The Lord's house as refuge

The introit for the second Sunday of the Eastertide (April 7 this year) is taken from 1 Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word.” Here is how it is rendered in Latin: Quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite. That is why, in Victor Hugo’s classic novel, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, a deformed newborn left on the doorstep of the cathedral on the Sunday after Easter is given the name “Quasimodo”. He is taken in because caring for widows and orphans is something Christians have always done (James 1:27). So I think of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” every time Quasimodo Geniti Sunday rolls around.

But other people may be less interested in the origin of the hunchback’s name and more in that great dramatic moment when Quasimodo rescues Esmeralda from the murderous crowd and carries her to the cathedral, crying, “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” This also resonated with me this month as we discussed with our youth Bible study group the church as a refuge for both the spiritually and physically afflicted.

Quasimodo claimed for Esmeralda the “right of sanctuary” for fugitives unjustly accused of crimes until they could obtain a fair hearing. When the Roman Empire in the fourth century A.D. granted Christians the right to build public houses of worship, churches offered temporary shelter to such people under certain conditions. This perhaps was inspired by the Old Testament law which established “cities of refuge” within the land of Israel. The descriptions of the cities of refuge are found in the Numbers 35:5-34; Deuteronomy 4:41-43; 19:1-13; and Joshua 20:1-9. Passing references to these cities are found in Joshua 21:13, 21, 27, 32, 38; and in 1 Chronicles 6:57, 67.

By the early Middle Ages, the right of sanctuary in churches was written into law throughout Christian Europe. In continental Europe the right of sanctuary, though much restricted in the 16th century, survived until the French Revolution. Although the medieval right of sanctuary never had the force of law in the United States, it provided the basis for modern notions of asylum for religious and political refugees.

There are Christian organizations that minister in a Scripture-based and legal way to the spiritual and material needs of Venezuelans who have fled their native land, and we give thanks for those efforts. But we are not in agreement, or in fellowship with organizations that facilitate illegal entry into the USA or any other country by Venezuelans or any other nationality. Rather, we provide a refuge for those who remain in Venezuela, a safe place to receive Christian education, needed food and medicine, and Word and sacrament ministry for the strength to live in faith, hope and love amid suffering.

Nutrition crisis continues

On April 22, 2024 we received a visit from Dr. Tibisay Medina (nutritionist), Dr. Yesika Flores (general practitioner) and registered nurses, Thais Castillo and Charly Zerpa: all of this on the occasion of a day of vaccination, and nutritional and medical attention to the boys and girls of our preschool. As a result of the day, we found that 16 of our 28 enrolled students between the ages of one year and three years showed signs of acute malnutrition. This is a reflection of Venezuela’s continuing nutrition crisis.

According to a 2021 article published in “The Lancet”, a peer-reviewed medical journal, high food insecurity present in more than 80 percent of Venezuelan households affects children under five and of school age. The World Food Program's 2020 food security assessment on Venezuela, recognized that food security is a countrywide concern, and that nearly one household out of five has an unacceptable level of food consumption. Surveillance reports from Caritas Venezuela show that acute global malnutrition in children under five has increased by 73 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in 2017, a study by Bengoa Foundation for Food and Nutrition and Andres Bello Catholic University, reported that 33 percent of children between 0 and 2 years old were already stunted in their growth. Although Venezuela’s inflationary economy has stabilized for the time being, minimum wage is by far the lowest in Latin America. It is barely enough to buy a loaf of bread and a liter of milk, four rolls of toilet paper, or 30 pills of generic hypertension medication. It is not enough to pay for a home’s electricity, water and telephone services. Some 50 percent of Venezuelan households live in poverty, according to a national poll carried out by Andres Bello Catholic University, and 41 percent of those polled said they skip one meal per day.

At our preschool we prepare two balanced meals, breakfast and lunch, Monday through Thursday, for the children who attend. We delivered food packages to the families of our enrolled students even when classes were suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis. The preschool receives a certain amount of food from the United Nations World Food Program, which began delivering food baskets to schools in Venezuela in 2021. We also supply the preschool with our homegrown fruits, vegetables, eggs and chickens, and with food that we purchase thanks to donations from mission societies, congregations and individuals in the United States. Please consider supporting this work with an online donation!

A tribute to Venezuelan women

Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic recently reported the results of its deaconess formation program from 2017 to 2014, noting 35 graduates from Venezuela and 23 Venezuelan women currently enrolled, both amount greater than any of the other countries involved. Luz Maria continues to mentor these women. In April, we participated with them in three online conferences:

• A Bible study on the role of women in the church hosted by the Martin Luther Institute of Mexico, led by Dr. Roberto Bustamante of Concordia El Reformador Seminary;

• A Bible study on Deuteronomy, presented by Joel Fritsche, previously a member of the Concordia El Reformador faculty and now director of vicarage and deaconess internships and assistant professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis;

• A Bible study on stewardship presented by Theodore Krey, region director for Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod mission in Latin America and the Caribbean;

• A meeting between mentors of the deaconess program in 10 countries and the faculty of Concordia El Reformador Seminary.

