Alonso Franco joins us as vicar

Alonso Franco was installed as vicar at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church on Sunday, January 18, 2009. He will serve in Barinas and La Caramuca for three months before being transferred to Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) Lutheran Church in Puerto Ordaz.

Alonso led the Service of the Word, Pastor Eduardo Flores preached the sermon, and I led the Service of Holy Communion, with Alonso assisting in the distribution of the sacrament. For the next three months, Alonso will preach at least two Sundays per month and lead Bible studies at Corpus Christi. I will be responsible for reviewing his sermons and Bible studies and lending him whatever counsel and aid he requires.

Alonso's father, Pastor Alcides Franco, served as president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela for 14 years, and also as pastor of La Santa Trinidad (Holy Trinity) Lutheran Church in Caracas, and La Ascensión ( Ascension) Lutheran Church in San Felix de Guayana before becoming pastor of La Reforma (Reformation) Lutheran Church in the same city.

His older brother, Pastor Jonathan Franco, served for a number of years as leader of the national Lutheran youth organization, and is currently treasurer of the national church. Jonathan also has been chosen to go to Argentina for advanced theological study at Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires. Of course, this means someone else will have to be selected as national church treasurer, but we cross every bridge when we come to it.

We loaned Alonso a microwave oven to use while he stays in the pastoral residence at Corpus Christi. Luz Maria saved up some money and bought the microwave last year, but about that time the wiring in our kitchen died and we have yet to replace that. So up to now we had not even taken the microwave out of the box. I should add that the preschool has its own, separate kitchen where the wiring still is more or less okay.

Luz Maria has been working very hard on completing her thesis for the fifth-level teaching degree. She will finish by the end of this month. However, since the semester does not end until July, she will have to wait until then to receive her degree.

Christian art workshop a success

Twenty-three people attended the Christian art workshop that Luz Maria organized in Caracas on January 9, 2009, including myself, Luz Maria, and Luz Maria's daughters, Yepci and Charli. The emphasis was on visual art (rather than, say, music) in the form of liturgical vestments and paraments, banners, crosses, crucifixes and the like. The attendees included clergy and laypeople from Barquisimeto, Barinas, Maracay, Caracas, Barcelona, Maturin and San Felix de Guayana.

Yoxandris Marcano of Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church in Maturin gave what was perhaps the best presentation. In fact, it was a well-organized PowerPoint presentation highlighting not only her own work, but that of several other members of Cristo Rey. She had stored presentation on a USB flash drive (which are everywhere in Venezuela now, one gigabyte costs about $20 to $25, two gigabytes about $40 to $50). To show it, we used my laptop computer and a projector borrowed from Elsy de Machado (there was no screen, we just used a blank wall).

This may only mean something to my readers who have been to Maturin on short-term mission trips, but Yoxandris is a niece of Dagnys Marcano, who is now married to Pastor Francisco Cabarcas, and Oveida Marcano, former manager of Tierra de Gracia Lutheran Farm. Oveida recently married, but I do not know her husband's name. Yoxandris' father restored the walls and put a new roof on what is not the pastoral residence at Tierra de Gracia. It is rather exciting to have lived in Venezuela onl five years, yet to see already a new generation of leadership emerging within the Lutheran Church of Venezuela.

Yoxandris made the red stoles that were presented to Eduardo Flores, Sergio Maita and myself upon our ordinations. She has also made for me a purple stole for use during the seasons of Advent and Lent, and paraments for our altar in La Caramuca. Our altar consists of a green plastic table about the size of a card table, but without foldable legs. Nevertheless, it looks fairly impressive when covered with the white altar-cloth bearing the alpha and omega symbols in front.

Others who made presentations at the workshop included:

• Natasha Sanchez of La Fortaleza Lutheran Church in Maracay, banners and vestments;
• Luis Miguel Silva, La Fortaleza, wooden crosses and other items crafted from wood and leather;
• Pastor Luis Moya of La Reforma Lutheran Church, San Felix de Guayana, speaking on behalf of his wife, who makes banners and vestments;
• Yepci Santana, Corpus Christi Lutheran Church of Barinas, banners.

In addition, I presented slides of the wrought-iron version of Luther's seal incorporated into the gates of our mission in La Caramuca and the work that inspired it, the windows of Roca de Eternidad (Rock of Ages) Lutheran Church, Quebrada Seca, Monagas. Like many buildings in rural Venezuela, the church in Quebrada Seca does not have glassed windows, but rather ironwork on the outside of the windows to keep out intruders. And the ironwork in every window in Roca de Eternidad has symbols of the Holy Trinity, Baptism, Creation and other themes.

I also showed a picture of the beautiful Advent wreath made for Corpus Christi by Ludy de Tarrazona (the one that caught on fire).

Everyone was excited by the talent and resources on display. There were four major concerns:

1. That Christian art might give members of Lutheran congregations an avenue to use their God-given talents;
2. That promotion of Christian art might preserve Venezuelan folk arts and crafts, which some fear are in danger of disappearing;
3. That artistic expression through liturgical tradition might help the Lutheran Church of Venezuela develop a distinctive identity in Venezuela and a sense of solidarity with other confessional Lutheran church-bodies throughout the world.
4. That liturgical art might serve to express and teach Lutheran doctrine.

Workshop participants favored the inclusion of formal art courses in the curriculum of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute and the formation of committees to promote Christian art in every congregation.

International perspective on abortion

This week marks a definite regime change in the United States as well as the 36^th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion on demand. Exit George W. Bush, whose record shows him to have been the most pro-life President so far, and enter Barack Obama, who at the very least promises to be the most pro-abortion President ever.

Here is an on-line chart which shows the status of abortion laws in nearly every country in the world as of 2007. You may notice that while abortion on demand tends to be the rule in the United States and Europe, Latin America is something of a mixed bag. Here in Venezuela, abortion is only legal in situations where the life of the prospective mother might be endangered by bringing the baby to term. Neighboring Colombia is more permissive in regard to abortion than Venezuela (although I am told pious, practicing Roman Catholics are more common there), but more restrictive than the United States. Direct abortion is illegal under any circumstances in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Chile, although the Chilean government in 2006 authorized the sale of the abortifacient "morning-after" birth control pill.

This Sunday Bolivians will vote on a new constitution that, if ratified, would throw open the door to elective abortion. Please pray for Bolivia and also for other nations that are under pressure to change pro-life stands.

Please pray also for the United States and other nations that, hardened in sin, refuse to recognize the sanctity of human life and marriage, and the rights of the unborn, that they may repent before judgment falls.

Advent wreath ablaze!

It can terribly distracting when the entire Advent wreath catches on fire during the worship service.

Here is how it happened: Corpus Christi Lutheran Church does not have air-conditioning nor what we North Americans would call “storm windows”. Most of the windows in the church are protected by a wrought-iron framework which includes louvered glass panes which may
be closed in the event of rain. The window nearest the altar, however, only has iron bars to keep out intruders, but no louvered glass.

Often we have trouble keeping the candles on the altar lit when there is a good, stiff breeze blowing. This time, however, the problem was not keeping the candles lit. Rather, the breeze fanned the flames into a close encounter with less-than-fireproof material.

Luckily, there was no serious property damage, although Virginia Jimenez burned her finger helping me put out the fire.

The beautiful Advent wreath, with four blue candles and one white Christmas candle, was made by Ludy de Tarazona, a member of Corpus Christi. We thank God that it served its purpose in marking the weeks of Advent before this unfortunate incident and that it almost certainly can be repaired for continued use. We also give thanks that the Advent season and Christmas Day passed with little incident and the receipt of many gifts, including hallacas (the traditional
Venezuelan Christmas dish) and a bottle of wine from the older fellow who lives at the bottom of our hill.

