Death is swallowed up in victory

Carmen Henriquez de Rivero, celebrating her 92nd birthday with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:54

Carmen Henriquez de Rivero, Luz Maria’s mother, passed to eternal life on June 2, 2024, the second Sunday after Trinity, in Barrio El Cambio, Barinas, Venezuela. She was born on September 21, 1930, in Las Bonitas, Ciudad Bolívar, a city located in southeastern Venezuela on the banks of the Orinoco River. She would later live in the Venezuelan states of Apure and Guarico (Luz Maria was born in Valle de Pascua, Guarico), but lived nearly the latter half of her life in the city of Barinas. She had eight children, of whom seven survive, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In the 1980s, she became part of the nucleus of the original Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) mission in Barinas. She joined the Lutheran Church along with four of her children: Luz Maria, Rosaura, Moisés and Robert. Eventually she and Rosaura joined a Baptist congregation, although Roamird Castillo, Rosaura’s son, remains a member of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Lutheran Church in Barrio El Cambio, and now serves as secretary and legal adviser to the national Lutheran Church of Venezuela. Señora Carmen continued to welcome LCMS missionaries in her home and always supported our mission in La Caramuca. When, in her last years, we would look after her at the mission for a few days at a time, she would insist on attending our Sunday morning service, even though she had to be carried up the stairway to our sanctuary. (Our sanctuary is on the second floor, because the civil law requires the preschool to be on ground level.) She would teach the young people and their parents some of her sewing skills, which included making dolls from whatever scraps of fabric, buttons and other household materials might be available. 

As her health began to deteriorate more rapidly, the family often would call me to pray with her and anoint her with oil, according to James 5:14-16. “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We would pray with her and sing her favorite hymns, then I would hear her confession and apply olive oil to her forehead in the sign of the cross to recall the promise of eternal life in baptism. This was always done as if it might be the last time, but she nevertheless feel much better afterward. The most dramatic occasion was on June 1, when she refused to eat or drink, or move from her bed, seeming barely conscious. After our period of prayer, she immediatel sat up and, with assistance, walked to the table to eat and drink. However, this would be the last time, as she died peacefully the following morning. 

Following Venezuelan custom, the body was prepared for a wake (velorio) that lasted through the night until burial the next morning. I conducted a funeral service in the home for the Lutheran members of the family, including members of our mission in La Caramuca. 

How to give shelter from the storm 

With the deaconesses of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela. 

On June 25, Luz Maria and I traveled to another city on the Orinoco River, Puerto Ordaz, 67 miles (108 kilometers) east of Ciudad Bolívar. In 1961, Puerto Ordaz united with San Félix de Guayana, an older port on the Caroni River, to form the metropolitan complex of Ciudad Guayana, or Guayana City. The name is derived from the Guiana Highlands, a region of forested plateau and low mountains that covers the southern half of Venezuela, nearly all of the Guianas (three nations to the east of Venezuela), the northern part of Brazil, and a portion of southeastern Colombia. Ciudad Guayana is located at the confluence of the Orinoco and Caroni, the most economically important rivers in Venezuela. Ciudad Guayana also is home to the Guri Reservoir and Power Station, a hydroelectric facility that provides electricity for the major part of Venezuela’s public power grid. 

We were met at the airport in Valencia (four hours drive northeast of Barinas) by women from the cities of Barquisimeto and Maracay, and Eliezer Mendoza, pastor of Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) Lutheran Church, Barquisimeto, and director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute, and his wife and deaconess, Ginnatriz. Our group flew from Valencia to Puerto Ordaz, where we were hosted for the night by members of Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) Lutheran Church. On the morning of June 26, we boarded a bus to a secluded campground for three days of intensive coursework for both graduates and currently enrolled students of the three-year deaconess program sponsored by the Juan de Frias Institute and Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic. In addition to Barinas, Barquisimeto and Maracay, there were women who represented our congregations in Caracas, Barcelona, Maturín, and other congregations in Ciudad Guayana. 

The 15 women currently enrolled in the deaconess program received instruction in the theological fundamentals of the diaconal ministry. This course was taught by Sergio Maita, who serves as the pastor “Pan de Vida” Lutheran Church in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, and who also is a faculty member at Concordia El Reformador Seminary. In Acts 6 we find the first example of the apostles delegating mercy work to responsible laymen. While the primary ministry of the church is preaching of the Word and administration of the sacraments, the fruit of this ministry is good works that demonstrate God’s grace and mercy to the world (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10; James 1:27). While the pastoral office was instituted by the Lord Himself and neither its requirements nor its responsibilities may change, the auxiliary offices instituted by the church and their responsibilities may change to fit the circumstances of a particular place and time. 

Sergio was born in Maturín, Venezuela, and was raised as a member of Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church there. Sergio and I were ordained together with Eduardo Flores, pastor of La Santa Trinidad (Holy Trinity) Lutheran Church in Caracas, and president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, December 13, 2008, at El Salvador (Savior) Lutheran Church in Caracas. Yoxandris, Sergio’s wife, designed and made the liturgical stoles that I wear.

Gustavo Arturo Maita, Sergio’s brother, taught the 26 deaconess program graduates in a more advanced study of responding to natural disasters. Arturo currently the pastor of Príncipe de Paz (Prince of Peace) Lutheran Church in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, and is director of disaster response for the Puerto Rican Lutheran mission. Since he took the call to Puerto Rico, the island has been hammered by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017; earthquakes in late 2019 and early 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21; Hurricane Fiona in 2022; and in May 2024 Puerto Rico’s governor declared a state of emergency following heavy rains, widespread flooding and landslides. 

Arturo had a little trouble getting his PowerPoint presentation projector up and running, but received some unexpected help in illustrating the desperation of people caught in natural disasters. On the afternoon of June 29, a thunderstorm brought strong winds and torrential rain, resulting in a loss of electricity to the campground. There was no backup generator and the campground’s electric water pumps were no longer able to replenish the water supply. Thanks be to God, power was restored later that evening. 