In response to a question from Teresa Leombruni of Caracas, Pastor Krey gave a moving tribute to the women of Venezuela. He praised their dedication to the deaconess program despite lack of reliable, high-speed access to the Internet, periodic power outages and difficulty in finding transportation to in-person classes, all while continuing to serve the national church through works of mercy.

Our garden for children

On November 6, we kicked off Early Education Week with the service of morning prayer for our preschool students, their families, teachers and personnel of Aquiles Nazoa National Education Center. In my meditation on 2 Timothy 3:14-16, I explained that the Lutheran Reformation placed a great emphasis on education, that all might learn to read the Holy Scriptures for themselves. And I mentioned that Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) who coined the term “kindergarten” in 1837 and pioneered the modern concept of education prior to first grade, was the son of a Lutheran pastor.

The first institutions for small children that earlier appeared in Holland, Germany, and England had been welfare nursery schools or day-care centers intended merely for looking after children while parents worked. Froebel stood for providing, as he put it, “a school for the psychological training of little children by means of play and occupations.” The kindergarten plan to meet the educational needs of children between the ages of four and six or seven through the agency of play gained widespread acceptance. During the 25 years following Froebel’s death in 1852, kindergartens were established in leading cities of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States. The first instances of early childhood education were established in several Latin American countries around 1850. European educators came to Latin America and introduced the kinds of kindergartens that were emerging in Europe.

The word kindergarten may be translated as a garden for children. A plot of land was an important of Froebel’s original idea, as a place where children could interact with nature. Such has also been the case with our mission preschool, where the children always have had the opportunity to plant a garden and observe the animals that wander our grounds, including chickens, songbirds, iguanas and at least one very shy squirrel.

Yusmelvis and Anyi.

Winning entry in science fair

Two of our youth, Anyi Garrido and Yusmelvis Salas, placed first in a local science project competition representing their liceo, or high school. Their topic was the toxic effects on the human skin of substances that people may encounter in nature or intentionally apply to themselves. They will take their presentation to state competition in the city of Barinas. Anyi and Yusmelvis both are communicant members of our mission.

Anyi Santana, Luz Maria’s daughter and our chief preschool teacher, is helping an older group of students, which includes her son, Eduar, in developing the thesis project that they need to gain their diplomas. Eduar also is a communicant member of our mission.

Holy days and holidays

“All be safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin” is a line from Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”, a classic Thanksgiving Day hymn. The first verse gives thanks to God for a bountiful fall harvest, which is entirely appropriate for farming communities throughout the earth’s so-called temperate zones. The hymn calls the church on earth to its mission (“All the world is God's own field, fruit as praise to God we yield”) before closing with a prayer that the final harvest of souls at His Second Coming would happen soon. This dovetails with the end-times theme of the last three Sundays of the historic church year.

Philippians 2:5-11.

But what about tropical Venezuela, where there is no season in which the planting and harvesting of food crops cannot take place? There is typically little rainfall for six months of the year (December through May), but with access to irrigation, crop production can continue. This may be why Venezuela does not have a fall harvest festival as a national holiday.

But the fact that Venezuelans do not celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November does not stop merchants here from advertising “Black Friday” discounts. As in the USA, these discounts are used to encourage people to begin Christmas shopping early. At least in the English-speaking world, Black Friday once meant the same as Good Friday, the day on which Jesus died on the cross. Here it’s always “Viernes Santo” or Holy Friday. Nevertheless, even as the secular world appropriates Christian symbols for its own ends and its own calendar, Christians may use secular “holy days” to do the Lord’s work.

I am thinking of Giving Tuesday, a concept created in 2012, apparently on the assumption that if Black Friday puts people in spending mode, maybe they will be moved to donate to nonprofit organizations the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The date this years is November 28, which means that if you want to give on Giving Tuesday, or any time before November 30, you still have the opportunity to donate to Global Lutheran Outreach and have the value of your gift multiplied by three. Please visit our Team South America page to learn more.

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). As the focus of our worship shifts from the Lord’s return back to His Nativity, we would like to wish all of you a blessed Advent!

Sharing the peace anew

During the COVID-19 crisis in Venezuela, we temporarily changed our practice of “sharing the peace”. People stood at a distance from each other, waved and said, “The peace of the Lord be with you.” This may sound how it’s typically done in North American congregations, but in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, the sharing of the peace meant shaking hands, embracing and perhaps a kiss on the cheek for everyone present. Now that the panic has passed and most restrictions lifted, we have returned to the previous custom.

