A house of prayer for all the nations

José Miguel Albarran Pumar was baptized on on August 16, 2020, the 10th Sunday after Trinity. Since 2005, 23 people have been baptized at our mission. Of those baptized, 11 have received their first communion here.

The sermon text was Luke 19:41-48, which is St. Luke’s account of the cleaning of the Temple by Jesus. I noted that the Israelites in the Old Testament had a special place, a house for all the people to come together for worship, prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord. In the beginning that place was a tent, built in front of Mount Sinai under the direction of Moses. This tabernacle served the people on their pilgrimage in the desert. When the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, the tabernacle remained for many years in the city of Shiloh, then in Jerusalem. King Solomon replaced the tabernacle with the first temple of wood and stone a thousand years before Christ. At Epiphany Lutheran Mission, we worshipped first under a roofed patio, but now we have a beautiful chapel. Like the Temple of Jerusalem, this is a house of prayer for those of all nations who worship in Spirit and in truth. For us, the house of the Lord is wherever the Word is preached in its purity and the sacraments administered according to the Lord’s command. It is a special place because the Lord Himself has invited us to gather at an appointed place and time to receive His gifts (Hebrews 10:25). Our bodies also are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corintios 6:19). As our Lord cleared the moneylenders from the Temple, he cleanses our bodies and renews us in spirit through holy baptism. The church, both as the assembly of believers and place where believers assemble, belongs to Christ. He is the One who sustains it and has promised to keep it until His coming.

Distribution of food from LeadaChild

That same Sunday we distributed foodstuffs to 27 families, thanks to support from LeadaChild, a mission society based in Olathe, Kansas and dedicated to supporting Christian education around the world. We have received financial support from LeadaChild since 2006. In the past, we have distributed donations from LeadaChild as “scholarships” for students in our preschool and Luz Maria’s afterschool tutoring sessions. That is to say, as cash for the families to buy school supplies, clothing and food. This time around we purchased food

items in bulk, in order to get better value for our rapidly devaluing Venezuelan currency. Dividing the currency among the families would mean each household would get less than if we bought the food in one purchase. We were able to do this because of the automobile that we purchased with other donations this past year. Thanks to the car, we drove to the food distribution point and brought the food back to the mission.

On Saturday, August 8, we participated in a Zoom videoconference with Nury de Millian, LeadaChild director for Latin America. We listened to presentations on how to reopen Christian schools during the pandemic, testimony from a COVID-19 survivor, and advice from the Rev. Abdiel Orozco Aguirre, the pastor of Castillo Fuerte (Mighty Fortress) Lutheran Church in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and a immunohematologist.

LeadaChild was founded in 1968 as Children’s Christian Concern Society (CCCS) by Jim and Edie Jorns as agricultural missionaries to the Zacapa region of Guatemala. Their idea was to build a boarding house next to the new Lutheran school in Zacapa so that poor children would receive proper care while attending at the school. Jim and

Edie diligently gathered support from friends, family, and church members in their home state of Kansas. Throughout the years, CCCS grew to provide support to project sites in five world regions – Guatemala, Central America and Haiti, South America, West Africa, and Asia – and also supports an afterschool program in Bethlehem. The organization’s name was changed to LeadaChild in 2013.

I had heard of the Jorns’ mission work in the 1980s, when I was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Topeka, Kansas, the congregation in which Edie was raised. Luz Maria and I were privileged to meet Jim and Edie in 2006. Last fall we met Dr. Philip J. Frusti, the current executive director of LeadaChild, in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Frusti, a Lutheran teacher and former school principal, graduated from Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Pray for recovery

 

We praise the Lord that Yepci Santana, Luz Maria’s daughter, is recovering from COVID-19 in Lima, Peru. Other members of Luz Maria’s family, with who we have not had face-to-face contact are recovering as well. Also in Peru, Kalen Yolanda Incata Fernández, wife of Martin Osmel Soliz Bernal, a pastor with the LCMS Mission in Lima, was diagnosed with COVID-19 after giving birth to her first child. Also, we should remember Diana Malik, a Global Lutheran Outreach missionary, who has lost 11 members of her extended family to COVID-19 in Kazakhstan. Holy and mighty Lord, who has promised, “no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent” (Psalm 91:10), we beseech You to hear our cry for those who are suffering and dying under the visitation of COVID-19. Mercifully bless the means which are used to stay the spread of the pandemic, strengthen those who labor to heal and comfort the afflicted, support those who are in pain and distress, speedily restore those who have been brought low, and unto all who are beyond healing grant Your heavenly consolation and Your saving grace, through Jesus Christ, Your only Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

Coronavirus crowns health care crisis

During the last week in July, we received and distributed another shipment of medications from Global Lutheran Outreach and the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile.

 The medicine is purchased in Chile with the cooperation of a local pharmacy and packaged by volunteers (many of them expatriate Venezuelans) at the Lutheran mission congregation in Providencia, Santiago, Chile. Requests for medicine are coordinated through Lutheran congregations in Venezuela. Recipients can choose from a list of 25 common medications (up to three medications per patient). Each of those 25 medicines are available in Chile without a prescription.