There were more than 30 people in attendance at Corpus Christi on Christmas Eve. We thank God for this also, for as I have explained before, the idea of attending a midweek service is quite novel for most Venezuelans. The majority spend their Christmas/New Year vacations in the mountains or on the beach, or partying at home with family and friends. We had no December 25 service, so Sunday, December 28, was our Christmas service, more or less. There were about 20 in attendance.

That same Sunday I also led a complete worship service in La Caramuca, with Holy Communion for our confirmed young people. Eduardo Flores said his farewell to Corpus Christi and returned to Caracas after Christmas Eve. Corpus Christi still does not have its own pastor, so this is the plan for now: I will lead the service and distribute Holy Communion every Sunday morning at Corpus Christi and every Sunday afternoon in La Caramuca.

Alonso Franco will arrive in January to serve as vicar at Corpus Christi for three months, thus sharing some of the load. We look forward to seeing Alonso, because he and his parents, Pastor Alcides and Nancy, are old friends of Luz Maria and her children. Luz Maria considered Alcides Franco her mentor in the faith during the years she lived in San Felix de Guayana.

Remembering the Holy Innocents

According to the church calendar, December 28 is always the day dedicated to the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, the male children that King Herod slaughtered in his rage against the newborn Christ (with whom Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt), and to Christian martyrs around the world. I would recommend the Web site, www.persecution.net, for learning about the more obvious ways in which Christians are persecuted today and how Christians in many parts of the world do not have the blessing of religious liberty that Christians have in the United States. The Web site is sponsored by “Voice of the Martyrs”, an organization founded by Richard Wurmbrand.

It was about 20 years ago that a friend gave me copies of Wurmbrand's books, “Tortured for Christ” and “In God's Underground”. Born a Romanian Jew, Wurmbrand flirted with Marxism
as a young man, converted to Christianity and eventually was ordained a Lutheran pastor. He was imprisoned for many years by the Romanian Communists. He at last found political asylum in the United States and western Europe.

Of course, this year December 28 also was the first Sunday after Christmas, so although I mentioned persecuted Christians in the general prayer, we used the Scripture lessons appointed for the first Sunday after Advent rather than the Day of the Holy Innocents.

Historic lectionary a help

Starting with this liturgical year, the Lutheran Church of Venezuela has returned to “the historic one-year lectionary”. The practice of preaching from a text appointed for the day predates the New Testament. When Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah in the Nazareth synagogue, according to Luke 4:16-21, He preached from Isaiah 61:1-2, the appointed reading for that day. Various other passages in the New Testament indicate that the early Christians continued the practice of Scripture readings as they did much of the rest of Jewish liturgical tradition.

The church calendar developed as a way of rehearsing, through the course of the year, the important events in the life of Christ, especially His birth, passion and resurrection. A common lectionary designed to follow this annual cycle first appeared in 471 A.D. Further standardization of the lectionary occurred 300 years later in western Christendom under the reign of Charlemagne. Finally, by the end of the 13^th Century, the lectionary had taken the form
it would retain until 1969.

In that year, the Roman Catholic Church abandoned the one-year lectionary in favor of a three-year cycle of Scriptural lessons. In a fit of ecumenical fervor, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other Protestant church-bodies followed suit. The reasons given for this change were that:

1. The three-year cycle would give pastors a wider range of Scripture verses on which to base their sermons, and;

2. Increase Biblical literacy among the laity.
   

Ironically, although the one-year lectionary had been used by Catholics and Protestants alike for nearly 400 years, the united front for the three-year lectionary soon began to splinter. Each
denomination began revising it, until each had their own distinct version.

Never mind the Catholics, Anglicans and Presbyterians. The Thrivent pastor's agenda that I was given to use for 2008 has three different Lutheran versions of the Series “A” readings for each Sunday: one for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), one for the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and one for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (the Lutheran Church of Venezuela followed the WELS version last year). Personally I found it difficult to just glance at the agenda to make sure I had the right lesson in hand when my eyes had to run down the list of the three versions.

My point being, the three-year lectionary does not make preaching easier for novices like myself. I find the one-year lectionary simpler and more useful. Also, the idea behind a common lectionary never was to “widen options” but to sharpen the focus of preaching throughout the church and discourage pastors from using the Christian pulpit as a soapbox for their personal opinions.

As for increasing Biblical literacy among the laity, a review of research by George Barna and associates will reveal how unsuccessful the three-year lectionary has been at achieving this goal.

Finally, one great advantage to the one-year lectionary is the rich heritage of hymnody, sermons and other liturgical resources that have been based on it. There is much material from which to draw inspiration, including the sermons of Martin Luther himself. Concordia Publishing House
just released a volume of Luther's sermons translated into Spanish that I purchased through the Juan de Frias Theological Institute for about $8. However, Luz Maria grabbed it and won't let me have it until she is done reading it.

Workshop on Christian art

Luz Maria has been organizing a workshop on Christian art to be held in Caracas on January 9. The idea came to her after the ordination service in December. As part of our ordination, Eduardo, Sergio and I were presented with red stoles (symbolic of Pentecost, the season of the Holy Spirit) hand-made by Yoxandris Marcano, a young woman from Monagas. Yoxandris also made a beautiful green stole (for the Trinity season on the church calendar) for her boyfriend,
Sergio.

Also, the three pastors from La Reforma Lutheran Church in San Felix de Guayana – Alcides Franco, Jonathan Franco and Luis Moya – wore elegant chasubles made by Luis' wife. The chasuble is a poncho-like garment which, according to the ancient liturgical tradition, is worn over the alb and stole by the presiding pastor during the service of Holy Communion. During the 16^th Century, Lutheran pastors wore chasubles as a matter of course, but with the rise of Pietism in the late 17^th Century and the continuing influence of Calvinism, many such “high church” accoutrements were abandoned. The anti-liturgical influence was particularly strong in the United States, where the strains of Pietism, Calvinism and Arminianism have formed the basis of popular religion from the nation's beginning. In recent years the chasuble has been reintroduced in some Lutheran churches in North America and now, apparently in Venezuela.

I should explain that, despite external pressures, Lutherans historically have held to the “normative principle of worship”, which may be summed up as saying that the ancient traditions of the church should be preserved as long as they do not conflict with the doctrines of Holy Scripture. This is opposed to the “regulative principle of worship” held by Calvinists, Arminians and Anabaptists, which says that only practices explicitly commanded in Scripture may be allowed in public worship. Once this principle was taken to the extreme of prohibiting all musical instruments (because none are mentioned in the New Testament) and all hymns other than
metrical versions of the Psalms (in England, the Puritans advocated “the iron rule of psalmody”).

The Westminster Confession states:

"The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture." (WCF 21.1)

Nowadays many churches in the Reformed tradition allow “contemporary Christian music” and “praise bands”, but remain fairly hostile to the use of visual arts which do not require a video screen. In Venezuela, many “evangelical” churches take this to the extreme of not allowing even plain crosses, much less crucifixes (with the image of Christ), set up inside or outside their sanctuaries. The only way you can tell these churches from public auditoriums is the presences of plaques bearing Bible verses on the back walls.

It is for this reason that one of our neighbors in La Caramuca, a staunch Roman Catholic, declared that the spread of Protestantism within the community was destroying traditional Christmas customs (such as the construction of elaborate manger scenes, which Venezuelan evangelicals regard as idolatry).