Arturo brought a wealth of printed material about organized disaster response. It was translated into Spanish from material developed by LCMS Disaster Response. After the seminar, many of the women who returned to their homes near Venezuela's northeastern coast expressed their gratitude for all of the information, as Hurricane Beryl, the first storm of the 2024 hurricane season, brushed Venezuela, causing heavy rain and wind, flooding and power outages. Two deaths were reported in northern Venezuela’s Sucre state, where authorities said another five people are unaccounted for and a total of 25,000 have been affected by heavy rains, winds and river flooding from the outer bands of the storm. Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was injured after being hit by a falling tree while visiting one of the affected towns. 

Good fences make good neighbors

 In our case, we built a stout fence as a gesture of good will toward the civil authorities. There is the possibility that we may be allowed to expand our preschool program to allow more children to attend (there is a waiting list). But we were told fencing the steeper section of our property was a prerequisite. The property is in the shape of the letter L. The short leg of the L, parallel to the street, is where we now have our house, church/school, playground and outbuildings. The long leg slopes down toward the river, and is where we have our well and plantings of fruits and vegetables. If it was cleared off and if there was ever snow, it would be a terrific sledding hill. But not in 20 years has anyone fallen down and hurt themselves on it. But we built it, and now we have the advantage of keeping our growing chicken flock out of everyone’s way. They have a back door to their chicken house by which they come and go.

The blessing of marriage and family

“My family: A blessing from God” was the theme of our vacation Bible school from August 16 to 18. The content was developed by Félix Zamora, the pastor of “Cristo Vencedor” (“Christus Victor”) Lutheran Church, La Pica, in the eastern state of Monagas, Venezuela. Seventy children and adults attended the first day, and 40 on each of the two following days.

The first day: God instituted marriage in principle between a man and a woman for life with the goals of companionship and mutual help between parents and the formation of the best environment to raise children (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:21-24). Our Lord reaffirmed that God “made them in the beginning, male and female He made them” and “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother, and be united to his wife, and the two will be one flesh. ” This design does not include divorce: "Therefore what God joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:4-6). God instituted marriage in the beginning as a blessing, but divorce is always the result of sin. Also regarding sin, Saint Paul says that marriage is not necessary for salvation, but marriage should be desired as a means to avoid the temptation of sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 7:2-4).

The second day: We are children of God by the order of creation, but we share the sinful nature of our human parents. Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, the first parents in sin, we lost the primordial harmony between God and humans, and between humans, especially between men and women, and nature. However, God promised them a Savior who would defeat the devil. Jesus Christ, as the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21), restored right relationship with God in fulfillment of God's promise (Matthew 1:18-25). We are now children of God by the new birth in baptism (1 Peter 1:22-25).

The third day: The family is the nucleus of human society, the Christian family is also the best environment for the formation of the faithful. In his profession of faith, Joshua spoke like a faithful father, saying that even though all others rejected God's justice and mercy, his family would continue to worship the true God (Joshua 24:14-15). In addition, Joshua called the people to leave behind the gods that their fathers worshiped in Egypt. However, although our identity as children of God is more important than family loyalty, we are still obligated to honor our earthly parents as the Son of God did (Luke 2:39-52).

We concluded the program after the Divine Office on the eleventh Sunday after Trinity with the presentation of prizes to those who brought the most family and friends to the vacation Bible school, those who gave of their time so that all the activities were a success, and notebooks for all children.

The appointed reading of the Old Testament (Genesis 4:1-15) showed how parental disobedience against God's commandments results in even greater rebellion in the next generation. Also, those who think they deserve God's blessing for false displays of piety often look down on others, which was also the point of today's Gospel (Luke 18:9-14). Saint Paul says in the epistle (Ephesians 2:1-10) "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved).” In his mercy, he put a mark on Cain, so that anyone who found him would not kill him, by grace the Lord has marked us through baptism for eternal life.

Some of the children who attended vacation Bible school have been coming to our Sunday afternoon Bible study. Currently we are reviewing the books of the Bible, their type of literature and chronological order.

Maintenance needs and future building plans

As preparation for the new school year that begins this month, Pedro Santana, Luz Maria’s son, doing the latest round of repair on the preschool playhouse. It was built in 2010, but requires periodic maintenance because of termite and weather damage. We had originally thought of installing a plastic playhouse like you see at McDonald’s, but were unable to obtain one. So we had one made of locally available lumber (forestry is part of our economy). Our problem with termites has been greatly reduced with the expansion of our free-range chicken flock. The chickens eat a large quantity of insects, not only termites, but also biting ants.

Power outages continue to be a challenge. Our electricity can go down at any time of day, with the blackout lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours. This summer we have experienced both heavy rains (resulting in downed power lines) and intense heat (increasing electrical demand). So lately the outages have been lasting longer every day. Solar energy has been part of the solution for us, But solar energy requires storage capacity, especially when one rainy day follows another, so we would like to buy two more batteries to extend the period when we keep the lights and security cameras on at night.

Our 2012 Volkswagen Parati Crossover continues to serve us well, but the fuel tank float no longer works. So we cannot be sure how much gasoline we have in the tank, and this is important as there are long lines at the service stations. We are waiting for a replacement tank float to become available. There also is a part that we need for our printer that we have to wait to be shipped from Costa Rica.

But maintenance and repair is not our only practical concern. We are talking with Pastor Eliezer Mendoza, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute about the establishment of a regional library and study center. In the absence of a residential Lutheran seminary in Venezuela, the Juan de Frias Institute has, since the 1970s, provided theological education by extension. A new headquarters for Juan de Frias (possibly the beginning of a seminary) in Barquisimeto, a major city three hours drive north of Barinas. We would become a branch of that. There is space here for another outbuilding constructed for that purpose.

