Not a word about the Sears catalog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of our orange trees.

Related articles

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Eight graduate from preschool in 2011

We closed the 2010-2011 school year July 11 with an informal graduation ceremony for the eight children who will be leaving our preschool for first grade in September. Our graduates are:

• Marli A. Albarran P.
• Karla V. Altuve R.
• Dayimar A. Aranguren F.
• Brayan J. Arteaga P.
• Geiver J. Cordero U.
• Marlenis J. Piñero R.
• Solibeth del V. Sanchez S.
• Lorianny P. Vivas. M.

All of these children were born in 2005, three years after my first visit to Venezuela.

We also were delighted that many of the older children in our afternoon tutoring program finished the school year with overall grades of "A" or "B", a fact for which we gave thanks during the Sunday service.

My second bicentennial

I am experiencing a national bicentennial celebration for the second time this year. The first time, of course, was in 1976 in the United States. Now, in 2011, Venezuela is marking the 200th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence from Spain. Actually, not just Venezuela, but also Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico are celebrating their national bicentennials.

There was a big parade in Caracas and formal ceremonies in other parts of the country, but no fireworks to mark the bicentennial on July 5. That's Independence Day here, but fireworks are not part of the Independence Day tradition in Venezuela, but rather are associated with the Christmas season (setting off fireworks in the nighttime to early morning hours is supposed to mimic the appearance of the angels to the shepherds watching their flocks by night). By the way, Venezuelans also observe April 19 as a national holiday since April 19, 1810, was the day when revolutionary forces deposed the Spanish governor of Venezuela, effectively ending Spanish rule. However, July 5, 1811, was when Venezuela formally declared its independence.

The last decade has been one of economic and political upheaval, conflict and controversy in Venezuela. Despite being on different sides of the issues, I have been impressed from the beginning with the common desire of Venezuelans for a strong, independent nation. No one wants outside interference in Venezuelan affairs, which perhaps reflects the fact that despite winning independence from Spain 200 years ago, Venezuela has since struggled to be free of foreign economic domination and to realize the ideal of equal economic opportunity for all.Venezuela has enormous potential with abundant natural and human resources waiting to be used in the right way.

And what do I remember about my first bicentennial? Apart from the U.S. flag-themed license plates, T-shirts and other paraphernalia, more than a decade of scandal, disillusionment, inflation and unemployment, with still a few dark, depressing years to go.

But in the decade that followed, there was a renewal of national hope and confidence, buoyed by nearly 10 years of sustained economic recovery and the unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. It was an exciting time to be alive to be alive and to be an American. I saw really grand fireworks displays for the first time during this period, over the waters of Lake Michigan. This occurred at at various times in Chicago, Racine, WI, and Milwaukee. It was one great bicentennial decade.

Those happy days came to an end, of course. Both the best of times and the worst of times in this world pass. The ultimate triumph of good over evil will not occur in the political arena, and the interests of one nation, or alliance of nations, cannot be equated with the kingdom of God (for the elect of God will be gather from all nations, Isaiah 66:18, Revelation 7:9) God will raise up a nation or alliance of nation as a judgment against those that tolerate immorality and injustice (Job 12:23, Jeremiah 25:14). Yet for this reason, all kingdoms and empires of the earth eventually crumble to dust, for all are tainted by sin. Thus the counsel of Psalm 118:9, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes." We should beware of political movements that promise the complete elimination of war, poverty and other societal problems, for only the Gospel of Christ can transform sinful human nature.

Nevertheless, God Himself ordained civil government to execute the first use of the divine Law: to restrain the outward manifestations of sin, maintain external order and the safety of its citizens. Good government is a blessing and so St. Paul in 1 Timothy 2:2, admonishes all Christians to pray "for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" and so we do every Sunday in La Caramuca, first for the peace of the whole world, but especially for the national leadership of Venezuela, that it, too, may know a period of confidence, independence and hope for the future.

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Playground for preschool nearly complete

By the grace of God and the generosity of supporters in North America, we soon will have built a playground for the preschool. We thank everyone who helped us raise the funds in time for the new school year.

