The seventh week we rested

We just completed our seven-week study of the seven days of creation with the preschool children. Each week we examined one day as described in the first chapter of Genesis.

The timing worked out very well as our study of the sixth day coincided with the celebration of a Venezuelan holiday called "el Día del Abrazo en Familia" or roughly translated "Family Hug Day". I had explained to the children that on the sixth day God not only created the human race, but also instituted marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman, so that every child would have his or her own mother and father. I repeated this lesson for the sake of family members who were present for el Día del Abrazo en Familia in the preschool November 7.

That same week one of the cable television channels began running "The Sixth Day", a 2000 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It dealt with the cloning of humans and raised questions about humans tampering with God's design, not on the most profound intellectual level (being, after all, an Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick), but still on a level above that of preschool children. We know from our Sunday school, however, that as these children get older, what they come to believe regarding the origin of human life (both in the beginning and in our time) will affect their views of the sanctity of human life and the institution of marriage.

I did not have to think about these issues very much until I was attending a state university. I thank God that at the time I had had early instruction in the Scriptures and the opportunity to:

• Read "The Abolition of Man" and "That Hideous Strength" by C.S. Lewis.
• Attend Dr. Stephen Tramel's "Bio-ethics" course. I also have found Dr. Tramel's courses in "General Logic" and "American Philosophy" to have been invaluable in my own search for truth, especially our study of William James. I had read "Varieties of Religious Experience", James' landmark study of religious faith as a psychological phenomenon, before taking Dr. Tramel's course, but our text for the course, James' "Will to Believe" also played a key role in the development of my thinking.

The following week we talked about how and why God rested on the seventh day. Not that God needed to sleep, or even sit for a spell, but rather the seventh day signified that His original work of creation was perfect and complete. On the seventh day God evaluated His own work and judged that it needed nothing more. Thus on Mount Sinai God gave the command for His people to praise Him for the glory of His creation and all His good gifts on the seventh day. That day was Saturday in the Old Testament, but as New Testament believers we worship God on Sunday, the day that Christ rose from the dead.

This is because in Christ God began His new creation. The old creation was marred by sin and death through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, but the new life that the Holy Spirit has kindled in us through baptism will one day redeem all of the original creation (which did not rebel against God of its own will) from evil (Romans 8:18-22).

This meditation helped me prepare the sermon for Sunday, November 9, which on the Lutheran Church of Venezuela calendar was the Sunday of the Fulfilment, when belivers contemplate the Second Coming and final victory of Jesus Christ. The sermon text was Matthew 25:31-46, also known as the parable of the sheep and the goats.

I mentioned in the sermon that I had told the preschool children that God created the sun, the moon and the stars on the fourth day to separate the day from the night and help us track the passage of time. Then I had asked why we should be concerned with the passage of time. One girl replied, "So we know when our preschool begins."

That certainly is true, but a more comprehensive answer that we all have a limited amount of time on this earth, which itself is continually changing. The seasons pass, kingdoms and empires, both good and bad, rise and fall. But existence is not an endless, meaningless cycle of death and rebirth in which the most we can hope for is the eventual extinction of individuality (and thus, pain and regret). That is what religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism teach, but it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God has a plan for each of us and for our entire world, and one day it will come to fruition, although 1,000 years may be like a day in His sight (Psalm 90 and 2 Peter 3:8).

There will come a time for the settling of all accounts, when Christ returns in power as Judge of the nations. He will look for the fruits of faith in the lives of believers -- not necesarily act of moral heroism, because we cannot earn God's favor through our works, but acts of simple kindness, such as sharing a cup of water. But for those who take pride in their own accomplishments, and have not repented of their sins, even the smallest acts will not save them from eternal fire.

As the old hymn says:

Blessed are the sons of God,
They are bought with Christ's own blood;
They are ransomed from the grave,
Life eternal they shall have:
With them numbered may we be
Here and in eternity!

They are justified by grace,
They enjoy the Savior's peace;
All their sins are washed away,
They shall stand in God's great Day:
With them numbered may we be
Here and in eternity!

They are lights upon the earth,
Children of a heavenly birth;
One with God, with Jesus one;
Glory is in them begun:
With them numbered may we be
Here and in eternity!

I revisited these themes again in the Sunday school this past weekend. We have been studying the call of Abraham and the messianic promise that through Abraham's descendents, specifically one Descendent, all the nations would be blessed.

The lesson last time was about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. This was a somewhat difficult topic to discuss, but I started by pointing out that was both Law and Gospel in this story. Law because God in His righteousness always will put an end to evil, Gospel because God does not punish those who do not deserve His wrath and seeks to save those who will trust in Him.

Abraham interceded with the Lord on behalf of his nephew Lot and Lot's family and the Lord promised him that He would not destroy Sodom if there were even 10 innocent people to be found there. This gives us the assurance that we may in faith intercede for friends and family members whose lifestyles put them in danger of God's judgment.

Of course, the angels that the Lord sent to Sodom did not find 10 innocent people. Lot and his family numbered only four and they were not exactly innocent, for the narrative indicates that they had been corrupted by living amid the wickedness of Sodom. But because they heeded the warning of the angels, Lot and his family (except for his wife) were saved from destruction.

I asked the children if they understood what kind of wickedness was at the heart of this story and, somewhat to my surprise, they did. Homosexuality is openly practiced to a remarkable degree in Venezuela, although acceptance of it has not yet been made a political cause as in the United States. Luz Maria tells me there is an entire district near us populated largely by male homosexuals with the consequent risk of sexual predation for young boys.

"Some people may tell you that homosexuality is just an option, or a lifestyle choice," I said. "But it is an abomination in the eyes of God and you should flee from it." And I thought to myself, that I must plead like Abraham for my own country as well.