A prayer request for Doña Carmen

August 26 marked a full year since Luz Maria’s mother, Carmen Rivero de Henriquez, fell and fractured her hip. She turns 93 this month. It has been a long recovery and Luz Maria and her six siblings continue to work together to provide Doña Carmen with round-the-clock care. An assisted-living unit, like where my mother lives, is out of the question. But, thanks be to God, all of her children live in and around the city of Barinas, except for Moisés, who lives in Caracas. Despite her advanced age, Carmen has contributed her time and talents to our mission since the beginning. 

“The days of our life are seventy years, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10-12)

Orange peels, rain and dengue fever

On April 18, Edwar Garrido and Isela Barrios represented our preschool in a “science experiment” competition. They took first place with their demonstration of why an unpeeled orange floats in water while a peeled orange does not (because the orange rind is full of air pockets). Edwar turned five years of age on April 26 and Isela will turn five on July 7.

Anyi, Edwar s sister, celebrated her second birthday on April 13. They both received birthday cards from the Sunday school children of St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Bloomington, Minnesota, for which we are grateful. Their grandmother, Luz Maria, celebrated her birthday on May 5.

On April 12,  the city of Barinas was struck by the most intense rainstorm in 40 years. A record 162 millimeters (one liter of water per every square meter)  fell in four hours. The roads in and out of town were closed,; electricity, telephone and Internet services went down; and more than 100 families were left homeless. About 800 houses were flooded to some extent., including that of Luz Maria s sister, Rosaura.

Normally, the rainy season does not begin until late May or early June, but we already are in the thick of it. Cumulative rainfall for the first 12 days of April on the average is 123 millimeters, but by the end of the  day April 12 had reached 327 millimeters.

We have not been directly affected by the heavy rains. However, all the moisture has resulted in increased mosquito populations, including the species that carry dengue fever. Anyi and Edwar's three-year-old brother, Jose Ignacio, this week was diagnosed with dengue.

Dengue fever is caused by one of four different but related viruses. It is spread by the bite of mosquitoes, most commonly the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which is found in tropic and subtropic regions. It begins with a sudden high fever, often as high as 104 - 105 degrees Fahrenheit, 4 to 7 days after the infection. A flat, red rash may appear over most of the body 2 to 5 days after the fever starts.

Other symptoms include:

• Fatigue
• Headache
• Joint aches
• Muscle aches
• Nausea
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Vomiting

There is no specific treatment for dengue fever. Fluids are necessary if there are signs of dehydration. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is used to treat a high fever.

Please remember Jose Ignacio in your prayers.

Related articles

• New study finds dengue fever costing nearly $40 million in US territory of Puerto Rico
• Dengue virus increases mosquito's lust for blood
• Dengue Costs Puerto Rico Nearly $40M Annually

• Arbovax Passes Significant Milestone in Development of Vaccine Against Dengue Fever (prweb.com)

Goodbye, Grandma, God bless you

She was born Clara Helen Viola Kurth, January 16, 1917, in Haakon County, South Dakota. Years later she would tell me that, as the last of seven children, her parents gave her all the names of female relatives for whom they had yet to name a girl.

She died November 27, 2010, having outlived her parents, all of her siblings, two husbands and two of her five children. She was my last surviving grandparent and one of the greatest of the great cloud of witnesses that have surrounded me all my life.

Grandma grew up on the Kurth homestead southeast of Philip, SD. As a teenager, she would cook for the men that her father hired for his threshing crew. One of the young men was my grandfather, Anthony Hollis Hemmingson. They were married on September 29, 1935, and stayed together until Grandpa´s death on November 11, 1979.

The Kurth homestead still stands.

During the late 1930s Grandma and Grandpa lived on a farm south of Belvidere, SD.They moved to the town of Kadoka, SD, in 1942. Grandma continued to develop her talent for cooking. She worked as a cook at the H&H Restaurant, the Kadoka hospital and nursing home, and the Kadoka high school and grade school. For a time, she and Grandpa managed their own restaurant on Main Street.

Anthony Hollis Hemmingson

In 1969 Grandma and Grandpa moved to Lovington, New Mexico, as the South Dakota winters were becoming hard on my grandfather's arthritis. Grandpa passed away in New Mexico, as did my Uncle Tony (Anthony Richard) Hemmingson in 1996, her second husband, Orville "Tim" Long in 1997, and my Uncle Loren Hemmingson in 1998. Nevertheless, she continued to live in New Mexico until 2004.

Grandma's faith was a never-failing source of consolation to her during those years of loss. She and Grandpa were both baptized and confirmed as Lutherans and received Word and sacrament regularly, first at Zion Lutheran Church in Kadoka and later at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Lovington, NM. I consider this shared faith their best legacy to me.

I last saw Grandma in 2006 when Luz Maria and I visited her at my Uncle Arnie's house in Spearfish, SD. We both knew it probably would be our last meeting in this life, and she was moved to tell me how glad she was that I had found Luz Maria.

Grandma's body will be buried next to that of my grandfather in the Lovington, NM, cemetery. Their common epitaph, “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). This also is the basis of the hymn, “By Grace I'm Saved, Grace Free and Boundless,” by Christian Scheidt, 1709-1761.

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain;
By grace thou, too, shalt heav'n obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! Oh, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins opprest,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience,
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by His grace to thee doth send.

By grace God's Son, our only Savior,
Came down to earth to bear our sin.
Was it because of thine own merit
That Jesus died thy soul to win?
Nay, it was grace, and grace alone,
That brought Him from His heavenly throne.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His Word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is Grace alone, grace in His Son.

By grace to timid hearts that tremble,
In tribulation's furnace tried,--
By grace, despite all fear and trouble,
The Father's heart is open wide.
Where could I help and strength secure
If grace were not my anchor sure?

Kisses sweeter than wine

It sounds like a line from a love-song and it is. You probably have it heard it somewhere, sometime. "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" was first recorded by the Weavers in 1951 and later by Jimmie Rodgers, Eddy Arnold, Andy Williams, Jackson Browne and Waylon Jennings, among others. The chorus goes, "Uh, oh, she had kisses sweeter than wine."