In contrast, the Lutheran Confessions say:

“Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, save
that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns, which have been added to teach the people.” (Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV: Of the Mass)

“At the outset we must again make the preliminary statement that we do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it. For among us masses are celebrated every Lord's Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved. And the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other like things.” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV (XII), Of the Mass)

“For although the holy Fathers themselves had both rites and traditions, yet they did not hold that these matters are useful or necessary for justification; they did not obscure the glory and office of Christ, but taught that we are justified by faith for Christ's sake, and not for the sake of these human services. But they observed human rites for the sake of bodily advantage, that the people might know at what time they should assemble; that, for the sake of example all things in the churches might be done in order and becomingly; lastly, that the common people might receive a sort of training. For the distinctions of times and the variety of rites are of service in
admonishing the common people. The Fathers had these reasons for maintaining the rites, and for these reasons we also judge it to be right that traditions [good customs] be maintained.” (Apology of the Augsburg Confesson, Article XV (VIII): Of Human Traditions in the Church)

The Lutheran Reformers realized that certain rites and practices, while not absolutely required by Holy Scripture, were valuable in a number of ways, for example, as visual aids in teaching
the people. Stained-glass windows originally were a way of illustrating Bible stories for a largely illiterate population.And, of course, music and visual arts provide avenues of artistic expressions for believers as signs of their devotion to God.

Which is what Luz Maria's workshop will be about. In addition to the examples that I mentioned above, many members of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela have demonstrated their talents in the making of stained glass, baptismal fonts, crosses and crucifixes and in other ways. Luz Maria has been very pleased with the enthusiastic response to the workshop so far.

What about Papa Noel?

During Advent we covered the Nativity story with the Sunday school children. But one boy asked, “What about Papa Noel?” Papa Noel is another name for Santa Claus in Venezuela. The boy was particularly interested because his name is Jefferson Noel, his brother's name is
Noel Alexander, and his sister's name is Genesis Noeli.

So I told him that Papa Noel was really Nicholas, bishop of the city of Myra, in what is now Turkey, in the fourth century after Christ. Once there was a very poor couple who had three
daughters. It was the custom in those days that the family had to provide a dowry for each daughter to get married. This family did not have any money, so it appeared the girls had no other options in life but to become prostitutes. Nicholas gathered up enough gold coins to
provide each of the three with a dowry, put the money in three bags and in the dead of night threw the bags through a window in the family's home. That is how the legend of Papa Noel, or Santa Claus, got started.

I did not tell him my favorite part of the real St. Nicholas story: How the bishop of Myra attended the Council of Nicaea as a defender of Trinitarian doctrine against the heresy of Arianism and how he supposedly punched the arch-heretic Arius right in the face!

With that image of “action hero Santa” in mind, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

We give thanks for peace

Everyone here was worried about possible outbreaks of violence as political tensions heightened with the approach of the December 2 national referendum. However, prayers for peace and national unity were answered as the referendum was followed by dancing rather than fighting in the streets.

There was even a parade of cars and trucks down the quiet lane next to our preschool. The passengers were waving banners that proclaimed "No" (to the constitutional reform), "Venezuela libre" ("Free Venezuela") and "Somos libre" ("We are free").

Venezuelans voted down sweeping changes in the national constitution proposed by the government of President Hugo Chavez. Venezuela has been sharply divided over the past seven years between supporters and opponents of the Chavez government. This was the president's first-ever political defeat since taking office in 2000. You could sense a difference about this national election as staunch Chavez supporters, even some government officials, began talking openly about voting "no" this time.

Hugo Chavez was first elected president of Venezuela by a landslide vote. He ran on a relatively moderate platform of social and economic reforms which nearly everyone agrees Venezuela needs. But his rhetoric and policies have become more and more radical, and the proposed constitutional reform was too radically left-wing even for some long-time allies. It was felt that the proposed constitutional reform gave too much power to the federal government and also would further divide Venezuelans into opposing camps. These feelings crossed party lines, so that is why in the aftermath of the referendum, there was much talk of "reconciliation" and peace.

Venezuela has a long history of democratic ideals, although realizing those ideals often has proven difficult. Abraham Lincoln is perhaps the most-admired North American in Venezuela. There are high schools and streets named after him, and in Caracas there is a small plaza with a bust of Lincoln in the center. The pedestal is inscribed with these words from the Gettysburg Address: "...that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Following the referendum this past week, Luz María and I went to see "Miranda Regresa", a Venezuelan-produced movie depicting the life of Francisco de Miranda, one of the heroes of Venezuela's War of Independence. Miranda was born in Caracas in 1750. He commanded Spanish troops supporting the cause of U.S. independence in Florida and Missisippi during the (North) American Revolution. He became personally acquainted with George Washington, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.

Later, after being accused of treason against Spain, Miranda fought in the French Revolutionary Army on behalf of the Girondist party. When the Girondists fell from favor during Robespierre's "Reign of Terror", he was forced to leave France.

Backed by Great Britain, Miranda led an unsuccessful attempt to liberate Venezuela from Spanish rule in 1806. During this attempt, the yellow-blue-and-red Venezuelan flag was flown for the first time at the port city of La Vela de Coro.

Simón Bolívar led a more successful uprising against Spain, but when Venezuela officially declared its independence on July 5, 1811, Miranda became the first leader of the new republic. In 1812 he was forced to sign an armistice restoring Spanish rule. Because of this, when Bolívar returned to Caracas after a period of exile, he handed Miranda over to the Spanish army. Miranda died in a Spanish prison in 1816.

The movie emphasized the influence of 18th-Century philosophers, such as Voltaire and Rousseau, on Miranda, the gentleman-adventurer and man of action. Of course, 18th-Century Europe exalted human reason and denied Biblical truths like original sin. This resulted in an overly optimistic view of human nature and the failure of dreams of liberty, as illustrated by the history of so many revolutions of the 19th and 20 centuries where the new, utopian-minded government turned out to be more of an oppressor than the old regime.

It is worth noting that the Masonic Lodge, of which Miranda and Bolívar were both members, played an important role in popularizing the ideology of the European "Enlightenment" in Latin America. Certainly this was true in North America as well; the 2004 movie, "National Treasure," starring Nicholas Cage, is largely fanciful, yet in some respects quite accurate about the involvement of the Masons in early U.S. history. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, many of the signers of the Declarations of Independence and the Constitution, members of the Continental Army and the first Congress of the United States of America were all Masons.

The Masonic Lodge always has been an odd mix of 18th-Century rationalism and occultism, with the rationalism emphasized above all else in the Americas. Because the Masons were early champions of the idea of separation of church and state, they were from the beginning bitter enemies of the Roman Catholic Church, with nine papal bulls over a 200-year period threatening with excommunication Catholics who joined the Lodge.

Lutherans today may agree with some ideas espoused by the Masonic Lodge, such as the separation of civil and ecclesiastical authority, although for somewhat different reasons. But Lutherans have been on the same page with the Roman Catholic Church in opposing the Masonic Lodge for its underlying religious philosophy: That no religious tradition has a special revelation from God, but there are "higher truths" in all religions that can be discerned by sufficiently advanced individuals. This philosophy implies that eternal life may be earned through good works and not through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior from sin.

Given that Roman Catholicism has been the predominant religion in Latin America for hundreds of years, it is rather surprising to find that the Masonic Lodge played such an important role in Venezuelan history and continues to be active in Venezuela today.

But much of this historical information may be found in more depth at the Cross and Compass Web site maintained by historical researcher Sara Frahm. One rather poignant article there examines the spiritual journey of George Washington. He was raised in a devout Anglican family, and as a young man, was active in the Anglican Church. At age 20, Washington wrote a personal prayer book filled with affirmations of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. However, also as a young man, Washington was initiated into the Masonic Lodge.

After the Revolutionary War, Washington's involvement with the Lodge dramatically increased while his participation in the life of the church decreased. He stopped taking Holy Communion and attended Sunday services less and less frequently, until he stopped attending altogether. His public references to Christ almost completely ceased, as he began speaking of God more in terms of "the divine Providence", "the Author of the universe" and other terms popular among 18-Century rationalists.

