The Word of the Lord endures forever

On October 3, 2024, we celebrated, along with our preschool children and their families, 21 years of our Christian preschool. On October 7, local authorities shut it down. We knew we were approaching a turning point and had been hopeful that we might be able to expand our community education program this school year. But the decision went the other way.

What happened? Since mid-September we were involved in the latest round of a struggle that continued for more than a decade. To begin at the beginning, we started our preschool with the help of a non-governmental organization that existed in the early 2000s. This philanthropic enterprise, Fundación del Niño, provided foodstuffs for preparing nutritionally balanced breakfast and lunch, and certified teachers to establish neighborhood preschools in private homes that met certain standards for health and safety. Luz Maria enrolled her home in this program and we were off to the races. The foundation was quite pleased with our ability to meet the material needs of the children, and had no problem with the fact that our daily routine included prayer, Bible readings, Christian songs and Biblically oriented crafts.

As time went on, the Ministry of Education of the state of Barinas took over more and more of the funding and administration of the program. Eventually, all of the in-home preschools but ours were closed. We were able to keep ours open because of overwhelming support from the surrounding community. But every year since 2012 we have had to contend with a faction within the state bureacracy that wants to close our preschool. Every year we have won the argument with support from the families of our preschool children, although with constantly changing, at times arbitrary regulations. From 2003 to 2020, children attended our preschool from two to six years of age, with a graduation ceremony to see them off to first grade. Since 2020, the parents, although they prefer our preschool, have had to transfer their children to state-run preschools at three years of age with no farewell.

We have long suspected this oposition was ideological in nature. Luz Maria recalls how, some time ago, a representative of the school district told her that we should be prepared to be assigned a homosexual teacher. Luz Maria told the representative that was a non-negociable “No”. 

This time we were told plainly that the only way our preschool could continue to operate was if a) we turned our property over to the state; and b) eliminated all the religious content from our educational program. Once again, the community rallied to our support. More than 200 people signed a petition to keep our preschool open. For awhile it seemed like the fight was in our favor, with the possibility we might even be able expand beyond the preschool level. Then came the October 7 announcement and, two days later, the confiscation of preschool furniture and equipment that had been lent to us in 2003. The families staged a protest at the preschool to which their children had been transferred. They have not given up and plan to make further appeals.

So we are considering ways to continue our ministry in a somewhat different form. One option still open to us is registering as a completely private school. This would require, first of all, that we would have to charge tuition. Since the community wants what we have to offer, at least some parents may well be willing to pay minimal tuition. Third, we would be completely responsible for paying at least one teacher with full benefits. 

Otherwise, we still have Luz Maria´s afterschool tutoring. We could expand that program to include weekend workshops in remedial mathematics and English, for example. Also, there is the possibility of seminars in other subjects of interest to the community, such as gardening and food preparation. In any event, we will have to turn the page and start a new chapter in our ministry, God willing. We have walked in faith since the beginning, and, by His grace, have stayed the course for 21 years. Thanks be to the Lord for that, and we trust that the future is in His hands.

507 years of the Reformation

On Sunday, October 27, we observed Reformation Sunday at our mission in La Caramuca. It was a low-key event this year, although in the past a number of people have received first communion at our Reformation service. These include Diana Carolina Torres, Jeckson Gabriel Marquez, Kimberly Marquez, Sandro Perez, Noel Alexander Marquina, Pedro Santana, Karelis Santana, Jimmy Perez, Angi Perez, Deisi Torres, Yovanny Torres, Yhonny Torres, Jeison Manuel Arellano, Anyi Garrido and Oriana Montoya, 
On October 31, we observed Reformation Day with an evening service at Corpus Christi Lutheran Church, our sister congregation in Barrio El Cambio, Barinas. Corpus Christi currently does not have a full-time pastor. After the service, we celebrated with cake and popcorn, not only the Reformation, but 25 years of marriage for Ludy and Adonay Tarazona, members of Corpus Christi.
The sermon text was the same for both services: "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth -- to ever nation, tribe, tongue, and people -- saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water" (Revelation 14:6-7). 
This verse teaches that evangelism involves proclamation of God's righteousness (the Law) and God's mercy (the good news or Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ). All have sinned and fallen short of God's righteous, but Jesus paid the penalty for all on the cross. But for forgiveness to be received, there must be recognition of sin, which the Law brings, and repentance which flows from faith in God's Word.

Lex orandi, lex credendi: 500 years of Lutheran hymnals

Prosper of Aquitaine, a disciple of St. Augustine, coined the Latin phrase, "Lex orandi, lex credendi". Literally it means, "Rule of prayer, rule of belief". More broadly, the structure and content of worship both reflects and shapes personal belief. This has been the guiding philosophy of 500 years of Lutheran hymnals, as we learned from the Rev. Dr. Sergio Fritzler, director of Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Fritzler presented an overview of the development of hymnals up until the time of Johann S. Bach in a October 30 Facebook conference.The first distinctly Lutheran hymnal was published in 1524. Although it was a complete paragraph of German text, it was more widely known as "Achtliederbuch" ("The Book of Eight Songs"). Five songs were written by Martin Luther, two by Paul Speratus and one by Justus Jonas. The Luther songs are included, in Himnario Luterano, the new Spanish-language hymnal published by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

On October 25, Luz Maria and I participated in a Zoom conference in which Dr. Douglas Rutt, professor emeritus  at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Missouri, spoke on the "Reformation in its Global Contact", particulary with reference to the European colonization of the Western Hemisphere.