June gathering

Almost a dozen Crescent Hill folks gathered Saturday at Heine Brothers to talk about Guatemala mission. Atop the list of topics for discussion was the possible October 7-15 visit by five Guatemalan partners. The group talked how the five Estoreño Presbytery reps slated to visit had obtained Guatemalan passports, with some assistance from Amanda in Antigua, and Crescent Hill had given letters of support/invitation to Amanda – from PC(USA)’s World Mission’s Maria Arroyo, from Mid-KY Presbytery’s Betty Meadows, and from Pastor Jane. Amanda is slated to be in the United States for a week or two, and then will carry those letters back to Guatemala, to give to the reps when they travel to Guatemala City for their visa application appointment (which Amanda will also attend) later this summer. Amanda is also to double-check the visa application fees and procedures. She will be in touch with both Crescent Hill and Estoreño folks, so that Crescent Hill might send money in advance for that and Estoreño folks might start making arrangements. The Crescent Hill group authorized sending the presbytery money very soon as reimbursement for invoiced costs associated with obtaining passports (fees, travel, lodging).

The group talked about the yard sale to raise funds for the trip, slated for the Crescent Hill Education building on the weekend of Saturday, August 6. Soni outlined some tasks associated with the yard sale, and folks attending volunteered to help lead various work groups (Doug and Perry for Publicity, Claudia and Lowell for Pre-sale, Ana for Logistics, Carlos and Nora for Clean-up, with no one yet signed for same-day Check-out). Other people who might help lead work groups were discussed. There was a fair amount of discussion about strategies of publicizing the yard sale, pick-up, and related issues. Soni’s to-do list about the yard sale will be distributed, and Soni will write an article for the July newsletter (to follow up on the article in the June newsletter).

The group moved outside and Ana and Carlos called Pastor Gerardo, with whom Carlos talked about at some length. They talked about logistics for the trip, about the Guatemalan Presbyterian church’s General Assembly, and about prayer concerns: the neighboring Izabal Presbytery (south of the lake), the Estoreño Presbytery, and Gerardo, who has taken on two additional responsibilities for the Guatemalan church, including serving on a committee for the Walton Fund.

Afterwards, the group talked about a possible visit to the immigrant detention center at the Boone County Jail in northern Kentucky. Information about this visit was discussed, and Pastor Jane, Claudia, Cora, Diana, Doug, Perry, Soni, and possibly Stephanie have expressed interest in going.

The group also talked about issues raised in letters from PC(USA) mission co-workers. First, in a letter and blog entry Philip Beisswenger talked about the discussion at the Guatemalan GA meeting in late May (which Gerardo did not bring up on the phone) where church leaders said we’d agree to disagree. They were not fans of the policy change, but they agreed to stay in relationship with the PC(USA). (For more information, see Philip’s blog entry at: http://pbpres.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/wrap-up-of-ienpg-synod-meeting.)

Second, a couple of recent communications dealt with incident of violence, including the murder of a female Q’eqchi’ activist in the neighboring Polocic Valley. PC(USA) mission co-worker Karla Koll, who has spoken at Crescent Hill and with mission team members in Guatemala City, dealt with this more broadly in another blog post, at: http://missioncrossroads.ning.com/profiles/blogs/some-thoughts-on-violence-in

Finally, Carlos asked Gerardo for the travelers to think about what they wanted to do while in Kentuckiana. Gerardo said they were interested in what Crescent Hill folks wanted to do with them while here. Something else Gerardo said suggested meeting with some church leaders at the Presbyterian Center might be in order. The group also discussed other ideas: a church fellowship event like going to Hubers, a trip to Bernheim Forest or Mammoth Caves, visits to the presbytery office or seminary, as well as the possibility of \Gerardo (or Raul Contreras) preaching, of them going to a Sunday school class or being part of a Food for Thought lunch, or an EFL meal.

The group agreed to meet next at 9:30 a.m., on Saturday, July 9, at Brad and Soni’s place, also in St. Matthews.

-- Perry