Prayer requests

Sandro Pérez, who was hospitalized with dengue fever just before being confirmed on November 2, is back in the hospital with complications related to the dengue. We have no word on when he will be able to return home.

Also, please pray for our preschool, which has been shut down for the last two weeks. All educational institutions in Barinas and the surrounding area were closed for a week before state and municipal elections across the country November 23. Luz Maria was tapped to help at the voting tables in La Caramuca that Sunday, November 23, 2008. She left our house at 5 a.m. and did not return until after 10 p.m. that evening. Eduardo and I conducted the Sunday service at Corpus Christi that election day with an attendance of 16 people (normally we have 20 to 25, sometimes 30 to 40 for special events). We also hosted our Sunday school in La Caramuca that afternoon.

In our state, Barinas, the big race was for the governor's seat with the main contenders being Adán Chavez, brother of President Hugo Chavez Frias, and Julio César Reyes, former mayor of the city of Barinas. Adán Chavez won by a narrow margin and will succeed his and President Chavez´s father, Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, as governor of Barinas.

But we have been shut down again this week as political tensions continue. Because the governor's race was so close, there have been accusations of voter fraud and threats of protests and counter-protests in the streets.

Because of the unrest, we are thankful for having nearly completed the fence around our property, as now we can allow our guard dog, Peluso (Shaggy), to roam the grounds freely throughout the night. We are grateful for Peluso, a gift from Luz Maria's son, Pedro. Not long ago, Angi Pérez and Deisi Torres proudly showed us three of Peluso's puppies born to the Torres family's female dog.

Gates of beauty

Open now thy gates of beauty,
Zion, let me enter there,
Where my soul in joyful duty
Waits for Him Who answers prayer.
Oh, how blessèd is this place,
Filled with solace, light and grace!

These words comprise the first verse of Catherine Winkworth's translation
of an 18th Century German hymn based on Psalm 100. During her lifetime (1827-1878), Winkworth translated more than 80 German "chorales" dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries for use in the Church of England. Her work has never been equaled and her translations are well-known not only to Anglicans, but also to English-speaking Lutherans around the world. She is credited with introducing a distinctively German musical form to a culture shaped by the English language. Winkworth also had 44 of her original poems published (in English), as well as two books documenting the foundation of mission work among the poor. The daughter of a wealthy textile mill owner, she herself was involved in charitable work among the disadvantaged in Victorian England and was a tireless advocate of higher education for women.

"Open now thy gates of beauty" ran through my mind as I gazed upon the newly installed gates to our mission. God willing, this will be a place of His solace, light and grace. There are three gates, one large one for vehicles and large groups of people, and two smaller ones for normal entrance from the street. All three incorporate Luther's seal (the
cross inside a heart inside a rose) as part of their design. The plan was to have Luther's seal on only one gate, but the man who did the ironwork was really taken with the design. Luz María was at pains to explain to him that the seal is not just a decoration, but is meant to identify who we are and what we believe.

Recently Luz María ran across a new community profile of La Caramuca that someone had printed up. Under the "Religion" heading, it said that there were two churches in La Caramuca, one being the Roman Catholic church on the plaza and the other being "Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones" ("Christ For All The Nations"). The second one would be our mission, because we dutifully distribute tracts printed by CPTLN, the Spanish arm of Lutheran Hour International Ministries. CPTLN has been broadcasting on Venezuelan radio and television since the 1940s and the phrase "Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones" is a familiar one, but CPTLN is not as strongly associated in people's minds with the Lutheran Church of Venezuela as we might like.

The struggle to establish an identity for the Lutheran Church of Venezuela takes on an added note of seriousness when you consider there is a decidedly non-Christian group active in Venezuela with a history of copying Lutheran symbols. This would be the Rosicrucian Fellowship, which has 20 lodges and chapters across Venezuela, including nearly all the cities where the Lutheran Church of Venezuela has congregations.

"Rosicrucian" is derived from both the Latin and German words for "rosy cross" and it is no accident that the Rosicrucians have an emblem that incorporates both a rose and a cross like Luther's seal.

The Rosicrucian Fellowship is one of those groups that seek esoteric or "hidden" knowledge under a veneer of Christian symbolism and terminology. Invariably such groups deny the sufficiency and clarity of the Bible as the rule of faith and seek a "deeper" source of knowledge.

At first the Rosicrucians claimed to have discovered the "philosopher's stone" (the secret of transmuting metals, especially lead into gold) and the key to physical immortality. Nowadays the Rosicrucians run newspaper ads making more modest promises of health and wealth. The main distinction between the Rosicrucians and other esoteric groups, from the Cathars of the 12th Century all the way back to the Gnostics of the early Christian era, is that the Rosicrucian movement emerged in 17 Century Germany, that is to say, against a background of Lutheran orthodoxy. Imagine, if you will, that the more recent New Age Movement in the United States had started in Wisconsin rather than California.

In fact, one of the founding documents of Rosicrucianism was written byJohann Valentin Andreae, a grandson of Jakob Andreae, one of the signers of the Formula of Concord in 1577 and an editor, along with Martin Chemnitz, of the Book of Concord in 1580. Johann Andreae was something of a wayward youth, having been expelled from the University of Tubingen for playing a practical joke and later flunking his ordination exam at the Stuttgart Consistory. Eventually, however, he was ordained a Lutheran pastor and became quite the respectable citizen. He freely admitted writing in his younger days the document that had come to be associated with Rosicrucianism, but claimed it was intended as a parody of similar writings. Not everyone believed this, and Johann Andreae's name still had enough of an association with the occult for him to be identified as one of the Grand Masters of the Priory of Sion, a "secret" organization actually founded in 1956, but which claimed origins in antiquity. The Priory of Sion was exposed as a hoax by scholars and journalists in the 1960s, but its false claims were asserted to be factual by author Dan Brown in the preface to his notorious novel, The Da Vinci Code.

