The blessing of marriage and family

“My family: A blessing from God” was the theme of our vacation Bible school from August 16 to 18. The content was developed by Félix Zamora, the pastor of “Cristo Vencedor” (“Christus Victor”) Lutheran Church, La Pica, in the eastern state of Monagas, Venezuela. Seventy children and adults attended the first day, and 40 on each of the two following days.

The first day: God instituted marriage in principle between a man and a woman for life with the goals of companionship and mutual help between parents and the formation of the best environment to raise children (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:21-24). Our Lord reaffirmed that God “made them in the beginning, male and female He made them” and “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother, and be united to his wife, and the two will be one flesh. ” This design does not include divorce: "Therefore what God joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:4-6). God instituted marriage in the beginning as a blessing, but divorce is always the result of sin. Also regarding sin, Saint Paul says that marriage is not necessary for salvation, but marriage should be desired as a means to avoid the temptation of sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 7:2-4).

The second day: We are children of God by the order of creation, but we share the sinful nature of our human parents. Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, the first parents in sin, we lost the primordial harmony between God and humans, and between humans, especially between men and women, and nature. However, God promised them a Savior who would defeat the devil. Jesus Christ, as the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21), restored right relationship with God in fulfillment of God's promise (Matthew 1:18-25). We are now children of God by the new birth in baptism (1 Peter 1:22-25).

The third day: The family is the nucleus of human society, the Christian family is also the best environment for the formation of the faithful. In his profession of faith, Joshua spoke like a faithful father, saying that even though all others rejected God's justice and mercy, his family would continue to worship the true God (Joshua 24:14-15). In addition, Joshua called the people to leave behind the gods that their fathers worshiped in Egypt. However, although our identity as children of God is more important than family loyalty, we are still obligated to honor our earthly parents as the Son of God did (Luke 2:39-52).

We concluded the program after the Divine Office on the eleventh Sunday after Trinity with the presentation of prizes to those who brought the most family and friends to the vacation Bible school, those who gave of their time so that all the activities were a success, and notebooks for all children.

The appointed reading of the Old Testament (Genesis 4:1-15) showed how parental disobedience against God's commandments results in even greater rebellion in the next generation. Also, those who think they deserve God's blessing for false displays of piety often look down on others, which was also the point of today's Gospel (Luke 18:9-14). Saint Paul says in the epistle (Ephesians 2:1-10) "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved).” In his mercy, he put a mark on Cain, so that anyone who found him would not kill him, by grace the Lord has marked us through baptism for eternal life.

Some of the children who attended vacation Bible school have been coming to our Sunday afternoon Bible study. Currently we are reviewing the books of the Bible, their type of literature and chronological order.

Maintenance needs and future building plans

As preparation for the new school year that begins this month, Pedro Santana, Luz Maria’s son, doing the latest round of repair on the preschool playhouse. It was built in 2010, but requires periodic maintenance because of termite and weather damage. We had originally thought of installing a plastic playhouse like you see at McDonald’s, but were unable to obtain one. So we had one made of locally available lumber (forestry is part of our economy). Our problem with termites has been greatly reduced with the expansion of our free-range chicken flock. The chickens eat a large quantity of insects, not only termites, but also biting ants.

Power outages continue to be a challenge. Our electricity can go down at any time of day, with the blackout lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours. This summer we have experienced both heavy rains (resulting in downed power lines) and intense heat (increasing electrical demand). So lately the outages have been lasting longer every day. Solar energy has been part of the solution for us, But solar energy requires storage capacity, especially when one rainy day follows another, so we would like to buy two more batteries to extend the period when we keep the lights and security cameras on at night.

Our 2012 Volkswagen Parati Crossover continues to serve us well, but the fuel tank float no longer works. So we cannot be sure how much gasoline we have in the tank, and this is important as there are long lines at the service stations. We are waiting for a replacement tank float to become available. There also is a part that we need for our printer that we have to wait to be shipped from Costa Rica.

But maintenance and repair is not our only practical concern. We are talking with Pastor Eliezer Mendoza, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute about the establishment of a regional library and study center. In the absence of a residential Lutheran seminary in Venezuela, the Juan de Frias Institute has, since the 1970s, provided theological education by extension. A new headquarters for Juan de Frias (possibly the beginning of a seminary) in Barquisimeto, a major city three hours drive north of Barinas. We would become a branch of that. There is space here for another outbuilding constructed for that purpose.

A prayer request for Doña Carmen

August 26 marked a full year since Luz Maria’s mother, Carmen Rivero de Henriquez, fell and fractured her hip. She turns 93 this month. It has been a long recovery and Luz Maria and her six siblings continue to work together to provide Doña Carmen with round-the-clock care. An assisted-living unit, like where my mother lives, is out of the question. But, thanks be to God, all of her children live in and around the city of Barinas, except for Moisés, who lives in Caracas. Despite her advanced age, Carmen has contributed her time and talents to our mission since the beginning. 

“The days of our life are seventy years, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10-12)

Baptism in the time of COVID-19

Baptism of Reiber Santiago.

Reiber Santiago Pirela Parra.