 As of Sunday, August 2, 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases in Venezuela had surpassed 20,000, with Caracas replacing the western city of Maracaibo as the epicenter of infection. But even before the COVID-19 crisis, Venezuela was in the middle of a health care crisis. Hospitals have closed or are operating at a fraction of their capacity, many without regular access to electricity or water. The public health infrastructure is so weak that in 2019, Venezuela had the world’s steepest rise in malaria cases. Vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria had already returned long before the epidemic hit. The health crisis began in 2012, two years after the economic crisis began in 2010. But it took a drastic turn for the worse in 2017. Cases of measles and diphtheria, which were rare or nonexistent before the economic crisis, have surged to 9,300 and 2,500 respectively. The Ministry of Health report from 2017 showed that maternal mortality had shot up by 65 percent in one year — from 456 women who died in 2015 to 756 women in 2016. At the same time, infant mortality rose by 30 percent — from 8,812 children under age 1 dying in 2015 to 11,466 children the following year. Shortages in medications, health supplies, interruptions of basic utilities at health-care facilities, and the emigration of health-care workers have led to a progressive decline in the operational capacity of health care. Venezuela is ranked among the least prepared countries to respond to a pandemic, as it lacks basic supplies needed to prevent infection and treat illness.

 Food and medicine both are in short supply. But even when both are available, hyperinflation (more than 50% per month) and rising unemployment mean Venezuelans often have to choose between the two. Thanks be to God, the coronavirus has not reached La Caramuca yet, and we still are in the least restricted zone for COVID-19. However, members of our mission and our community suffer from such infirmities as schizophrenia; bipolar disorder; osteoarthritis; lupus; severe generalized arthrosis; toxoplasmosis; and epilepsy. Thanks to our partnership wih Global Lutheran Outreach, they have been able to receive the medications that they need.

 Pray for victims of the coronavirus

No COVID-19 cases have been reported in our immediate vicinity. But the coronavirus has struck close to home in that Luz Maria’s daughter, Yepci Santana, who moved to Peru two years ago, has tested positive. She has been confined to her apartment and unable to work, so we have helped her to purchase the medication that she needs until the 14 days of quarantine have passed. Yepci and her children, Oriana and Elias, are members of the LCMS mission in Los Olivos, Lima, Peru.

A delayed diploma

In July 2020, I, David, marked 17 years since my arrival in Venezuela for three years of service as a long-term volunteer for Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) World Missions. I had hoped to celebrate this milestone by traveling to the Dominican Republic to receive my Specific Ministry Program (SMP) certificate from Concordia The Reformer Seminary, but, of course, that trip was cancelled.

Since 2015 I have taken online courses offered through the Dominican seminary in cooperation with Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Lutheran Church of Venezuela’s Juan de Frias Theological Institute. The curriculum, Formación Pastoral Hispanoamérica, was developed by the Fort Wayne Seminary as part of the Specific Ministry Program for training bilingual pastors in the United States has been adapted for use in Latin American nations. I have completed the requirements of the four-year program as part of my commitment to continuing education as a pastor. Someday I hope to have that document to hang on my wall.

So, who was Juan de Frias?

It might surprise some people to know there was a Spanish Reformation. In fact, there was, and one of the lasting results was the Reina-Valera Bible, still the most widely distributed and used Spanish Bible in Latin America today. It was largely the work of Casiodoro de Reina, a former monk who became a Lutheran pastor.

CRUZ DE LA ESQUINA 

"CRUZ VERDE"

However, like de Reina, many Lutherans fled Spain to escape the ruthless persecution of the Spanish Inquisition. Some found their way to Spanish colonies in the New World, only to find that the Inquisition has set up shop there, too. From what we know of his background, Juan Francisco de la Barreda, also known as Juan de Frias, was born in Caracas. It is not certain how this priest and Augustinian friar was introduced to the writings of Martin Luther. Perhaps it was through contact with refugess from Spain, or maybe through written materials smuggled into Venezuela by pirates of the Caribbean, some of whom were of Lutheran background.

At any rate, in 1671, Juan de Frias was charged by the Inquisition with teaching “the Lutheran heresy”. The following year he was imprisoned at the Inquisition’s regional headquarters in Cartagena, Colombia. For 16 years he refused to recant and on May 30, 1688, was burned at stake. The Juan de Frias Theological Institute was founded in 1970 and named in his honor.

Recently I learned the address of the Inquisition’s office in Caracas: La Esquina de Cruz Verde, Avda. Sur 1, Caracas 1012, Distrito Capital.

Not a word about the Sears catalog

For the sake of the Gospel, St. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, and often near death. “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;  on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:25-27).

In that light, a shortage of toilet paper may not seem like that big a deal. In fact, we regularly buy supplies in bulk, so we have not been hard hit by this problem as yet. Nor am I trying to be flippant about it; rather, I am reminding myself that the Lord was with the Apostle Paul through much worse.

For Venezuelans in general, however, the situation is more serious than it might sound. For a number of years, Venezuelans have had to deal not only with 30 percent inflation, but also flat-out shortages of basic foodstuffs like flour, margarine, cooking oil, sugar, eggs and milk. We have seen for ourselves the empty supermarket shelves, but at least we can afford to shop in supermarkets. The very poor perhaps can obtain these items through government welfare programs, but that means being willing and able to get up and present yourself at the designated distribution center at 3 or 4 a.m. That's no joke if you are a single parent with small children.

Recently the shortages have broadened to include personal hygiene supplies such as toiler paper, soap and toothpaste. At the same time, sanitary measures have become more important than ever with a renewed outbreak of H1N1 influenza in Venezuela. Seventeen people have died and approximately 250 more have been infected, Reuters reported this week.

