Caught up in the clouds

 The celebration of the Ascension brings to a close our annual reprise of the earthly ministry of Jesus. He walked among his disciples for forty days to testify to His resurrection. But it was necessary for Him to return to the Father so that His exaltation was complete (John 16: 5-15) . As we confess in the creed, Jesus "ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; and from there he will come to judge the living and the dead." We have no difficulty seeing in the ascension and enthronement of Jesus to the right hand of God the fulfillment of the prophetic words of Psalm 110. That Jesus is to the right of the Father, as a mediator and lawyer, means that forgiveness and sanctification are possible (Acts 5:30-31).

 resurrection of Our Lord was not simply the miraculous revival of a single man. The Scriptures contain other similar stories: the resurrection of mothers’ sons by Elijah and Elisha; the son of Nain's widow; the daughter of Jairus; Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha; and more. God, in His mercy, restored these people to their families, but in the end they were taken from this world. There are also stories in the Old Testament of men who did not die physically, but were taken to heaven. In particular, Enoch, descendant of Adam (Genesis 5: 21-24), and Elijah, in the Old Testament lesson appointed for the Ascension (2 Kings 2:5-15).

But even these miracles of God did not change the common fate of human beings, which is the eternal separation of God because of original sin. Both the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus changed everything for all. They were signs and stamps of His victory, a victory that He won when He died on the cross. It was a victory over sin, the power of the devil and death itself. Those who believe in Jesus Christ may die physically, like everyone else. But for those who believe in Jesus Christ, there is the promise that we also will be raised to life on the last day, not only to see Him return in the clouds as He was taken up (Acts 1:9-11), but also to be "caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Education program continues

On Sunday, May 11, 2025, we presented seven students and three assistant teachers with scholarships from LeadaChild. The assistant teachers who help Luz Maria with afterschool tutoring are all confirmed members of the mission: Anyi Garrido, Yusmelvis Salas and Diana Torres. The students who brought their mothers for Mother's Day also received packages of school supplies. God's providence, the Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday after Easter is John 16:16-22 and the sermon was based on verses 16 to 21:  "A woman when she is in labor has sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man will take from you."

Luz Maria's students are advancing in their studies and have shown distinct improvement in their grades. We have reopened what had been our preschool classroom before its forced closure for afterschool tutoring. We plan to remodel the preschool so that it is more of library and study center for older students.

We were pleased to learn of the high school graduation of Frenyerlin Naleska, a former recipient of LeadaChild scholarships. She was one of Luz Maria´s afterschool tutoring students, attended Sunday afternoon Bible class, and took first communion at our mission on January 8, 2017. Frenyerlin now lives in the city of Coro, Falcon state.

Frenyerlin Naleska, Escarleth Ruíz and Elias Montoya with LeadaChild scholarships.

Ready to serve as deaconesses

From May 1 to 3, 2025, Luz María served as an instructor at the final in-person seminar of the second cycle of the deaconess program sponsored by Concordia El Reformador Seminary and the Juan de Frías Theological Institute in Barquisimeto, Lara state. Other instructors were Deaconess Ginnatriz Vera de Mendoza, and Pastor Eliezer Mendoza, director of the Institute. On Sunday, May 5, eight women graduated from the program and are ready to serve as deaconesses.

The women who graduated from the deaconess program are: Matilde Castillo, Cristo es el Camino Lutheran Church, Barcelona, ​​Anzoátegui state; Cinthia Moreno and Ysaela Cedeño de Lozano of Fuente de Vida Lutheran Church, Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar state; Migdalia Veliz, Cristo el Vencedor Lutheran Church, La Pica, Monagas state;  María Ramírez de Coronado, La Fortaleza Lutheran Church, Maracay, Aragua state; Ana Gómez, Belkys Castellanos and Graciela Peraza de Coronado of Fuente de Vida Lutheran Church.

 

Trabajad, luchad y orad, No. 1037 in Himnario Luterano, is a hymn written by Stephen Starke and translated by Antonio Schimpf.

Three pastors reunited before the altar

On Sunday, May 4, five pastors celebrated the divine service together. Eduardo Flores, Sergio Maita, and I were ordained together at El Salvador Lutheran Church in Caracas on December 8, 2008. The three of us were together once more before the altar. Sergio is now missionary pastor of Cordero de Dios Lutheran Church in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and professor at Concordia El Reformador Seminary, while Eduardo is the pastor of La Santa Trinidad Lutheran Church in Caracas and president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela.

Pastor Maita preached the sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter on the Gospel (John 10:11-16) and the Introit (Psalm 33:5-6; 33:1; 33:18-20). The Hebrew word translated "mercy" in Psalm 33:5 is חֵסֵד (hesed). It can also be translated as steadfast love, loyalty, faithfulness, or kindness. But in the same verse, the psalmist says that the Lord loves justice and judgment. This blend of attributes is seen in the figure of the Good Shepherd, who does what is right for his sheep because he loves them.

