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?"

The apostles, like many people at that time thought of the Messiah, the promised Savior of Israel as a political hero, who would defeat the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel to the glory of the days of David and Solomon. But Christ was not this type of Salvador. He was much more. He won spiritual freedom for the whole world, not just independence for one single country. So Jesus' answer was as follows: "It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father hath put in His own power; But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. "

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