Also known as “swine flu”, the 2009 pandemic, which began in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, and soon spread throughout Mexico, North America, and parts of South America, was one of the worst flu outbreaks in history. It ultimately killed 18,500 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The last outbreak in Venezuela was in 2011, with about 100 cases reported. Preventative measures to stop the spread of the disease include frequent washing of hands with warm, thoroughly cleaning surfaces that many people might touch, and using tissue paper to cover the mouth and nose while sneezing.

Ir certainly is heartwarming to hear how Christians in the United States and around the world respond to natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, or large-scale crop failures with donations to help those affected. One might wish, however, that more people would understand that in many parts of the world, poverty, homelessness, malnutrition and disease are chronic, long-term problems that have become so commonplace that they do not generate international headlines. Often people are in need not because of some inexplicable “act of God”, but rather because of the predictable consequences of human folly, perhaps their own. That, however, does not negate the biblical mandate to share the material blessings with which we have been blessed with those less fortunate (Proverbs 25:21; Isaiah 58:6-7, 10; Matthew 25:35-36).

Here in La Caramuca, people not only bear the brunt of national and international events, but also are trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair because of family instability, marital infidelity, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and false beliefs that do not satisfy their spiritual hunger. The first priority of our mission is to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ, that in Him one might have a right relationship with God who loves us all and does not desire that anyone be locked in misery and despair.

We also try to demonstrate that one may trust God to provide all things by sharing what we have been given. On our property we have many fruit trees that Luz Maria planted herself back in the 1990s. These produce more than we can consume ourselves: oranges, bananas, avocados, mangos and grapefruit. We also have planted squash and cassava, a tuber similar to the potato which thrives in tropical regions. The abundance of these plants we share with the surrounding community.

Our preschool is supposed to provide two nutritionally balanced meals per day for the children with funds provided by a state program. However, the number of children has grown faster than the program's annual budget, so most months the funds run short. Luz Maria and I have made up the difference. We have worked with others in collecting and distributing clothing and other supplies for needy families.

We have been able to do these things by God's grace and with donations from individual and congregations in the United States. We are grateful to those who have enabled us to do the Lord's work and we pray that more might understand the necessity as Venezuela face political and economic difficulties.

One of our orange trees.

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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.

On a clear day, you can see Pico Bolivar

The Andes Mountains are part of our horizon. Usually they appear as mysterious shadows looming behind a heavy bank of clouds and mist. But when conditions are just right, you may distinctly see Pico Bolivar, the tallest mountain in Venezuela, from a spot on our bluff overlooking the river.

It was that clear Monday morning, October 5, when our new teacher, Yosaira Moreno, arrived. So after the singing of the national anthem and the opening prayer, the children were marched out (in single file) to the spot where they might see Pico Bolivar. Unfortunately, the clouds had again obscured Pico Bolivar, but they were able to see the outlines of some of the other peaks.

Then, for Wednesday's Bible lesson, I read Genesis 1:1 and asked the children what they thought of their view of the mountains. One confused little girl had thought we were going to meet Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), leader of Venezuela's War of Independence, therefore she was disappointed. But the rest were duly impressed by what they had seen of the mountains.

Reminding them that God made the mountains, the clouds and everything else in heaven and earth, I told them we can learn something about God in the beauties of nature. But God has revealed more about Himself in the Bible, His inspired Word, especially the story of Jesus, who suffered and died for sins and rose again on the third day. We sang some songs and Luz Maria took the children on a nature walk around the property. After that, they did some crafts based on the lesson.

We now have two preschool teachers assigned to our preschool by the state agency which provides the funds for the hot meal program and the teachers' salaries. The program ran short of funds for the meals last semester, but so far we are receiving the money for this semester.

The teachers are assigned to us because we do not have the funds to pay teachers ourselves. Yosaira and Nailu are not Lutherans, but have no problems with the religious component of our curriculum, for which myself and Luz Maria are responsible. Ideally we would have a Lutheran school staffed by Lutheran teachers, but all of the Lutheran schools in Venezuela face the difficulty of finding people with all of the desired qualifications -- and the commitment to serve.

Don't call it swine flu

I first heard the phrase "swine flu" when I was a college student. Early in 1976, 13 soldiers at Fort Dix, Georgia, became ill from a new type of flu virus and one of them died. Although the disease never spread beyond Fort Dix, the new virus (dubbed "swine flu") was believed to be a new form of the flu virus that caused a deadly global pandemic in 1918-1919. A $137 million national immunization program was approved by Congress and implemented in record time.

It was supposed to be a two-stage immunization. You were to get one shot which I received, then a booster shot. However, due to shortages of the vaccine, the fact the disease never really spread and that side-effects of the vaccine caused more deaths than the flu itself (25 nationwide vs. 1 soldier at Fort Dix), the program was suspended before I was able to get the booster shot.

So was I counted among the 24 percent of the U.S. population that, according to official sources, was immunized against the 1970s edition of the swine flu? I am not sure, although I would like to think so. It's sort of like Reformed views of baptism. Maybe you received the Holy Spirit through water and the Word, or maybe you didn't. Or perhaps simply making the decision to stay healthy (or accept Christ) was enough. Or maybe the only way to be really sure is if I can demonstrate the power to miraculously heal others.

At any rate, a new strain of the virus appeared in March 2009 and this time it seems the threat is more serious. According to the World Health Organization, as of September 27, worldwide there have been more than 340,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of this flu and over 4,100 deathsresulting from it.

