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).

A woman clothed with the sun

We also celebrated Luz Maria's
birthday on May 5.

This year, the church calendar’s “forgotten festival” of Ascension fell on Thursday, May 9, while Mother’s Day fell on Sunday, May 12. But we had our Mother’s Day party with the preschool children on Thursday and celebrated the Ascension on Sunday. The preschool children received their lesson on the Ascension on Monday, May 13.The previous Monday, May 6, the children learned about the miracle of motherhood in general, and the miracles of motherhood recorded in the Bible. That is to say, the birth of every child is a miracle, because God forms a new person in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16). But also there are several stories in the Scriptures in which God grants the gift of a child to sterile women, including some past the age of childbearing (Sarah, wife of Abraham, Genesis 18:1-15; Rachel, wife of Jacob, Genesis 30:22-24; Samson’s unnamed mother, Judges 13; Hannah, mother of Samuel, the prophet, 1 Samuel 1; and Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, Luke 1:1-25). Finally, we have the great mystery of the Incarnation, the God Himself born of Mary, a virgin, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-7). I expanded on the theme of both human life and motherhood as gifts for the opening devotion of our Mother’s Day party on Thursday, with a discussion of Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of Timothy, faithful women who assumed the responsibility of teaching Timothy the Scriptures from his childhood (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).

The gift of motherhood.

Of course, that Sunday we remembered all mothers in the prayer of the church. Furthermore, instead of the straightforward Ascension narrative in Acts 1:1-11, I read the more symbolic account in Revelation 12:1-6. It is clear in John’s vision that the “Child caught up to God and His throne” is Jesus, and the dragon is “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world”. But, who is the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head, a garland of twelve stars”? She is not sim ply Mary; the twelve stars indicate that, in the first verses, she represents the Old Testament people of God, with the twelve sons of Jacob as their patriarchs. In the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), Mary not only names herself the Lord’s maidservant, but says that with the conception of Jesus, God has remembered His servant, Israel, “as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed, forever.”

Celebration Mother's Day.

The “war in heaven” described in Revelation 12:7-12, does not represent the primeval rebellion of Satan and his angels, but the victory of Christ on the cross. For the Devil loses his power to accuse us of our sin in the court of heaven (as in the book of Job).
But the woman remains on earth, where she is pursued by the dragon and his angels for a short time (until Christ returns in glory). Here she symbolizes the New Testament people of God, with the twelve apostles as the patriarchs. 

So in the Revelation account, we have the complete cycle of the earthly ministry of Jesus, from the Incarnation to the AscLension, followed by the age of the church and its mission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. God the Son leaves to one side the fullness of His divine power, but honors motherhood and our human nature by being born of a woman, then exalts humanity further by ascending not only as true God, but as true man.

Trinity of Friedensau.

Conviction rather than convenience

My grandparents on their wedding day.

My grandparent' s grave.

In 1974, I attended the centennial anniversary celebration of Trinity Lutheran Church of Friedensau, Nebraska. Recently I was invited to the 150th anniversary on Sunday, June 9, 2024, by the current pastor, José Flores. I thanked Pastor Flores for the invitation, but said I would not be able to attend due the difficulties of travel to and from Venezuela.

What does this small congregation in rural Nebraska mean to me and my family? Henry F. Schabacker, my great-grandfather, served the church as pastor from the late 1890s to the late 1920s, the longest tenure of any pastor to date. He and his wife, Frederika, lived in the first parsonage, and raised 10 children at Friedensau.

One of their daughters, Theodora Amanda, married a young man from Texas who was the teacher in the parochial school and the church organist, despite being paralyzed on one side of his body by polio. His name was David Julius Ernst. My grandparents also raised 10 children at Friedensau and their earthly remains are buried side by side in the church cemetery. Alfred H. Ernst, my father’s older brother, was one of the featured speakers at the centennial. At the time, he was the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Lincoln, Nebraska. I do not remember his speech word for word, but according to a local newspaper clipping, “Rev. Ernst praised the church for the record it had made during the past century as it had produced 12 pastors, 27 parish teachers and one parish worker. He said the church had strengthened the faith so that it became a conviction rather than a convenience.”

Spanish Bible from LHF.