It is good that Christians, no matter what our nationality, look at our national heroes and our nation's ideals under the lens of the Holy Scriptures. It was good for Luz María and myself, as Venezuelans voted "Yes" or "No" in their referendum, to meditate on this passage in our personal devotions:

"As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory." 2 Corinthians 1:18-20

Convention in Maracay

Luz María and I last week attended the annual meeting of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela. It took place at La Fortaleza Lutheran Church in Maracay, which is a little more than two hours west of Caracas.

I studied Spanish for several months in Maracay when I first came to Venezuela. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Juan Vicente Gómez, a ruthless military dictator who ruled Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935, preferred to exercise his iron hand from his cattle ranch near Maracay rather than Caracas, the traditional seat of power. Gómez was officially president of Venezuela for part of the time he wielded power, but even when he wasn't, he was still the real head of state.

When I lived in Maracay, the congregation of La Fortaleza met in rented facilities across from the city´s main cemetery. The building had been a florist's shop. Actually, nearly all the businesses on that block were florist's shops. It is customary to observe el Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) November 1 in Venezuela. Unlike Mexico, however, there are no candy skulls or graveside altars with offerings of food and tequila. Rather, it is much like Memorial Day in the United States, when everyone buys flowers to lay on the graves of the honored dead.

Now La Fortaleza Lutheran Church has its own beautiful sanctuary and surrounding facilities, which include a medical and psychiatric clinic for the benefit of the community. The current complex was built with the help of volunteer teams from the United States.

When we returned to Barinas, Luz María and I were encouraged by the fact that Adrian Ventura, the pastor of Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church in Maturin, will again lead the national church for a two-year term. This will be his third term as president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela. Pastor Adrian was elected to his first term as president in 1999, followed by a term as vice president/interim president, then was elected president for the second time in 2005.

Adrian Ventura was born February 14, 1970, in the eastern city of Maturin, the son of Rosalino Ventura and Carmen Susana Marin de Ventura. When he was 10 years old, his sister Iraima died. An aunt talked to the family of the comfort to be found in Christ the Savior and introduced them to Calvary Lutheran Church in La Pica, a small town near Maturin (this church now is known as Cristo Vencedor or Christ the Victor). U.S. missionary Henry Witte was pastor of the church at that time.

Through his involvement in church youth activities, Adrian came to know a young woman named Cruz Maria Islanda Anibal in 1987. Their courtship began with a date at the Rialto movie theater (now closed). They were married December 25, 1993 and today have three children: Adrianny Noemi, Adrian Josue, and Raquel Andreina.

On May 14, 1994, Adrian's father was murdered while working at his job as a taxicab driver.

The Juan de Frias Theological Institute provided Pastor Adrian Ventura with theological training through extension courses. He was installed as pastor of Cristo Rey March 17, 1996. Cristo Rey Lutheran Church began as a mission of Calvary Lutheran Church in 1984.

The issue of who will direct the Juan de Frias Theological Institute was left unresolved due to a shortage of qualified candidates. For the last four years, the institute, which provides theological training for pastors, deacons and laypeople throughout the country, has been under the leadership of Jesús Ricardo Granado, a deacon at Cristo Rey. Nearly everyone at the plenaria expressed gratitude for his service and wished him well. The issue of choosing a candidate for new director was sent back to the Juan de Frias board for further review.


Ricardo was raised as a Lutheran, an unusual situation in Venezuela. He was born in Morrocayo, Monagas, but when he was four years old, his family moved to Ciudad Guyana in the state of Bolivar.

When he was 25 years old, Ricardo moved to Caracas to study business administration at a university there. While living in Caracas he became involved with the youth group at El Mesías (Messiah) Lutheran Church. (El Mesías, unfortunately, has since closed its doors.)

After obtaining his degree, Ricardo returned to Ciudad Guyana, the "Twin Cities" of Venezuela. Ciudad Guyana consists of Puerto Ordaz on one side of the Orinoco River and San Felix on the other. Ricardo managed a bank in Puerto Ordaz. There are two Lutheran churches in Ciudad Guyana, Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) in Puerto Ordaz and Ascension in San Felix. Ricardo was a member of both congregations at various times.

He continued studying theology through the Juan de Frias Institute and eventually served as pastor of Principe de Paz (Prince of Peace) Lutheran Church in the small village of Sierra Caroni.

Ricardo and his wife, Priscila for six years have three children, Sara, Samuel and Ana Rebeca.

These two men have proven able overseers of the national church during a period of great upheaval, both within the church and within the country. We anticipate that with Pastor Adrian's continued leadership, there will continue to be an emphasis on sound doctrinal instruction and formation of the pastors and teachers that the Lutheran Church of Venezuela needs.

The plan is to expand the program of intensive training of pastors and national missionaries in Caracas to include preparations of candidates for the office of the holy ministry in various regions of the country before they begin studies in the capital city. This fits well with our vision for our mission in la Caramuca as we would be ideally positioned to provide such preparation for candidates in southwestern Venezuela.

Speaking of upheaval, my fellow "seminaristas" and I were to have graduated from our year of intensive study Sunday, December 3, at El Salvador Lutheran Church in Caracas. However, the ceremony has been postponed to the following Sunday, December 11. Political tension in the country is very high as a national referendum has been scheduled for Saturday, December 2.

The Venezuelan government has proposed sweeping changes in the national constitution. The constitutional reform would place more power in the hands of the federal government. Supporters say this is necessary for solving the country's problems. Opponents say the reform gives the government too much power and is paving the way for a dictatorship. Already there have been rioting in the streets to which the police have responded with tear gas and water cannons.

Venezuelan is burdened with an inflation rate of 19.4 percent (the highest in South America) and an unemployment rate of around 7 percent (down from a peak of 15 percent in 2003-2004). One of Venezuela's chronic problems is an over-reliance on the export of raw materials (such as petroleum) and imports of consumer goods.

For instance, despite fertile soils and a tropical climate that supports year-round production of a variety of crops, Venezuela imports more than half of its food needs. For example, Venezuela is second only to Italy as the world's largest consumer of pasta, with annual consumption of 13 to 14 kilograms per capita. But the imported pasta is made from high-quality durum wheat that grows in North Dakota and Pacific Northwestern United States as well as Canada, not from the rice and corn which flourishes in Venezuela. The high cost of imported food is particularly troublesome for the poorer members of Venezuelan society.

Everyone agrees that there are problems, but not everyone agrees on the solutions. Therefore, there is conflict. We continue to pray and urge everyone to seek peaceful solutions with respect for the governing authorities as St. Paul counsels in his epistle to the Romans, chapter 13.

Pentecost in Petare

On Pentecost Sunday Luz Maria and I attended La Paz (Peace) Lutheran Church in Petare, a part of the Caracas metropolitan area. La Paz celebrated the 32nd anniversary of its founding this year.

Petare itself was founded in 1621 by Spanish landowners who built a church and provided a Franciscan friar to minister to their Indian laborers. For a long time Petare was a quiet farming community but during the last half of the 20th Century became a hotbed of Venezuela's explosive urban growth. The population of Petare increased from around 180,000 people in 1961 to nearly 660,000 in 1990 to more than 1.5 million in 2000. This rate of growth has proved too much for the community to cope with effectively and many residents of Petare live in extreme poverty with no public services. Petare today is known for its street markets where many things are sold at heavily discounted prices, including many quite illegal products and services. Due to these factors, street crime is a serious problem in Petare.

La Paz Lutheran Church was originally established in a quieter, more secure district of Caracas, but the decision was made in the early 1990s to take the Gospel where it was needed most. The congregation supports a preschool named Preescolar Caterina Lutero, after Martin Luther's wife. There are about 30 children enrolled in the preschool.