The Rosicrucians later developed ties with the Masonic Lodge and piggybacked on the movement of Freemasonry throughout the world. As I have written before, the Masonic Lodge also is quite active in Venezuela.

Candles in the dark

On Sunday, October 19, Pastor Adrian Ventura, president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, visited Barinas. That morning at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, Eduardo played the guitar, I led the opening Service of the Word, and Pastor Adrian preached and administered the sacrament of Holy Communion. His sermon was excellent, but perhaps the most notable aspect of the service was that as it was underway, Venezuela experienced its third nationwide power blackout in the last six months. The electricity was cut off that morning and for most of the rest of the day.

The church has no air-conditioning, but there are two banks of fans on each side of the sanctuary to provide ventilation. However, these were not working during the blackout. Pastor Adrian and I both were wearing white albs over our regular clothes. Generally Venezuelans handle the tropical heat better than North Americans, but I noticed Pastor Adrian's face also was shining with sweat by the end of the service.

Later that afternoon, Pastor Adrian visited La Caramuca with Eduardo and Armando Ramos, former pastor in residence at Tierra de Gracia Lutheran Farm.

The following day, October 20, we experienced another blackout in the evening. This one was local, affecting only La Caramuca, although that did not make a lot of difference to us. In addition to the three nationwide blackouts, there have been an increasing number of local blackouts nearly every week. Like most developing countries, Venezuela suffers from a lack of
adequate infrastructure (roads, telephone and electrical lines, waterworks). Years of inadequate public investment in infrastructure have resulted in a decaying power grid that is no longer capable of meeting consumer demand.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of electric lights, Luz María and I hosted our regular Monday confirmation class by candlelight. We have five young people who have been faithfully attending confirmation class on Sunday, Monday and Thursday. One of them is Sandro Peréz, the boy
who recently was hospitalized for dengue fever. We thank God that he is completely recovered. Our goal is to have these five confirmed by Pastor Ted Krey on November 2, when he visits Barinas for perhaps the last time before leaving Venezuela for the Dominican Republic.

Sandro suffers dengue fever

Twelve-year-old Sandro Pérez, who lives across the street from us, has been one of our more faithful and attentive students in both Sunday school and confirmation class. Always cheerful, mature for his age and showing signs of musical talent, Sandro is receiving financial assistance to stay in school from Children's Christian Concern Society of Topeka, Kansas. Unfortunately, Sandro was hospitalized this week with dengue fever.

Dengue fever is spread by Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito that thrives in tropical regions. Over the last four years, local health agencies have made a dedicated effort to control the spread of dengue by spraying with pesticide the areas where Aedes aegypti may breed. The mosquitos breed on water standing in artificial containers such as plastic cups, used tires, broken bottles, or flower pots, so there also has been an effort to educate everyone on the importance of sanitation as a means of preventing Aedes aegypti from reproducing.


There is no vaccine or cure for dengue. Those stricken must wait for the disease to run its course.

Symptoms include:

• Severe muscle and joint pain (which is why dengue is also known as "bonebreak fever").


• Fever


• Chills


• Constant headaches


• Bleeding from nose, mouth or gums


• Severe dizziness


• Loss of appetite

The more advanced stage of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, may produce shock and hemorraging, leading to death. The fatality rate for all forms of dengue is relatively low (5
percent), nevertheless it was a serious matter for someone as young as Sandro.

Luz Maria and I visited Sandro in the pediatric clinic, and the other youth in the confirmation class prayed for him and made cards from construction paper for us to present to Sandro on our next visit. We thank God that Sandro returned home the next day and we gave the cards to him there.

New semester begins

Webegan a new semester of the preschool September 15 with 24 children enrolled. Every week begins with the singing of the national anthem and praying the Lord's Prayer. For seven weeks we will focus on the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis. Yepci had the children
draw with white crayons on black construction paper to symbolize the creation of light and the separation of night and day on the first day of creation.

Old dog, new tricks

In case you missed the entertainment industry headlines, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Sharon
Stone all have turned 50 this year. This month it will be my turn, along with country music stars, Alan Jackson and Tanya Tucker. While I have not attained the same level of wealth and fame as some of my contemporaries, I have always been considered something of a legend in my own mind.

And I am taking guitar lessons for the first time since I was about 16 or 17. Eduardo is teaching a number of people how to play musical instruments, primarily the cuatro (Venezuelan four-stringed guitar). Luz María's daughter, Charli, is learning to play the cuatro. But while the cuatro is relatively easy to learn, while the six-stringed guitar is more complicated. I hope that by volunteering I will encourage more of the young people to learn the guitar. I also realize that since:

• Singing is usually a part not only of Sunday morning worship, but also of Bible studies and more informal gatherings here, and;


• I cannot always count on having someone else to provide musical accompaniment;

I should have some knowledge of the most commonly available and versatile instrument (Beethoven once called the guitar a symphony orchestra in one instrument).

Some of the larger congregations in the Lutheran Church of Venezuela add an electronic keyboard or piano, and drums to the guitar as part of an instrumental ensemble. Pipe organs
are quite rare. I have seen only one pipe organ since my arrival in Venezuela and it was not in our Lutheran Church of Venezuela congregations. What's more, it was the only pipe organ I've ever seen that might fit in someone's living room.

Kenny Rogers in the cybercafe

As I sat in the cybercafe, uploading photos, the owner, Alexis, played a CD of Kenny Rogers' greatest hits that his brother had brought him from the United States. Since I was the only customer at the time, I suspect it was for my benefit. It brought back of lot of fond memories
of the days when Kenny regularly scored No. 1 hits on both the country and pop music charts. I always liked "Reuben James", a song about a white orphan boy adopted by a black sharecropper:

"Reuben James, you still walk the furrowed fields of my mind,
A faded shirt, a weathered brow, callused hands upon the plow,
I loved you then and I love you now, Reuben James."