The other pastors present were Eliézer Mendoza, pastor of Cristo es Amor Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto and director of the “Juan de Frías” Institute; and Juan Carlos Silva, assistant pastor of Cristo es Amor Lutheran Church.

Luz Maria's granddaughter graduates

On the same Sunday in Lima, Peru, Oriana Montoya, the granddaughter of Luz María, graduated from the same diaconal program. Oriana was born February 7, 2003, baptized that same month at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas; and took first communion October 28, 2012, at our mission. On May 7, 2021 we said goodbye to Oriana; her mother, Yepci; and Aaron and Elias, her brothers. Like many Venezuelans, they sought a brighter future in another country. We give thanks that they were found by the LCMS Mission in Peru.

Bookending birthdays

On the evening before the deaconess seminar started, we celebrated Pastor Eliezer Mendoza's birthday with Pastor Eliezer, his wife, Ginnatriz, their two daughters and the deaconess students. The day after the graduation ceremony, we celebrated Luz Maria's birthday. 

Our time in Barquisimeto also included outiings to local attractions, including Tintorero, a village known as a center for folk art and crafts, especially colorfully dyed hammocks. Luz Maria purchased a traditional Venezuelan coffee maker (see below).

Our time in Barquisimeto also included outiings to local attractions, including Tintorero, a village known as a center for folk art and crafts, especially colorfully dyed hammocks. Luz Maria purchased a traditional Venezuelan coffee maker (see below).

This is the day the Lord has made

 On September 15, 2024, the sixteenth Sunday after Trinity, we welcomed Maria Cecilia Ortega as a communicant member. Four of her children and three grandchildren were baptized at our mission, and five children received their first communion.

Her verse of affirmation of faith was Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will be glad and rejoice in it.” With this verse we celebrated only that Sunday, but the entire period of grace and salvation extending to the last day of the world (Isaiah 49:8; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Revelation 19:7). In ancient Israel, Psalm 118 was sung by the faithful as they entered the Temple in procession in Jerusalem on the first day of the Jewish liturgical year. The psalm also was sung by the Jews around the Passover table and was most likely the final hymn sung by Jesus and his disciples as they celebrated their last Passover (Matthew 26:30). The multitude acclaimed Jesus as the Messiah with the words of Psalm 118:25-26 as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We sing this every Sunday as the second part of the Sanctus: “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.”

School supplies from LeadaChild

On the same Sunday, we delivered backpacks with school supplies to the children of the mission, thanks to the donations of LeadaChild, a missionary society that has supported our mission since 2006. The people of LeadaChild provide funds for scholarships, school registration, and supplies for children so they can attend Lutheran schools and educational enrichment programs. They also provide professional develop
ment for leaders and teachers, with an emphasis on effective ways to share the Gospel and teach biblical truths to children. Our young women showed the fruits of the crocheting that accompanied their Bible study during the vacation.

Messengers of God

Every Friday I participate in a reading of the Greek text of the New Testament with the Rev. Dr. Roberto Bustamante and seminarians at Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic. For September 27, the Friday before we celebrated the feast of St. Michael and All Angels on Sunday, September 29, the selection of Galatians 1:6-9 was most appropriate, especially verse 8. “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

The word “angel” (ἄγγελος) is the Greek word for “messenger”. It is used not only in the Greek New Testament, but also in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, for the word מֲלְאָךְ (malak), which means the same. In some passages of the Old Testament, “the Angel of the Lord” is clearly God Himself (Genesis 16:7; Exodus 3:2; Numbers 22:23; 1 Kings 19:7). The divine Angel of the Lord appears in the New Testament as the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ (John 1:14; Hebrews 1:1-2).

At times the word “angel is applied to human messengers of God. In the Old Testament, prophets and priests of the Temple are called angels (Isaiah 42:19; 44:26; Malachi 2:7). In the opening chapters of the Revelation of St. John, the bishops of the seven churches in Asia Minor are called angels (“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write…” Revelation 2:1). That is why St. Paul tells the Galatians that any “angel” or messenger that preaches a gospel different than the one revealed to the prophets and apostles must be ἀνάθεμα (anathema), a word which may be translated “accursed”, but also “excomunicated”. The church must repudiate human teachers of false doctrine so that they might repent before God’s judgment falls on them.

Of course, the majority of references to angels in the Bible describe spiritual beings who are neither human nor divine. In Revelation 22:8-9, the Apostle John prostrates himself to worship one of these angels, but the angel replies, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Sing with grace in your hearts to the Lord

This past month we received copies of the new Spanish hymnal, Himnario Luterano, the new hymnal intended to become the standard worship resource for 18 Spanish-speaking countries. It was published by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation as a joint project with Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod World Missions, the Confessional Lutheran Education Foundation, and national confessional Lutheran churches in Chile, Argentina and Paraguay. The book is a comprehensive collection of prayers, Scripture readings and 670 hymns. There is even one in Guarani, the second official language of Paraguay after Spanish. 

Eduardo Flores, president of the national church.