The chorus of "This Magic Moment", another classic ballad, features a variation on the phrase. The singer recalls the first kiss with his beloved as being "sweeter than wine, softer than a summer's night." "This Magic Moment" was originally released by the Drifters in 1960 and later by Jay and the Americans, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, among others.


Who knows whether the writers of these American pop standards were consciously borrowing from the Bible, but it's hard not to hear an echo of the Song of Songs (also known as the Song of Solomon), verse 2: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine." Verse 1 is the book's title: "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's."

I opened our discussion of courtship and marriage for the youth with a meditation on the Song of Songs. Luz Maria got the idea for a series of such discussions after hearing rumors of many pregnant sixth-graders this year and learning that as of 2010, Venezuela has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Latin America, although teen pregnancies are increasing throughout the region.

The Song of Songs seemed appropriate to me, even though explaining its message in a simple manner posed a challenge. Franz Delitzsch, a German Lutheran scholar and theologian of Jewish descent, called it "the most obscure book in the Old Testament" and, in some ways it is. This is primarily because the Song of Songs is a lengthy poem consisting almost entirely of dialogue. The problem is that the text offers very few clues as to who is talking and when. It is as if the book of Job started right in with the debate over why the righteous suffer with no framing narrative about who Job was or what kind of predicament he was in, and with no phrases like, "Then Job said..." or "Then Elihu said..." or "Then the Lord spoke..." This has led to an abundance of speculation, much of it rather fanciful, about how many "voices" there are in the poem, who is speaking, and the details of the underlying narrative.

Image via Wikipedia

What is clear is that there are at least two speakers, a woman called "the Shulamite" (the Hebrew word appears in no other book of the Old Testament and might be a proper name) and a man, apparently King Solomon. The two express their feelings for each other over the course of a courtship, wedding and marriage, a relationship that is tested at every stage. Ultimately, however, the Song of Songs concludes with a triumphant reaffirmation of marital love and commitment (chapter 8, verses 5 to 7).

The Song of Songs is frankly sensual in its language. The writer is keenly attuned to colors, sounds, smells, textures and tastes. He (the first verse would indicate that Solomon himself wrote it) is deeply appreciative of the beauty of the human form as well as the corresponding beauties of nature and the landscapes of Palestine. Thus the Song of Songs may be read as an affirmation of the goodness of God's creation and of romantic love and marriage, and a corrective to the many Old Testament warnings against the temptations of the flesh.
But there is more to it than that. Since ancient times the Song of Songs has been interpreted a symbolic representation of the relationship between the Lord and His people. The traditional Jewish interpretation is that the Song of Songs is a picture of the history of Israel beginning with the Exodus, which is why to this day the Song of Songs is read in synagogues during Passover. Later Cbristian commentators would see the Shulamite as a symbol of the Church and her kingly bridegroom as Christ.

How is this connection made? The moral of the story in Song of Songs is that commitment plus fidelity equals a lasting relationship characterized by joy, contentment and complete trust in the beloved. This principle may not only be applied to the most intimate of human relationships, but also to relationship between God and His people. Hosea 2:16.20 makes this clear:

“And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband"...and I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD."

And again in Isaiah 54:5

"For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called."

On the negative side, not only does the Old Testament condemn the sexual immorality and perversion of the pagan world, but idolatry in itself is considered adultery. Jeremiah 3:1 says this: "You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the LORD."

Given this theme of fidelity, it might seem inconsistent to identify the Shulamite's suitor as Solomon, since the historical books of the Old Testament tell of the king's many wives and concubines, and his eventual fall into idolatry. But not if Solomon is seen in a prophetic fashion as prefiguring another son of David who would bring justice and mercy to His people. In fact, Solomon is portrayed as a messianic figure in 2 Samuel 7:12–17, Psalm 72 and also in Matthew 12:42.

In the New Testament, St. Paul writes to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, "I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."

And in Ephesians 5:22-32, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church."

Finally in Revelation 19:7-9, there is the triumphant vision of Christ, the Lamb of God, His bride, the Church, and the eternal wedding-feast:

"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready...And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

In conveying these ideas to the youth, it helped to point out how the Song of Solomon was the source of words and images in some of their favorite songs. For example, Song of Songs 2.4 says, "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love," while in chapter 6, verse 3, we read, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." One of the songs that the children and youth really like to sing is called "Su Bandera sobre mi es amor" (His banner over me is love) and the first stanza is "I am Christ's and Christ is mine; His banner over me is love."

Likewise, in Song of Songs 2:1 we read, "I am the rose of Sharon; I am the lily of the valley." So in the song, "Cristo es la Peña de Horeb" (Christ is the Rock of Horeb), the second stanza goes, "Cristo es el lirio del valle de los flores, la Rosa pura y blanca de Sarón."

After the opening meditation and prayer, Luz Maria led the group in a discussion of what physical changes they could expect as they entered adolescence. and how that might affect their emotional, intellectual and social development. She talked about some of the immediate consequences of early pregnancy and the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as the long-term consequences of becoming sexually active too soon and outside the bounds of matrimony.

Luz Maria says that, based on the discussion so far, the youth have inadequate knowledge of basic facts of life, despite having an idea of what condoms and birth control pills are. However, their families have responded favorably and we will have at least one more session.

Anyi Vanesa baptized

Anyi Vanesa Garrido Santana was baptized Saturday, June 19, 2010, on her brother José Ignacio's second birthday.

Over the years I had assisted in the baptisms of children and adults, but this was the first time that I said the words of baptismal regeneration, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" and applied the water. It was a most moving moment, as I had explained to all involved that in her baptism, God Himself called Anyi by name and adopted her as His child through faith in Jesus Christ.