The sharing of the peace is an act of reconciliation that serves as a transition between the service of the Word and the service of the Lord’s Supper in the liturgy. It is not to be understood as a moment of informality in which everyone shares a sociable greeting. United in holy Baptism, confession and abolution of sins, the congregation prays for unity in the church and just peace in the world, and. Then the members of the congregation offer forgiveness and reconciliation to one another before approaching the altar for holy Communion.

The sharing of the peace fulfills the admonition to “greet one another with a holy kiss” repeated in Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12: and 1 Thessalonians 5:26, and “Greet one another with a kiss of love” (1 Peter 5:26). It was the widespread custom in the ancient Mediterranean world for men and women to greet each other with a kiss. (Judas, of course, betrayed Jesus with a kiss.) As the epistles from the beginning were read in the context of public worship, the sharing of the peace also was incorporated in to the liturgy (although the form may have changed from a kiss to a handshake over the centuries), after prayer and before the sacrament, on the basis of Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you; Leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

The word translated as “gift” is δῶρον (dóron) which also means “offering” or “sacrifice”. The sacrament of the altar is sacrificial in this sense: We present ourselves as living sacrifices in gratitude for the Lord’s gift of His body and blood. That the early church understood both the sharing of the peace and the sacrament in this way is affirmed in the Didache, an early Christian catechism, the sermons of St. Augustine and other post-apostolic writings.

Nury de Milian.

Looking forward with LeadaChild

Although the COVID-19 panic is over, the country continues to feel the impact of school closures due to the pandemic and subsequent threats of teacher’s strikes. Because of low pay and poor working conditions,, 68,000 teachers from elementary, middle and high schools left the country. between 2018 and 202. In January 2023, hundreds of Venezuelan teachers took to the streets to demand higher wages and the restoration of collective bargaining rights, including social and medical insurance. Because of these problems, many schools in the last academic year, were open for classes only two to three days per week.

Victoria and Victor.

We have been able to keep our preschool open thanks to donations from groups and individuals in the United States, such as LeadaChild, a mission society based in Olathe, Kansas. Since 2006, LeadaChild has provided scholarships that have enabled children of our mission not only to remain in our preschool, but also to advance to the elementary school and high school in La Caramuca. LeadaChild also has supplemented the salaries of our teachers. In anticipation of the new school year, which begins October 2, we participated in a September 20 videoconference with Nury de Milian, director of Latin American projects for LeadaChild. Together with the coordinators of other Christian educational projects that LeadaChild supports in Venezuela, we were able to talk with her about our successes and the challenges that we face because of the economic crisis and the growing influence of “gender ideology”. This summer many Lutheran Church of Venezuela congregations sponsored a vacation Bible school program emphasizing Biblical teachings on marriage, family and sexuality.

We have 22 children enrolled in our preschool for the 2023/2024 school year. Two of them from last year visited us this week, Victoria Sofía and her younger brother, Victor. Victoria, who is hearing-impaired, was one of our special needs students. Victor will be attending the preschool again this year.

Luz Maria already has started her afterschool tutoring with five students. We have 15 young people attending our youth Bible study on Sunday afternoon. They have been memorizing the books of the Old Testament and looking for examples of both Law and Gospel in the Old Testament. Before begnning the New Testament, we had a study focused on the doctrine of justification and how it relates to both Law and Gospel.

On the evening of September 21, we met in videoconference with representatives of Concordia El Reformador Seminary, pastors and deaconess students from across Latin America as we began the online course, “Diaconal Practice 2”. The seminary has 84 women in the entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean enrolled in the new fall cohort of its deaconess training program, 25 of them from Venezuela. The three-year program includes in-person intensive courses, online classes, readings, projects, exams and practical application of the classroom material with supervision and guidance from the local pastor and deaconess mentor in the home country. Luz Maria is a deaconess mentor for Venezuela. Also directing the program in Venezuela are Pastor Eliezer Ángel Mendoza, director of the Juan de Frías Theological Institute; Ginnatriz, his wife who is also a deaconess; and deaconess Elsy Valladares de Machado.

Deaconess Danelle Putnam.

Each year of the diaconal practicum has a different focus and builds on classroom learning and the experiences that the student has had in her courses each year. Diaconal practice includes elements of the three pillars of service diaconal: teaching of faith, spiritual care and works of mercy. Diaconal Practice 2 focuses on spiritual care and the teaching of the Christian faith. An important part of diaconal practice is the development of the working relationship between the future deaconess and her pastor, so the videoconference with pastors and students was preceded by one with pastors the week before.

Merry Michaelmas!

The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, also known as Michaelmas, is celebrated on September 29. Philip Melanchthon wrote a hymn for the day that is still sung in Lutheran churches: "Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise". St. Michael’s Lutheran Church of Bloomington, Minnesota, was my sending church when I first arrived in Venezuela as a volunteer and still supports our mission. St. Michael was the guardian angel of Israel in the Old Testament, and now is understood as the protector of the new Israel, Christ’s church. Although we believe that both angels and the church triumphant pray for the church on earth (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXI), the souls of the departed do not communicate with us directly and the holy angels only do and say what God directs of them. So we do not invoke them as mediators, for there is only the one Mediator between God and men, Jesus.