Guarani is spoken by about 4.6 million people in Paraguay and there are also small communities of Guarani speakers in Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina. Guarani belongs to Tupi-Guarani, an ancient, indigenous language family that gave the English language loanwords like cougar, jaguar and toucan. However, about half of the hymns are carried over from hymnbooks that we already have, “Culto Cristiano” (first published by Concordia Publishing House in 1964) and “Cantad al Señor” (published by Concordia Publishing House in 1991). But these are not the only sources of hymnody for Himnario Luterano. 

During the Middle Ages, music in worship generally was the preserve of professionals. The priest would have chanted the Mass, and in larger parishes and cathedrals a choir might have sung the principal parts. In their monasteries and convents, monks and nuns marked the hours of prayer by chanting services of great complexity. The Reformation restored congregational singing to its rightful place in Christian worship, as was established in the New Testament (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Certainly the invention of the moveable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1455 made it possible to place Bibles, copies of the Small Catechism and hymnbooks in homes as well as the pews of local congregations. It is the goal of the Himnario Luterano project to replicate this triad of Lutheran piety – Bible, catechism and hymnal – throughout Latin America.

Sergio Fritzler.

According to the Rev. Dr. Sergio Fritzler, director of Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic, Spanish hymnody could be said to begin with Marcus Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, a poet who lived in northern Spain from 348 to 413 A.D. One of his compositions, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”, is known throughout the world, and a modern Spanish translation is included in Himnario Luterano. Jesuit and Augustinian missionaries to the New World organized choirs and orchestras among indigenous peoples. But the Spanish Inquisition, active not only in Spain, but also in the Spanish colonies from the 16th through the19th centuries, prohibited the publication and distribution of Bible translation and devotional literature not approved by the Roman Catholic church. As political pressure for religious toleration increased in Spain, William Harris Rule, a Methodist missionary from Great Britain, published a Spanish hymnal in Cadiz, Spain, in 1835. Three hymns from this hymnal are included in Himnario Luterano. José Joaquín de Mora (1783-1864), wrote Spanish hymns anonymously for fear of persecution. In Himnario Luterano there is an original hymn and two translations by José de Mora. Other early 19th Century Spanish hymnwriters whose work is included in Himnario Luterano are Tomás J. González Carvajal (1753–1834) and Mateo Cosidó Anglés (1825-1870).

Blessing the hymnals.

After Spain officially adopted a policy of religious liberty in 1868,  Federico (Friedrich) Fliedner was sent there as a Protestan missionary. Fliedner was the son of Theodore Fliedner, a Lutheran pastor who founded the first modern school for deaconesses at Kaiserswerth-on-the-Rhine in 1836.He founded a seminary, an orphanage, ten primary schools in Madrid and the provinces, and a bookstore. He also published a hymnal and there are 29 of his hymn translations in Himnario Luterano. 

Himnario Evangélico Luterano, the first confessional Lutheran hymnal for Latin America, was published in Argentina in 1927. From 1927 until the final edition of Culto Cristiano in 1995, a total of 16 confessional Lutheran hymnals were published in Spanish. All of these are sources for the hymnody in Himnario Luterano.

The new Spanish hymnal also includes many contributions by contemporary Lutheran authors (in alphabetical order): Adrián Correnti (Argentina), Germán Falcioni (Argentina), Daniel Feld (Brazi), Artur Feld Jr. (Brazil), Alceu Figur (Brazilian in Paraguay), Sergio Fritzler (Argentina), Guillermo Herigert (Argentina), Héctor Hoppe (Argentinian in the United States), Gregory Klotz (United States), Alejandro López (Chilean in Panama), Daniel Pfaffenzeller (Argentina), Cristian Rautenberg (Argentina), Antonio Schimpf (Argentina), Lilian Rosin (Paraguay), Danila Stürtz (Argentinian in Paraguay), Gerardo Wagner (Argentinian in Paraguay), Roberto Weber (Argentina), and Valdo Weber (Brazil).

According to our national church’s II Congress of Lutheran Educators in 2007, “Liturgical hymnbooks doctrinally classify hymns and categorize them in a musical, poetic way according to the ease of singing them. These selected songs make up a useful tool to make possible the liturgy according to the doctrinal philosophy of the church.”

Assisting Pastor Mendoza with the liturgy.

Law and Gospel in Barquisimeto

Luz Maria with Nancy Mora and Anny Duran.

On July 20, Luz Maria and I traveled to Barquisimeto for a deaconess training seminar for four women from Caracas and Maracay. Recognized as Venezuela’s fourth-largest city by population and area after Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia, Barquisimeto is the capital of the state of Lara and an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center. It is also the location of “Cristo es Amor” (“Christ is Love”) Lutheran church and the new headquarters of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute. Ángel Eliezer Mendoza is the pastor of Cristo es Amor and director of the Juan de Frias Institute. 

Cristo es Amor was one of the first congregations that I visited on a tour of Venezuela in April 2003, some years after it was planted by Pastor James Tino, now executive director of Global Lutheran Outreach, but then an LCMS missionary to Venezuela.

