Showing posts with label baptisms preschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baptisms preschool. Show all posts

Oct 1, 2025

Celebrating our 34th baptism

 At a Matins service on September 20, 2025, Eidan Andrés Garrido Albarrán was baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-6). This was the 34th baptism at our mission. The first was Elias Isaac Montoya Santana on June 26, 2005.

“Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? If I wash in them, shall I not also be clean?” (2 Kings 5:12). 

“Without the Word of God, water is mere water, it is not baptism; but with the Word of God, it is baptism, that is, it is the water of life, full of grace, and a washing of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, as Saint Paul says to Titus.” (The Small Catechism and Titus 4:4-6).

When Naaman did as the Lord commanded, he was healed. “Then he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (2 Kings 5:14).

Grand opening of “Mi Pequeña Lucecita” House of Study

On September 15, 20205, we opened “Mi Pequeña Lucecita” (“My Little Light”) House of Study with an orientation meeting for the families involved. The expanded afterschool tutoring program is from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Sixteen students are enrolled, from first to sixth grade, all of whom have academic knowledge below the level they should have for their grade level. There are third-graders who do not know their numbers, and sixth graders who read at a first grade level. There are other families who would like to enroll their children in the program, but Luz Maria feels that those who are enrolled need the most help that she and her assistants can give. We share God's love in Christ by improving literacy, language, math and vocational skills.

Our program remains the only one in our entire region that integrates instruction for Christian living with basic skills for learning.

Although circumstances have forced to shift our emphasis from preschool education to a more diverse group of students, remains unchanged:

• Encourage academic performance by addressing academic needs with fun and motivating resources to develop learning skills and abilities.

• Promote the comprehensive development of each student in accordance with the values ​​of Christian education established in the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions.

• To guide parents on the importance of the family's leading role in raising children in the reality of the Venezuelan context.

In addition to Luz Maria as chief teacher, there are three young ladies who help tutor students: Diana Torres, Yusmelvis Salas and Anyi Garrido. All who came up through our preschool program and are now communicant members and high school students.

We would like to develop more intensive seminars in mathematics and other topics; more instruction for adults; support and advice for high school students on projects to be completed for graduation; training sessions in home economics; hosting of group sessions for online courses, such as those provided by Seminario Concordia El Reformador in the Dominican Republic.

To further improve our learning and worship spaces, we are seeking funds for two more study tables with six chairs each; 20 additional plastic chairs; printer ink and a new computer monitor; additional educational materials; four wall-mounted ventilation fans; and a water purifier for the kitchen area of the former preschool. Perhaps our biggest capital improvement project for the near future is the repair of public sanitary facilities built 10 years ago to host large groups in our open patio/playground. These have not been used since the COVID-19 lockdown, but we think there soon will be use for them again.

You may donate to our mission online at Global Lutheran Outreach.

How shall they hear without a preacher?

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Romans 10:14-15.

Corpus Christi congregation gives 
baptismal gifts to Eidan Garrido.

As the only called and ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela within a tri-state area, I continue to preach and administer the sacrament of the altar at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas. As of the last census, Barinas has a population of approximately 350,000 people. Besides being a regional trade center and the headquarters of state government, the city is home to an important agricultural research and teacher training university. La Caramuca is a town of around 8,000 people, located 20 to 30 minutes drive from the city of Barinas, depending on the traffic. There is plenty of work for another pastor in Barinas, but Corpus Christi has not been able to call a full-time pastor in nearly two years.

At the 2025 World Conference of the International Lutheran Council in the Philippines, Eduardo Flores, president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, outlined the serious problems that still face the nation of Venezuela, resulting in “profound social, economic, and cultural implications,” including for the Lutheran church. There has been a significant decrease in the number of members in Lutheran congregations, mostly among young people and their families. This not only impacts the spiritual life of those who leave, but it also causes serious issues with paying pastors and the financial sustainability of congregations.

Finally I felt the earth move

One fond memory of my youth is listening to Carole King sing “I Feel The Earth Move”, one of the most popular cuts from her milestone 1971 album, “Tapestry”. But I never really knew the sensation until September 24, 2025. There was a minor tremor in Caracas while I was there in 2007, but I was taking a nap and slept through it. At 11:51 p.m. on September 24, my chair began vibrating and the teacup on the table rattled. That was the impact in La Caramuca of a 6.0 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter near Bachaquero, Zulia, 178 kilometers or 111 miles northwest of us. This was only one of 10 distinct tremors and 21 aftershocks that shook western Venezuela that evening. But its magnitude made it not only the main feature of the night, but one of the three strongest earthquakes to rock the country in the 21st Century. The others were in Carabobo state in 2009 (6.4) and Sucre state in 2018 (6.9). None of these three claimed any lives, although there was property damage in the areas most affected. Perhaps the worst ever in loss of life was the Maundy Thursday earthquake of 1812 (between 7 and 8 magnitude with its epicenter in Caracas) which claimed from 15,000 to 26,000 lives. A 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Caracas in 1967 claimed 256 lives. In years past, the mission has hosted workshops on how to avoid injury during an earthquake. Thank you, Carlos Teran!

Earthquake safety seminar in 2014.