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Daniel 12:1-3

Oh everlasting God, who has ordained and constituted the services of angels and men in a wonderful order, mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve you in heaven, so by your divine appointment may they help and defend us on earth. Amen.

Rites of passage

July 2022 was a time of transitions for us. We closed our first school of in-person classes since 2020 and saw two former preschool students graduate from high school. Luz Maria and I took our first road trip together since 2019 for the graduation of 35 women who Luz Maria mentored for three years as deaconesses.

We were able to reopen the preschool in October 2021 under a number of restrictions. Our 25 students were split into four groups of five, each one attending two days a week. Strict sanitary procedures were required, including wearing of masks. Getting two- to three-year-old children to wear masks at all times was as easy as you might expect. This situation lasted through the fall, but after the Christmas/New Year break, all of the children were able to gather in one group each day. On July 6, we celebrated the end of the 2021/2022 school year with the children and their parents.

Our high school graduates were Yaneth Torres and Daiyamar Aranguran. Daiyamar attended our preschool until 2010, when she graduated to Virginia de Contreras Elementary School. Yaneth not only attended our preschool, but was one of the first children baptized at our mission, was later confirmed and remains a communicant member. She graduated third in her class. Yaneth’s younger sister, Diana, also attended our preschool, was baptized at our mission, and on October 31, 2021, became a communicant member.

The Torres sisters both received scholarships to continue their education from LeadaChild, an Olathe, Kansas-based mission society which promotes Christian education around the world. LeadaChild has supported children in our mission since 2006.

Also, Anyi Garrido, Luz Maria’s granddaughter, graduated from Virginia de Contreras and will begin high school this fall.

Deaconess formation at the end of a long road

Luz Maria and I set out across the country of Venezuela on July 7, from La Caramuca, which is closer to the Colombian border than to the capital city of Caracas, to Maturin in Monagas state, which is a nearly equal distance to the east of Caracas. We stayed the night in Caracas, then arrived in Maturin for the beginning of a final seminar for the women who had been studying to become deaconesses for three years. Together with Pastor Ángel Eliezer Montoya, director of the Juan de Frías Theological Institute, Luz Maria had guided these women in their studies, mostly online during the COVID-19 crisis. This was despite frequent lapses in electrical power and Internet service. Their graduation service was on Friday, July 22, at Cristo Rey Lutheran Church, with preaching by Pastor Sergio Fritzler of Seminario Concordia El Reformador, the Dominican Republic.

The diaconate, or “helping ministry” has its origin in the ancient church. In Acts 6 we find the apostles delegating tasks essential to the life of the church, but not to the pastoral office, to trusted laypeople. The seven men mentioned in that chapter are the first to be called “deacons”, a word which means servant. In Romans 16:1-2, St. Paul describes Phoebe of Cenchrea as a “deacon”. The word is masculine in form, but since it refers to a woman, some English translations render it as “deaconess”. Phoebe is the only woman to explicitly receive this designation, but we read of other women who held responsible positions of service in the New Testament church, including Dorcas (Acts 9:39-41), Lydia (Acts 16:14, 40) and Priscilla (Acts 18:2,18,26).

In later centuries of the church, both deacon and deaconess became formal titles. The earliest reference to deaconesses outside of the New Testament is the infamous letter by Pliny the Younger, a Roman magistrate of the second century A.D., to the Emperor Trajan. In his effort to investigate the new Christian religion, Pliny mentions that he had two deaconesses tortured to find out what it was really about, but they would give no answers that satisfied Pliny. After the end of Roman persecution in the early fourth century, deaconesses would play an important role in assisting pastors and bishops. Among the classics of post-apostolic Christian literature are the 17 letters that John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople from the late fourth to early fifth centuries, wrote from exile to his chief deaconess, Olympias. The letters typically begin in this way: “To the most reverend and divinely favored deaconess Olympias, I John, Bishop, send greeting in the Lord.”

While deaconesses were excluded from the pastoral office of public preaching and administration of the sacraments, their works of mercy and spiritual were was considered equal with the male diaconate. The diaconate was at first a lay ministry, but as the church developed more of a hierarchy, male deacons were elevated from the equivalent of modern lay elders to the lowest rank of the ordained clergy. The role of deaconesses was taken over by nuns, and use of the word eventually stopped.

But as early as the tenth century there flourished in Germany and Belgium the Beguine Sisterhoods, founded on the principle of fellowship and consisting of widows and unmarried girls who, without vowing perpetual chastity, led lives of prayer, meditation, and charitable ministrations. These sisters cared for orphans and the aged, went out to nurse the sick, to attend deathbeds.