Zugeimer Aranguren and her family.

 There I met Nancy Mora and her daughter, Anny. Mother and daughter both graduated last from the deaconess program sponsored by the Juan de Frias Institute and Concordia El Reformador Seminary and have bee installed as deaconesses at Cristo es Amor. The same is true of Zugeimer Aranguren, who met several times over the years. Zugeimer is not only a deaconess at Cristo es Amor, but also treasurer of our national church and administrator of a fund to help deaconesses with their work throughout Venezuela. I last preached at Cristo es Amor for the congregation’s 15th anniversary in 2009, when it was meeting in the lobby of a public building rented on Sundays (the congregation has experienced many ups and downs). 

Deaconess students and instructors.

This time I preached at vespers on Friday and Saturday and helped Pastor Mendoza with the divine liturgy on Sunday, July 23. Since July 22, was day of commemoration for Mary Magdalene, it worked well to speak of faithful women of the Old Testament on Friday and faithful women of the New Testament on Saturday. Edgar Coronado, pastor of La Fortaleza (“Fortress”) Lutheran Church in Maracay, preached the Sunday sermon. The theme of the seminar was C.F.W. Walther’s theses on “The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel” as applied to diaconal ministry. Pastor Mendoza led some of the sessions and Luz Maria taught the ladies in others. The students were Teresa Leombruni and Carolina Maldonado of “La Paz” Lutheran Church, Caracas; and Belkys Castellanos and Maria de Coronado of La Fortaleza, Maracay. The objective of the course was to help the students rightly divide Law and Gospel and determine the correct use of both in teaching classes and in personal visits. They analyzed hypothetical cases in light of cultural realities and the Word of God.

 

Maria Gabriela Rosales.

The fruits of Christian education

Luz Maria and I started Epiphany Lutheran Mission in La Caramuca with an emphasis on Christian education. We wanted to provide not only basic skills and character formation for stable, productive families, but also the motivation for doing so, by proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. At least some of the young people we reached became the first in their families to finish high school, and even more important, were baptized and received first communion as members of our mission congregation. This year three of our young people completed sixth grade and will begin their studies in the liceo, which is equivalent to high school in the United States, this fall. Lorena Rujano and Yulmelvis Sala received first communion and Eduardo Garrido was baptized in our mission. Also, Maria Gabriela Rosales, who was baptized at our mission in 2015, received her high school diploma. We pray that she and Eduardo may yet be brought to the Lord’s table.

Eduardo Garrido.

Please continue to pray for these and other young people here. This July marks the surprising success of “Sound of Freedom”, a movie that deals with the frightening reality human trafficking as a global growth industry with tentacles that reach into our small town in western Venezuela. The film dramatizes the rescue of 55 children from a sex trafficking operation in Colombia in 2014. Last September Luz Maria and I participated in an online conference hosted by LeadaChild, one of our sponsoring mission agencies in the United States, and 5 Stones, a Wisconsin-based organization dedicated to raising awareness of child sex trafficking within the USA and elsewhere. We learned that young people can be lured/groomed for sex trafficking by job offers, expensive clothes, jewelry, vacations, restaurants, and anything outside their normal activities. This is consistent with the reported opening scene of “Sound of Freedom” in which two children are lured into a supposed movie audition by a glamorous woman who was a former Colombian beauty queen. But what makes grooming much easier these days is access to the Internet.  

Yulmelvis Sala and Lorena Rujano.

I recorded a special video message on this topic and publshed it on the mission's Spotify podcast (which normally consists of my Sunday sermons in Spanish) and on our YouTube channel. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported our mission, especially those who have been our partners from the beginning. We ask that you continue to pray for our young people here and around the world. May the Lord bless and keep you. Amen.

More news from the chicken coop

We built another section onto our chicken coop to accommodate 20 hens and their chicks. Our egg production has nearly reached the point where we may start regular sales of eggs. The chicken coop not only has been expanded, but greatly fortified to provide the chickens with more protection from predators, which include hawks, oppossum and snakes. 

God's gift of life

Every morning we open the preschool with the national anthem, the Lord’s Prayer, a Bible verse and a song based on Romans 8:38-39. Once a week, the children hear a longer Bible story, followed by some sort of crafts project. The birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-80) was our Bible story for the week of June 24, because that is the date to remember John the Baptist’s birth on the historic church calendar (it’s six months before December 24, since Elizabeth already was six months pregnant when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit in Luke 1:26-38). 

The entire first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke is an argument for the biblical teaching that every child in his mother's womb is a gift from God and his life has value and purpose in the eyes of the heavenly Father. 

1. God chose a name for John the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to her in her old age. 
2. God chose a name for Jesus before his birth and by the work of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary conceived and gave birth. 
3. When Mary visited Elizabeth, Elizabeth's son jumped into her mother's womb to greet the Child Jesus in Mary's womb.