During that weekend of Pentecost, there were thousands of people marching in the streets throughout Caracas. They were protesting the Venezuelan government's decision not to renew the broadcasting license of RCTV, Venezuela's oldest (on the air since 1953) and perhaps most respected television network. RCTV (the letters stand for Radio Caracas Television) also has been, of all the national news media, the most critical of President Hugo Chavéz. The government claimed RCTV had become an organ of partisan propaganda and was no longer serving the public interest. Its license would be allowed to expire at midnight, May 28, and in the future it would be replaced by a government-owned network similar to Great Britain's BBC.

The government's decision was appealed to Venezuela's Supreme Court, but the court ruled in favor of the government. The international organization Reporters without Borders has prepared a report about the situation and is submitting the document to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the European Council and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The governments of Spain and the United States have urged the Venezuelan government to reconsider its decision.

Luz Maria and I had planned to go out and see a movie in Caracas on Saturday, but we decided it would be more prudent to stay indoors. There were marches and speeches all day and after sundown you could hear the noise all over the city for over an hour as people deliberately and repeatedly set off the alarm systems in their cars.

As the U.S. Embassy repeatedly states, there have been no documented incidents of politically motivated violence against U.S. citizens. However, no one can predict what might happen when proponents and opponents of the government here square off in the streets, so North Americans are advised to stay away from areas where demonstrations are planned.

I regularly receive warnings via e-mail from the U.S. Embassy about planned demonstrations in Caracas (the capital city is ground zero for political turmoil in Venezuela). Normally we avoid traveling to Caracas at these times, but we both had obligations this time.

Luz Maria had agreed to spend the week in Caracas helping lead a seminar for deaconesses along with Elsy de Machado and Rosie Gilbert, a deaconess from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The seminar drew nine women from across Venezuela.

I was obliged to travel on to Ciudad Guayana for a week-long seminar on the Holy Spirit. It is an eight-hour ride by bus from Barinas to Caracas and another 10 hours by bus from Caracas to Ciudad Guayana in the state of Bolívar.

Ciudad Guayana actually is two cities, Puerto Ordaz and San Félix, and indeed may be thought of as the Twin Cities of Venezuela. As Minneapolis and St. Paul are located where the Minnesota River joins the Mississippi, Puerto Ordaz and San Félix are located where the Rio Caroni joins the Rio Orinoco. The area is a center of mining (primarily iron ore and bauxite) and hydroelectric power generation. As I was riding around Puerto Ordaz with Ricardo Granado, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute, I saw something I had not seen in some time: a freight train. I explained to Ricardo that every little town in the United States has a railroad depot, which is something you do not see in Venezuela.

One of the reasons why the United States has such a powerful economy is the amount of time and resources that have been invested in infrastructure: railroads, highways, telephone and electrical lines and so forth. Venezuela does not have the benefit of this development. There is no transnational railway. Ther e is one road comparable to an interstate highway that runs from west to east across Venezuela's northern tier, then curves south toward Brazil. Since Venezuela has roughly the same land area as Texas and Oklahoma combined, imagine one interstate highway crossing both those states, starting in the Oklahoma Panhandle at the New Mexico border, running east to Oklahoma City, then curving south to Dallas-Fort Worth and on through Houston down to the Gulf Coast.

If you have ever driven through the wide open spaces of west Texas, imagine all of that with two-lane paved roads at best and you will have an idea of what most of Venezuela is like.

I should also mention that, although there has been massive migration from Venezuela's rural areas to the cities, because of a higher overall birth rate, rural populations have not declined, as in in the United States, but remained stable. However, the economic problems of rural Venezuelans have intensified as more resources have been allocated to urban areas where the greater concentrations of people are found.

We discussed some of these socio-economic issues at the seminar I attended at la Ascensión Lutheran Church in San Félix. Over the course of five days we discussed I believe everything that could be discussed about the Holy Spirit, from filioque controversy, which was one of the issues which led to the division of the churches of the East and the West in 1054, to the meaning of the Holy Spirit for the work of the church today, especially in Latin America.

Dr. Leopoldo Sánchez was our teacher. A native of Chile who grew up in Panama, he served for a time as a missionary in Ciudad Guayana. He now is a member of the faculty of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri.

Socio-economic issues came up when we talked about the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians, especially in light of verses like Romans 6:13:

"And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."

Later, in chapter 8, the Apostle Paul explains that we are set free from lives of sin and enabled to live as children of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it is important to understand what that means to a Christian in Latin America where the phrase rendered in English as "instruments of righteousness" is translated into Spanish as "instrumentos de justicia". In Spanish, "justicia" means both righteousness and justice -- and justice is a loaded word because there is so little of it here.

One error is to think of the work of the Holy Soirit and the mission of the church in overly "spiritual" terms -- the proclamation of salvation in the afterlife and the inner peace that comes from that assurance -- without application in the here and now. Surely that flies in the face of our Lord's command to minister to the whole person: to provide food, clothing and shelter for those in need as well as spiritual comfort for all in times of trial.

The other error is that of the men who would have made Jesus their king after the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-15). This is to make the mission of the church simply that of satisfying material needs. In the United States, the phrase "social gospel" is often used to refer to the idea that since Christ commanded us to help the poor, supporting public policy aimed at redistributing wealth more fairly is the realization of the church's mission. In Latin America we have "liberation theology", which is the "social gospel" on steroids.

"Liberation theology" teaches that a Marxist interpretation of history and the redistribution of land and other wealth, even if that means violent revolution, is the true application of New Testament principles. This school of thought became popular among some Roman Catholics in Latin America after the Second Vatican Council, but was decisively rejected by the Roman Catholic Church after John Paul II became pope. As Lutherans,we might agree with most of John Paul II's reasons for rejecting liberation theology. But the decision has proved costly for the Roman church. Many would say that the Catholic church has lost a lot of credibility in Latin America over the last 30 years because it has come to be perceived as having too much invested in the status quo and nothing to say to the poor.

Furthermore, "liberation theology" continues to provide "inspiration" for much of the political rhetoric in Latin America today and remains a political reality.

Really the preoccupation with "justice" in material terms may be seen as evidence of an unacknowledged spiritual hunger. For generations in Latin America, most people held to a fatalistic view of life: Things are the way they are, and for most of us there is no hope of anything better, either now or in the hereafter. More and more, however, there is the desire for a better life, but it tends to be a vision of happiness in this world: plenty to eat, a nice house, guaranteed medical care, national pride and self-determination. There is nothing wrong with any of these things in and of themselves, but neither do they bring lasting joy in and of themselves. The real hunger is for the peace which passes all understanding, which the world cannot give.

It is difficult to live as a Christian in the midst of injustice and corruption. But also there is little hope of social transformation without the personal transformation that comes through the gift of the Holy Spirit made possible through Christ's suffering, death and resurrection.

Those are some reflections on a seminar I thoroughly enjoyed, although I had to leave early. The protests in Caracas continued throughout the week and there was gunfire exchanged between police and some protestors. There were no persons injured, only property damaged. But Luz Maria prevailed upon me for an early departure from Caracas for the two of us. Friday night Luz Maria´s daughter, Wuendy, and her husband, Jesús, were both working as late as they could. They were reluctant to go home because of the danger in the streets.

In closing, I would offer the words of this Spanish version of the ancient hymn, "Come, Holy Spirit":

Ven Espíritu Santo, ven a iluminar,
Nuestra inteligencia, y a preservarnos del mal.
Tú, promesa del Padre, don de Cristo Jesús,
Ven y danos tu fuerza, para llevar nuestra cruz.
Tú, llamado "Paráclito", nuestro Consolador,
Ven y habita en nosotros, por la fé y por el amor.
Haz que cada cristiano, bajo tu inspiración,
Sea testigo de Cristo, con la palabra y la acción.
Guiados por el Espíritu hacia Cristo Jesús,
Caminemos con jubilo, al país de la luz.

