Visit schedule

Hi everyone, it's only about six hours until our Guatemalan partners are here in Lousiville!

Below is the closest we have on the schedule for their visit and folks who we know have committed to being involved. You will notice that most things listed are ALL WELCOME. We are serious about this. This is truly the time for "all the merrier." Things not marked for all are usually some small group or one on one times. If one of those really interests you the most, let us know and we're sure something can be worked out. If you did agree to do something and don't see yourself listed, just let us know. A lot of information is flowing and we probably just goofed. But please know we really do want everyone in the congregation to have the opportunity to be in the presence of these wonderful friends. Please take a look and find something you'd enjoy doing. There are many diverse opportunities. If you have any questions, contact Perry Chang at home, 384-4439 evenings, or Soni Castleberry 417-6481 anytime.


Tuesday, November 29

10:00 a.m. (CST) Arrive at the Guatemala City airport
12:30 p.m. (CST) Depart Guatemala City by air
4:30 p.m. (CST) Late lunch at the Houston airport
8:41 p.m. (EST) Arrive in Louisville – Flight 4481 ContinentalExpress (Express Jet Airlines) from Houston. Greetings/introductions, prayer for safe arrival and all head home! (ALL WELCOME!)


Wednesday, November 30

7:00 a.m. Breakfast with host families
9:30 a.m. Participate in Stephanie Gregory’s English as a Second Language class
at Fairmont Elementary School in New Albany IN
11:30 a.m. Lunch at La Rosita, 336 Pearl St., downtown New Albany IN and discussion of CHPC proposed schedule for the visit (ALL WELCOME!)
1:00 p.m. Visit the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, IN (ALL WELCOME!)
3:30 p.m. Survival English class after-school at Fairmount Elementary School
5:00 p.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church (CHPC) Fireside Room/Education Building
6:30 p.m. Guatemalans have deacon-prepared dinner with church staff, Outreach Council
participants, session elders, deacons, and Guatemalan Partnership Task Force
7:00 p.m. Discussion about how our churches do outreach/mission/evangelism (ALL WELCOME!) Followed by Marc Daniels (aka Marcus Perry) juggling


Thursday, December 1

7:00 a.m. Breakfast with host families
8:30 a.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own-CHPC Fireside Rm./Education Bldg. and then Pastor Jane gives tour of church buildings
11:00 a.m. Driving tour of Preston Highway area and discussion with Pastor Elmer Zavala (meet at Bethlehem Baptist Church, 5708 Preston Highway)
11:45 a.m. Lunch discussion with Mid-Kentucky Presbytery Ecclesia new ministries group at Kynn’s Paradise Café, 984 Barret Ave. (ALL WELCOM!)
2:00 p.m. Discussion with Carla McMillin and tour of United Crescent Hill Ministries,
150 State Street (off Frankfort Ave.) (ALL WELCOME!)
3:30 p.m. Discussion with Irene Spicer and tour Presbyterian Community Center (PCC)
731 S. Hancock St.(ALL WELCOME!
5:00 p.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own-CHPC Fireside Rm./Education Bldg.
6:00 p.m. Potluck supper and Spanish-language conversation with Spanish class


Friday, December 2

7:00 a.m. Breakfast with host families
8:30 a.m. Leave CHPC to tour Edge Outreach, 414 Baxter Ave., at 9 a.m. (ALL WELCOME!)
10:30 a.m. Tour (in Spanish) of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (LPTS) with Carlos Lara (Meet at Winn Center)(ALL WELCOME!)
11:30 a.m. Mid-day worship at the LPTS chapel with one Guatemalan participating (ALL WELCOME!)
12:30 p.m. Lunch discussion with LPTS faculty, staff and students at LPTS dining hall in the Winn Center (ALL WELCOME!)
2:00 p.m. Coffee with Professor Carvalhaes at Heine Brothers (location TBA)
3:30 p.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own-CHPC Fireside Rm./Education Bldg.
4:00 p.m. Convervation in CHPC's Fireside Room with Jennifer Thalman Kepler and other members of the Looking for Lilith theatre company regarding their work in Guatemala
5:15 p.m. Partnership discussion (CHPC Fireside Room) (ALL WELCOME!)
7:00 p.m. Guatemalan Mission Team members are dinner guests of the Lara family