The modern deaconess movement began in Kaiserswerth, Germany, in 1836, revived by Theodore Fliedner, a Lutheran pastor. Fliedner opened a hospital and a deaconess motherhouse. The Kaiserswerth-based institution of also purchased and staffed hospitals, homes, orphanages, and schools in other parts of Germany and around the world.

In 1853, Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe opened a school for deaconesses in Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, on stricter Lutheran principles. Loehe’s school had a strong impact on deaconess programs within the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS).

Laying groundwork in Venezuela

Before the 2000s, the Lutheran Church of Venezuela’s Juan de Frias Theological Institute did not offer a deaconess program distinct from its training of both male and female lay leaders. Two women who achieved the highest level of theological training offered by the institute, Luz Maria and Elsy Valladares de Machado, eventually were given the title “deaconess” by the national church and named co-coordinators of a national deaconess program.

From 2002 to 2003, Mireya Johnson, who received her deaconess certificate is from Concordia University Chicago, and an MA in Religious Studies from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, laid the groundwork for a deaconess program in Venezuela. Her husband, Dr. Ross Johnson, now director of LCMS Disaster Response and another Fort Wayne graduate, served his vicarage at La Fortaleza Lutheran Church in Maracay, Venezuela, during that time. Thanks to Mireya’s hard work and example, many young women in Maracay were moved to consider becoming deaconesses.

Deaconess Rosie Gilbert Adle in 2007 served her deaconess internship in Venezuela. She had earned a BA in Spanish from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 2003, and graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in 2006 with an MA in deaconess studies and systematic theology. She worked with Luz Maria, Elsy and Pastor Ted Krey, now region director for Latin America and the Caribbean for LCMS World Missions, on a training program for deaconesses in Venezuela.

In May, 2009, Luz Maria and Elsy traveled to Seminario Concordia, Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the first-ever conference of deaconesses throughout Latin America. In 2016, Luz Maria and I traveled with Elsy, Pastor Mendoza and his wife, Ginnatriz, to the second conference of Latin American deaconesses at the newly established Seminario Concordia El Reformador in the Dominican Republic. Although Venezuelan by birth, Ginnatriz was trained as a deaconess at the Buenos Aires seminary.

Seminario Concordia El Reformador has committed a great deal of resources to this program. Congratulations also are in order for deaconesses Danelle Putnam and Caitlin Ramírez, who provided online instruction from the Dominican Republic.

Meaningful memorabilia

Of the women who completed the coursework, 31 were able to attend the graduation ceremony in Maturín and four were recognized despite their absence. Those present received their certificate and several gifts, including a copy of “Un Siglo de Consagración”, collection of sermons preached at the consecration or installation of deaconesses from 1924 to 2017. The book is the excellent work of Deaconess Cheryl Dorothy Naumann from the Dominican Republic, filled with the sermons of well-known preachers in the history of the Missouri Synod. However, the most recent entries have special meaning for Luz María and me. The 30th sermon was preached on Matthew 25:31-46, October 3, 2015, by Pastor Bruce Keseman at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church, Freeburg, Illinois, on the occasion of the commissioning of Deaconess Dorothy E.A.C. Glenn Nauman. This congregation is my mother's church and has faithfully supported our mission in La Caramuca. Pastor Keseman preached at my father's funeral in 2000 and at the funeral of my sister, Deborah, on February 26, 2022. The thirty-first sermon was preached by Pastor Theodore Krey on October 1, 2017 at the “Concordia” Lutheran Church in Palmar Arriba, the Dominican Republic, for the consecration of deaconesses Confesora Cabrera, Xiomara Cruz Pería, Carmen Helena de Santos and Elizabeth Hernández Toribio. Pastor Krey officiated the wedding of Luz María and I, on July 25, 2004, at the “La Fortaleza” Lutheran Church, in Maracay, Edo. Aragua, Venezuela. He was also one of the pastors who laid hands on me at my ordination, on December 13, 2008, in the “El Salvador” Lutheran Church, Caracas, Venezuela. Prior to my ordination, Pastor Krey preached and administered the sacraments at La Epiphany Lutheran Mission in La Caramuca.

Introduction to new Spanish hymnal

While Luz Maria and the other women were summing up what they had learned over the last three years, Pastor Fritzler was giving me and the other pastors of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela an introduction to Himnario Luterano, the new Spanish hymnal which is the fruit of 14 years of work by churches throughout Latin America with quia subscription to the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530. This really deserves a newsletter to itself, but here are some preliminary observations:

• Himnario Luterano looks a lot like the Lutheran Service Book: same typography, illustrations, organizational structure and numbering format. Unlike the LSB, it combines many more liturgical and devotional resources into just one book. It is intended as a multi-use volume for the home as well as public worship.