The playground includes a swingset that we purchased from a metalworking shop in the nearby town of Barinitas, and a wooden clubhouse/jungle gym built by woodworkers also from Barinitas.
There were two men working on the wooden structure for a couple of days, then Señor Artilio started showing up by himself. So two of the youth from our mission, Sandro Perez and Pedro Santana, began helping him.

The playground equipment already has seen a lot of use and the new school year hasn't even started yet. We also have been able to do some needed maintenance work on our water system.

Five to be confirmed

God willing, we will confirm five on Reformation Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010. The young people who have been faithfully attending confirmation class include:

• Karelis Santana;
• Pedro Santana;
• Jeison Arellano;
• Jhonny Torres;
• Jimmy Perez

Trip to Trujillo

As summer vacation time draws to a close, Luz Maria and I took a couple of days off and traveled to the city of Trujillo, capital of the state of Trujillo, the smallest of Venezuela's three Andes Mountain states. The city, situated 3,134 feet above sealevel, features many historic landmarks. It was in Trujillo that Simon Bolivar issued a "Declaration of War to the Death" against Spain in 1813. Actually he meant to the death or until Spain recognized Venezuela as an independent nation, whichever came first. Fortunately, it was the second option that came first and there also is a monument in Trujillo that marks the spot where Bolivar and Pablo Morillo, the leader of the royalist troops declared an armistice in 1820.

Luz Maria and I spent an afternoon enjoying Trujillo's many beautiful parks and plazas, and narrow streets winding between houses in the classic Spanish colonial style (the city is named after Trujillo, Spain). The next morning we visited the city's major tourist attraction, la Virgen de la Paz (the Virgin of Peace) monument which stands above the city at an elevation of 5,249 feet above sealevel. The statue of the Virgin Mary holding a dove is 153.28 feet high, a little more than 2 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty (not counting the Statue of Liberty's foundation and pedestal, which add approximately 150 more feet to the height of the monument). The Virgin of Peace was built in 1983 according to a design by sculptor Manuel de la Fuente and plans by engineer Rosendo Camargo.

The Virgin of Peace is the object of religious devotion (the state government, which maintains the site, reported 11,000 visitors during Holy Week 2010) and there is a Roman Catholic chapel housed inside of a geodesic dome at the base of the statue.

But if you are not into veneration of the Virgin Mary, the statue allows a panoramic view of the surrounding area. We entered at the base and climbed the stairs all the way to the top (there is an elevator as well, but it currently is not in working condition). There are four observation ports along the way and in the statue's head you can climb a narrow ladder to peek out her eyes. Luz Maria climbed the ladder and found the "eyeball" view really wasn't worth the effort.

The climb to the top was a bit of exercise, but the stairwell was comfortably wide, much wider than the stairwell in the tower of Holy Hill Basilica in Hubertus, Wisconsin, at least as I remember it from 20 years ago. Holy Hill, located 30 miles northwest of Milwaukee, is the highest peak in Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine region. The top of the hill itself is 1,300 feet above sealevel, while the tower rises another 192 feet. A favorite fall pastime for Milwaukeeans is to drive to Holy Hill when the trees of the Kettle Moraine are changing colors, sampling fresh apple cider from farms along the way.

One reason we chose a trip to Trujillo is because preschool plans include teaching the children about the 23 states of Venezuela, starting with their home state of Barinas and continuing with the neighboring mountain states. So we will have plenty of pictures of Barinas, Merida and Trujillo with which to begin.

Autumn in Argentina

It should not surprise anyone that Luz Maria had a wonderful time in Buenos Aires. She really impressed with the city's many parks and plazas, the clean streets and the classical architecture.

The deaconess conference was held at a resort complex called Las Clavelinas. Argentina is a considerable distance south of the equator, so there are four seasons. But the order of the seasons is the reverse of that in North America. Due to the tilt of the Earth's axis, the months when daylight hours are longest in the Southern Hemisphere are opposite of the Northern Hemisphere.

Which is to say, it's autumn in Argentina right now. Luz Maria was enchanted by the changing colors of the trees, which you do not see in Venezuela. We are just a little north of the equator, so daylight hours vary only a little throughout the year. The sun rises and sets at nearly the same time all year round, so there is hardly any change in the seasons.