After awhile, Alexis came over to talk to me. I had told him something about our mission in La Caramuca. "Is your mission affiliated with the Baptist church?" he wanted to know.

"No," I said. "It's supported by the Lutheran Church of Venezuela."

"I have read about Martin Lutero," Alexis said. "Many of the things he did were very good." His concern seemed to focus on the indulgence trade. "I don't understand people taking money from other people like that in the name of God."

Then Alexis seemed to change the subject. "What can you tell me about the Mormons?" he asked.

"The Mormons do not believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity," I said. "Nor do they believe that Jesus Christ made full atonement for the sins of all people on the cross."

"I have talked to the young Mormon missionaries," Alexis said. "Their families give a lot of money to their church, but they receive only a small amount to live on. I don't understand this."

Then he revealed that he had talked to representatives of a number of the religious groups that are active in Venezuela. "It is so hard to know what is the truth," he said.

"All false religions have one thing in common," I said. "They teach that we must earn God's favor by our own works. But the Bible teaches that Christ paid the price for all our sins on the cross and that only through Him may we be reconciled with God."

"Many people here would rather pray to the santos, the saints, rather than God because they believe that if they have done wrong, God will not listen to their prayers," Alexis said.

Then some more customers came in, and he had to attend to them. The moment was gone. But before I left, I gave Alexis the address of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church and invited him to attend on Sunday and learn more about what we believed. God grant that I have another opportunity to talk with Alexis about these things.

Baptism of Jose Ignacio

José
Ignacio Garrido Santana was baptized Friday, July 18, 2008, by Pastor Miguelángel Pérez. We had been talking about having him baptized in another month or so, after the baby had to undergo surgery, we decided to have him baptized immediately upon release from the hospital. Miguelángel made a special trip from Barquisimeto Friday afternoon, baptized José Ignacio that evening and returned home Saturday morning. He is the youngest of Luz María's seven grandchildren and the eleventh person to be baptized at our mission in La Caramuca.

José Ignacio spent four or five days in the hospital and only his mother, Sarai, was allowed to see him. The problem seemed to be some obstruction in the passage to his stomach. There were members of both sides of José Ignacio's family present and also friends of the family. We celebrated his baptism and return home with soft drinks, cake and Jello. I never have in my life cared much for Jello, despite it being a staple in the German- and Scandinavian-American communities in which I was raised. Nevertheless, Jello also is a favorite in Venezuela, and you seldom get cake or ice cream without Jello.

At any rate,José Ignacio is recuperating after a tough spell. The occasion of his baptism was oddly appropriate for the text for my July 20 sermon in Corpus Christi, Romans 8:28-30.

Romans 8 is full of hope and assurance. The chapter begins by saying,"There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1-2 New King James Version).

Likewise, St. Paul closes Romans 8 with these words: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39 NKJV).

Verse 28 also begins with consolation: "And we know all things work together for good to those who love God..." , but then introduces a most difficult concept, "...to those who are called according to His purpose."

Verses 29-30 continue with this theme: "For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called, whom He called, He also justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

People often ask how, if God is both all-powerful and compassionate,can he allow the degree of suffering and death that there is in the world? Why do children starve to death, while other people live to a ripe old age? Why do a few survive earthquakes, floods, wars and other catastrophes while hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions do not?

To these types of questions, the Bible simply tells us to trust that God is sovereign over His creation, knows what we cannot understand, and actually does not owe us any explanations. As He said to Job in his suffering:

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when all the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7 NKJV).

We must trust that God has ordered all things for the ultimate good and that He will balance all accounts:

Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every purpose and for every work" (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 NJKV).

This is not all that hard to accept. This world is the way it is, full of suffering and death, whether we believe in God or not. We all die, sooner or later. Nothing in this world lasts forever, whether good or bad. In the midst of our trials, it is comforting to believe
that there is a just and merciful God who places both our pain and our joys in a broader context.

Furthermore we know that God is not capricious for He has created an orderly world where certain outcomes are predictable. (For instance, if I build my house below sealevel in a coastal area where hurricanes appear annually, I should not be shocked when disaster strikes.)

But here is the more difficult question. What are we to make of what's hinted at in Romans, chapter 8, more so in chapter 9 and other passages such as Matthew 20:1-16 and Matthew 22:1-14? That God sent His only-begotten Son into the world to suffer and die, so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life, but that the number who actually gain eternal life will be smaller than all for whom Christ sacrificed Himself?

How do we reconcile "God...desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4) with "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world...having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (Ephesians 1:3-4)?

To be more specific, why if God wills all to have eternal life in His name, why are some among "the elect" from before the foundation of the world and others not? This is the unsettling implication of salvation by grace alone. If we are saved solely through God's grace, not by any
worthiness or action on our own part, why are we sinners saved and others, no less deserving of God's judgment than ourselves, damned for eternity?

In this case also we must accept by faith something the Bible affirms without explanation. We must not try to reduce a mystery of God to something that human reason can comprehend. The Bible speaks of an election to grace, but not of an election to damnation. We are saved wholly through God's
action, but the damned are lost through a rejection of the Holy Spirit for they alone are responsible, and not by divine decree.

The point of these verses about predestination is to assure us that our salvation from sin was part of God's purpose for our lives from the beginning, that God is faithful to His promises and will not abandon those whom He has chosen as His own. His grace is both universal (revealed in visible form to all humanity when Jesus died on the cross) and particular (revealed to each of us specifically in the sacrament of baptism).

Thus, we thank God that José Ignacio has received divine grace and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit through the Word and water of baptism. Throughout his life he will be able to recall the day he was baptized and know that redemption may always be his.