During my interesting correspondence with Pastor Flores, he told me how he had been the director of Russian Lutheran Hour Ministries shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. “ On Christmas 1992 I stood on Red Square in Moscow singing Christian carols with other Christians for the first time in 75 years,” he wrote. While in Russia, Pastor Flores met Dr. Matthew Heise,who spent 12 years as Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod missionary in former Soviet-bloc countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia. I replied that I also had corresponded with Dr. Heise, who is now the executive director of the 

Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) and the author of a book about Lutheran churches under Soviet rule. The LHF has greatly helped our mission and the Lutheran Church of Venezuela by supplying us with Spanish Bibles, translations of the Small Catechism, and other Spanish-language materials. Although we no longer receive printed copies of the LHF magazine "Buenas Noticias" ("Good News") on a regular basis, Luz Maria and I keep our back copies as supplements for Bible studies. 

The Spanish Lutheran Hour ("Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones" or CPTLN) also was of great service while it maintained operations in Venezuela. In addition to broadcasting, CPTLN maintained a large printing operation. Until CPTLN Venezuela closed its doors in 2014, we received and distributed 300 CPTLN tracts per month.

High school students distribute first aid supplies

In anticipation of their high school graduation in July, Eduar Garrido and his classmates have completed a project to distribute first aid supplies to educational institutions in our area. On May 23, they visited our preschool for this purpose. Eduar is a communicant member of our mission congregation and a past recipient of scholarships from LeadaChild, one of our sponsoring organizations. The other students are Cindy Escalona, Yandry Gómez, Tatiana Niño, Franyelis Martínez, Reinaldo Ramírez and Luisana Yañez.

You shall be my witnesses

To the end of the earth Acts 1:8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our activities in the preschool and our Sunday Bible class for the youth centered on the Ascension of our Lord, which we celebrated on Sunday, May 21, and Pentecost, May 28. Pentecost brings us to the midpoint of the church calendar. From here on, the emphasis of our Scripture readings shifts from the earthly ministry of Jesus to the mission of the church to continue what “Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1) to the end of earthly history when “this same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

Ascension.

St. Luke tells the story of the Ascension twice. According to the closing verses of his Gospel (Luke 24:50-53), after witnessing the Lord carried up into heaven, the 11 remaining apostles returned to Jerusalem “and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God.” This is important to bear in mind when reading the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. There we read that upon returning to Jerusalem, the apostles met regularly in an upper room for prayer and supplication. 

Pentecost.

This was different from the week following the crucifixion when the risen Christ appeared to them as they were cowering behind closed doors (Luke 24:33-43; John 20:19-29). The Lord had appeared to many other witnesses during the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension, the Roman and Jewish authorities were having trouble explaining away the empty tomb, and the apostles were not afraid to thank God for all of this in public. But the growth of the church, the new royal priesthood, did not begin until the visible and audible outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, not just on the apostles, who now named Mathias as one of them, but all the believers who were gathered with them (Acts 2:1). These included, according to Acts 1:12-15, “the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers...altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty”. The women certainly were those that had ministered to the Lord, even in Galilee, and later had made the journey to Jerusalem to be present under the cross and became the first to see Him resurrected on the third day.

Perfect score for Reinner Ortega.

As St. Peter told the gathered crowd, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, in which the Spirit would be poured out on all the faithful, regardless of sex, age or social status. And with that, the marks of the church appear, for after Peter’s preaching, 3,000 were baptized and those baptized “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayers” (Acts 2:42). It is this water baptism, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promises in Acts 1:3, not the outward signs that established the presence and action of the Holy Spirit for that time and place. It is this same baptism which empowers Christians today to carry on the Lord’s mission and be His witnesses to the uttermost ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Update on teacher’s strike

A visit by primary education students.

Well, it’s not quite over. Our schools are not completely shut down, but since their salary demands were not met, most public schoolteachers are only working two to three days per week. Thanks to your support and the dedication of our preschool teachers, we have been able to keep the preschool open four days per week.

Happy birthday, Wilker Flores!

There is a cloud on our horizon for which we would ask your prayers. Every morning we have the preschool children form two lines, boys on one side and girls on the other, to sing the national anthem, say the Lord’s Prayer and listen to a Bible reading. Our teaching reflects the truth that “male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27) and institute marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman for mutual companionship and the nurturing of any children with which God may bless their home. So far, by God’s grace, we have not had to deal directly with la ideología de género or gender ideology, as it is known here. In 2021, the Roman Catholic bishops of Venezuela issued a

Happy birthday, Nelson Rodriguez!

statement of concern over growing pressure to legalize abortion, euthanasia and gender ideology in the country.