Luz Maria experienced a bit of culture shock in the area of social beverages. Coffee in Argentina was expensive and she find Argentine coffee to be rather weak (like North American coffee).

All coffee sold in Venezuela is espresso coffee, and the custom is to drink shots of coffee in tiny cups throughout the day. That is, except in the evening, when they serve "cafe con leche"
(coffee with milk) in large mugs.

On one of my first visits to Venezuela, another fellow gave me two bits of advice. First, I should consider marrying a Venezuelan woman, because they are the best in the world. Second, I
should get used to drinking at least four cups of coffee per day, the last one at 11 p.m. I took both of these suggestions to heart.

The hardest part about suggestion No. 2 has been getting used to coffee always being laced with sugar. Even if you ask for black coffee, they assume this means black coffee with sugar. Some place you can ask for "cafe guayoyo", which means a shot of espresso mixed with hot water and no sugar. Usually, in the coffee shops I ask for "cafe marron" (brown coffee), because this means coffee with a little milk and no sugar (although they do give you two sugar packets, in case you
want to add sugar).

At any rate, in Argentina, the social beverage really isn't coffee, but yerba mate. The yerba mate plant is a shrub related to holly, which is native to Argentina, southern Chile, eastern Paraguay, western Uruguay and southern Brazil. It also has been successfully cultivated in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Here's the idea: You have a little pot (traditionally made from a gourd) in which you mash up the yerba leaves, maybe with other medicinal herbs. Then you pour regular tea over this mash and sip from the infusion through a metal straw (often silver or silver-plated). Actually, you do not do this alone, but rather pass the pot around so your friends can take sips from it.

Luz Maria found this custom as odd as a North American would and considered the sharing of a common pot unsanitary, but in Argentina it is considered rude if you do not take a sip.

The deaconesses had the opportunity to visit Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires. This institution, founded in 1942, is small compared to say, Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, with only about 25 students in residence. However, the seminary also maintains a theological education by extension (distance learning) program which involves about 500 students.

Luz Maria made many new friends and since her return has received e-mails from places as far away as Uruguay and Guatemala. She received a gift for the two of us from Dr. Arthur Just, professor of exegetical theology and director of deaconess studies at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Although a native of Salem, Massachusetts, Dr. Just's family lived in Mexico and Spain for 12 years during his formative years, so he and Luz Maria were able to converse in Spanish. His gift was his book of devotions and prayers to use when visiting people in difficult circumstances, especially the gravely ill and dying. Dr. Just wrote an inscription in the book for Luz Maria in Spanish, but the book is in English, so I have been reading it more than Luz Maria has.

Seminar in First Timothy

Luz Maria also made the acquaintance of Pastor Roberto Bustamente, professor of New Testament studies and coordinator of the Buenos Aires seminary's theological education by extension program. He also is theological consultant for two series of children's books
published by Editorial Concordia, the Spanish-language division of Concordia Publishing House.

I met Roberto Bustamante myself the week after Luz Maria returned from Argentina. He was the instructor for a seminar on Paul's first epistle to Timothy, held in Caracas.

Pastor Bustamante had a supply of yerba leaves, but there were few people willing to share his yerba mate. I tried to explain to him about the casabe we had with our meals. Casabe is a flatbread made from cassava. Actually, it is made from a specific variety of cassava, which is found in eastern Venezuela, but not in the west.

Eastern Venezuelans love casabe, and since most of the people at the seminar were from the east, casabe was served almost every day. However, western Venezuelans have the same opinion of casabe as most North Americans: It tastes like cardboard.

A different type of cassava is used a potato substitute in western Venezuela. The whole tuber is either boiled or fried. McDonald's outlets in Venezuela often offer a choice of potato or cassava fries.

The plantain is another alternative to the potato. Plantains are like bananas, but not as sweet. In fact, they tast more like potatoes. Some people prefer fried plantain chips to potato chips.