The Centers for Disease Control and American Farm Bureau Federation would rather you not call it "swine flu," since there's not really much evidence that the virus is spread by handling pigs or pork products, but rather by the more technical name of "influenza A, subtype H1N1", or "A (H1N1) flu). Likewise in Venezuela, the disease is not referred to in official publications as "la gripe porcina" but rather "la influenza A (H1N1)".

So it was with the pamphlets that we handed out to the parents (or guardians) of our preschool children on Monday, Oct. 5. The pamphlets outlined the flu's symptoms and preventative measures.

Venezuela recorded its first case of the 2009 A (H1N1) flu on May 28. As of Oct. 3, Venezuela's Ministry of Health has confirmed 1,659 cases and 87 deaths resulting from the disease.

After the arrival of A (H1N1) flu in Venezuela, according to the Caracas-based Latin American Herald Tribune:

Vaccination centers were set up in parts of the country, with Zulia state in western Venezuela concentrating its facilities on the border with Colombia. An official said that the authorities had sufficient vaccine for 300,000 people, but it turned out this was vaccine for the conventional human form of influenza.

Meanwhile, the government says it has started registering people arriving on flights from the U.S., Mexico and Colombia, where cases of swine flu have been confirmed. Health workers and airport personnel at Caracas’s Maiquetia International Airport are asking passengers to fill out a form listing any flu symptoms.

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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.

Sandro suffers dengue fever

Twelve-year-old Sandro Pérez, who lives across the street from us, has been one of our more faithful and attentive students in both Sunday school and confirmation class. Always cheerful, mature for his age and showing signs of musical talent, Sandro is receiving financial assistance to stay in school from Children's Christian Concern Society of Topeka, Kansas. Unfortunately, Sandro was hospitalized this week with dengue fever.

Dengue fever is spread by Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito that thrives in tropical regions. Over the last four years, local health agencies have made a dedicated effort to control the spread of dengue by spraying with pesticide the areas where Aedes aegypti may breed. The mosquitos breed on water standing in artificial containers such as plastic cups, used tires, broken bottles, or flower pots, so there also has been an effort to educate everyone on the importance of sanitation as a means of preventing Aedes aegypti from reproducing.


There is no vaccine or cure for dengue. Those stricken must wait for the disease to run its course.

Symptoms include:

• Severe muscle and joint pain (which is why dengue is also known as "bonebreak fever").


• Fever


• Chills


• Constant headaches


• Bleeding from nose, mouth or gums


• Severe dizziness


• Loss of appetite

The more advanced stage of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, may produce shock and hemorraging, leading to death. The fatality rate for all forms of dengue is relatively low (5
percent), nevertheless it was a serious matter for someone as young as Sandro.

Luz Maria and I visited Sandro in the pediatric clinic, and the other youth in the confirmation class prayed for him and made cards from construction paper for us to present to Sandro on our next visit. We thank God that Sandro returned home the next day and we gave the cards to him there.

New semester begins

Webegan a new semester of the preschool September 15 with 24 children enrolled. Every week begins with the singing of the national anthem and praying the Lord's Prayer. For seven weeks we will focus on the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis. Yepci had the children
draw with white crayons on black construction paper to symbolize the creation of light and the separation of night and day on the first day of creation.

Old dog, new tricks

In case you missed the entertainment industry headlines, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Sharon
Stone all have turned 50 this year. This month it will be my turn, along with country music stars, Alan Jackson and Tanya Tucker. While I have not attained the same level of wealth and fame as some of my contemporaries, I have always been considered something of a legend in my own mind.

And I am taking guitar lessons for the first time since I was about 16 or 17. Eduardo is teaching a number of people how to play musical instruments, primarily the cuatro (Venezuelan four-stringed guitar). Luz María's daughter, Charli, is learning to play the cuatro. But while the cuatro is relatively easy to learn, while the six-stringed guitar is more complicated. I hope that by volunteering I will encourage more of the young people to learn the guitar. I also realize that since:

• Singing is usually a part not only of Sunday morning worship, but also of Bible studies and more informal gatherings here, and;


• I cannot always count on having someone else to provide musical accompaniment;

I should have some knowledge of the most commonly available and versatile instrument (Beethoven once called the guitar a symphony orchestra in one instrument).

Some of the larger congregations in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela add an electronic keyboard or piano, and drums to the guitar as part of an instrumental ensemble. Pipe organs
are quite rare. I have seen only one pipe organ since my arrival in Venezuela and it was not in our Lutheran Church of Venezuela congregations. What's more, it was the only pipe organ I've ever seen that might fit in someone's living room.

Kenny Rogers in the cybercafe

As I sat in the cybercafe, uploading photos, the owner, Alexis, played a CD of Kenny Rogers' greatest hits that his brother had brought him from the United States. Since I was the only customer at the time, I suspect it was for my benefit. It brought back of lot of fond memories
of the days when Kenny regularly scored No. 1 hits on both the country and pop music charts. I always liked "Reuben James", a song about a white orphan boy adopted by a black sharecropper:

"Reuben James, you still walk the furrowed fields of my mind,
A faded shirt, a weathered brow, callused hands upon the plow,
I loved you then and I love you now, Reuben James."

After awhile, Alexis came over to talk to me. I had told him something about our mission in La Caramuca. "Is your mission affiliated with the Baptist church?" he wanted to know.

"No," I said. "It's supported by the Lutheran Church of Venezuela."

"I have read about Martin Lutero," Alexis said. "Many of the things he did were very good." His concern seemed to focus on the indulgence trade. "I don't understand people taking money from other people like that in the name of God."