• Why even a printed volume? I will not now discuss why I do not think electronic screens belong in the sanctuary in principle, but only note with the publishers of the hymnal that only about 20 percent of Lutheran congregations in Latin America even have access to screens. Certainly in La Caramuca, our Sunday service cannot depend on a constant flow of electricity.

• The musical notation is written for guitar and piano. There are many who say the pipe organ is the best instrument to accompany congregational song, but pipe organs are expensive here, and it is difficult to find people who know how to play, maintain and repair them.

One too many potholes

Our journey to Maturín was without incident. However, we discovered that the roads in eastern Venezuela are in worse condition than the west, and we failed to avoid one to many potholes. A shock absorber blew out while we were only an hour’s drive west of Caracas. Thanks be to God, we were able to find a tow truck that would take us into the city and one of the women riding with us had a son who is a mechanic.

Our mission-mobile is a Volkswagen Parati Crossover, a station wagon (or “small SUV”, if you will) that was sold in North America as the VW Fox Wagon. It is named after Paraty, a city on the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro state. Volkwagen is the largest auto manufacturer in Brazil. Autoweek thinks the Parati is not up to U.S. standards, but it works for us.

The beginning of wisdom and Advent

We give thanks to God for beginning the season of Advent with our preschool in operation. The initial announce was for the opening of schools on October 11, but then the date was changed to October 25. The preschool was open on a limited basis from late October through most of November, with the children divided into four groups attending at different hours on different days.

The ball really got rolling on Monday, November 23, with a prayer service for preschool students and their families. The first reading was from Psalm 111:10

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who obey His commandments have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”

The first words of this verse constitute the motto of the University of the Andes in Mérida, Venezuela, and our educational center as well. In the Small Catechism of Doctor Martin Luther, the explanation of each of the 10 Commandments begins like this: "We must fear and love God ..." Why should we fear God? First, by the power of him. Natural forces such as hurricanes, earthquakes or volcanoes are beyond our control, yet God is more powerful than them. Only by his Word, God destroyed the world by flood, but by the same Word, he created heaven and earth. We sinners too must fear God for his perfect justice by whose standard we are condemned.

Why should we love God? Moses in the book of Deuteronomy 6: 5 and our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed it in Matthew 22:37 and Mark 12:30, that the fulfillment of the first table of the Law, God's will for us to live as his children, is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." This is the main commandment, and the second is similar: You shall love your neighbor as yourself " (Leviticus 19:18).

The second lesson was Ephesians 6:1-4.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

The second table of the Law, which governs our relationships with other human beings begins with our vocation as children and then as parents. In the family it is the formation of our attitude towards the authorities. The first authority figures in our lives are our parents. Our relationship with them determines our relationships with teachers at school, high school, and university; with the civil government; and finally not only with God's representatives in this world, but also with God himself. Therefore, children should learn the 10 Commandments, the moral law, at home and at school. Because education is not only knowledge, but also the formation of values and character.

The Gospel lesson was Luke 18:15-17.

“And they also brought the children to him to touch them; but when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus, calling them, said: "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child, will not enter it."

The fulfillment of the moral law is the love of God and our neighbor, but, in truth, only one fulfilled this law perfectly, our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only in his innocent life, but also in his death on the cross he paid the debt of our sins. In Christ, God the almighty Father loved us first, and because of this perfect love and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can love God and our neighbor. In holy baptism the Spirit turns us into redeemed children of God. So, we do not know God as an angry Judge, but as our heavenly Father and we can pray the Our Father, the prayer that the Lord taught his disciples (Matthew 6: 9-13; Luke 11: 2-4) And when Jesus He told them, "He who does not receive the kingdom of God as a child will not enter it", it is not only an argument for the baptism of children, also for adults, in baptism and later, not to trust their own understanding, but submit to the will of God and seek the welfare of others. We confess the Apostolic Creed to reaffirm our baptismal faith, in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The prayer service was followed by games in the street.

A crown of candles, not thorns

On November 28, the first Sunday of Advent, we put out the blue paraments and lit the first candle of the Advent wreath. The reason for the season of Advent is preparing to celebrate the birth of the Christ. For many years, Advent was thought of as a time for repentance, fasting and prayer, much like Lent, but in anticipation of the Incarnation, rather than the Resurrection. So often churches use purple as the liturgical color of both Advent and Lent. Purple was a royal color in antiquity and, as part of their mockery, the Roman soldiers clothed Jesus in a purple or scarlet (reddish-purple) cloak and crowned him with thorns (Matthew 27:28-29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2).

Blue also is a royal color, especially the deep, rich shade known as “royal blue” which is very close on the spectrum to purple. The use of blue as an alternative liturgical color for Advent has its roots in Sweden, England and Spain. Advent blue is thought of as the color of the sky just before the first rays of dawn appear on the horizon.