Preschool graduation

Another semester of the Venezuelan school year has passed and four children have graduated from our preschool. Next semester (which begins in September) they will begin first grade. This semester's graduates are:

• Carlos Morales


• Jesús Enrique Piñero


• Esther Cuevas


• José Gregorio Meza

On Sunday afternoon, July 6, I led a short prayer service for these children and their families. Afterward We went to visit Esther Cuevas and her family in their home, because her mother had just given birth and could not attend the prayer service. On Friday, July 11, we threw a party in the preschool to honor the graduates and to mark the end of the semester.

Cultural celebration

On Sunday afternoon, July 20, the Sunday school children participated in a "cultural celebration" within the community (essentially it was a big talent show). The children sang songs they had learned in Sunday school.

My new photoblog

Venezuela is a beautiful country with a diverse population and a diverse geography. Over the past six years, I have accumulated a collection of hundreds of digital photos of Venezuelan people, places and things, which do not necessarily have anything to do with our mission work. Also, I have traveled to and taken pictures in Bolivia and the island republic of Trinidad-Tobago. To showcase some of these photos, I have started a new photoblog at davidternst02.wordpress.com. You can flip through the photos by using the arrows at the bottom of the page.

Learning the catechism

Luz María's granddaughter, Karelis Santana, surprised me by “reading” the 10 Commandments from the Small Catechism. Actually, she is seven years old and cannot read, but she knew the commandments by heart. That was in its way even more impressive.

We also were pleasantly surprised by Leandro Zapata, a boy between 10 and 12 years of age. Every week before beginning the Sunday school lesson I lead a brief service of evening prayer. This includes an invocation, the Lord's Prayer, Apostle's Creed, a Scripture lesson and meditation, a litany, individual prayers and songs. The children take turns saying prayers, and usually they give thanks for their parents, siblings, friends, etc. However, last Sunday, without any prompting Leandro prayed for “all the children in the street who are hungry.”

We have invited the parents of four families to the prayer service and hope that soon we will have a complete worship service and Sunday school on Sunday afternoons in La Caramuca.

One lesson that I recently read to the children, John 14:15-21, seemed particularly relevant to what they are studying:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it neither sees Him or knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you. He that has My commandments, it is he that loves Me. And he that loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Thus, I explained, we memorize God's commandments to keep them, not because we fear God's wrath, but because of the love God has shown us in sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins that we may live as children of God. Furthermore, God has sent us His Holy Spirit to give us the strength to live according to God's holy will and has promised eternal life to those who love Him. But those who reject God´s mercy in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit will one day know the wrath of the one truly righteous and incorruptible Judge.

On Mondays, the preschool week begins with the singing of the Venezuelan national anthem. Following this, I lead the children (those old enough to follow, anyway) in the Lord's Prayer and read a simple Bible verse, for example, John 3:16 or Romans 8:28.

On April 25, 2008, I had the privilege of reading several Scripture verses at the wedding of Lusveidis Pinzon and Luís Orellana at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. Pastor Ted Krey traveled from Caracas to perform the actual wedding rite, while my fellow vicar Eduardo Flores lead the congregational singing with his guitar. Two sisters, Angly and Zoivy Vargas, sang a duet. Rafael Flores, Eduardo's brother, and Isaac Machado, son of José and Elsy Machado, served as ushers. Both of these young men are studying for the ministry with Pastor Krey in Caracas.

Lusveidis is a longtime member of the church and there were many people at the wedding. Fortunately, the church's seating capacity has been greatly expanded. Corpus Christi has undergone a lot of physical changes in this past year. The building was once a bar, and for the first few years that the congregation occupied the site, there would be drunks wandering in on Sunday morning (!) and trying to order spirits of a different sort. Now, however, it is looking more and more like a church, especially with the front entrance consisting of double doors inlaid with stained glass. Of course, there is also the new kitchen and bathroom facilities, meeting room for Sunday school and weekday classes, and the apartment where Eduardo lives.

April 25 was also that the day that Luz María's youngest grandchild so far, Edwar José Garrida, marked his first year of life. Edwar's mother, Sarai, is carrying Edwar's sister, so soon there will be a total of seven grandchildren.

I have found that in writing sermons, many times the chosen text speaks to me as much as to anyone else. This was certainly case for Sunday, April 13, 2008. The Gospel text was John 10:1-10:

“Most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

“Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

“Then Jesus said again, “Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”

The most obvious lesson in this passage is that there is only one way to heaven – through faith in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God who died on the Cross the sins of everyone and who rose again on the third day. This passage immediately precedes the perhaps more familiar verse where Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. Typically in Palestine, a sheepfold is a corral surrounded by a high stone wall with a single door in and out. A watchman guards the door and only opens it for those he knows as the true shepherds of the sheep. The stone wall not only keeps out wolves and other four-legged predators, but also the two-legged kind who would also rob and kill the sheep.

Anyone who teaches that there is a way to heaven other than through Christ is a spiritual predator who does not have your best interests at heart. These are the thieves and robbers. Christ Himself, of course, is the true Shepherd, the one to whom the sheep belong. Then there are the watchmen or gatekeepers, who Martin Luther in one of his sermons identified as the Old Testament prophets, the Twelve Apostles and nowadays those of us who are entrusted with the public preaching of God's Word. Our solemn duty is not to allow anyone but Christ access to His flock. When we preach, we preach in His name and if the sheep do not hear His voice – that is to say, God's Word – in our preaching, they are right to flee from us. We must also encourage the sheep to study the Word and learn to recognize His voice.

Here is another way to look at it. I gather that it is not the custom in Palestine or most of the Middle East to use sheepdogs to herd the flocks. But to my more European way of thinking, this makes sense: We are the dogs of Christ. It is up to us to guard the flock from the false prophets, the teachers of false doctrine, even, with God's help, those enemies of God's people who are more than flesh and blood.