Saturday, December 3

8:30 a.m. Register for the Santa Sprint and Stroll at Barrett Traditional Middle School, 2561 Grinstead Drive (back entrance). Cost is a $25 donation to support United Crescent Hill Ministries.
9:00 a.m. Walk the Santa Sprint and Stroll (ALL WELCOME!)
10:45 a.m. Discussion at CHPC Fireside Room about Advent and Christmas practices
at Crescent Hill church and Estoreño Presbytery congregations and among Crescent Hill and Estoreño families (ALL WELCOME!)
12 noon Lunch in the CHPC Fellowship Hall (ALL WELCOME!) (We would still welcome volunteers to make soup, bring bread or dessert or help set up or clean up.)
1:00 p.m. Partnership discussion – CHPC Fireside Room (ALL WELCOME!) (Translator still needed.)
3:00 p.m. Depart Louisville for 4:00 p.m. reception with the Elizabethtown (KY) First
Presbyterian Church’s Guatemala mission tssk force at the Swope’s Cars of Yesteryear Museum, 1100 Dixie Ave., in Elizabethtown (ALL WELCOME!)
6:45 p.m. Guatemalan Mission Team members are dinner guests of Andrea Trautwein


Sunday, December 4

8:00 a.m. Breakfast with host families
9:45 a.m. Spanish-language/bilingual Sunday school class, Fellowship Hall’s Upper Room (ALL WELCOME!)
11:00 a.m. English-language worship service (with Guatemalans sharing testimonies)
(ALL WELCOME!)
12:15 p.m. Potluck lunch (with Guatemalans speaking about what our partnership has meant to them) (ALL WELCOME!)
2:00 p.m. Parallel activities: French-language worship service and shopping with CHPC youth for United Crescent Hill Ministries-sponsored family
3:00 p.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own-CHPC Fireside Rm./Education Bldg.
4:00 p.m. Presbyterian Women event at CHPC – Translator still needed (ALL WELCOME!))
5:40 p.m. Potluck supper at Highland Presbyterian Church’s “Christmas Around the World” with dialogue with their Nicaragua Mission Task Force.
Church location: 1011 Cherokee Road (ALL WELCOME!)


Monday, December 5

7:00 a.m. Breakfast with host families
8:00 a.m. Visit Churchill Downs backside
10:00 a.m. Visit Kentucky Derby Museum
(ALL WELCOME: Known to date: Perry Chang (D) and Soni Castleberry (D), and Jennifer Thalman Kepler(T) and hopefully Will Farrell (T)
12 noon Lunch at Subway at Science Center, 727 W. Main St. (ALL WELCOME!)
1:30 p.m. Any two museums – TBA- Science Center for the Lewis and Clark IMAX movie,
Slugger Factory, Frazier International History Museum, Ali Center or Kentucky Arts and Crafts (ALL WELCOME!) (Translator still needed)
4:30 p.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own-CHPC Fireside Rm./Education Bldg.
6:30 p.m. Guatemala mission team members are dinner guests of Paula Tibbs and
Lengulula Kashama (still to be confirmed)


Tuesday, December 6

7:30 a.m. Breakfast with host families
8:45 a.m. Meet with Betty Meadows and Tony Aja at the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery office
at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, 421 S. Second St.
10:45 a.m. Meet with Hunter Farrell at Presbyterian Center
12 noon Lunch discussion with Presbyterian Center staff and downtown lunch group at Mayan Café, 813 E. Market St. (ALL WELCOME!)
1:15 p.m. Meet with Maria Arroyo @ Presbyterian Center
2:30 p.m. Tour proposed Portland Presbyterian Church campus, Portland Avenue at 32nd Street. (Meet at construction trailer with “Do Not Be Afraid” banner) (ALL WELCOME!)
4:30 p.m. Guatemalans debrief and relax on their own-CHPC Fireside Rm./Education Bldg.
5:30 p.m. Partnership discussion in CHPC’s Fireside Room (ALL WELCOME!)
7:00 p.m. Dinner at El Tarasco, Fairfax Avenue, off Shelbyville Road, across from Trinity High School (we have the back room reserved)(ALL WELCOME – fiesta time!)


Wednesday, December 7

4:45 a.m. EST Send off our partners with hugs and prayers at Louisville International Airport (ALL WELCOME!)
6:00 a.m. EST Depart Louisville by air
10:30 a.m. CST Brunch at the Houston airport
12 noon CST Arrive in Guatemala City
2:00 p.m. CST Depart Guatemala City by bus


Thursday, December 8

6:00 a.m. CST Arrive in El Estor


Host families: Soni and Brad Castleberry for Macaria Caal Maquin
Perry Chang, Stephanie Gregory and Vince Mathews for Pastor Ramiro Quib Caal
Jane Larsen-Wigger and Brad Wigger for Pastor Gerardo Ich Pop


- Soni

Thanksgiving

You may have heard the news that three of the five representatives of Crescent Hill’s partner presbytery in Guatemala have obtained visas to visit Kentuckiana – NEXT WEEK! We thank God this week for the opportunity for Guatemalan and Crescent Hill Presbyterians to share with each other and learn from each other starting later this month. Prayerfully consider how you might offer our visitors a dose of Crescent Hill hospitality and how you might share with them and learn from their visit.