The Advent wreath is called “la corona de Adviento” or “Advent crown” in Spanish, which reminds one of the crown of thorns. But the wreath or crown of Advent, since its origins in Germany, always been a circle of evergreen branches and candles. The circle also recalls the infinite mercy of the triune God that has no beginning and no end. The green branches signify the new life in Jesus Christ. The four candles represent the four Sundays of Advent. One of the candles is lit on the first Sunday of Advent, then a new candle every Sunday until the last Sunday with all of them lit. Many times the color of the third candle is pink, because its Sunday is the midpoint of the season. A white candle inside the circle that is lit on Christmas Eve to symbolize the light of Christ in this world.

And, of course, we set out the Nativity scene, or pesebre, as it is known in Venezuela. In the 13th Century, Francis of Asissi put together what we would call today a living Nativity scene. People began making models of this scene for their homes with figures of wood or clay. This custom spread from Italy throughout Europe, but particularly gained a foothold in Spain. From there it spread to Spain’s colonies in the Americas. We follow the Venezuelan practice of not placing the Christ Child in the scene until Christmas Eve.

Pray for Venezuela

We also give thanks that on November 21, nationwide gubernatorial and municipal elections were carried out with no violent repercussions. Only the results of the governor’s race in our state of Barinas were disputed. Meanwhile, according to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, Venezuela is second only to Haiti as the Latin American country with the highest percentage of hungry people. Haiti and other French-speaking nations of the Caribbean are considered part of Latin America because French, like Spanish and Portuguese (spoken in Brazil) are Romance (“Romanish”) languages derived from Latin dialects.

Lord God, make Advent a blessing to us as we prepare our hearts to welcome the Christ Child anew. Amen.

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.

Those who are with us

 

He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 2 Kings 6:16

That’s a key verse from the Old Testament lesson for the Day of St. Michael’s and All Angels (September 29 on the historic church calendar, but we will observe it Sunday, October 3). The entire lesson (2 Kings 6:8-17), the Syrian army surrounds the city of Dothan with the intention of capturing Elisha the prophet. Elisha’s servant is terrified until the Lord opens his eyes to the even greater army of angels protecting them.

We as missionaries at times feel that we are surrounded by forces beyond our control and that could completely overwhelm us. And that is an accurate evaluation of the situation. But God sends His holy angels to protect us (as Psalm 91, properly understood, assures us). And the casting of Satan and his rebellious angels out of heaven (referenced in Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-12) assure us that we share is Christ’s victory over Satan now and forever. Because the entire life of Jesus, from His birth to His death on the cross, was a victory over Satan, the 70 disciples find that they are able to cast out devils in His name.

“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:10-11).

Although Michael and the heavenly host of angels played their part in Satan’s defeat, the victory belongs to Christ and through Him, to the church triumphant. We remember that, even in the midst of the persecution of which the rest of Revelation 12 warns.

Everlasting God, You have ordained and constituted the service of angels and men in a wonderful order. Mercifully grant that, as Your holy angels always serve and worship You in heaven, so by Your appointment they may also help and defend us here on earth; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Ninth shipment of medicines

On September 19, 2021, Epiphany Lutheran Mission distributed the ninth shipment of medicines from the Venezuela Relief Project begun by Global Lutheran Outreach and the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile. The Venezuela Relief Project began in 2017. Two people on our list died, but we distributed the medicines requested for them to three other persons. One particularly grateful recipient is Luz Marina Medina, a 45-year-old widow who lives with her elderly father. She has suffered from epilepsy since childhood and, due to the scarcity of medication, was experiencing more and more frequent seizures. However, now she has the medication that she needs.

As is our custom, the bulk of the medicines were distributed after the Sunday service, along with our homegrown fruits and vegetable. Thanks to abundant rain this years, we have bumper crops of avocados, passion fruit, tomatoes, cassava, bananas and plantains, papaya and eggplant. We also have a bountiful harvest of berries from our coffee tree. Coffee is a social necessity, here, if not a biological necessity, and it keeps getting more and more expensive.

Reopening the preschool

We began the new school year on Tuesday, September 28, by meeting with families who have enrolled their children in our preschool. After an opening devotion and distribution of medications sent to us by the Lutheran Women's Missionary League of Canada by way of the Dominican Republic (the LWML Canada sent the funds and the medications were purchased in the Dominican Republic under the supervision of Rebecca Pollex Krey, wife of the Rev. Theodore Krey, regional director for Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod World Missions in Latin America and the Caribbean).

The meeting was conducted according to strict biosecurity measures required by the Ministry of Education. Everyone wore masks and maintained a distance of at least six feet. Classes begin October 11, with two shifts of children per day, no more than five in each shift. Some of the parents were concerned about small children being required to wear facemasks, but a representative of Ministry of Education emphasized that this is the rule for now.