The seminar was excellent. First Timothy is an important book of the New Testament, which deals with issues surrounding the church and the office of the public ministry. One of our
more interesting discussions concerned the identity and nature of the false teachers against whom St. Paul warns Timothy. There seems to have been two categories of false teachers
within the early church:

1. The "judaizers", or those who taught that Gentile Christians had to follow all of the ceremonial and dietary laws of the Old Testament in order to be saved (something like present-day Seventh-Day Adventists, of which we have plenty here in Venezuela):
2. Early Gnostics.

Both types may have been present in the church of Ephesus in Timothy's day and some passage suggest there may have been some affinities between the two. Thus, in the first chapter,
when Paul talks about the "fables and endless genealogies" that fascinate the false teachers, it could be a reference to the judaizers. Placing great importance on their Jewish background,
the judaizers would greatly concerned with pedigrees. In a similar passage in the epistle to Titus, Paul explicitly refers to "Jewish fables". But it might also apply to the Gnostics with their endless genealogies of spirit-beings and elaborate mythologies.

At least some of the false teachers may have had a foot in both the judaizer and Gnostic camps. This would be consistent with the idea that Gnosticism, or at least the variety of Gnosticism that the apostolic church had to deal with, originated during the Hellenistic era (roughly 323 to 146 B.C.) This was the time of the first great dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the Mediterranean world. The Gnosticism of the New Testament may have begun with attempts to synthesize Judaic theological speculation with religious ideas that were popular in the predominant Greek culture.

Mystical Judaism is still with us today in the form of groups like the Kabbalists (followers of the Kabbalah), who claim to have found hidden meaning in the writings of the Old Testament.
The Greek word, gnosis, means knowledge, and a common belief of the Gnostics was that the discovery of hidden knowledge or wisdom meant the liberation of the soul.

Another common belief of the Gnostics (for there were many different groups) was that the material world was inherently evil and that which was spiritual was inherently good. The human
soul belonged to the spirit world, so it was good, but it was imprisoned within the human body (which was bad).

This idea led the Gnostics in two different directions. One school of thought believed that the way to liberate oneself from the body was to practice a very ascetic lifestyle and abstain from all pleasures of the flesh, whether food or sex. Other Gnostics went completely the opposite way and said that, since the body was just a temporary shell eventually to be cast aside, one might indulge all one's appetites in whatever way one saw fit.

The more ascetic form of Gnosticism might have appealed to the legalistic Jewish convert to Christianity, while the Jewish ceremonial and dietary laws might have appealed to this sort of
Gnostic. There is historical evidence of at least, one Gnostic teacher, Cerinthus, who combined Gnostic and Judaism in just this way, insisting on complete obedience to the Old Testament law.
Cerinthus is believed to have been a contemporary of the Apostle John and, in fact, the Gospel of John may have been written to counter the teachings of Cerinthus.

Thus, in chapter four of 1 Timothy, when St. Paul warns against those who would forbid marriage and the consumption of certain foods, saying, "For every creature of God is good, and nothing
is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving," he again could be speaking to both judaizers and Gnostics. Finally, 1 Timothy 6:20 seems to point directly at the Gnostics:

"Oh, Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge..."

The judaizers might have "forbid marriage" simply because they did not approve of marriage between Jews and Gentiles. However, all types of Gnostics, both the ascetics and the libertines, had a profound distaste for matrimony itself and for reproductive sex.

This is important to understand because there has been a resurgence of interest in Gnosticism by people wishing for a more "feminist" form of religion. It has become almost customary every Easter season for someone to promote one of the bogus"Gnostic gospels", such as the "Gospel of Judas" as an aalternative" interpretation of the life of Christ.

But the Gnostics were elitists, not egalitarians. Their Jesus was not the Savior of the world, Who came to redeem all who would believe, but a guru who revealed the secret knowledge to a select
few. Those who have this knowledge, whether male or female, are not bound by the petty rules that govern ordinary people, including the rules of gender. But that does not mean the Gnostics worshipped "the feminine principle" or were particularly interested in the rights of, say, single mothers.

Here is what the Gnostic "Gospel of Thomas" reveals about Gnostic attitudes:

"Simon Peter said to them, 'Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of Life.' Jesus said, 'I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' "

The Judaizers denied the Gospel by denying that Jesus fulfilled all the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament and through His life of perfect obedience to the Father, all of the Mosaic law.
So, in the new covenant in His blood, salvation comes by faith alone, not by works of the law.