My sermon text for March 30, 2008, the second Sunday of Easter, was John 20:19-31. This passage is understood as the institution of the office of the public ministry, for Jesus breathes on his 11 chosen disciples and tells them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” The parallel passage in Mark 16:14-18 identifies this forgiving and retaining of sins with the preaching of the Gospel: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.” And likewise in Luke 24:46-47: “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

But of course, the most well-known parallel to this sermon text from John is Matthew 28:19-20, otherwise known as the Great Commission: “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

I have found it very helpful to think of the Great Commission in this context, as it seems there is much confusion on this point. The command to preach, administer the sacraments and make disciples of all nations is indeed given to the church as a whole, but indirectly. The command was directly given to those whom Christ had called to be his apostles, and today it is given to those who the church has called to be pastors in Christ's name. This is why Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession declares, “no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called.”

The missionary task of the church is the establishment of congregations where believers may gather around the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments, and where unbelievers may hear both Law and Gospel proclaimed. “Friendship evangelism” (laypeople showing Christian love toward their neighbors, talking about their faith and inviting friends and relatives to attend church with them) is the fruit of Word-and-sacrament ministry, but not the basis of missionary activity. Once formed, every congregation has the right and responsibility to call a pastor, therefore it is the responsibility of the church as a whole to provide qualified men to answer these calls.

When I first came to Venezuela, I had the idea of serving as some sort of support person for the national Lutheran clergy. Then I realized that what the Lutheran Church of Venezuela desperately needed was not so much support personnel as those who could be authorized to preach and teach. As I came to a clearer understanding of mission and ministry, I realized that God had led me to a place where I could do nothing else but seek ordination and a call to serve as a true missionary in La Caramuca.

Light in a child's eyes

Twenty-five years ago I taught third- and fourth-grade Sunday school for a short time. My fondest memory of this period was arranging to show a live sheep in the church parking lot to illustrate the parable of the Good Shepherd. Why? Because of the satisfaction of seeing the wonder in a child's eyes when touching a sheep for the first time.

I never had children of my own and until I came to Venezuela, it had been years since I had had much to do with young children. Now I am seeing that light in children's eyes quite often.

Even before the Sunday school today we had all five of Luz Maria's grandchildren playing together here. Elias, the youngest, is nearly two years old and his favorite game right now is riding horseyback. His cousin Pedro was his horse this morning while his sister Oriana (a year older) "rode" her cousin, Karelis.

Elias seems to be developing a very organized personality. He is very concerned with everything being in order in the first place and putting things back in their rightful place when he is done with them. For example, he will take a few sips of water and then try to pour what's left in the cup back in the pitcher. Also, we have some stackable children's chairs that he would stack and restack all day long if we did not keep them out of his reach.

Of course, while on the one hand, children can be a delight, on the other they can severely test one´s patience. We have had close to 100 children at one time attend our Sunday school or vacation Bible schools, but we have discovered that with the adults we have to teach and otherwise assist, the optimum number is between 20 and 30 children. A group of more than 30 is hard to control, especially because of the number of boys that we have involved. Many of them mean well, but without close supervision they cannot go more than 15 minutes without playing pranks or getting into fistfights.

But it is good to have the boys involved, because of the need for male leadership in the Venezuelan church. We try to teach that God holds men responsible for leadership in the home and in the church, but here many men shy away from both family and religious commitments. This is part of a family dynamic that is prevalent throughout Venezuela, but especially in the are
where we live. Fathers often either are not present in the home, or do not consider themselves obligated to be faithful to their wives or care for their children. The women then try to compensate for the lack of emotional support from their husbands by doting on their children, especially their sons. Even when their sons are grown, their mothers will attend to their every need. This makes it difficult for sons to separate from their mothers and assume
adult roles as husbands and fathers. And so the cycle continues for another generation.

Likewise, it is difficult for someone who has never had a strong yet loving father to understand a relationship with God as He has revealed Himself in the Bible.

For Father's Day we had the Sunday school children make cards for their fathers, or whatever male relative came closest to being a father figure for them. One boy had absolutely no one that he could think of, so he made a card for me. I was very moved.

Thanks to the encouragement of many people, I have gained more confidence in my ability to speak Spanish and have begun regularly reading Scripture lessons Sunday mornings at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church. In addition, Pastor Edgar Brito has asked me to lead a couple of Bible studies.

For August 23 to 27 we are planning one vacation Bible school that involves children from La Caramuca, Punta Gorda and Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. The event will take place at the church in Barinas. The national church has given us some money to develop uniforms (actually T-shirts) for a team of children who will be trained to evangelize other children. We will
unveil these uniforms as part of this event, too.

We also will use some of the wealth of educational materials left for us by the volunteers from Minnesota. We are very grateful to the people who donated these materials.

Some work was done on our street, thanks to Luz Maria's daughter, Charli, and her son, Pedro.

Our neighborhood, Barrio Las Lomas, does not have paved streets. Due to the heavy rains, our street had gotten so washed out that it was difficult for cars and trucks to enter. Recently, however, major repairs were done on the national highway that runs past La Caramuca. This road is the main route to Colombia in our region. This is good for legitimate traffic to and from Colombia. The downside is that it provides a pipeline for drug smugglers from the mountains of Colombia to Venezuela's Caribbean coast. For that reason, there is a permanent military checkpoint between La Caramuca and Barinas. While the road repairs were in progress, the combination of road construction, the military checkpoint and heavy rains often caused traffic jams.


Anyway, Charlie persuaded the road repair crew to dump their leftover materials on our street. Starting the week that the volunteers from Minnesota arrived, we had heaps of loose asphalt gravel laying around. Pedro knows the owner of the large ranch that runs along the river and finally convinced to send a grader up to our street to spread and pack down the gravel. So now,
while we do not exactly have a paved street, it has been greatly improved.