In my meditation this week on the story of John the Baptist's birth, I had in mind the pending U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs vs. Women’s Health Organization, but did not suppose it would be announced on that Friday. With the LCMS Life Ministry, we may “rejoice that the truth of God’s desire for His creation was reflected in the court’s consideration and decision issued in Dobbs v. Jackson.” However, as the Rev. Matthew Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, reminds us, “Even though Roe v. Wade has fallen, states can still allow the killing of unborn children. Today we pray that more unborn will leap for joy in the womb, as St. John did. Today, even as we rejoice, we weep that U.S. policy continues to promote abortion globally.”

It is true that the U.S. federal government funds international aid groups that promote abortion on demand in other countries. But that may not be the entire reason for the current, unfortunate trend in Latin America. In February 2022, Colombia became the third Latin American country to loosen abortion laws in the past three years, following Argentina and Mexico. In December 2020, Argentina decriminalized and legalized abortion until the 14th week of gestation. In 2021, Mexico declared the criminalization of abortion unconstitutional, although access to abortion still varies depending on the state. Colombia made abortion legal during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Most Latin American countries still maintain strict regulation of abortion. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, only allows abortion if the woman's life is at risk or when the pregnancy is the result of rape. El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Suriname ban abortions in nearly all circumstances. In Costa Rica and Guatemala, abortions are only permitted if it's to preserve the woman's health or help save her life. In Panama, the procedure is only allowed to preserve the mother's health or life in the case of rape, or fetal malformation.

Abortion in Venezuela is illegal in almost all circumstances. A 1926 law banning the procedure was modified to allow an abortion if the woman’s life is in danger. A bill seeking to decriminalize abortion in some or all cases is pending in the national assembly.

Of course, nearly all of these countries are Roman Catholic-majority nations, although not by as large a margin in the past. More than 425 million Latin American identify as Catholics – nearly 40 percent of the world’s total Catholic population. Yet identification with Catholicism has declined throughout the region, according to a Pew Research Center survey that examined religious affiliations, beliefs and practices in 18 countries and one U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) across Latin America and the Caribbean. For most of the 20th century, from 1900 through the 1960s, at least 90 percent of Latin America’s population identified as Roman Catholic. Today, the Pew Research survey shows, 69 percent of adults across the region identify as Roman Catholic. In nearly every country surveyed, the Catholic Church has experienced net losses as many Latin Americans have joined evangelical Protestant churches or rejected organized religion altogether.

John came neither eating or drinking

Even in the old days, few Venezuelans were devout, practicing Catholics. It is estimated that only 10 percent attended Mass even once a month. Popular religiosity was, and for many Venezuelans remains, a mixture of veneration of the saints and Mary as approved by Roman Catholic church; “folk Catholicism” or festivals and shrines not officially approved, but not forbidden by the church; and invocation of non-Christian deities. Nothing illustrates this more what ostensibly are celebrations of the John the Baptist’s birth that occupy a prominent place in Venezuelan folklore. The dances, processions and other festivities associated with June 24 are full of color and rhythm. During the time of slavery in Venezuela, African slaves were allowed time off from June 23 to 25, so the customs are particularly rich among the Afro-Venezuelans of Miranda and Yaracuy states.

However, people often do not know the true story of John the Baptist and its meaning, and the parties are occasions for idolatry (tribal gods in the guise of Roman church saints) and alcohol abuse.

John the Baptist led an austere life, neither eating or drinking to excess, according to Matthew 11:18 and Luke 7:33. In the context of these passages, the Pharisees had accused Jesus unfairly of being a drunkard and a glutton. Our Lord pointed out that although loved to make a great show of piety, but they were not comfortable with the earnestness of John, nor the graciousness of Jesus. They did not want to admit that they were sinners in need of a Savior, so they were not willing to accept the love and mercy of that Savior. Despite their differences in outward behavior, John and Jesus were not enemies. John said of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, and Jesus said of John, “Among those born of women, there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).

What it means to be a father

On Thursday, June 16, we celebrated Father’s Day with our preschool children. Sadly, many of the “fathers” present were really grandfathers or stepfathers. The lack of involvement of biological fathers in the home is a significant social problem in Venezuela. One reason for this is the economic crisis that has spurred many able-bodied men to seek higher-paying jobs outside the country. But even before the current crisis, many children in our community were caught in a generational cycle of poverty, due to lack of education or even motivation for education; out-of-wedlock births; and lack of either family or job stability.

Nevertheless, our Scripture reading for that day was Ephesians 5:21-30, where St. Paul says that the husband is the head of his partner, as Christ is the head of the church. That does not mean the man can rule over his family like a tyrant, for Genesis 3:16 says this distortion of the relationship between men and women resulted from the disobedience of Adam and Eve. On the contrary, as Christ is the source of life and salvation for the church, the father must be the source of provision and protection, material and spiritual, for his family. This passage from Ephesians has more instructions for men than it does for women. The Apostle cites the worlds of Genesis 2:24, especially for men, “For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”.