To me it was a marvelous thing how the appointed lessons in the one-year lectionary for June highlighted this event. On June 6, I preached on Luke 16:19-31, the parable of Lazarus the beggar at the rich man's gate. In truth, we do not deserve anything good from God. In His eyes, we are all dirty, disgusting beggars like Lazarus in our Lord's parable. We are sinners who deserve eternal punishment in hell. By nature, we are enemies and rebels against God. However, as the epistle for that day (1 John 4:16-21) said, God is love and in His love sent His only Son to be the Savior of the world. Christ suffered and died on the cross, so that we might have the promise of eternal life with God. Therefore, we will have no fear on Judgment Day, for we will be saved by grace.

On June 13, I preached on Luke 14:15-24, the parable of the great banquet, symbolizing the invitation to eternal life, which begins not in the remote future, as the Pharisee believed, but right now as we are born again of water and the Spirit. That is why Jesus emphasized the immediacy and urgency of the Gospel.

The text for June 20, Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the prodigal son, was most appropriate both for the baptism of Anyi and for Father's Day, for it spoke of a father's unmerited love for his sons and his desire to save the one that was lost.

Dr.David P. Scaer, chairman of the systematic theology department at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, calls "(the) popular slogan "Word and sacrament," a phrase so much a part of Lutheran theology that it enjoys a stellar ranking of the second magnitude,slightly below the three solas" (faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone). My years of observation and study in Venezuela have confirmed the truth of this for me, especially if you tack another word, "ministry", onto "Word and sacrament." Nowadays, "ministry" is loosely used to mean almost any kind of good work, but the one true ministry of the church is the public preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments.

In an article published in the January-April edition of Concordia Theological Quarterly, Dr. Scaer explains that although baptism is in itself a one-time act, "The continued effective force of baptism becomes visible and audible in the assembly of the worshipping Christian congregation. The believers assemble as the baptized, and the rite of baptism is repeated and reflected in the church's liturgy. The triune invocation derives its authority from the One who instituted baptism, and again the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost becomes the possession of the baptized. Sins are confessed as a repetition of the denouncing of Satan's kingdom and are forgiven again in the name of the Triune God to whom the believer belongs by baptism. The faith's requirements are repeated in the credal recitation. True worship of the church is the commemoration of baptism."

Dr. Scaer continues to say that, "Preaching should not be viewed as a separate function but rather it represents to the believer that same Christ in whose death and life he
shared through baptism. Preaching directs unbelievers to baptism to find Christ and believers back to baptism to reestablish their faith in Him. The organic unity between baptism and preaching must be preserved." In the Great Commission, the command to "teach them all the things that I have commanded you" does not precede, but follows the command to baptize and make disciples of all nations (implying that it is the sacrament of baptism that makes disciples).



Since in baptism we receive the gift of new life in Christ, once and for always, it does not make sense that this sacrament should be denied to infants. However, since the command to teach follows the command to baptize, the church, the community of believers, has the responsibility for the continued instruction in the faith of those who have been baptized.

There is a custom in Venezuela, and I have witnessed this myself, called "postura de agua." In many parts of Venezuela today as in times gone by, the Catholic priest will visit a village once a year to celebrate Mass and perform marriages and baptisms. However, many people grew impatient with waiting for the priest to show up either to formalize sexual unions or perform baptisms. So the concept of "postura de agua" arose. The man of the house does an abbreviated version of the baptismal rite and immediately after splashing water on the baby "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost," they immediately - and I mean immediately roll out the beer and finger-food for a big party. There is no sense of the beginning of a new life in Christ and the need to continue nurturing the child in faith and prayer. However, it is not the ritual itself or the phonetic formula, "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" that gives baptism its power, but the Holy Spirit acting through the Word (the proclamation of forgiveness of sins in Christ) and the water (as the visible element of the sacrament), creating faith in the baptized and strengthening the faith already inspired in those who bring the child forward for adoption in the family of God, that is, the church.

Change can be painless

We have changed our hour of Sunday service from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. Originally it was set at 4 in the afternoon because I had the responsibility of assisting with the morning service at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. Now I do not have that duty and we long have a problem with the later hour. That is, at 4 p.m. the tropical sun is situated at just the right angle to shine under the roof of our covered patio. No one wanted to sit in the direct sunlight (you wouldn't, either). We tried various means of providing shade, but nothing really worked. So we changed the hour to 10 in the morning and no one seems to mind at all.


History of La Caramuca

On June 16, 2010, the preschool children had the privilege of hearing Lorenzo Medina talk about the history of La Caramuca. Mr. Medina was president of the town council from 1982 to 1992. While the city of Barinas is more than 400 years old, La Caramuca emerged as a community in 1948. The first deeds to the land were written in the late 1800s, but until the 1940s the entire area was the private property of one or two families. From 1948 to 1974 there were only 16 houses in La Caramuca, now home to around 5,000 people. Mr. Medina also spoke of various local legends and landmarks, including la Casa de las Piedras (House of Stone), a geological oddity that I have not seen, but would like to.

Feliz Navidad 2009

A most blessed season a greetings from all of us. We celebrated our first Christmas Eve service in La Caramuca on Thursday, December 24, 2009. It was a communion service followed by a Christmas dinner for about 30 children, youth and adults.

In fact, it was our first midweek service of any kind. It is no mean feat to get people in Venezuela to gather on Sunday morning, never mind during the week. And, as I have said before, church attendance is particularly low during the Christmas and Easter holidays, as nearly everyone heads to the beach or the mountains, or stays home to party. So we thank God for the good response this year.

The Christmas dinner was traditionally Venezuelan: hallacas, pan de jamon and potato salad. Hallacas are like Mexican tamales, but instead of being wrapped in corn husks, they are wrapped and cooked in smoked banana leaves. The ingredients include at least three types of meat. It is the custom to go door to door and present bags of hallacas to your friends and family as a Christmas gift. Hallacas require a vast amount of work to prepare, which seems to be the whole point. Luz Maria and her daughters spent the two days before Christmas Eve cooking hallacas.

Venezuelans consider hallacas more essential to Christmas than anything else and are quite puzzled when you tell them the main dish for Christmas dinner in the United States might be ham, turkey, roast beef or whatever.