However, we have heard of “experimental” program in a neighboring state in which preschool children are taught that there are not just two, but many genders and corresponding pronouns for them. We hope this program does not serve as a model for something that will be made mandatory, and, if it does, that God may grant us the courage and wisdom to stand up for His order of creation.

Fiber-optic is the fashion

When I arrived in Venezuela 20 years ago, most people in Venezuela had access to the Internet only through cybercafes with row upon row of networked PCs. Internet service in the home was limited to a 56k dialup modem connected to standard landline. Wifi and mobile Internet access were unknown. Times have changed.

Installation of fiber-optic line.

As of the first month of 2023, according to Statista, overall Internet home Internet access in Latin America stood at 74.63 percent of the total population. Venezuela stands near the low end with 61.6 percent. The region of Latin America and the Caribbean has seen continuous increase in the proportion of the population using mobile internet, with more than half of the population connected in 2019, according to GSMA. According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Public Services (OVSP), only 38.1 percent of people had access to fixed-line connections at home as of October 2021. Although 80.4 percent of people owned smartphones with which they could access the internet, around half of respondents reported daily failures in cellular data service. As of August 2022, according to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, median mobile speeds in Venezuela were the third slowest globally, with Venezuela ranking 138th of 140 countries reviewed.

For several years, we have had entirely wireless Internet access at the mission through a cellphone network, but this has not been the ideal solution, as the above statistic indicates. Now a local company that has provided basic cable television service to our community since 2007 offers fiber-optic Intenet access. We have had this installed and have experienced a marked improvement as this chart would suggest. This is important to us because of increased use of videoconferencing in distance learning.

Giving thanks for those who gave us life

Mother's Day cake.

Mother’s Day fell on May 14, so giving thanks for mothers was on the top of our prayer list for the sixth Sunday of Easter. However, also on that morning we remembered in prayer Aurora Torrealba and her family, recipients of medicine shipped by GLO, upon the loss of her husband, Manuel Rojas.

This was our prayer for Mother’s Day:

Honoring mothers.

Kind Heavenly Father, you formed us in our mother's womb and sent your Son to be born of a woman to live and be tempted like us. On this day we give you thanks for the gift of life that you gave us through our mothers. We thank you for providing them to love us, care for us, and share your Word with us. Bless mothers everywhere with love, patience, wisdom, understanding, and strength so they can raise their children to love and honor you. Grant that in our homes reflect the joy of Easter. Let the good news of the resurrection reach all nations, so that men may behold the glory of Christ and find abundant life in the fruits of his victory over death. Amen.

 

Ascension, Mother's Day and maybe a miracle

Ascension of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today is the fortieth day after Easter. According to the ancient calendar of the church, this is the day to celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, the proper end of His earthly ministry. However, here in la Caramuca we will do so this on Sunday, April 20. 

Ascension Day is not a public holiday in Venezuela, so we would not expect a large attendance at a midweek service. However, because of the importance of this event in story of Jesus, I do not want it to pass unnoticed. So we will observe Ascension Day this Sunday when most of our members will be in attendance.

In the sermons for the last two Sundays, I have spoken of the importance of the Ascension and of Pentecost (which is not a national holiday, either). The risen Christ could not remain in this world in visible form, but rather had to complete the plan of redemption through the restoration of His divine power and authority with His human nature intact (He is no longer confined to one time and place, but is available as true God and true man to intercede for us with God the Father in all times and places)  and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His church, so that the church might be empowered, through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments, to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world until the second coming of Christ in glory, at which time all will be raised and all who believe will ascend to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This is the real rapture that will take place on the Last Day, as prophecied in the Scriptures and in contrast to the fictional "pre-tribulation rapture" of the "Left Behind" books and movies.

National days off in Venezuela that correspond to dates on the liturgical calendar include all of the week before Christmas and after Christmas until Epiphany (January 6); the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Carnaval): and all of Holy Week.  In addition, various regions celebrate local holidays dedicated to supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary and Roman Catholic saints who are supposed to be patrons of that particular locality.