The ranch lies just down the hill from us. Often you can hear them driving cattle early in the morning, or sometimes sheep. Occasionally cowboys will ride their horses up the hill to where we are. Cowboys in Venezuela look much like cowboys in the United States, except one thing that I had never seen before was western-style boots with rubber soles. Only makes sense for the
rainy season here, I suppose.

Luz Maria's daughter, Yepci, continues her rapid recovery from her accident.The cast has been removed from her arm and she is walking around, although she tires easily. Thanks again to everyone who remembered her in their prayers.

Tower of Babel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The second concept fails the Biblical test on three counts:

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

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

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

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

Ten Plagues: The Musical

Call it "Ten Plagues: The Musical."

We were invited to have a group from our Sunday school give a presentation at one of the main preschools in La Caramuca. There are two large public preschools here and two smaller satellite preschools, one of which is ours. Luz Maria has worked for many years as the school secretary at the big preschool near the town plaza. The teachers all know her and also they are all devout Catholic or Pentecostal Christians. Some of them are part of a Bible study that Luz Maria has started there. So they are very supportive of our efforts to start a Christian school, especially because there is so little work being done in Christian education of any kind in the area.

As I have mentioned before, there is not the extreme separation of church and state in Venezuela that you find more and more in the United States. Really in this respect Venezuela is not that different from the United States of 35 to 40 years ago. I remember when I was in grade school the public school always had an annual Christmas program which at least once was a dramatization of the Nativity taken straight from Luke's Gospel. Also, no one had a problem with men from the Gideons Society giving a presentation and passing out New Testaments during school hours, either.

Anyway, the Sunday school kids have just completed studying the life of Moses, so to tie in with the upcoming Holy Week, they acted out the story of the Ten Plagues and the Passover with song and dance. Singing is a big part of the Sunday school, so it was a big part of the presentation, too.

The group consisted of 10 children, mostly some of the older ones. By the way, I might mention that we have split the Sunday school into a class for children 10 and older and another class for children under 10.

There was a great deal of work put into making Pharaoh's crown, the staffs which turned into snakes and posters illustrating each of the 10 plagues. The plague of biting flies was compared to swarms of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species that is the main carrier of dengue and yellow fever in Venezuela. Most schoolchildren, even preschoolers, are familiar with this insect because health authorities in the last year have conducted a massive campaign not only to eradicate Aedes aegypti, but also to educate parents and children in prevention of painful and sometimes fatal dengue fever.

After the account of the final plague (the death of the firstborn) and the description of the first Passover, Luz Maria explained how Jesus instituted the sacrament usually called "la Santa Comunión" among Catholics and "la Santa Cena" among evangelicals during an observance of la Pascua (Passover). By His death on the cross, He would offer Himself as the final sacrifice of "the Lamb without blemish" that through His blood all would have hope of salvation from God'sjudgment.

Afterward we left the preschool and bought all the children ice-cream cones from a street vendor. Most of these vendors push or pedal carts with insulated boxes full of ice cream, but this guy's cart also had a gas-driven refrigeration unit attached. That meant he could not move around as much, but since he had parked his rig outside the elementary school, he probably did not have to.

Under the program by which our preschool is licensed, we are supposed to receive money from the state government to provide hot breakfast and lunch for the preschool children. The funds have not been available for about a month or so, due to the fact that our preschool has grown faster than the program's budget, but we have been assured they will be after Holy Week.

Most of the children have been bringing food from home, be we have been paid for some of the children's meals ourselves. Fortunately, we have the benefit of a Makro membership. Makro is very much like Sam's Club in the United States and it is very economical to buy food in bulk there.

During Holy Week we plan to take our Bible story show on the road - to Punta Gorda where the children from La Caramuca can perform for the youngsters there.

Feliz Navidad

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.

Matthew 4:16


Friday, December 16, we celebrated Christmas with the children of the preschool. It was the last day of school for this year in Venezuela. All schools and preschools are now closed until after New Year's day. We sang Venezuelan Christmas carols, there was a puppet show using bird puppets left by Paco the Clown, and finally a swimming party!

With contributions from everyone on the preschool staff, Luz Maria and I bought an inflatable children's pool from Makro, which is almost exactly like Sam's Club in the United States. Most of the children here have never been to a public or private swimming pool. They usually go swimming in the river, but lately the river has been too contaminated to allow this.

We had to borrow a bicycle pump to inflate the pool and it took a long time to fill because while we had running water that day, water pressure was at about half strength. But the smiles on the children's faces made it worth the effort.

Our new water system is nearly complete and will be finished this week. It will have the capacity to provide not only a reliable source of water for the preschool, but also for the larger schoolhouse that we hope to build eventually.

Forty children attended Sunday school this past weekend. We were expecting quite so many because of the holiday, nevertheless there they were. We are planning a three-day vacation Bible school starting Wednesday with the theme, "Jesus, the best Christmas gift." Luz Maria expects 100 children for this event.

It is hard to fully describe the impact that the construction of the preschool has had on the surrounding community. This neighborhood was widely known for drunken partying and fighting in the streets. Remarkably, this activity has almost completely stopped.

Every day we thank God for the support that has made it possible for us to proclaim and demonstrate God's love in this corner of the world. We wish all of you who have prayed for us and contributed toward our project Feliz Navidad.

All the world is God's own field

Come, ye thankful people, come;
Raise the song of Harvest-home.
All be safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied,
Come to God's own temple, come;
Raise the song of Harvest-home.

It is the week of Thanksgiving in the United States and I am thinking of a hymn and a holiday that are foreign to the culture here. Venezuelans have heard of the North American holiday, el Dia de la Acción de Gracias, but they do not really understand it on an emotional level. Here there has never been a need to worry about getting crops in before the winter storms. The entire year is an endless round of planting and harvesting. There may be part of the year when crops are more likely lost to flooding than drought; insects and weeds are ever-present threats; but there is no date when all fieldwork needs to be finished. Therefore the idea of an annual harvest festival does not make a lot of sense.