Pan de jamon is bread with slices of ham baked in. This you can purchase from the bakery. The potato salad is jus potato salad.



St. Nicholas visits our preschool

We closed the preschool for the three-week holiday break on December 12 with a Christmas party for the children, their teachers and parents. San Nicolas (also known as Papa Noel or even Santa Claus) made a special appearance. If you follow the church calendar, you may recall Sunday, December 6, was the day of commemoration for Nicholas of Myra, the fourth-century bishop who provided the historical template for all the variations of the gift-giving elf king.

Recently it was reported that Dr. Caroline Wilkinson of England's Manchester University, using measurements of the bishop's skull (which still exists) and modern computer technology, reconstructed the face of St. Nicholas. The result is quite similar to traditional portraits of St. Nicholas, except for one thing: He had a badly broken nose, similar that of a boxer or hockey player. This might be considered consistent with the story that Nicholas got involved in fisticuffs with the arch-heretic Arius at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., a fight that had to be broken up by fellow bishops.

Jesus and John the Baptist

However, since the beginning of the Advent season, we have spoken more of John the Baptist and his relation to Jesus, both at Sunday service and in the midweek Bible lesson in the preschool. The story of how Mary visited her relative, Elizabeth, after the archangel Gabriel had announced the impending birth of Jesus (Luke 1:39-45) provided the opportunity to talk about when human life begins. The passage in Luke says that in his mother's womb, John leaped for joy at the sound of Mary's voice, because even unborn John was a prophet and knew that Mary was, as both his mother, Elizabeth and the angel had said, "blessed among women" and would give birth to the promised Messiah. This passage is one of many in the Bible which asserts that human life begins in the womb and that, therefore, those who say abortion does not constitute the taking of a human life are wrong.

We also talked of how John the Baptist, with his call to repentance, was, as Luther wrote, the consummate preacher of the Law, which convicts people of sin. But Jesus, was in His Person the living Gospel itself, Who through his life, death and resurrection made possible reconciliation between a just and holy God, and sinful human beings. But the relationship between Jesus and John illustrates that Law and Gospel are inseparable. They were friends and relatives, and both were sent by God. The archangel Gabriel announced both their births and both births were miraculous; Jesus was born to a virgin and John to a woman past childbearing years. Jesus said of John, "Among those born of women, there has arisen none greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:2-10) and in Matthew 17:10-13 that John fulfilled the prophecy that Elijah would return before the Messiah came. John said of Jesus that he, John, was not worthy to untie Jesus' shoelaces and "Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:27-30).

Finally we talked of the difference between John's baptism and the baptism of Jesus. The baptism of John was an exterior ritual that expressed an interior state (repentance), which is how some people think of Christian baptism today. But, as John himself said, the baptism of Christ is quite different. It is truly baptism with water and the Holy Spirit, in which we receive the forgiveness of sins, the adoption as children of God and the righteousness of Christ. The promise of baptism does not depend on our own will, understanding or state of mind, and in that we take comfort in times of doubt.

Our Spanish hymnal, Culto Cristiano, contains a version of the Matins service with the Benedictus or Song of Zechariah (the words are based on Luke 1:68-79, the priest Zechariah's song of thanksgiving upon the birth of his son, John the Baptist). Sadly we have not had much opportunity to use the Matins service here, and I am not sure if I can recall the music well enough to sing the Spanish version of the Benedictus. But it always was, along with the Te Deum Laudamus, my favorite part of Matins.

Image via Wikipedia

Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
For He has come and redeemed His people.
He has raised up a mighty Saviour for us
From the house of His servant David,
As He promised long ago
Through His holy prophets,
That He would save us from our enemies,
From the power of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our ancestors,
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which he swore to our father Abraham,
To rescue us from the power of our enemies,
So that we might worship the Lord without fear,
Holy and righteous in His sight
All the days of our lives.
And you, my child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,
For you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,
To give the knowledge of salvation to His people
By the forgiveness .of their sins.
Through the tender mercy of our God,
The day of salvation will dawn on us from heaven,
To shine on those who live in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.


Speaking of light in the darkness

Thanks to generous donations from supporters in the United States, we have purchased a gasoline-powered generator. Several weeks ago Luz Maria went out to get an estimate on the price of a generator and found a wide array of models of different sizes and prices. When we returned to the shop where she found the best deal, there were only two models left in stock. Clearly other people had the same idea that we did. We continue to experience almost daily power outages of several hours duration.

There remains one obstacle to putting the generator in place; another of our mysterious shortages of materials, this time of cement. We do not want to run the generator in our living quarters, neither do we want it stolen, so we must build an outdoor enclosure. And that will have to wait until we can get cement.

Nevertheless we thank the donors for this Christmas present.

Giving thanks for a successful semester

On July 5, the first Sunday in July this year (and also Independence Day in Venezuela) Sandro Perez requested a special prayer of thanksgiving for the completion of another semester of school. Our summer break has begun and the new semester begins in mid September. Sandro, who suffered a couple of bouts with dengue fever this past year, will start seventh grade. This is an important moment for Sandro, because many children in our community drop out of school after sixth grade (the maximum amount of education required by law).

Angie Perez and Noel Marquina also will enter seventh grade next semester. Sandro and Noel have been confirmed, while Angi is preparing for her confirmation this fall. She and Sandro are not related; Perez is a name like Smith, Jones or Johnson in the United States. The Venezuelan equivalent of "John Smith" would be "Pedro Perez".

We also prayed for the health of Angi s brother, Jimmy Perez, who was ill to the point of coughing up blood, but who now is recuperating and for the nations of the world to peacefully resolve their problems. Amid our everyday concerns, all eyes have been glued to the television for news of -- well, not so much the aftermath of Michael Jackson's death, although the pop star's funeral was enough of a spectacle to merit extensive coverage. People here are more concerned with the civil unrest in Honduras and what it means for all of Latin America.
Later in the week Luz Maria went to town with Sandro and some of the other children receiving scholarships from Children's Christian Concern Society of Topeka, Kansas, to help them buy school uniforms with their scholarship money. Almost all Venezuelan schools, public or private, require school uniforms. The children in our preschool wear a uniform that consists of a red shirt and blue slacks.