On Pentecost Sunday, May 21, 2020, seven-month-old Reiber Santiago Pirela Parra, received the gift of new life in Christ through holy baptism. We also celebrated the Eucharist for the first time since “national quarantine” was declared about two months ago.

In my last communication, I expressed hope that the quarantine would be lifted by Pentecost and we would be able to resume offering the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. Of course, immediately after I wrote those words, the quarantine was extended to June 12. But the rules have since been “relaxed”. What does that mean? Well, the 2019/2020 school year’s a wash. Schools, including our preschool, will not reopen until the new school year begins in September. Students are supposed to complete their studies on-line (something of a challenge, as I will explain) and we have opened the preschool every morning to distribute food and homework assignments to families in our community. Although the availablity of public transportation has been greatly reduced, we have been able to obtain the food through use of the car that your donations enabled to purchase.

The Lord's Supper.

In addition to closing of schools, most businesses are allowed to operate for a strictly limited number of hours per day, although the “relaxation” means some businesses are able to stay open longer now. No one is supposed to walk the streets and public areas without a facemask and maintaining about a meter of distance from other persons. In order to enter a place of business, you must have your hands sprayed with disinfectant. However, as far as I know, there are no rules specifically pertaining to place of worship. Since our chapel is not on public property, we have continued to hold Sunday morning services, although we will not celebrate the Lord’s Supper again until after June 12. Those who attend our Sunday morning worship are a small group of people that we see every day anyway. Nobody in our vicinity has shown signs of COVID-19 infection so far, so praise be to God for that as well.

Facemasks are in fashion.

Two thousand years of experience and scientific study have shown the likelihood of contagious disease being passed through the sharing of the communion chalice is very low. If your immune system is that compromised, you really should not leave your house anyway. Of course, we tell our communicants that they are not obligated to receive communion every time it’s offered, and if there is any indication that that they might be infected with COVID-19, they should stay home. While we certainly do not believe or teach that the Lord has promised the faithful immunity to pestilence whether we take precautions or not, we do believe that He will watch over us as we do the work that He has commanded His church to do.

Reiber Santiago’s parents, Ronelbys and Maria José, told me nearly seven months ago that they wanted their baby baptized in our chapel. But they wanted her sister in Caracas to be godmother. After waiting for her to able to travel from Caracas, they finally decided that this was not going to happen any time soon. They wanted Reiber Santiago baptized, so that if he did get sick and die, he would have the promise of heaven. So it was done on perhaps the best of days for a baptism, Pentecost.

Learning English.

In addition to continuing Sunday services, we have begun a new confirmation class and lessons in English for interested students. Everyone likes it when I sing the Mickey Mouse song. “M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse!” Watch for my Appalachian gospel/Memphis blues fusion version on iTunes.

To everything there is a season

As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”, and sometimes the time for everything is all at once. We have entered Venezuela’s rainy season, the period from May to November in which total rainfall may add up to 78 inches. Just in time, too, because the water level in our well was getting very low. However, now we have the problem of heavy cloud cover reducing the efficiency of our solar-powered electrical backup system, combined with longer and longer power outages almost every day. There have been a few times the system has not been able to keep the lights on all night, because of lack of time for the batteries to recharge. We have had to become more conservative in our consumption of electricity in order to compensate. However, a somewhat more pressing concern is that our cellphone/Internet service used to last six hours after the public power went down, but now it only lasts two to three hours. This means that after a particularly long blackout, we will be without electricity, telephone, television and Internet service. This stymies the children trying to complete their studies on-line, but of course the situation is potentially more troublesome than that as we are completely cut off from the outside world.

Lit by solar lamps.

Sun-dried meat.

And we had a power outage that lasted three days in the week before Pentecost! The cause apparently was a powerful storm taking down power lines, but as far as we knew it could have been a much worse crisis. Furthermore, our auxiliary system does not keep the refrigerators in our home or the preschool going. Luz Maria was able to save the meat that we had stored by drying it in the sun, a technique that she learned in her childhood. The dried meat must be simmered in vegetable broth before being eaten, but it is quite tasty in the end.

Prayers for the Twin Cities!

There has been a wave of violence across the United States, evidently sparked by the tragic case of George Floyd. But the Twin Cities have been the epicenter and I was particularly struck by this Facebook plea from St. Michael’sLutheran Church of Bloomington, Minnesota, on May 29. St. Michael’s sent me to Venezuela as a lay volunteer in 2003 and has continued to support our mission in La Caramuca to the present day. So on Sunday we prayed for St. Michael’s and all the churches and communities affected by the rioting and looting, and also asked for better understanding and harmony between people of all races, especially through the peace found in Christ which passes all understanding.

Thank you, St. Michael's.

This is a call for prayer for the greater Minneapolis community. Areas of Minneapolis have been devastated by violent protests. The protests are reportedly coming to Bloomington and the suburbs tonight. Please take time to stop and pray now for peace.

Lord Jesus Christ we come to you our shelter in the present storm and we ask that you bring peace.

- For those who affected by the violence both physically and emotionally, especially for those who knew and loved George Floyd, bring your peace.

- For the protesters in the streets allow them to be people of peace.