More generally, some parents question the Venezuelan government’s decision to require the vaccination of all children between the ages of three and 17. The argument is that as long as Covid-19 vaccinations are not ruled to be completely safe for children the government should prioritize making further strides in immunizing the at-risk population and personnel in the health care and education sectors.

Venezuela received 693,600 vaccines against COVID-19, September 7, as part of the first shipment made to the country by the World Health Organization’s COVAX Mechanism, of the total of 12,068,000 vaccine doses acquired. This first delivery of doses consists of vaccines against COVID-19 produced by the laboratory Sinovac Biotech and included in the emergency use list of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Sinovac vaccine, known as CoronaVac, was the one that I received on September 13. The two-dose vaccine is recommended for individuals aged 18 years and above. It has an efficacy rate of 50.4% for preventing symptomatic infection, according to data from a Brazilian trial, and an effectiveness of 67%, according to a real-world study in Chile. Some people we know experienced adverse reactions to CoronaVac, similar to those reported elsewhere, but I have had no problems.

Luz Maria earlier received the Sputnik V vaccine. On September 27, Venezuela’s Minister of Health, affirmed that “more than 8.8 million first doses” had been given, while 5.25 million received the second Sputnik V dose. Luz Maria and I are both waiting for second doses.

Let us remember that Psalm 91 not only promises that “He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways”, but also under His protection we need not fear “the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday”, nor any physical or spiritual danger, for whether we live or die, He will show us His salvation. Amen.

Visitation and Godspeed

On Thursday, July 2, 2020, we organized a small graduation ceremony for the six students of our preschool who will advance to first grade in the next school year. At this point, it is not certain whether the next school year will begin in September or in January 2021. We have not had the preschool meet on site since the COVID-19 crisis began about four months ago, but every weekday morning our teachers have distributed food and homework assignments to the families of the preschool children. The children completed the work required for their promotion to first grade at home and submitted the results on-line or by telephone. Our graduating students include:

• Leonanyelis Milano;
• Thamar Cárdenas;
• Melany Torrealba;
• Cristofer Aldana;
• Elimelek Valero;
• José Ayala.

July 2 is the traditional date on the church calendar to celebrate the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. So, in our opening devotion, I read Lucas 1:39-45.

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Elizabeth’s greeting echoes that of the archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38). Did you know there is a Lutheran version of the Ave Maria? It can be found on page 87 of the 1941 Lutheran Hymnal.

“Blessed art thou, Mary, among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Behold, there shall be a performance of those things which were told thee from the Lord.”

This was more or less the form used in Christian devotions since at least the 11th Century. In 1522 Luther wrote a commentary on it (WA 10 II, 407–409; 17 II, 398–410; but see also 11, 59–61). It is interesting to note at this time that the part of the Ave Maria to which we Lutherans object, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us poor sinners now and in the hour of our death” was added in the 14th Century for “added protection” in the face of the bubonic plague and did not become the official Roman Catholic form until 1568. (Additional note: We do not object to calling Mary the “Mother of God”, but rather the invocatory nature of the second clause.)

Anyway, to apply this to our preschool graduation, I noted that this text is part of our defense of unborn children, because it shows:

1. Human life begins at conception
2. God has a purpose for every human life.

Furthermore, it shows children in the womb have consciousness and, in fact, may be aware of the presence of God. And that is part of our defense of infant baptism, that once the child has been separated from its mother it may feel the water on its forehead and hear God claim it as His child by redemption in Jesus Christ. Children are a gift and a blessing from God, and it is our privilege to care for them and bring them up in the faith bestowed on them through the Holy Spirit.

What will be our new normal?

Our preschool program is subject to regulations by the secular government’s Ministry of Education. Over the years we have had to adapt to changing rules and requirements. When we reopen the preschool, there may be more modifications in store. There is a growing need for the care of children under two years of age, and we are being asked to shift the emphasis of our program in that direction. One proposal is that we limit our enrollment to children under three years of age. Another is that we convert entirely to nursery care of infants. In any event, we would have to purchase additional equipment and make other adjustments in our program. Thanks be to God, we just received a donation from the LeadaChild organization that will help us make a start in that direction.

Luz Maria’s afterschool tutoring program technically is on hold, due to the closing of schools, but we continue to meet with young people in the program for Bible studies and English classes.

Latest COVID-19 count

At last report, there were more than 7,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Venezuela. There are supposed to 123 cases in the state of Barinas, but the disease has not yet appeared in our community. The government’s efforts at control seem aimed at limiting traffic in and out of the major population centers like Caracas, Maracaibo, Maracay-Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maturín and Ciudad Guayana.

Pushing pedal power

We thank Ruth Carpenter for the suggestion and plans for building a pedal-powered generator for running our water pumps during prolonged blackouts. We are looking to gather all the needed parts. Once I regularly went on long bicycle rides, but it is too risky to wander alone on the streets and roads of Venezuela today. This would provide me, at least, with the opportunity for exercise, as well as additional electrical power.