On Wednesday, July 15, we had a graduation ceremony for 12 children who will be leaving our preschool and starting first grade next semester. The group included Luz Maria's granddaughter, Oriana Montoya, who will celebrate her seventh birthday in December. Oriana was born just six months before my arrival in Venezuela in 2003, so strange as it seems to say, I have known her nearly all her life.

The other graduates were:

• Kelvis Artahona
• Yerika Galindez
• Kemberling Altuve
• Gianny Roa
• Jeiximar Arellano
• Yorman Poveda
• Maikel Caraballo
• Jhon Piñero
• Ana Garcia
• Gaudis Rangel

Only Gaudis was not able to attend the graduation. The rest were there with their families. I opened by reading from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verses 1-10. Then, since the children learned the Lord's Prayer this semester, I led them in singing a version of it set to music. I liked this song from the first time I heard it. Ruth Witte, wife of Pastor Henry Witte, a former missionary to Venezuela, sang it to a group of vacation Bible school children at Roca de Eternidad (Rock of Ages) Lutheran Church in Quebrada Seca, Monagas.

Padre nuestro, que estás en los cielos,
Santificado, santificado sea Tu nombre.

Venga a nos, Tu reino, Señor, hágase tu santa voluntad.
En el cielo y la tierra, haremos Tu santo voluntad.

Danos hoy, dánoslo Señor, nuestro pan, el pan de cada día,
Y perdona nuestras deudas, así nosotros perdonamos.

No nos dejes caer en tentación; antes bien, líbranos del mal.
No nos dejes caer en tentación, líbranos del mal.

Porque tuyo es el reino, Señor, el poder y toda la gloria,
Por los siglos de los siglos, para siempre, aleluya, amén.

I cannot sing like Ruthie Witte, nor can I play the cuatro (four-stringed guitar). But the children sang from memory and with impressive volume and enthusiasm, which was the main idea.

Later on, Vicar Alonso Franco arrived from Barinas to lead the children in more songs to the accompaniment of a guitar. He was delayed by rain and road construction, but that really did not matter. Alonso has begun teaching the guitar to a group of boys in La Caramuca on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have given up trying to learn guitar chords for the time being so these guys will have the chance to practice with our guitar.

After saying a prayer for the coming semester, for the children passing on to first grade and for those returning to our preschool, the graduation ceremony continued with the awarding of diplomas, and, of course, cake and refreshments.

Homilectics and hermeneutics

From June 29 to July 3, 2009, I attended a seminar in homilectics in Caracas, taught Dr. Douglas Rutt of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Actually, the course combined the study of homilectics (preaching) and hermeneutics (Biblical interpretation) as the two are closely related. It is a course generally taught to second-year students at the Fort Wayne seminary. Our thanks to Dr. Rutt for his willingness to travel to Venezuela to teach this course.

Where eagles fly

"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?
Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?
On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold." Job 39:26-28

Luz Maria and I took some time off one Saturday and went on a road trip to the mountains with vicar Alonso Franco; Luz Maria's daughter, Charli; and Luz Maria's brother, Robert Henriquez. Let me give you something of a travelogue.

We live on the western edge of Venezuela's broad central plains region, which is known as "los Llanos". This region is characterized by large, Texas-style cattle ranches and is the center of Venezuela's cowboy tradition. It has its distinctive musical style, called "la musica llanera", although radio stations which play la musica llanera also sometimes play North American country music. For example, as Robert drove us up into the mountains, at one point we listened to T. Graham Brown's "Come Hell or High Water" and also to Bonnie Tyler's 1980s hit, "It's a Heartache" (this one is actually quite popular in Venezuela, you hear it on the radio rather often).

The three neighboring states of Barinas, Portuguesa and Cojedes form a subregion known as "los Llanos Altos" or "the High Plains" due to the altitude. I find this ironic because I used to live in Dodge City, Kansas, and traveled the High Plains of the United States. From where we live you can see the outline of the Andes Mountains on the horizon, in much the same way that you see the outline of the Rocky Mountains from the plains of eastern Colorado.

Directly west of us lie the three most mountainous states of Venezuela: Tachira, Merida and Trujillo. The five highest peaks in Venezuela are found in this Andean region. In fact, there is a name for them the Five White Eagles. That is because of this ancient American Indian story:

When the world was new, five gigantic white eagles flew down from the heavens. As they flew over the earth, the shadow of just one of them would obscure the sun. The five giant white eagles made their nests and would perch on the five highest peaks of the Andes.

One day, Caribay, a beautiful chief's daughter, decided she wanted to adorn herself with feathers from one of the five white eagles. She pursued them up to the heights of the mountains, but when she was able to creep close to them on their perches, she found that the gods had transformed
the birds into figures of solid ice.

Caribay gave a great cry which momentarily roused the eagles from their slumber. They shook their wings and snow fell on the Andes. Caribay was tranformed into a wind spirit and her voice still may be heard in the howling of storms high in the mountains.

This myth was first translated and put in written form by Tulio Febres Cordero, a noted regional author. His son, Gerardo Febres Cordero, become the founding pastor of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas, but is no longer associated with the Lutheran Church of Venezuela.

Today, the Five White Eagles are known as Pico Bolivar (height, 16,427 feet above sealevel); Pico Humboldt (16,214 feet); Pico la Concha (16,148 feet); Pico el Toro (15,600 feet); and Pico el León
(15,551 feet). These are the only mountains in Venezuela that are permanently capped with snow and ice.

But we did not visit any of the Five White Eagles. Rather our destination was Pico el Aguila (Eagle Peak), at 13,510 feet above sealevel, the highest mountain in Venezuela accessible by
highway.

Along the way we stopped at la Cascada el Velo de la Novia (Bridal Veil Falls), a waterfall which begins many feet above the highway, but we had to hike down from the highway to reach the mail pool formed by the falling water.