In the Old Testament lesson for the following Sunday, Deuteronomy 6:4-13, the Lord says through Moses, “Hear, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one: And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart. , and with all your soul, and with all your strength." Yet also, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart: And you shall repeat them to your children, and shall speak of them when you sit at home, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down. And when you get up." The weight of this responsibility falls on the man of the house, although in the absence of a male parent, the mother may take it up. Therefore each section of the Small Catechism is subtitled, “As the head of the household may teach it in a simple way to his children”.

So, on that Sunday, Father’s Day, we prayed for our earthly fathers, that God might give them the courage to follow the will of the Lord and the wisdom to guide their families in the regular use of His holy Word and the sacraments. Also to bless their daily work and give them health of mind, body and soul to provide for the material needs of their families. Amen.

LeadaChild alumna graduates from high school

LeadaChild, a Kansas-based mission society, has supported our education program since 2006. During that time, many of the children who received scholarships from LeadaChild to pay for school expenses completed high school rather then drop out after sixth grade as is all too common here. Yaneth Torres is the latest to receive her diploma. On June 6, we met via Zoom conference with Nury de Milian, LeadaChild director for Latin America, and other coordinators of education projects in Venezuela, to discuss distribution of LeadaChild funds for the next school year.

All because of an iguana

Power outages continue, especially as torrential rains and thunderstorms cause power lines to fall. But on the evening of June 20, we experienced not only an outage, but a tremendous spike that destroyed three security cameras, the digital video recorder (DVR) to which the cameras were connected, and two lightbulbs. The cost of replacing the damaged equipment was US $400. It was not because of a lightning strike, but apparently due to an iguana that jumped on the line. I passed on the opportunity to find out if fried iguana really tasts just like chicken.

An everlasting Gospel to all nations

Reformation Sunday 2021 was the day of first communion for Diana Carolina Torres. Diana was baptized on January 8, 2017, which was Epiphany Sunday and the day that our chapel was consecrated.

Diana attended our preschool from age 2 to age 6, during which time she received scholarships from LeadaChild, an Olathe, Kansas- based Lutheran mission agency dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus’ love to children through Christian education. LeadaChild gathers gifts and donations from supporters and use the funds to provide scholarships, school registration, and supplies for children so that they can attend Lutheran schools and afterschool programs. The scholarships allowed Diana’s parents to purchase school uniforms, backpacks, crayons, notebooks and other supplies. Since 2006, LeadaChild has provided scholarships to our preschool students as well as older students in our afterschool tutoring program.

On this past Reformation Sunday, we also announced the availability of LeadaChild scholarships for 2021/2022 school-year students. Instead of distributing cash, this year we gathered the information for electronic transfers into the parents’ bank accounts. Electronic transfers by credit/debit card or cellphone app have become the norm as Venezuela continues to be plagued by hyperinflation. Recently the government took action to bring the hyperinflation under control by issuing new currency. The rate of exchange had been more than 4 million bolivares to one U.S. dollar (our basic monthly expenses totalled more than 2 billion bolivares). In essence, they just erased six zeroes, so that now 4.18 bolivares equal to one U.S. dollar. But really the hyperinflation continues, so that’s only the rate of exchange for now. At least online banking has spared Venezuelans the need to push around wheelbarrows full of currency as was the case in Germany in the 1930s.

Preschool opens October 25

We had hoped to open the preschool on October 11, but the opening of all schools was delayed until October 25. Biosecurity measures, such as facemasks (even for the youngest children) and mandatory handwashing remain in place. The number of students is limited to five at one time, so we have two shifts of five students every day, one group of 10 students on Monday and Tuesday, and another group of 10 on Wednesday and Thursday, with Friday as a free day.

Luz Maria and I both have been vaccinated against COVID-19, as have many other people in La Caramuca. I have received the booster shot, and Luz Maria soon will, too. She received the Russian Sputnik V vaccine at one location, because it was made available first and as a Venezuelan citizen, she had priority. Then the Chinese Sinovac vaccine was made available, and I received that. But I was able to get the second shot before Luz Maria, and now she has to go to a different place for her booster, because they do not want to mix and match the vaccines.

A host arrayed in white

November 1 is All Saints Day according to the historic calendar of the church. We will observe All Saints Sunday on November 7, and for the first time we will follow the practice of reading the names of those who passed from among us to eternity in faith during the previous year: Ramon Estorcha, Carmen Bendicia Garrido, Xiomara del Carmen Torrealba and Marisol Torrealba.

On October 29, 2021, Marisol Torrealba died after a long struggle with cancer. She was the sister of one of our members, Yudrica Torrealba, and the aunt of another, Karla Frias Torrealba. Luz Maria and I visited her during her illness, praying with her and studying the Bible and the Small Catechism. She confessed to us her faith and her desire to attend our church, but never recovered in time. At her burial on October 30, I read John 11:25-26.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

I reminded all those at the burial site that for Marisol, as for Martha, the new life in Christ was not simply the promise of a future resurrection, although that is our hope, but that Jesus was with her in the midst of her trial, too. This new life is God’s gracious gift to all who believe.