Then Alexis seemed to change the subject. "What can you tell me about the Mormons?" he asked.

"The Mormons do not believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity," I said. "Nor do they believe that Jesus Christ made full atonement for the sins of all people on the cross."

"I have talked to the young Mormon missionaries," Alexis said. "Their families give a lot of money to their church, but they receive only a small amount to live on. I don't understand this."

Then he revealed that he had talked to representatives of a number of the religious groups that are active in Venezuela. "It is so hard to know what is the truth," he said.

"All false religions have one thing in common," I said. "They teach that we must earn God's favor by our own works. But the Bible teaches that Christ paid the price for all our sins on the cross and that only through Him may we be reconciled with God."

"Many people here would rather pray to the santos, the saints, rather than God because they believe that if they have done wrong, God will not listen to their prayers," Alexis said.

Then some more customers came in, and he had to attend to them. The moment was gone. But before I left, I gave Alexis the address of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church and invited him to attend on Sunday and learn more about what we believed. God grant that I have another opportunity to talk with Alexis about these things.

Trinity Sunday 2008

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

This hymn, based on Revelation 4:8 and Isaiah 6:3, was written especially for Trinity Sunday by Reginald Heber sometime in the early 1800s (most of his hymns were published after his death). Heber also wrote the classic missionary anthem, From Greenland's Icy Mountains.

Heber could have lived out a comfortable and cultured life as an Anglican country parson. He wrote both religious and secular poetry, and his literary talent was praised by William Thackeray and Alfred Lord Tennyson. However, in 1823, then 40 years old, Heber accepted a call to serve as a missionary to India.

After three years of ceaseless traveling and intense work, Heber died suddenly while visiting Trichinopoly, India on April 3, 1826. His death evidently was the result of a seizure brought on by working too hard in India's tropical climate. According to one account, he had baptized 42 people on the day he died. According to another, he had spent the day preaching against the evils of the caste system to a large, outdoor crowd. Heber's body was buried at St. John’s Church, Trichinopoly, Tamil Nadu, India, a very long way from his native Cheshire, England.

This Trinity Sunday, May 18, 2008, we sang the Spanish translation of “Holy, holy, holy” by Juan B. Cabrera:

¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! Señor omnipotente,
Siempre el labio mio loores te dará.
¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! te adoro reverente
Dios en tres personas, bendita Trinidad.

¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! la inmensa muchedumbre
De ángeles que cumplen tu santa voluntad,
Ante ti se postra, bañada de tu lumbre,
Ante ti que has sido, que eres y serás.

¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! por más que estés velado,
E imposible sea tu gloria contemplar;
Santo tú eres sólo, y nada hay a tu lado
En poder perfecto, pureza y caridad.

¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! la gloria de tu nombre
Vemos en tus obras en cielo, tierra y mar;
¡Santo! ¡Santo! ¡Santo! te adorará todo hombre,
Dios en tres personas, bendita Trinidad.

We were thankful that we made it into Barinas that day, even though the service started over a half hour late. The rainy season has begun and we experienced a torrential tropical downpour that morning. We tried calling a taxi to pick us up at the house, but since many streets turn into small rivers at this time, none of the taxi services wanted to venture far from the main routes. Luz María and I shared a single umbrella as we walked to the plaza, which takes about 15 minutes even at the best of times. At several points we had to wade through ankle- or even calf-deep water, plus due to a strong wind the umbrella offered only limited protection. So we both were rather damp by the time we found a cab near the plaza.

Most parts of Venezuela receive an average of 60 inches of rain annually, but receives the bulk of that precipitation from May through mid-December. The risk of automobile accidents during this time are very high. It was in mid-summer 2006 that Luz María's oldest daughter, Yepci, nearly died when the taxi she was riding into Barinas slipped off the road. There have been fatalities already this year. The Saturday before our Trinity Sunday service, six members of the same family all died in a bus accident.

So we were glad to arrive at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, although we were late. Since Eduardo is attending meetings in Caracas, I was to direct the service myself, so it was not like they would start the party without us and we were the first to arrive anyway. I preached a sermon on Genesis 1:1-2:4 with special emphases on a) indications of the all three Persons of the Holy Trinity at work in the creation of the world, and b) how God ordained the holy estate of matrimony in His original design for human living.

Later the clouds cleared and we enjoyed bright sunlight for our afternoon Sunday school in La Caramuca. However, attendance was unexpectedly low, perhaps because many parents do not want their children leaving the house if there is the slight chances of the heavy rains. You do not have to worry about freezing to death in Venezuela (except up in the mountains), but it gets cool enough during the rainy season to become chilled, especially if you are soaked to the skin. I myself suffered a slight fever this past week.

Also this month we have experienced the longest power outages I have witnessed so far, 12 hours without electricity in one case. For what it's worth, it was not just La Caramuca that was affected, but much of the country, including Caracas. Someone described the situation in the capital city to me as "chaos" as nearly all traffic lights were down, among other things. Out here in the country, at least we have the advantage of not being totally dependent on electrical power. We have our LP gas stove for cooking, and if the gas runs out, we can (and have) built a cooking fire out back. Then there is the well from which we can draw water (we were able to clean it before the rains came this year). It was worrisome being without communications as the television, radio, Internet, land-line telephone and cell phone networks were all down.