Another stop was la Laguna de Mucubaji, also known as la Laguna Negra, or "the Black Lagoon". This is nothing like the fictional setting of the classic 1954 horror movie, "Creature from the Black Lagoon". That lagoon was located within the steamy Amazonian rainforest, but this Black Lagoon is found among the the cold mists of the mountains. There is no amphibious fish-monster lurking in its depths, but you would not want to go swimming anyway, because it is so chilly.

We ate lunch at a restaurant near the Black Lagoon. On the menu was trout with mushrooms. There are many trout farms in the Venezuelan Andes. This restaurant and others in the region, with their wood paneling and record-setting fish mounted on the walls, almost make me think I am back in Wisconsin or Minnesota.

After lunch we continued on up to Pico el Aguila. We encountered bicyclists on the highway, which was not too surprising, but more noteworthy was the guy skateboarding down the narrow mountain highway with its steep cliffs and hairpin curves. Talk about extreme, dude! He looked like he stepped out of a Mountain Dew commercial (except that he was wearing a helmet, knee and elbow guards).

Our view from the top of Pico el Aguila was obscured by a thick cloud that had enshrouded the mountain. There was no snow, but it was one of the few time I have been able to see my breath in Venezuela. Near the top of Eagle Peak is a monument recognizing another winged creature, the
rare Andean condor. One of the world's largest birds, the endangered condor sometimes can be sighted in the area.

Also, many of the souvenirs in the inevitable souvenir shop had a frog theme because the Andean region is home to many rare species of frogs (how that is consistent with the cool climate, I don t know, but that is what I was told). Actually, Venezuela in general is home to hundreds, perhaps
thousands of plant and animal species either found only here or in very few other locations in the world.

At the very top of Pico el Aguila stands a chapel devoted to the Virgin of Coromoto, an apparition of Mary believed to be the "patroness" of all Venezuela. There are other "manifestations" of Mary, such as the Virgin of the Valley, who is supposed to be the patroness of eastern Venezuela. but the Virgin of Coromoto is number one.

However, I could not help but notice, when we looked in the chapel, that the statue of Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez was larger than the image of the Virgin. Dr. Hernandez, who lived from 1864 to 1919, was a brilliant yet kindly
physician who took his practice into the poorest slums of Caracas. He died after being struck by a car while on his way to deliver medicine to patient's home.

Dr. Hernandez has not officially been declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, although the process has been initiated for him. Nevertheless, that does not stop people all over Venezuela from praying to him for health and healing. You may see his image in chapels, businesses and homes. It is always the statue of a mustachioed man wearing a black Homburg hat, sometimes with a black frock coat or otherwise with a physician's white lab coat.

This is typical of the "folk Catholicism" you find practiced in Venezuela. Usually it does not have the official stamp of approval from the Roman church, but is not discouraged by the Roman clergy, either.

Also typical was the celebration of St. Joseph's Day, March 19, in La Caramuca. There were parades, fireworks and much more to-do than for, say, Christmas or Easter. This is because St. Joseph is the specific patron of La Caramuca.

But the St. Joseph's Day festivities in La Caramuca pale in comparison to the annual Procession of la Divina Pastora in Barquisimeto. La Divina Pastora is yet another manifestation of Mary, considered to be the patron of the state of Lara.

A couple of years ago, another of Luz Maria's brothers, Moises Henriquez, appeared on "Todo por Venezuela", a game show similar to "Jeopardy" which is broadcast on national television in Venezuela. The questions all have to do with the history, geography and culture of Venezuela.

Moises was asked a question about the Procession of la Divina Pastora, and the hostess added the comment, "I bet you are praying to la Divina Pastora right now". Moises replied, "No, I pray only to the Triune God". Luz Maria was very proud of her brother at that moment. Ultimately, Moises won the equivalent of 500 U.S. dollars.

Spanish sermons on-line

The Spanish-language Web site for our mission may be found at caramuca.ilv-venezuela.net. I have added a new feature to it: an archive of sermons that I have preached in Spanish. I have uploaded the text of 19 sermons so far, and have begun uploading audio recordings in mp3 format.

Uploading of audio files is a rather difficult process, since we still must rely on a 56k dialup modem for Internet access. It takes about two hours to upload a 20-minute sermon. Not only does this keep our phone line tied up for two hours, there is the added complication that we are
subject to power outages without warning. The power goes down at least once a week, and if it happens while I am uploading audio, I have to start over once the electricity returns.

We hope eventually to have broadband access, because one of our goals is to make La Caramuca Lutheran Mission a center for distance learning. But some challenges remain. First,
there is the cost of additional equipment and broadband service. Then there is the fact that we simply cannot obtain a DSL line at our location.

There is a cellular telephone provider, Movistar, which is offering wireless broadband Internet access through EVDO technology. Supposedly there is wireless Internet access wherever there is Movistar cellular coverage. The problem here is, Movistar coverage at our location is spotty. The EVDO modem could be connected to the large television antenna on top of our house, which I believe could be the solution. But we have to devise some kind of test before we actually purchase the equipment (which we cannot do, anyway,
because we are short of funds right now).

Our Spanish site is powered by WordPress software. I have tried several types of blogging software for content management purposes. In my judgment, WordPress rules (and it's open-source).

For the sermon archive, I am using a WordPress plugin, Sermon Browser, originally developed by Mark Barnes for Bethel Evangelical Church of Swansea, England, and now used by more than 200 churches and missions worldwide. The plugin overall works very and, very important for us, may be set to reference the Spanish Reina-Valera Bible. There are some parts of the plugin that I will have to change to Spanish manually, however.

Working with youth

For Holy Week, we plan to take five older children (8 years and up) and also some from Corpus Christi to El Paraiso Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto for special activities designed
to teach the significance of Holy Week.

In addition to her other work, Luz Maria has begun literacy classes in the evening for older children who still do not know how to read and write.