Build-up

For the second time in three years, Presbyterian international mission workers this fall traveled to the United States in the fall and fanned out across the country for a month to talk with Presbyterians. Many Crescent Hill folks were involved in both of these fanning out efforts, and the September 2009 Crescent Hill church visit of Dennis Smith, as well as “international peacemaker” Delia Leal, was part of this.

These travelers and other Presbyterians interested in international mission gathered together after this month of traveling this year for a World Mission Celebration in Cincinnati. A bunch of small Presbyterian international mission groups – including the Guatemala mission network and the Amigos de K’ekchi (as well as a network associated with the Guatemala-based organization that Dennis Smith and Delia Leal are part of) – gathered before this big gathering started.

Crescent Hill folks had been a little involved with the Guatemala and Amigos groups in the past.

Soni and Perry had participated in an unofficial Guatemala network gathering associated with the Cincinnati gathering’s 2007 predecessor. It was at this gathering where we met folks from First Presbyterian Church in Howard County, Maryland, whose U.S. congregation-to-Guatemalan presbytery became a model for Crescent Hill’s much newer partnership with the Estore o presbytery. At a time when Crescent Hill was wavering on whether to try to forge ahead with a possible partnership, we had a phone conservation with two folks from that congregation, including the co-pastor, Sue, and a laywoman who was a partnership leader, Becky.

A little over a year ago, when Crescent Hill folks were still exploring our Guatemala partnership interest, half a dozen folks traveled to Nashville for a gathering of the Amigos de K’ekchi, a federation of Presbyterian congregations and presbyteries not terribly involved with the mission network but with strong links with Q’eqchi’-speaking Guatemalan communities. I noticed that a number of the congregations involved in the Amigos federation were more wealthy or large than Crescent Hill. I wondered out loud to Richard, from the not-quite-so-wealthy Inland Northwest presbytery (in Washington state), whether it would make sense for the then Estore o presbytery-in-formation or any other Q’eqchi’ Presbyterian group to affiliate with our church, given our lack of size and wealth. Richard rejected the logic of this argument and cut to the chase: “The “Q’eqchi’ don’t need rich partners; they need people who care.” And that persuaded me.

A year ago, after these and other events and conversations, had persuaded Crescent Hell folks to pursue our partnership interests, Stephanie and Ellen traveled to a church camp on Lake Amatitlan near Guatemala City for a Guatemala mission network gathering. This gathering was important for several reasons. Contacting Estore o folks in advance about this gathering was the first time we had communicated with Estore o folks in more than a year, and, when Ellen, Stephanie, Pastor Gerardo, and Pastor Pablo gto together during the gathering, this was the first time Estore o and Crescent Hill folks had gotten together in person in a year and a half. Theologically informed dialogue about partnership principles informed the Amatitlan conversations among Stephanie et al. and subsequent conversations, which helped shift our partnership away from benevolence and towards engagement.

Crescent Hill folks missed a follow-up Amigos de K’eckhi gathering in the Inland Northwest’s Washington state that came just a month after Crescent Hill’s spring 2009 mission trip.

But in late October Crescent Hill folks had an opportunity at the start of the 2009 Mission Celebration to dialogue again with folks involved in these two important groups that had played such an important role in the unfolding of the Crescent Hill-Estore o partnership. Jerry and I attended the first half of the Guatemala mission network gathering, and I split off after a lunch to a very small Amigos de K’ekchi steering committee gathering.

-- Perry