Death is swallowed up in victory

Carmen Henriquez de Rivero, celebrating her 92nd birthday with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

"So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:54

Carmen Henriquez de Rivero, Luz Maria’s mother, passed to eternal life on June 2, 2024, the second Sunday after Trinity, in Barrio El Cambio, Barinas, Venezuela. She was born on September 21, 1930, in Las Bonitas, Ciudad Bolívar, a city located in southeastern Venezuela on the banks of the Orinoco River. She would later live in the Venezuelan states of Apure and Guarico (Luz Maria was born in Valle de Pascua, Guarico), but lived nearly the latter half of her life in the city of Barinas. She had eight children, of whom seven survive, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In the 1980s, she became part of the nucleus of the original Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) mission in Barinas. She joined the Lutheran Church along with four of her children: Luz Maria, Rosaura, Moisés and Robert. Eventually she and Rosaura joined a Baptist congregation, although Roamird Castillo, Rosaura’s son, remains a member of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Lutheran Church in Barrio El Cambio, and now serves as secretary and legal adviser to the national Lutheran Church of Venezuela. Señora Carmen continued to welcome LCMS missionaries in her home and always supported our mission in La Caramuca. When, in her last years, we would look after her at the mission for a few days at a time, she would insist on attending our Sunday morning service, even though she had to be carried up the stairway to our sanctuary. (Our sanctuary is on the second floor, because the civil law requires the preschool to be on ground level.) She would teach the young people and their parents some of her sewing skills, which included making dolls from whatever scraps of fabric, buttons and other household materials might be available. 

As her health began to deteriorate more rapidly, the family often would call me to pray with her and anoint her with oil, according to James 5:14-16. “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We would pray with her and sing her favorite hymns, then I would hear her confession and apply olive oil to her forehead in the sign of the cross to recall the promise of eternal life in baptism. This was always done as if it might be the last time, but she nevertheless feel much better afterward. The most dramatic occasion was on June 1, when she refused to eat or drink, or move from her bed, seeming barely conscious. After our period of prayer, she immediatel sat up and, with assistance, walked to the table to eat and drink. However, this would be the last time, as she died peacefully the following morning. 

Following Venezuelan custom, the body was prepared for a wake (velorio) that lasted through the night until burial the next morning. I conducted a funeral service in the home for the Lutheran members of the family, including members of our mission in La Caramuca. 

How to give shelter from the storm 

With the deaconesses of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela. 

On June 25, Luz Maria and I traveled to another city on the Orinoco River, Puerto Ordaz, 67 miles (108 kilometers) east of Ciudad Bolívar. In 1961, Puerto Ordaz united with San Félix de Guayana, an older port on the Caroni River, to form the metropolitan complex of Ciudad Guayana, or Guayana City. The name is derived from the Guiana Highlands, a region of forested plateau and low mountains that covers the southern half of Venezuela, nearly all of the Guianas (three nations to the east of Venezuela), the northern part of Brazil, and a portion of southeastern Colombia. Ciudad Guayana is located at the confluence of the Orinoco and Caroni, the most economically important rivers in Venezuela. Ciudad Guayana also is home to the Guri Reservoir and Power Station, a hydroelectric facility that provides electricity for the major part of Venezuela’s public power grid. 

We were met at the airport in Valencia (four hours drive northeast of Barinas) by women from the cities of Barquisimeto and Maracay, and Eliezer Mendoza, pastor of Cristo es Amor (Christ is Love) Lutheran Church, Barquisimeto, and director of the Juan de Frias Theological Institute, and his wife and deaconess, Ginnatriz. Our group flew from Valencia to Puerto Ordaz, where we were hosted for the night by members of Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) Lutheran Church. On the morning of June 26, we boarded a bus to a secluded campground for three days of intensive coursework for both graduates and currently enrolled students of the three-year deaconess program sponsored by the Juan de Frias Institute and Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic. In addition to Barinas, Barquisimeto and Maracay, there were women who represented our congregations in Caracas, Barcelona, Maturín, and other congregations in Ciudad Guayana. 

The 15 women currently enrolled in the deaconess program received instruction in the theological fundamentals of the diaconal ministry. This course was taught by Sergio Maita, who serves as the pastor “Pan de Vida” Lutheran Church in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, and who also is a faculty member at Concordia El Reformador Seminary. In Acts 6 we find the first example of the apostles delegating mercy work to responsible laymen. While the primary ministry of the church is preaching of the Word and administration of the sacraments, the fruit of this ministry is good works that demonstrate God’s grace and mercy to the world (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10; James 1:27). While the pastoral office was instituted by the Lord Himself and neither its requirements nor its responsibilities may change, the auxiliary offices instituted by the church and their responsibilities may change to fit the circumstances of a particular place and time. 

Sergio was born in Maturín, Venezuela, and was raised as a member of Cristo Rey (Christ the King) Lutheran Church there. Sergio and I were ordained together with Eduardo Flores, pastor of La Santa Trinidad (Holy Trinity) Lutheran Church in Caracas, and president of the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, December 13, 2008, at El Salvador (Savior) Lutheran Church in Caracas. Yoxandris, Sergio’s wife, designed and made the liturgical stoles that I wear.

Gustavo Arturo Maita, Sergio’s brother, taught the 26 deaconess program graduates in a more advanced study of responding to natural disasters. Arturo currently the pastor of Príncipe de Paz (Prince of Peace) Lutheran Church in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, and is director of disaster response for the Puerto Rican Lutheran mission. Since he took the call to Puerto Rico, the island has been hammered by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017; earthquakes in late 2019 and early 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21; Hurricane Fiona in 2022; and in May 2024 Puerto Rico’s governor declared a state of emergency following heavy rains, widespread flooding and landslides. 

Arturo had a little trouble getting his PowerPoint presentation projector up and running, but received some unexpected help in illustrating the desperation of people caught in natural disasters. On the afternoon of June 29, a thunderstorm brought strong winds and torrential rain, resulting in a loss of electricity to the campground. There was no backup generator and the campground’s electric water pumps were no longer able to replenish the water supply. Thanks be to God, power was restored later that evening. 

Arturo brought a wealth of printed material about organized disaster response. It was translated into Spanish from material developed by LCMS Disaster Response. After the seminar, many of the women who returned to their homes near Venezuela's northeastern coast expressed their gratitude for all of the information, as Hurricane Beryl, the first storm of the 2024 hurricane season, brushed Venezuela, causing heavy rain and wind, flooding and power outages. Two deaths were reported in northern Venezuela’s Sucre state, where authorities said another five people are unaccounted for and a total of 25,000 have been affected by heavy rains, winds and river flooding from the outer bands of the storm. Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was injured after being hit by a falling tree while visiting one of the affected towns. 

Good fences make good neighbors

 In our case, we built a stout fence as a gesture of good will toward the civil authorities. There is the possibility that we may be allowed to expand our preschool program to allow more children to attend (there is a waiting list). But we were told fencing the steeper section of our property was a prerequisite. The property is in the shape of the letter L. The short leg of the L, parallel to the street, is where we now have our house, church/school, playground and outbuildings. The long leg slopes down toward the river, and is where we have our well and plantings of fruits and vegetables. If it was cleared off and if there was ever snow, it would be a terrific sledding hill. But not in 20 years has anyone fallen down and hurt themselves on it. But we built it, and now we have the advantage of keeping our growing chicken flock out of everyone’s way. They have a back door to their chicken house by which they come and go.