- For the police who are called on to protect people and property allow them to respond in peace.

- For those who are afraid to leave their homes because of nearby violence reign your peace upon them.

Lord Jesus Christ you are the Prince of Peace and the Lord of lords. We trust you and seek your peace today, tomorrow and eternally. Amen.

The blessing of children

“And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” Mark 10:13-16

Children are gifts from God that He has entrusted to our care for a time, I told the assembled families. The day had come for the teachers in our preschool and me to pass responsibility for 10 of our students to teachers in the community’s Virginia de Contreras elementary school. In September they all will begin first grade. For four years we have done our best, with the help of God, to teach them what they can take with them for the rest of their lives and beyond. For the most important thing for them to know is the love of God in Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life in His name.

For, although their relationship with their parents will continue for the rest of their lives on earth, the day will come for each one when death will separate them from their fathers and mothers. It is most common for parents to pass away before their children; sometimes children may die before their parents. Physical death is the Lord’s judgment on us all, for we all have sinned and fallen short of living as God wills. But for those who have received God’s grace in baptism, there is the hope of reunion with their loved ones and more in the life to come. To know Jesus in this way from childhood, therefore, is a great blessing.

But as our Lord says, we all must receive the faith as children. Not trusting in our own understanding or strength, but in His understanding and strength, as children feel safe in the arms of their parents. Regardless of our age, it is never too late to receive the promise of eternal life and change the lives of those around us here and now. Therefore, we at our mission commend these 10 to the Lord and their families, and pray for their continued formation as Christians.

Our preschool graduation ceremony was Thursday, July 11, 2019. It was the day before the date in 2003 when I arrived in Venezuela to serve three years as a lay volunteer for Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod World Missions. Over the last 16 years, I have watched a generation of Venezuelan children grow into young men and women. This was brought home to me as one of the guests for our 2019 graduation was Maikel Caraballo, who was a member of our first group of graduates in the 2006/2007 school year.

The following students graduated from our preschool this 2018/2019 school year:

• Esteban Gabriel Alzate Castellano
• Kevin Alexander Barón Mendez
• Jonayker Jesús Castellano Paredes
• Javier Eduardo de la Peña Morales
• Diego Alfonso Montilla Farías
• Victor David Salas Romero
• Raul Antonio Canchilla Peroza
• Kimberly Fabiola Arjona Ureña
• Abril Sharlotte Castillo Duarte
• Gabriela Anyelimar Guerrero Bracho
• Yoscari Yuraima Rubio Serrano

Deaconesses gather in eastern Venezuela

The United States celebrated Independence Day on July 4 and Venezuela on July 5, as always. But neither day was a holiday for Luz Maria as she traveled across Venezuela to Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church in Maturin, the capital of the eastern state of Monagas. The occasion was a training session for Lutheran deaconesses sponsored by Seminario Concordia El Reformador in the Dominican Republic and administered by the Lutheran Church of Venezuela’s Juan de Frias Theological Institute. Facilitators were Pastor Eliezer Mendoza, director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute; Pastor Arturo Maita; and Isaac Machado. Arturo is a son of the Maturin congregation currently serving in the LCMS mission in Puerto Rico. Isaac grew up as a member of La Paz (Peace) Lutheran Church in Caracas. Recently he graduated from the seminary in the Dominican Republic and that same week was officially declared available for a divine call by the Lutheran Church ofVenezuela. The theme of the seminar was the liturgy of the Divine Service and how it relates to daily life.

Luz Maria is one of three women recognized as deaconesses at a national level because of their level of theological education. Unfortunately, the other two, Carmen Gamboa of Maracay, and Elsy Machado of Caracas (Isaac’s mother) were not able to attend. Circumstances in Venezuela make it more difficult to travel long distances than in the past. Nevertheless, Luz Maria felt it was important for her to attend. She was able to travel from Barinas to Maracay and travel the rest of the way to Maturin with Pastor Edgar Coronado of La Fortaleza (Fortress) Lutheran Church in Maracay and ladies from Maracay and Barquisimeto. She returned with the same group.

Let the sun shine in!

Power outages in Venezuela have not made international headlines for a few months, but they continue. There is a joke making the rounds of the Spanish-speaking social networks that is grimly amusing in the context of massive outmigration and blackouts: "The last person to leave Venezuela need not worry about turning the lights out".

We suffer outages on a local level every day. Sometimes it’s only for a few minutes, sometimes an hour or two, but two weeks ago we were without power for 30 straight hours. The power may go down several times in the same day. Even though this is not quite as bad as two or three days without electricity, it makes it difficult to get our work done (yes, we are very dependent on electricity and electronic equipment; I can hardly imagine what mission work was like before the 21st Century). The trouble is, when the lights go out, we are soon without telephone, Internet or television as well. No lines of communication with the outside world as well as functioning home security (apart from our dogs) is a dangerous situation at present. Also, we rely almost completely on online banking for our financial transactions.

But we have been put in contact with IntelRad, a firm in Barinas that has been installing solar-powered electrical backup systems since the 1990s. It is a substantial investment, but we hope soon to have installed a system that will keep our security cameras, computers and Internet access going despite the blackouts.