The historic influence of Roman Catholicism and contemporary ambivalence toward it are evident in other aspects of Venezuelan civil law. For example, abortion is illegal, except in cases where terminating the pregnancy would save the mother's life, and merits a sentence of up to two years in prison for a woman who has an authorized abortion and up to three years for the doctor who performs it. Yet contraceptives are widely available and used. You can buy condoms off the rack in most pharmacies and many supermarkets. Consequently, the annual birth rate in Venezuela (20.1 births pér 1,000 people) is roughly equivalent to the U.S.birth rate in the mid 1960s, when abortion was illegal in most states, but the use of contraceptives had become widespread. Currently, the U.S. birth rate is 13.8 births per 1,000 people. It is chilling to reflect that the United States probably would not have such a low birth rate without allowing the murder of children in the womb.

Mother's Day games

Mother's Day

Which brings me to the event that captures most people's attention here in May: Mother's Day. It is said that in terms of generating economic activity (purchase of cards, gifts and flowers, phone calls, and so on), Mother's Day in Venezuela rivals Christmas. The positive aspect of this is that in Venezuelan culture, motherhood is not somewhere down the list of goals to which a woman may aspire, but is a central part of her life and necessary to the continuation of all human life.

The negative aspect is that the strong focus on motherhood to some extent is an attempt to compensate for the lack of strong male role models in many Venezuelan homes. Absentee fatherhood also is a cultural tradition with many men taking little responsibility for the raising of their children. Latin American "machismo" insists that a strong, virile man does not let himself get tied down by one woman and her children. This creates a dysfunctional pattern of family relationships which, of course, perpetuates itself for generation after generation.

Nonetheless, we had an excellent Mother's Day activity in our preschool on May 9, the Wednesday before the official observance of Mother's Day on Sunday, May 13. After a brief devotion, mothers (or grandmothers) and children enjoyed games, refreshments, cookies and cake. On Sunday we gave thanks for and implored God's blessing on our mothers in the prayer of the church.

Prayers answered

Anyi Vanesa Garrido

We also prayed for three-year-old José Ignacio Garrido, who had been hospitalized the previous week with dengue fever; his one-year-old sister, Anyi, who was subsequently diagnosed with dengue; and also six-year-old Maria Andreina Ruiz, who was hospitalized with a broken arm. Torrential spring rains have created more habitat for the mosquitos that carry dengue fever.

Since last Sunday, José Ignacio has made a sudden recovery. The attending nurse said it was hard to believe that his charts from the day before the recovery and from the next day were charts for the same child. So perhaps we can count that as a small miracle in answer to our prayers. Little Anyi remains hospitalized in serious condition, however.

Postscript from Friedensau

When we lived in Nebraska, my family often would spend Memorial Day visiting my grandfather's grave at Trinity Lutheran Church of Friedensau. Friedensau,  which means "Peaceful Meadow", was in the late 19th Century a flourishing community of German immigrants in the Blue River valley. The town was first settled by people from Indiana and Illinois, most of whom were former parishioners of Pastor John Kern. In 1874, Kern himself arrived to give Friedensau its name and establish Trinity Lutheran Church.

By 1885, Friedensau had two Lutheran churches, a school, post office, mill, lumberyard, hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop and other businesses. However, in 1887  the railroad was built five miles to the south, through what is now the town of Deshler. The businesses and many of the people moved to Deshler, and now all that remains of Friedensau is the original church and its cemetery.

I remember asking why there were so many children's graves in the cemetery. It was because of scarlet fever, which was often fatal to children before penicillin became a widely available antibiotic in the 1940s (it was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928).

David Julius and Theodora Ernst

My grandfather, David Julius Ernst, was himself the victim of childhood disease. I did not know this for many years, because he died in 1946, 12 years before he was born. But when he was a boy, my grandfather contracted polio and became paralyzed on one side of his body. Nevertheless, he grew up to be a schoolteacher, church organist and choir director. Born and raised near Austin, Texas, he met my grandmother, Theodora Schabacker, in Friedensau, where she was the pastor's daughter. They are buried side by side there now.

When I think of these hardships of the past, I give thanks to God for the medical discoveries that have eliminated such things as smallpox, polio or scarlet fever as threats to the well-being of children. Yet I reflect on how human life still is a fragile and precious thing, and I give thanks to God for the gift of every human life, no matter how brief, and for the courage and faith of parents who are willing to give the gift of life to the next generation.

And, especially in this season of Eastertide, which draws to its close at Pentecost, let us give thanks for the hope of the resurrection and the life of the world to come. Amen.

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