The sermon text for Reformation Sunday was Revelation 14:6-7, the vision of an angel in mid-heaven proclaiming the everlasting Gospel to all nations, tribes, tongues and peoples. I will follow up on All Saints Sunday with Revelation 7:2-17. Chapter seven is one of the most important sections in the book of Revelation. After the sealing of “144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel”, the apostle John sees “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

The innumerable multitude is the same as the numbered tribes of Israel, seen from another point of view. It is clear from the context that the writer is speaking about the total number of the elect. From the standpoint of the divine this sealing is a marking of all the members of church, past and present, as belonging to God. The sealing has been done on earth in baptism; that it is followed by the vision of the great multitude surrounding the throne of God in heaven. It is a crowd so large that no one is able to number it from a human point of view. But the number 144,000 in verse four tells us that God has counted every one.

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. Oh, how glorious is that kingdom wherein all the saints do rejoice with Christ! They are clothed with white robes and follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Oh, almighty God, who has knit together the elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which you have prepared for those who sincerely love you. Through Jesus Christ, your only begotten Son, who lives and and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen.

A milestone in distance learning

On Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2021, Omar Martinez and I represented the Lutheran Church of Venezuela in a graduation ceremony via Zoom videoconferencing with six other seminary students from Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru and Spain.

The other seminarians had completed their coursework while in residence at Concordia Seminary El Reformador in Palmar Arriba, the Dominican Republic, in preparation for ordination. Because the ceremony was postponed from last year, some of them were ordained and installed as pastors before the “virtual” graduation. For example, Elvis Carrera has been serving as the pastor of the congregation in Lima, Peru, where Luz Maria’s daughter, Yepci, and her family attend.

Omar, who is pastor of Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) and I were both ordained years ago. We pursued our continuing education an on-line program, Formación Pastoral Hispanoamérica (FPH), offered by the Dominican seminary in cooperation with Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was a milestone for Omar and me, and also for the concept of distance learning.

FPH is an international extension of the Fort Wayne seminary’s Specific Ministry Pastor–Español/English program. This program follows the basic structure, guidelines and restrictions of the regular SMP program as a means to provide ordained men to serve in mission situations where a candidate with traditional residential seminary training is not available or cannot be supported, but it is focused on preparing Spanish speakers for Word and Sacrament ministry.

By divine order, there is one office of the public ministry and, according to Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession, “no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called (rite vocatus)”. But the Scriptures do not specify any particular mode, pattern, or length of pastoral preparation. What makes someone a pastor is examination and certification, then call and ordination, in an orderly process.

“For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 3:13. In the New Testament church, pastors were recruited from the ranks of deacons, who were laymen entrusted with the work of the church apart from preaching and administration of the sacraments. As we read in Acts, Philip, one of the original deacons (Acts 6:5) was later sent to preach and baptize in Samaria (Acts 8).

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” Titus 1:5

The word translated “elder” is πρεσβύτερος (presbuteros), which is the root of the English word, “priest”. It is used interchangeably in the New Testament with ποιμήν (poimén or pastor) and ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos or bishop), all referring to the one office of the public ministry. As Luther writes in his “Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope”: “60. The Gospel assigns to those who preside over churches the command to teach the Gospel to remit sins, to administer the Sacraments and besides jurisdiction, namely, the command to excommunicate those whose crimes are known, and again to absolve those who repent. 61 And by the confession of all, even of the adversaries, it is clear that this power by divine right is common to all who preside over churches, whether they are called pastors, or elders, or bishops.”

Paul had visited the island of Crete after his first Roman imprisonment, and, together with Titus, extended the preaching of the Gospel throughout its length and breadth. When Paul’s presence was demanded elsewhere, he left Titus behind as his representative, to see that a decent order of worship and of conducting the business of the congregations be introduced everywhere. This included, among others, that all the congregations should choose pastors under his direction and with his help.

The New Testament model of raising up local elders, already proven for spiritual maturity and leadership (1 Timothy 3) , is actually much closer to today’s non-residential programs than the sending of potential candidates off to a centralized location for pastoral formation and academic education. The value of a residential seminary program, of course, in consistent doctrinal training for all pastoral candidates and formation of character as well as intellectual growth under the almost daily observation of experienced instructors.

But the costs and other requirements of residential seminary education long have been an obstacle to church planting in Latin America, where many families do not have the resources to send young men away from home for four years, especially if the seminary is located in a distant country. Even before the Internet became available to the public, Presbyterian missionaries to Guatemala in the 1960s developed the concept of theological education by extension (TEE). Under this model, theological educators travelled to regional centers where they provided intensive instructions for men already recognized for their leadership qualities within local communities. In between visits, students were provided with structured self-study materials. The goal was to work toward ordination without the need for abandoning jobs and families. This approach was widely adopted in the 1970s by missionaries in Latin American countries where the establishment of seminaries proved difficult.

In Venezuela during this decade, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionaries organized the Juan de Frias Theological Institute to proved guided instruction not only for pastoral candidates, but also lay leaders and continuing education for ordained pastors. It was training through the Juan de Frias Theological Institute that led to my ordination by the Lutheran Church of Venezuela in 2008.