Another way of looking it is that Venezuelans do not limit acción de gracias, or thanksgiving, to one day each year. Often in Sunday services the prayers are divided into two sections: one in which the pastor will ask for petitionary prayers and the other in which he will ask what the people would like to give thanks for this week.

All the world is God's own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

But "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" did mean something in those rural churches in South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas where I once lived. Especially, in those days, the hymn's implied missionary emphasis. For the Lord and his angels may reap the final harvest, but who has been given the job of tending the field?

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16: 15-16)

I remember a sermon my Dad gave on the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13: 24-30). He explained to his congregation of Midwestern farmers that "tares" were a type of weed similar to what they knew as "cheatgrass." Cheatgrass looks just like wheat in the early stages of growth. Only after the plants are nearly ready for harvest is the difference between the two species obvious. That is why the owner of the field told his servants not to try pulling up all the tares and risk destruction of some of the wheat.

So it is with us who serve God as witnesses of His grace and mercy to the ends of the earth. We are to do what we have been commanded and let our Lord worry about the results.

For the Lord, our God, shall come
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offences purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.

However, we are counting our blessings this week. Our evangelistic calls have borne fruit in a group of five women that Luz Maria is leading in Bible study. They are meeting for now at the main public preschool on the other side of town. We would like to host more adult groups at our location, but we are short on adult-sized furniture. Most of our furnishings are scaled to children ages two to six.

We have a core group of 15 children who show up every Sunday for our Sunday school (one of my favorites is the little girl who shows up during the week with a plastic bucket, asking for kitchen scraps to feed the hog her family keeps in their backyard). But, in going over our attendance records, we found that just in the past month we have had 50 children who attended for the first time or only attended once or twice before.

The week before last, Luz Maria and I went to the annual meeting of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela in Barquisimeto, along with a group from Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. Among other activities, we (the Barinas group) were involved in a very productive discussion of possible evangelistic work with people from Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) Lutheran Church in Barquisimeto. Participants in our discussion included Luz Maria and myself; Pastor Edgar Brito, his wife, Mariel, and Luzveidis Pinzon of Corpus Christi; and Henry Aranguren and Jesús Franco of Cristo es Amor.

Luz Maria and I have continued to discuss plans for cooperation with Pastor Edgar and the members of Corpus Christi. Luz Maria hopes to eventually have an exchange program with Cristo es Amor in which a group from Barquisimeto would come to Barinas to make evangelistic calls and a group from Barinas would do the same for Barquisimeto.

We give thanks for material blessings as well. Especially we thank Chuck and Chris Hewitson and other members of St. John's Lutheran Church in Vancouver, Washington, who have raised the money for us to fix our well and build a complete private water system for the preschool. Public water has only been partially restored. We now have running water for a few hours every other night.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final Harvest-home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide.
Come with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious Harvest-home.

Do they all live here?

Every Thursday Egli, a local woman, comes by late in the afternoon to give me Spanish lessons. This last time we sat out on the patio while about a dozen enthusiastic children played loudly in the yard. After a few moments, Egli looked at me and said, "Do all these children live here?"

"No," I replied. "Most of them are children who attend our Sunday school. They are spending more and more time here." Almost every day, in fact. Having so many kids around all the time is often a great trial of one´s patience, but they have no other playground except the streets. We want them to think of our place as a shelter.

We had the children invite their fathers or some male relative for special Father´s Day festivities today. We talked about the importance of the father's role in the family as set forth in the Bible, then we had the men (and the two adult women who showed up) play games with the children.

We have been visited twice by teams of inspectors from the two state agencies which supervise preschools here. Both teams were favorably impressed by our existing facilities and the construction that is underway. It was gratifying to hear our site described the best-looking and most well-maintained of the preschools that they had visited.

Luz Maria and I are now visiting two families. In one case, the woman of the house was profoundly affected by the recent deaths by electrocution in this area (resulting from frequent power outages and unpredictable surges when the electricity comes back on-line). In the other case, a daughter was badly injured in an automobile accident and the cost of her medical treatments seems to be more than the family can afford. Like many Venezuelans, these families are struggling to find some spiritual foundation, something that will enable them to cope with hard times.

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National church approves our project

The same day that Venezuelan newspapers were running banner headlines about the new Pope, the administrative council of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela (ILV) began its own "conclave" in Maturin. As the hours wore on, the inevitable question was asked: Where's our fumata blanca (puff of white smoke) signifying mission accomplished? But for the ILV the issue was not the selection of a new leader, but approval of new mission projects. For Luz Maria and myself, the fumata blanca was the announcement that the national church had formally approved our work in La Caramuca.

In fact, we were commended for a proposal that fit in very well with the ILV's long-term plan for growth, focusing on personal evangelism, religious education and training of new leaders for local churches. We were in Maturin to present our vision of an educational center encompassing evangelism within the surrounding community, instruction of children and adults, and training of pastors and evangelists. We are strategically located for this purpose because if you travel in one direction, Barinas is the gateway to the Venezuelan Andes. If you travel in the other, the city is the gateway to los Llanos, Venezuela's answer to the Great Plains of the central United States. These are very different geographical regions, but a lack of Lutheran churches is one thing they have in common.

We have had as many as 52 children attend our Sunday school so we have split them into two groups and if we continue to have 40 to 50 show up every week, we may have to divide them into three groups. Luz Maria's daughter Yepci and her husband, Eliezer, are now both involved in teaching the children.

In our most recent visit to the family in La Mula we discussed what it means to both fear and love God. We did our best to explain that fear of God means a proper sense of awe toward a Being more powerful and wise than human beings can comprehend, and whose righteousness makes us conscious of our own sinfulness. However, love for God is the response inspired by the grace and mercy He has shown us in Jesus Christ.