But the Gnostics denied the Gospel in two ways:

1. By denying that all that God created is good and that evil entered the world only through man's disobedience;
2. And that there will be a bodily resurrection to eternal life for all who believe.

Fifteenth anniversary of Cristo es Amor

Following the seminar in Caracas, I did not immediately return to La Caramuca, but rather traveled to Barquisimeto with Pastor Miguelangel Perez. He serves as national missionary
to two congregations and two mission stations there.

Teresa Leonbruni, a member of one of the congregations, Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) Lutheran Church, wanted to donate some musical instruments to Corpus Christi Lutheran
Church in Barinas and to La Caramuca Lutheran Mission. So I went to Barquisimeto to personally accept the donation and to preach at Cristo es Amor, May 17, 2009.

It also happened to be the Sunday on which Cristo es Amor celebrated the 15th anniversary as a congregation. When I first visited Cristo es Amor in 2003, the congregation was meeting in a large, beautiful church building and Sunday attendance usually was more than 80 people. Much has changed since then.

First, a former pastor left the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, taking a large part of the congregation with him. This led to a prolonged struggle in which the original congregation lost
all of its property.

Membership dropped to between 15 and 20 people. This remnant was able to find a tiny storefront in downtown Barquisimeto in which to meet on Sundays. The rent was exorbitant, but at least they had a location.

A longtime Sunday school teacher, Jesus Franco, stepped up to the plate and became pastor of Cristo es Amor in 2005. The congregation rallied behind him, only to be rocked by his sudden death in 2007. Since then Cristo es Amor has not had its own full-time pastor.

However, the congregation now rents the lobby of a government building for a much more reasonable rent. It provides them a lot more space, although the only public restrooms are up on the third floor. The congregation now has around 25 active members and Sunday attendance
is increasing.

They set up the altar in front of the main elevators. I halfway expected someone to arrive from "on high" during the service, but that did not happen.

Since it was Rogate Sunday, I preached on John 16:23-30. I reminded them that "rogate" was the Latin root for the Spanish word "rogar" or "to pray". Rogate Sunday is especially devoted to prayer because in most parts of the world, it falls during the time of year when spring rains are
due to begin. If there is anything that people in farming communities pray for desperately, it is spring rain. John 16:23-30 records the first time that our Lord gave His disciples permission to pray in His name. With this authorization came the promise that God will hear all prayers offered sincerely in the name of Jesus, but without Christ as our Mediator in heaven, there is no such assurance.

After the service I was presented with the musical instruments by Teresa Leonbruni's children, Omar and Genesis. They gave me a guitar for Corpus Christi and a cuatro (Venezuelan four-stringed guitar) for La Caramuca Lutheran Mission. Our mission now has three cuatros,
a six-stringed guitar and young people who want to learn to play these instruments. But we have to find a music teacher to instruct everyone in how to play them.

I was able to return that afternoon to lead worship in La Caramuca.

Mother's Day at the mission

The previous Sunday, May 10, in between Luz Maria's return from Argentina and my departure for Caracas, we observed Mother´s Day. Several of the mothers of the Sunday school children were in attendance. One mother was very interested in having her two children attend our new confirmation
class. We now have about six enrolled in the class, the problem is getting everyone to show up the same day at the same time.

The appointed Gospel for May 10 was John 16:5-15, but since it was Mother's Day, I also quoted in the sermon from the Jubilate Sunday text, John 16:16-22. Specifically, the part about the troubles and trials of this world between now and the Lord's Second Coming are like a woman's
labor pains. I reminded the children of how much trouble it is for a woman to carry a child for nine months, and asked to think of how their mothers went through that pain for their sakes. Why would anyone endure it except that the labor pains are scarcely remembered, but the joy of having a child lasts for years and years.

Also that Sunday, we delivered a "care package" from Corpus Christi Lutheran Church to the Torres family in La Caramuca. The items in the care package were gathered by children receiving supplemental tutoring in their public school studies from Luz Maria´s daughter, Charli, at Corpus Christi on weekday afternoons.