My wife, the deaconess

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well." Romans 16:1-2

The word translated as servant in the verse above is the Greek word diakonos, from which is derived deacon and deaconess. The Apostle Paul refers to himself and Timothy as "deacons" or servants of Jesus Christ in Philippians 1:11. However, Acts 6 records the establishment of the diaconate as a special ministry of service within the Church, distinct from the pastoral ministry and intended to allow the apostles to concentrate on preaching and prayer. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was a deacon. The requirements to serve in this ministry are described in Paul's first letter to Timothy, chapter 3.

Romans 16:1-2 is regarded as evidence that women served in this ministry in the early Church. In addition to this Scriptural reference, Christian deaconesses are mentioned by Pliny the Younger in a early second-century letter to the Roman Emperor Trajan.

The office of deaconess was formally recognized at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. The responsibilities of deaconesses in the post-apostolic to medieval periods included assisting in the baptism of adult women, leading prayer services for women, instruction of catechumens, caring for the sick, and, in some areas, administering the sacrament of Holy Communion to women who were ill, to nuns, and to young children when a pastor was not available.

The female diakonate had gradually disappeared as a distinct ministry within Western Christendom by the 6th Century and within the Eastern Orthodox Church by the 11th Century. However, interest was renewed as a spiritual revival and rapid social change swept Europe and the United States in the 19th Century, prompting women to seek ways of dedicating themselves to the Lord's service. Theodor Fliedner and his wife, Friedericke Munster, opened the first Lutheran deaconess motherhouse in Kaiserwerth on the Rhine in 1836. Fifty years later, there were over 5,000 deaconesses in Europe.

Within the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, deaconesses have served in a variety of roles since the 1830s. In 1919, the Lutheran Deaconess Association was formed and assumed responsibility for the formation of deaconesses wishing to serve in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Deaconesses were trained at the Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they received training as nurses. Later, in 1943, the program moved
to Valparaiso University.

As time went on, the training of deaconesses evolved and deaconesses no longer needed to be trained as nurses or social workers. Those wanting to serve in parish settings were trained in spiritual care and were educated in the scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, so they could teach and assist the pastors by providing both spiritual and human care to those in need. Both LCMS seminaries (Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne) offer a master’s degree-level deaconess track for women with undergraduate "pre-deaconess" courses offered at universities within the LCMS "Concordia" system.

So why am I telling you this? Because the Lutheran Church of Venezuela has a similar training program for deaconesses. In fact, it is the largest deaconess program of any of the LCMS partner-churches in Latin America. Currently there are 65 women studying to be deaconesses through extension courses offered by the Juan de Frias Theological Institute and nine Venezuelan women actively serving as deaconesses. Much of the rapid development of this program is due to the work of Fort Wayne deaconess-missionaries Mireya Johnson and Rosie Gilbert, who although no longer serving in Venezuela, remain consultants to the program.

The two most highly trained deaconesses within the Lutheran Church of Venezuela are my wife, Luz Maria, and her friend from Caracas, Elsy de Machada. In fact, since these two have completed all of the four levels of theological education by extension offered by the Juan de Frias Theological Institute, there is no one here with a higher level of theological education than Luz Maria and Elsy.

Luz Maria is actively serving as a deaconess through her involvement with our preschool and mission project in La Caramuca. Elsy, a member of La Paz Lutheran Church, Caracas, is involved with Katerina Lutero (Katherine Luther) Preschool.

Because of their qualifications, Luz Maria and Elsy have been named coordinators of the deaconess program in Venezuela. They met February 27 with Olga Groh, director of deaconess programs in Latin America for LCMS World Missions. Olga is the wife of Dr. Jorge Groh, Latin America region director for LCMS World Missions. The meeting went very well and Mrs. Groh was favorably impressed with the work that has been done in Venezuela.

Afterward Luz Maria returned to Barinas, but I and the other men studying in Caracas traveled with the Grohs to Colonia Tovar, an ethnic German community in the mountains north of the city. The Grohs are natives of Argentina and descendants of German-Russians who settled there.

Colonia Tovar was founded in 1843. Agustin Codazzi, an Italian explorer, geographer and close friend of Simon Bolivar, raised the money to transplant farmers from the Black Forest in Venezuela. The idea was that the highly efficient family-farming practices of the Germans would greatly improve Venezuela's agricultural economy. Unfortunately the plan did not work as intended because the Germans made themselves at home in a remote valley and did not mix with the general population.

For more than 100 years, Colonia Tovar's only connection with the outside world was a steep, rugged dirt road up into the mountains. Because of the Germans' farming expertise, their community remained largely self-sufficient during this time, and because of their isolation, their German language and culture was preserved.

Then in the 1970s, a blacktop highway was built from Caracas to Colonia Tovar and the community has become a tourist attraction. In Colonia Tovar today, you can enjoy a plate of German sausage and potato salad in an outdoor restaurant while "oompa oompa" music plays in the background. We talked to a young woman running a strudel stand. She had natural blonde hair and blue eyes, both extremely rare in Venezuela. Her parents could speak German, she said, but the only language she knew was Spanish. The old ways are gradually disappearing despite the incentive of the tourist trade.

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Martin of Tours remains at the center of Colonia Tovar. The street leading to the church actually is a "via crucis", with the stations of the Cross at various points along the way. The town cemetery is up on a hill with every grave facing toward the church visible below. The church has a large parish school attached, something you do not often see in Venezuela.

I could not help but think of the last time I was in a similar setting, especially when I saw a sign for a travel agency called "Regenwald Tours". In contemporary German, "regenwald" means "rainforest", but many years ago it was the name of the village on the Rega River where my great-great-grandfather was born (in other words, "the wood by the Rega River"). My ancestors on my father's side lived in Pomerania, which lies along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. It was once the home of Goths (with a capital "G"), then Slavs, then Germans, and was ruled at various times by the kings of Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Poland. Today Germany claims Pomerania west of the Oder River while the territory east of the Oder, including the Rega River, is considered part of Poland. The largest city, once known as Danzig, is now called Gdansk.

In the early 1800s, Pomerania was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was the will of the King Frederick Wilhelm III that all the Protestant churches in his realm merge into one state-controlled church. My ancestors were among the "Old Lutherans", who remained faithful to the Lutheran Confessions and refused fellowship not based on doctrinal unity. As their resistance grew, the king stepped up persecution of the Old Lutherans, confiscating their property and sending soldiers to hunt down people worshipping in the traditional Lutheran way on Sunday mornings, and carry them off to prison. (There were populations of Roman Catholics, Jews and Mennonites within Prussia at this time and the king had set up agencies to control their affairs. However, these groups were apparently not large enough to worry the king. It was the Lutherans who really put the bee in his bonnet.)

The persecution resulted in thousands fleeing to the United States of America. My great-great-grandparents eventually became part of a group that settled on the western shore of Lake Michigan and named their community Freistadt. (The geography of eastern Wisconsin is similar to that of Pomerania with Lake Michigan substituting for the Baltic Sea.) Their leader was Heinrich von Rohr, who had served with distinction as a captain in the Prussian army. He was of noble blood, with a pedigree that reached back to German knights of the Crusades. But von Rohr had been stripped of his rank and medals for having his firstborn child baptized by a Lutheran pastor rather than a minister of the king's state church. In time the former Captain von Rohr became Pastor von Rohr, and the church my great-great-grandparents helped found, Trinity Lutheran Church of Freistadt, remains the oldest existing Lutheran congregation in Wisconsin.

Freistadt is now part of the Milwaukee suburb of Mequon. When I lived in the Milwaukee area, I used to go to Freistadt every July 4 when the community would have an all-day celebration of their cultural heritage and the religious freedom they have enjoyed for generations as U.S. citizens. A group called the Pommersche Tanzdeel (roughly "Pomeranian Dance Company") would perform traditional folk dances with the women dressed in cone-shaped hats and flowing gowns, and the men in the tunics and pantaloons typical of Pomerania in the 1800s.