I had signed up for two years in Venezuela as a LCMS World Missions volunteer missionary in 2002. When I married Luz Maria, I came to share her vision of a church and school in La Caramuca. I began taking Juan de Frias courses with the aim of improving my ability to teach Bible classes in Spanish. More and more of the young people attending our weekday and Sunday evangelistic activities at the mission began asking if they could be baptized and receive the Lord’s Supper, yet there was no national pastor who was willing to serve our rural mission on a regular basis.

So I took advantage of an invitation in 2006 to participate in the Juan de Frias Institute’s renewed campaign to ordain more pastors. This involved setting up a kind of “mini-seminary” in Caracas where students who had already been studying for the ministry lived together in a house and dedicated their time to prayer, Bible study and classes, followed by a year of vicarage before ordination. I was part of this in 2007, except that I went home on the weekends. This meant a six- to seven-hour bus ride back to La Caramuca on Friday night, and ride to Caracas on Sunday night. But it was a great time. We had visiting professors from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis; Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne; and Concordia Seminary of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the world’s largest Spanish-speaking seminary. After a year of vicarage in La Caramuca in 2008, I was ordained at El Salvador Lutheran Church in Caracas, along with two Venezuelans, Sergio Maita and Eduardo Flores.

But opportunities for the continuing education so necessary for a pastor soon became few and far between. Travel within, as well as to and from, Venezuela became more uncertain and risky. Little by little, there were no more weekly, or even monthly trips to Caracas; no traveling Juan de Frias Institute workshops; and no visiting professors. And this was before COVID-19.

Concordia El Reformador Seminary was established as a regional center for residential and distance learning for people in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean islands and South America. Its first students graduated on May 24, 2019. At the same time, more than 30 men in 12 Latin American countries continue their theological education on-line through the FPH program. That fact that this year’s graduation ceremony done by videoconference because of the pandemic shows that distance learning plays a more important role than ever.

Even more videoconferencing

The week before the virtual graduation, Luz Maria and I participated in a virtual symposium on “Life and sexuality: pastoral care and the public voice of the church”, hosted by Concordia Seminary El Reformador.

• May 25: Pastoral Care in Cases of Sexual Sin (Rev. David Warner, former LCMS missionary to Spain and now pastor of two congregations near Custer, South Dakota).

• May 26: Sexuality and Society from a Biblical Perspective (Rev. Dr. David Preus, professor at Concordia Seminary El Reformador)

  

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  May 27: The public voice of the Church on sexuality, life and death (Rev. Dr. Clóvis Jair Prunzel, professor at Concordia Seminary, São Leopoldo, Brazil).

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  May 28: What is life and death, from the perspective of the Word of God and the Catechism of Martin Luther (Rev. Dr. John Pless, professor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana).

We participated on May 10 to 19 in an online workshop on confessional biblical interpretation with the Rev. Dr. Roberto Bustamante of Concordia Seminary El Reformador, Brian Gauthier from Concordia University of Nebraska, Pastor Roberto Weber from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina and 60 pastors and seminarians from all over Latin America.

On Thursday, May 13, and Friday, May 14, we participated in the LeadaChild Symposium 2021 by Zoom videoconference. LeadaChild is a Lutheran mission agency dedicated to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ to children through Christian education in five regions of the world, Guatemala, Central America and Haiti, South America, West Africa and Asia, and also supports an after school program. in Bethlehem. LeadaChild's method is to provide scholarships, school enrollment, and supplies for children so that they can attend Lutheran schools and after-school programs. Also to provide professional development for leaders and teachers, with an emphasis on effective ways to share the gospel and teach Bible truths to children. LeadaChild began supporting educational projects in Venezuela in 1991 and has supported our mission since 2006. The theme of the symposium was changes in education around the world due to COVID-19. We reviewed new software and strategies for online Christian education.

And, every week, Luz Maria mentors 40 women enrolled in the deaconess training coordinated by Danelle Putnam of Concordia Seminary El Reformador and Eliezer Mendoza, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute.

COVID-19 claims a life in our community

We received word that Global Lutheran Outreach and the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile are planning another shipment of non-prescription medicines to Venezuela. We give thanks to God for this. Pray for us as the COVID-19 virus has arrived in La Caramuca and adds to the health risks that already threaten our people. This past week COVID-19 claimed the live of Rafael Méndez, a prominent member of the community and proprietor of a general store and butcher shop near the town plaza. We remembered his family in prayer on Sunday and also others among us that suffer from the virus.

“You will not fear the terror of the night,nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.” Psalm 91:5-6

Almighty God, Who forgives all our iniquities and heals all our diseases, Who has proclaimed Your name to be the Lord that heals us and has sent Your well-beloved Son to bear our sicknesses, look in mercy upon Your servants, pardon and forgive us our transgressions, and of Your lovingkindness remove the plague with which You have visited us. This we ask according to Your will, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.