Eduardo and I are taking turns leading an adult Bible study on Thursday evenings at Corpus Christi. I have started a study on the Epistle of St. James. In our first session we dealt with two questions. First, who was the author of the epistle, since he identifies himself only as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." There are two men named James listed among the original 12 apostles: James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee; and James, son of Alphaeus and Mary (Matthew 10:2-3).

But ancient tradition and internal evidence within the letter point to a third candidate: The man known as "James, the brother of our Lord." This James is described in the Book of Acts as the leader of the church in Jerusalem and Paul seems to identify him as an apostle in Galatians 1:19. But how was he made an apostle? Paul was not on the original list of apostles, either, but we all know the story of his vision on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Mathias was not originally an apostle, but was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot in Acts 1. How and when was James, the brother of our Lord, made an apostle? One idea is that James, the brother of our Lord, and James, the son of Alphaeus and Mary, were really the same person. The Greek word, ἀδελφός (adelphos), usually meant "brother" in the biological sense, but also could have meant "cousin." According to this line of thought, Alphaeus may have been another name for Cleopas, who may have been an uncle of Jesus Christ. But this speculation seems contrary to the plain meaning of Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55, both passages which indicate the people of Nazareth considered both Jesus and James to be sons of Joseph the carpenter and his wife, Mary.

This question of whether the Epistle of James was really written by an apostle was probably why it was listed among the ἀντιλεγομένα (antilegomena, or "disputed books") as reported by Eusebius (263-339 A.D.) and Jerome (347-420 A.D.). The books of the New Testament were divided by these ancient writers into the ὁμολογουμένα (homologoumena, or books that were always acknowledged to be divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the antilegomena, writings whose divine inspiration has at times been questioned. The homologoumena include the four gospels, the Book of Acts, all the epistles of St. Paul, 1 Peter and 1John. The books of the antilegomena include Hebrews, James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. Doubts were entertained about these books because their apostolic authorship was uncertain and because some passages seemed hard to reconcile with the teachings of the homologoumena, especially the Epistle of James.

This concern over which New Testament books were really divinely inspired was prompted by the high tide of Gnosticism in the second through fourth centuries. The heretical Gnostics tried to introduce false "gospels" as representing the true teachings of Jesus. Some of these we still hear about today, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, or even the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

These doubts arose again during the Reformation period, most famously in the mind of Martin Luther, but his Roman Catholic opponents, Cardinal Cajetan and Erasmus, also questioned whether James could be considered on the same level as other New Testament writings. For centuries the medieval Church had relied on Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible, which based its Old Testament on the Septuagint, the Greek translation which included writings, such as 1 and 2 Maccabees, which were not part of the original Hebrew Old Testament. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, there was a movement among scholars to recover the wisdom of the ancient world by studying, on a secular level, the writings of the Greeks and Romans, and on a religious level, the Old and New Testaments in their original languages. One thread of this movement led to the Renaissance and the other to the Reformation. When it became clear that the Septuagint contained writings that were not part of the original canon, the issue of what books were divinely inspired was opened again.

Thus, in the first edition of his German translation of the New Testament, published in 1522, Luther in his prefatory notes notoriously labeled the Epistle of James "a straw epistle" because, according to Luther, it did not make as clear presentation of the Gospel as Romans, Galatians or other epistles by St. Paul. But, notably, this comment was not included in any subsequent editions of Luther's German Bible.

Here is one of the troublesome passages, James 2:24: "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." How to reconcile this with Romans 4, which teaches justification through faith, apart from works of the law. James uses the same Old Testament illustration as Paul does in Romans -- Abraham -- even the same Greek word for "justify", δικαιόω (dikaioo).

Paul in Romans 4:3 writes, "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness," citing Genesis 15:6. James says in 2:21, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son, Isaac, on the altar?" But he also cites Genesis 15:6 in verse 23: "And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

According to Genesis 15, the Lord promises the then-childless Abraham that he will become the father of a great nation, then tells him to look up in the sky and count the stars, for that will be number of his descendants. Verse 6 then says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. James says it was this Scripture was fulfilled later when Abraham placed his only son, Isaac, on an altar of sacrifice. To put it another way, Abraham demonstrated his absolute faith in the promises of God by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac. But he received this faith earlier when God made a covenant with Abraham under a starry sky.

Paul and James use the same word in different senses. In Romans, "justification" means to be “rendered righteous”, restored to a right relationship with God, or to have peace with God, which is not accomplished by one's own works or merit, but by faith in the atoning death of Christ on the cross and the promise of eternal life in Him. The point in James, however, is that this faith is demonstrated in actions, not mere words. Faith that is simply a matter of words, not actions, is a dead faith, and therefore does not "justify" or “show to be righteous.”

The Greek word δικαιόω (dikaioo) is used in both these senses by Clement of Rome in his epistle to the church in Corinth. believed to be the earliest Christian document aside from the writings of the New Testament itself. In one part of his epistle, Clement (who died around 97 A.D.) writes:

"Let us be justified by deeds, not words."

Later he writes: "We who by His will have been called in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, or by our wisdom or understanding or piety or the deeds which we have wrought in holiness of heart, but through faith by Almighty God has justified all men from the beginning of the world."

We are not saved by our own works, but good works are the inevitable fruit of a living faith. Therefore, Paul's Epistle to the Romans and the Epistle of James do not contradict, but complement each other. Luther realized this when, years after the "straw epistle" remark, he wrote:

"We say that justification is effective without works, not that faith is without works. For that faith which lacks fruit is not an efficacious but a feigned faith...It is one thing that faith justifies without works; it is another thing that faith exists without works." [LW 34: 175-176].