The Independence Day festivities would culminate with the raising of the U.S. flag in the the town square and a 21-gun salute by local members of the VFW and American Legion.

In 1989 I attended Trinity-Freistadt's 150th anniversary (founded in 1839, the congregation has been part of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod since 1848). There was a large wall completely covered with photos of the children of the congregation who had become LCMS pastors and teachers. Among them I found a picture of my great-grandfather, Louis Ernst, who left Wisconsin to become the pastor of congregations in Iowa, Texas and Nebraska.

The point of this digression being, that although the language and customs of my great-great-grandparents are, like the language and customs of Venezuela, foreign to me, I am grateful that previous generations of my family were able to pass on the most precious part of our heritage, a common confession of faith. Also it is clear, as I study the Lutheran Confessions in yet another language, that the enemies of truth and freedom are always with us, and if one is not willing to suffer all, even death, for what one believes to be the truth, one will not enjoy freedom for very long, either. And I give thanks to God that His Word and His Spirit abides with us always.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Luz Maria and I now have seen "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest" twice: one in the United States with my mother and sister, Deborah, and once in Venezuela with Luz Maria's daughter, Wuendy, and Wuendy's husband, Jesús.

I do not mind having seen the movie twice. I have always enjoyed stories of real or imaginary adventure on the high seas, from Homer's Odyssey to the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and Herman Melville to C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader" -- even Acts 27-28, which although a brief account, remains one of the most gripping accounts ever of shipwreck and survival at sea (Rudyard Kipling thought so, too, since he wrote a short story retelling the story of Paul's voyage to Rome from the ship's captain's point of view). Then there is the life's story of John Newton, writer of "Amazing Grace" and other well-known English hymns. He ran away to sea when he was 11 years old and eventually became the captain of a slave-trading ship. On one memorable voyage, his crew mutinied and left him lashed to the mast of his ship and drifting alone on the open water. He prayed for the first time in many years. A ship appeared in time to rescue him and that was the dramatic beginning of Newton's journey back to faith.

But "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" piqued my interest for three additional reasons.

First, it's fun to see on film places that you have visited in real life -- or at least, places that are similar to those you have seen in real life. From what I know of Venezuela's coast, I can testify that the waters of the Caribbean really are that blue and the tropical sun does shine that brightly.

Second, the movie reminded me of when Dr. David Coles of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, came to Caracas and taught a short course on church history, with an emphasis on Latin American missions. During the period when Protestant missionaries were banned from the region, Reina-Valera Bibles (the Reina-Valera translation is the Soanish equivalent of the King James Bible) and Protestant tracts nevertheless showed up in some places. No one is certain how this happened, but one theory is that real pirates of the Caribbean (many of whom were of Anglican, Huguenot and even Lutheran backgrounds), included Bible smuggling among their clandestine activities. I still find this possibility intriguing.

Third, like the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, this one is a fantasy filled with ghostly sailors, sea monsters, cursed treasure and the like. Its metaphysical musings were interesting, especially this one:

"Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?"

Interesting because, while phantom ships and magic compasses are imaginary, this way of thinking is as real as the crystal-blue sea and golden sun.

Many North Americans, perhaps most, think all religion is wishful thinking, although in a good way. That is, people will believe in myths and legends that make them feel good about themselves and their world, and if that seems to keep them healthy and happy, what's wrong with that? But here in the sunny Caribbean one encounters a darker reality on a daily basis.

In Venezuela it is a common belief that making a pact with spirit beings, even evil spirits, can bring one worldly wealth and power. A majority of Venezuelans are involved in the practice of witchcraft and divination on at least a casual basis. The more deeply one becomes involved with brujeria (witchcraft) or espiritismo (spiritism), however, the more difficult it becomes to break off the relationship. There are people who are afraid of what they have become involved with, but more afraid of what might happen if they tried to get out. There is the quite physical danger of assault on themselves and their families. There are other risks, that whlle quite real have less tangible causes. Psychiatric wards in Venezuela are full of people with problems that stem from their involvement with brujeria and espiritismo, and the drug use that often accompanies brujeria and espiritismo.

Some time ago I read a story in the Barinas newspaper about two infants from different families stolen almost literally from under their parents' noses. One baby was taken in the street and the other, a newborn, from its hospital bed. Those I asked about this story matter-of-factly told me it most likely a professional job and the children had been taken to be sold. The most lucrative buyer would be an illegal adoption ring. Because of the prevalence of contraception and abortion in North America, there are never enough healthy babies to supply all the childless couples who want to adopt. So a black market in babies from Latin America, where birth rates are still high, has developed.

But if the illegal adoption rings wouldn't take them, the children would be sold to one of the cults that practice human sacrifice in order to curry favor with powerful spirits. I do not know whether to completely believe this. I know I really do not want to believe it. But it is all too consistent with a "spirituality" based on an awareness that there is a dimension of life that defies naturalistic explanations, but is based on fear, lust and greed rather than faith, hope and love. It is truly spiritual bondage and a primary reason for mission work here.

Last night I listened to my friend Edgar Coronado lament that so many of his fellow Venezuelans are caught up in this darkness and do not know the light of Christ. Luz Maria and I have been in Caracas this past week, attending an intensive course in systematic theology taught by José Pfaffenzeller, director of Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I have found the study of systematic theology to be intellectually stimulating since the days when as a small boy I would slip into my father's study to read Franz Pieper's "Christian Dogmatics." However, the discussion really livened up when we got to the topic of fallen angels and the possibility of demonic activity in today's world. Nearly every Venezuelan present was able to relate experiences which were...let's just say uncanny.

Sometimes you hear certain Bible verses read and explained just when needed. At this time of year and in this place I especially recall the first New Year's sermon I heard in the 21st Century, preached by Pastor Phil Bickel at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Bloomington, Minnesota. It was based on Revelation 22, verse 16:

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

"Root and descendant of David" of course is a reference to the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies. While the implication of the title, "bright morning star" is less clear, once explained, as it was in Pastor Bickel's sermon, it is most comforting to us in our situation. For in the Greco-Roman world, the morning star was called "the light-bearer" or, in Latin, Lucifer. There are two who claim the title "light-bearer" and in this verse Jesus spells out for us who is the real one.

Likewise, in 2 Corinthians 4:4, Satan is called "the god of this world" or "the god of this age", depending on your translation, and in Ephesians 6:12 it is written:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

But we are promised the victory. The gates of hell will not stand.

We return to La Caramuca tomorrow. Luz Maria's daughters, Yepci and Charli, have been assuming more and more responsibility for the preschool and Sunday school, allowing us time for some travel. But it will be good to see the children again.

My pirate name is:

Black Davy Flint

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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Tower of Babel

Our Sunday school children are learning about the Tower of Babel while the adult Bible classes have just completed study of the fall of ancient Israel. Luz Maria and I were talking about the recurring themes in these Biblical narratives and modern-day parallels.

According to Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel was built on a plain in the land of Shinar, which was in Mesopotamia, most likely in the southern part. Likewise, the Assyrian Empire, which destroyed the kingdom of the northern tribes of Israel, was based in northern Mesopotamia while the Babylonians, who destroyed Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah around 586 B.C., came from southern Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia, of course, nowadays is known as Iraq. The ancient empires of Mesopotamia eventually fell to the Persian Empire. What was ancient Persia now is called Iran, a nation with which Iraq fought a long and bitter war in the 1980s.

I mentioned to Luz Maria that Saddam Hussein had considered Nebuchadnezzar, greatest of the kings of Babylon, a hero and at the height of his own power claimed to be the “new Nebuchadnezzar.”

Luz Maria noted that the news photos of an unshaven, unwashed Saddam Hussein pulled from the hole where he had been hiding paralleled the account of Daniel, chapter 4, in which God drove Nebuchadnezzar mad and the king wandered the countryside like animal with long, unkempt hair and fingernails that had grown to be like claws.

But it seemed to Luz Maria an even more important point how the ancient Israelites were always mixing it up with the great empires of their day, not just those in Mesopotamia but also ancient Egypt.

Yes, I said, it was a rebuke to these conquerors that this group of quarrelling tribes claimed to be God's chosen people when the Egyptians, the Babylonians, Assyrians and others all believed that they were most favored of the gods. The evidence was easy for them to see: their wealth and military might. So the Israelite's assertion that their God was the true God of all nations and that from Israel would come one who would be king over all the earth just seemed insane.

But all these empires crumbled to dust while the promises of God to Israel endured and found their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

I was also reminded of my own studies in the Gospel of Matthew, using lessons provided by the Juan de Frias Theological Institute. It is difficult but rewarding to study the Bible in Spanish, but is especially interesting to see what is emphasized in materials developed for Latin America.

In the first unit of the Matthew series, there was much discussion of the “cananistas” or zealots. This was the party of Jews which advocated violent revolution against the Romans and the restoration of Israel as an independent kingdom as it was in the days of David and Solomon. The zealots were contrasted with the publicans, or tax-collectors, who were regarded essentially as Jewish collaborators in the Roman occupation. It was noted that Jesus' circle of disciples included at least one former tax-collector (Matthew) and at least one former zealot (Simon). In God's kingdom, even people who seem to be on opposites sides of the political spectrum may become brothers.

Likewise, in my current study (which I have completed except for the final examination by my instructor, Luz Maria) there was a detailed discussion of Christ's temptation. Three temptations, actually: in the desert, on the pinnacle of the Temple and on the high mountain.

The temptation to turn stones to bread in the desert was characterized as the temptation to materialism: focusing on physical needs and ignoring the spiritual. The lesson said that in the realm of politics, materialism feeds hatred and conflict between social classes. But seeking “justice” strictly in terms of material well-being does not bring lasting happiness, does not move the heart toward doing good and does not save the soul.

The second temptation, for Jesus to put on a show of God's power from the pinnacle of the Temple, represents the temptation to vainglory, or pride in one's own power, property or appearance. This temptation, the lesson said, is a trap especially for the well-off and the gifted rather than the poor.

Finally, the third temptation, to bow down to Satan in return for the kingdoms of the world, was identified as the temptation to establish the kingdom of Heaven through violence. It was the temptation for Jesus to choose the way of the sword rather than the way of the cross.

These themes are important in Latin America where the distribution of material wealth is extremely lopsided. Closing the wide gap between the rich and the poor is perhaps the central issue of politics in Venezuela and other Latin American countries. There is a school of thought called “liberation theology” that still is influential here. It originated among Roman Catholic clergy in Latin America during the 1970s. Under Pope John Paul II, the Roman Catholic Church officially repudiated liberation theology in most of its aspects, but doing so cost the Church some of its respect and popularity and the ideas of the liberation theologians are reflected in current political rhetoric.

There are two basic concepts in liberation theology. One is that the Bible teaches us to be compassionate and seek to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. There is a certain amount of truth to this. The other concept is that establishing economic independence and more equitable distribution of wealth in Latin America today is so urgent that Christian charity demands the
support of drastic measures to achieve these goals, even if that means violent revolution.

The second concept fails the Biblical test on three counts:

1.It elevates material well-being over the salvation of souls.
2.It ignores the role of sinful lifestyles in keeping people mired in poverty.
3.It seeks to establish heaven on earth by way of the sword.

As Lutherans, we believe that duly constituted governments of the earth have been ordained by God and are permitted the use of the sword to protect their citizens from foreign aggressors and to maintain peace within their borders. However, we do not believe earthly regimes should be confused with God's kingdom of grace. Our task as missionaries is to proclaim the Gospel, even as
we do what we can to minister to material needs, so that the Holy Spirit may lead people into the kingdom of grace.

And we try not to let our own political opinion interfere with this task. God may use even the most tyrannical governments for His purposes, as He used the Assyrians and Babylonians to call the Israelites back from idolatry.

Of course we pray always for peaceful resolution of problems and an end to hostility between nations.

Diversity in Venezuela

There is a fad sweeping Venezuela: T-shirts with some variation of "Se habla..." written across the front. Some examples include: "Se habla caraqueño" "Se habla guaro" "Se habla oriente". These reference dialects spoken in different regions of Venezuela. The backs of the T-shirts list words and phrases typical of the dialect the wearer identifies with. If there were an equivalent fad in the United States, the T-shirts would read "I speak Southern" or "Californian spoken here".

The differences in the language and folkways of these regions are such the Venezuelans may have
trouble understanding each other. When we were living in Monagas, Luz Maria sometimes had difficulty because Monagans use more native Indian words in their speech than people do in other parts of the country. Venezuela has approximately the same land area as Texas and Oklahoma combined. Its geography is remarkably diverse. Venezuela boasts the largest lake in South America (Lake Maracaibo), the second-longest river in South America (the Orinoco) and the highest waterfall in the world (Salto Angel or Angel Falls). Peaks of the Andes, deserts, rainforests, prairies, Caribbean coastline and islands - all are found within its borders.

The population of Venezuela is also diverse. About 60 to 65 percent are mestizos, or the standard
Latin-American mix of Spanish and Indian blood. The remaining 35 to 40 percent is quite a potpourri.

Compared to other Latin American countries like Guatemala or Bolivia, Venezuela has a low
percentage of full-blooded Indians, about 3 percent. The largest tribes are the Warao in eastern
Venezuela and the Wayuu in the west. A note of movie trivia: In the 1999 movie, "The Mummy,"
actress Patricia Velasquez portrays the evil Egyptian queen. She is not only Venezuelan, but
also part-Wayuu. Most of the Warao follow their traditional way of life on fishing boats in the
vast Orinoco River delta, but some have moved elsewhere. There are Christians among the Warao, but shamanism survives.

There are many Venezuelans of Italian background due to mid-20th Century immigration during the World Wars. There was some German immigration in the late 19th century with the largest enclave of German-Venezuelans still to be found in Colonia Tovar in the mountains north of Caracas. The Spaniards imported African slaves to work their plantations in the colonial period, so there are some African Venezuelans.

There are also many Chinese Venezuelans. Most speak their own language as well as Spanish. How they got here I do not know, but is so common to find them running supermarkets/general stores
that these type of establishments are referred to as "chinos." Usually somewhere in the store is
a statue of Buddha with candles in front of it, but one highly capitalistic enterprise that I know of displays a poster of Chairman Mao instead!

So even within this relatively small nation there are many kinds of people with different ways of
speaking and living. Yet the majority know God only as an angry Judge, not as a Savior. They know a world of injustice, corruption and discord, not hope and peace. How shall we speak to them of God's love and mercy? Ideally, of course, in their own way of speaking, in terms they can
understand. But who is prepared to do this? As Christians, we may thank God for many opportunities to share our faith with people who speak our language and customs.

But cross-cultural ministry is difficult; it takes much time and effort to learn how to reach people who talk and act differently. Like North American Christians, Venezuelan Christians have many strangers in their midst. That is why our long-term vision for our school in La Caramuca includes the training of teachers, pastors and evangelists for this entire southwest corner of Venezuela. Oh, yes, one little detail. We have named our school, Cristo Rey, or Christ the King Lutheran School. This was done in honor and with the permission of Cristo Rey Lutheran Church in Maturin, capital of the state of Monagas. With Armando Ramos, a western Venezuelan, serving as pastor of Tierra de Gracia Lutheran Farm in the east, we hope establishing "Cristo Rey West" will help bridge the cultural divide between the two sides of the country, a divide which affects the Lutheran Church of Venezuela.