Thanks be to God that the doctrine of justification through faith alone has been preserved down through the centuries, and that also the 27 books of the New Testament all have stood the test of time and may be regarded as inspired by the Holy Spirit as our infallible norm of faith.

We have begun teaching the preschool children more about the Lord's Prayer. This week we showed them how "Our Father, who art in heaven," relates to the story of creation in Genesis. Then we practiced singing a metric version of the Lord's Prayer to help them memorize it. I heard this the first time I visited Venezuela and immediately was struck by its simplicity and beauty. When the children have learned the song well enough, I hope to make a recording of it.

Coro: Padre nuestro, que estás en los cielos,
Santificado, santificado sea tu nombre.

1. Venga a nos tu reino, Señor. Hágase tu santa voluntad.
En el cielo y la tierra haremos tu santa voluntad.

Coro

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

Coro

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

Coro

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

Beating on Barney

The new semester for our preschool began today. We have 27 children, ages 2 to 6, enrolled so far. Some parents wanted to enroll children under two years of age, but we are not prepared to give nursery care at this point.

We celebrated the first day of preschool with a piñata shaped like Barney the Dinosaur. To be honest, I experienced a guilty pleasure in seeing small children attacking the extremely annoying TV character. I would have liked to have taken a few whacks myself. But as none of the children were able to break the piñata, the cheap thrill of seeing Barney take a beating faded as each child took his or her turn and the minutes mounted. Finally Luz Maria sliced Barney open so the kids could do the customary dive for candy and trinkets. A good time was had by all.

This past Saturday, Luz Maria and I visited the home of Jordi Duque (13), one of the recipients of a Children's Christian Concern Society scholarship in La Caramuca. Jordi's 15-year-old brother, Leonard, had been suffering from a combination of hepatitis and dengue fever. The fever seems to have passed after 12 days. We prayed with Leonard and his family for continued recovery.

Hepatitis perhaps needs no explanation, but for those of you unfamiliar with dengue fever, it is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes found in tropical and subtropical areas, the primary carrier species being Aedes aegypti. Symptoms of classic dengue fever include high fever, skin rash and severe inflammation of the muscles and joints.

There is no vaccine for dengue fever and no treatment except for plenty of bed rest, fluids and acetaminophen to kill the pain. Although it is painful, most people (especially adults) recover from classic dengue fever in about two weeks. However, there are two other forms of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, that can be fatal, especially to children. The chances of contracting these more dangerous forms of dengue fever increase with successive infections.

In our part of La Caramuca there has been a concerted effort to eliminate or disinfect the free-standing pools of water where the mosquitoes breed (this is the only way to control the spread of the disease). But Jordi, his mother and two brothers are extremely poor and live in a section where there is little effective sanitation. Jordi and his family live in a shack cobbled together from leftover pieces of wood and sheet metal. They have no indoor plumbing, only a basin for water out back.

However, their lot in life is improving as they have qualified for a government housing program in which a better house will be built for them. Concrete for the foundation will be poured this week.

Once again we would express our gratitude to Children's Christian Concern Society (CCCS) for providing scholarships for Jordi and 11 other children of needy families in La Caramuca. Based in Topeka, Kansas, CCCS supports Christian education in countries around the world. Here it is a struggle for many families to afford books and basic school supplies, and children often drop out of school after sixth grade.

It took some time, but Luz Maria finally completed her "overview of the Bible" course with the group in Punta Gorda. These were the last students to complete the course and Luz Maria found their last class to be a very positive experience. She was delighted that one man said he at last understood the image of the Cross was a symbol for Christ's suffering and atonement for the sins of all people and not an object of idolatry. To put this in context, Christian symbols in Venezuela are often used in a superstitious way. For example, it is common for people to paint a simple cross on the outside of their houses because they believe the image of the cross itself drives evil spirits away. Likewise, keeping a Bible open to Psalm 91 is supposed to guard against evil spirits during the night.

Even more important, he said he now understands how completely Christ's atoning death on the cross covers all sins and that one does not have to try and stay on God's good side by observing all kinds of rules that He has not commanded. One idea that many people have is that taking even one sip of an alcoholic beverage will send you straight to hell. This, too, is something of an overreaction against the prevailing culture. Abuse of alcohol and other drugs is widespread throughout Venezuela, and compounds the cycle of family instability and poverty in which so many are trapped.

We do not believe the Bible flatly condemns the consumption of alcohol, but following the teaching 1 Corinthians 8, we respect those who wish to break free of this cycle and see even the moderate use of alcohol as too much of a temptation. We do not ridicule them for this, and we strive to avoid even the appearance that we condone alcohol abuse. But we will not compromise the truth that we are saved through faith and not by works, especially by man-made codes of conduct, and we rejoice when someone recognizes this.

Pastor Edgar Brito has begun training me and other men to help him with the liturgy. For the last couple of years, his Sunday-morning congregation has been composed almost entirely of women, but that is changing. Two adult men were recently confirmed as members and two or three other men have said they wish to begin confirmation instruction. Pastor Edgar sees an opportunity to improve male participation in Sunday worship, consistent with our belief in male responsibility for leadership in the home and the church. This teaching is hard to get across in Venezuela where men to avoid responsibility in the home and the church, especially if the church seems to be dominated by women.

Pastor Edgar takes the liturgy very seriously. During our recent vacation Bible school, he explained the word "antiphon" to the children, which certainly going to more trouble than I would have. Members of the Corpus Christi congregation take the liturgy seriously, too. Another man told me what he liked about the appointed lectionary was that he could study the lessons for each Sunday for several hours the week beforehand, again quite putting me to shame.

Corpus Christi uses "Oficio Divino", a simple Spanish order of service developed by Edmund Mielke, a former Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod missionary to Venezuela. On Sundays without Holy Communion, the public confession and absolution of sins is followed by the service of the Word, in which the Apostle's Creed is recited prior to the sermon, which is followed by offering, prayers and closing benediction. On Holy Communion Sundays, the Nicene Creed is recited before the sermon and the Lord's Supper is celebrated between the prayers and the closing benediction.

"Oficio Divino" includes copious notes in the margins explaining the Biblical and other historical sources of the liturgy. It helped me greatly in my developing appreciation of the liturgy to understand how it was rooted in forms of worship used in the Old Testament as well as the first century and later eras of the Church.

There are talented people in the Corpus Christi congregation and one such person is Yelitza Valderrama. Yelitza tutors children during the week at Corpus Christi and also teaches Sunday school (her tutoring also is funded by CCCS). Her activities with the children include helping them to express themselves through dance (virtually all Venezuelans love to dance). There are Christian versions of popular music styles in Venezuela and Yelitza will slip a CD of these tunes in a boombox and choreograph a dance routine for the kids.

She and the children from Corpus Christi did that for our Sunday school kids in La Caramuca last Thursday. They used a recording of an example of Christian "reggaeton". Reggaeton is a form of dance music that originated either in Puerto Rico or Panama. It combines Jamaican reggae rhythms with elements of rap and hip-hop and is usually characterized by a type of line dancing. The routine the kids practiced in La Caramuca included backflips, spinning around on one's head and other moves that I couldn't do even when I was young. The words went something like this:

People of Christ here are singing, yes, yes,

Introducing a new style,

Powerful reggae music sounding,

People of Christ, He is the Lord that I will speak of to you,

And they ask me, What's up? What's up with the reggae?

The music that I sang before, forget it, forget it.

I want, I want my country for Christ,

The words of salvation describe my song,

Because I want my nation for Christ,

I broadcast this message, that you may be aware,

Record in your mind that Jesus is coming in power,

All that I knew was lost, I had no other choice,

To find purpose in my life, I tried drugs and other bad things,

But one day I was able to see the sad reality and was able to change for the love of God.

H

Yepci returns home

Luz Maria's daughter, Yepci, returned home after 16 days in the hospital. She had to undergo surgery twice, once to stop internal bleeding and again to treat the five bone fractures she suffered in the automobile accident. Yepci has one arm in a cast, but she is able to walk and is slowly recovering from her ordeal. About four or five of the children from our Sunday school have
taken it upon themselves to visit Yepci since she's been back.

She was treated at the large public hospital in Barinas. In Venezuela's health system, the hospital bed and services of the doctors and nurses are completely underwritten by the government. However, the families of patients are responsible for purchasing all the necessary medications and materials used for treatment. The family of Yepci's taxi driver (who was also seriously injured) assumed responsibility for paying for most of Yepci's medications, according to the Venezuelan sense of honor. However, we had to pay about $150 for the materials used in Yepci's second surgery.

Unfortunately, Junior, a young man who asked to have Pastor Paul Pfotenhauer pray over him while the volunteers from Minnesota were here, had to leave the hospital without the operation he needed because his family could not afford similar costs.

In addition, the demand for medical services exceeds the available resources in public hospitals, so it is also the family's reponsibility to ensure the round-the-clock care that the doctors and nurses are unable to provide. Luz Maria and her daughter Charli took turns keeping vigil at Yepci's bedside. Luz Maria would spend at least 12 hours there, then Charli would stay for 12
hours. Of course there were many other family members on hand to help out, but it was a grueling schedule for 16 days, especially because one week was the time in which volunteers from the United States were visiting our mission project.

Yet Luz Maria was glad to devote as much time as she could to our visitors. At one point she asked me if in the United States we used the expression, "The show must go on!"

This past week we visited Luz Maria's sister, Denise, (whom everyone calls Pina) at a private clinic where she is being treated for a kidney infection. Private clinics are available for those who can afford them and offer a higher standard of care.

The Venezuelan government has initiated a program, called Misión Barrio Adentro, of building and staffing small community clinics to provide the same level of care to the poor and relieve some of the burden on public hospitals. Some of the staff for these clinics are doctors on loan from Cuba. Such a clinic is under construction in La Caramuca.

Pina and her husband run a very successful restaurant, La Mazorka, in the town of Barinitas. The team of volunteers from Minnesota had dinner there after their whitwater rafting excursion. Pina was pleased that members of the team were willing to try traditional Venezuelan cuisine, including chiguirri, a large rodent that is considered a delicacy here. According to some sources, the chiguirri is the world's largest rodent, typically achieving a mature weight of around 100 pounds. It looks like a cross between a beaver and a wild pig.

Pina once prepared a meal of octopus for Luz Maria and me, but I was not converted into a lover of seafood.

As we were taking the bus back to Barinas from Barinitas, Luz Maria and I noticed a business that sells outdoor swingsets. We resolved to check their prices on our next visit to Barinitas. We had made swings for the children in La Caramuca out of wooden planks and rope with a metal pipe between two trees for support, but they wore out the ropes after a couple of weeks.

Our thanks to everyone for their prayers for Yepci during this difficult time.