Slated to be here are:
- Gerardo Pop, the 65-year-old moderator of the presbytery and pastor of the largest church
- Ramiro Quib Caal, a 38-year-old elder and longtime presbytery officer
- Macaria Caal Maquin, a 50-year-old leader in the presbytery’s Presbyterian Women organization

Among the all-church opportunities to interaction will be:
- Welcome the Guatemalan mission team at 8:45 p.m. next Tuesday, November 29, at the Louisville airport
- A Saturday AM, December 3 all-church outing to Mammoth Caves
- Sunday, December 4, worship, during which a couple of the Guatemalans will speak
- Sunday, December 4 all-church potluck lunch, during which a couple of the Guatemalans will speak

The Guatemalans will also be connecting with some smaller groups, some of which you may be part of:
- Deacons, church staff, and Outreach Council participants at a 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 30 supper and discussion
- Spanish class participants at a 6:00 p.m. Thursday, December 1 potluck supper and class
- Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary faculty, staff, and students at midday worship and then at lunch in the Winn Center dining room on Friday, December 2
- Youth group at the United Crescent Hill Ministries/Target shopping trip after lunch Sunday, December 4
- Crescent Hill Presbyterian Women and other PW folks at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 4
- Presbyterian Center staff and Crescent Hill downtown lunch group for lunch downtown after Presbyterian Center mid-day prayer service at 12 noon, Tuesday, December 6

Crescent Hill folks may also hang out with our visitors during other activities or help drive or even translate between Spanish and English (if you’re able to). Let us know when you might be available and what for.

They're coming!

Saturday gathering

Crescent Hill folks interested in finalizing plans for the Kentuckiana visit by Estoreño Presbytery representatives will gather at Stephanie, Perry, and Vincent’s home at 3928 Kennison Avenue, sort of behind Trinity High School (campus pictured above) and Heine Brothers on Chenoweth Lane, at 9:45 a.m. Saturday. Everyone is welcome.

Monday

Prayers for our five friends hoping to obtain visas to visit the United States, leaving El Estor at 1:00 a.m. tonight by car and traveling all night through Rio Dulce (pictured above). We should know Monday night whether they will be coming to visit Kentuckiana as planned (Tuesday PM, November 29, through Wednesday AM, December 7). A 6:00 p.m. Monday, November 28 meeting may be in order in advance of the visit.

Election results

Otto Perez Molina, the former general and intelligence chief, won the Guatemala's president election this past Sunday, with 54 percent of the vote, against a populist candidate who emerged later during the election. Molina's Patriotic Party own a plurality in parliament, with more deputies than a short-lived coalition that included the outgoing center-left president's party, which endorsed Molina's opponent. Molina, like each man Guatemala has elected as president since the Peace Accords, ran second in the previous election

- Perry

Early November gathering

Help plan the possible Kentuckiana visit by Crescent Hill’s Guatemala partners by participating in a gathering at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, November 5, at Brad and Soni Castleberry’s at 209 Fairfax Avenue, Unit 1, kitty corner from the St. Matthews library and down the street from El Tarasco restaurant. Contact Soni at 896-8561 or Andrea at 895-1102 for more information. Everyone is welcome

Sunday's vote

In the face of a fall of torrential rains, Guatemalans go to the polls this Sunday, November 4, for a presidential election runoff. The election pits retired Army General Otto Perez Molina (of the right-wing Patriot Party), who garnered some one-third of the vote in the September 11 first-round election), against populist millionaire businessman Manuel Baldizon (of the centrist Renewed Democratic Liberty Party), who garnered some one-quarter of the vote. There was no presidential candidate from the party of outgoing President Colom in the election. Opined PC(USA) mission co-worker Karla Koll about the two candidates: "Both are making lots of promises that can’t be fulfilled. Both are reported to have tied to drug cartels. The lack of political alternatives at the national level is a good reminder that change here will not come through the formal political process, but through people organizing at the community level to hold their leaders accountable. Please pray that the elections will take place without violence and intimidation."

- Perry

November prayers

This month Crescent Hill church will pray with and for our Guatemalan partners:

-On Sunday, November 6, and the week thereafter: Hijo del Dios Viviente church in the village of La Guitarra outside of Livingston, Pastor Fidel Juc and family, and members, deacons, and elders

-On Sunday, November 13, and during the week thereafter: El Buen Samaritano church in El Estor’s Nuevo Amanacer neighborhood, and members, deacons, and elders.

-On Sunday, November 20, and during the week thereafter: Q’eqchi’ Estoreño, Izabal Presbytery Executive Committee, President Pablo Sacul, and other officers.

-On Sunday, November 27, and during the week thereafter: Estoreño Presbytery Presbyterian Women organization, President Maria Coc Tial, and other officers.

-On Sunday, December 4, and during the week thereafter: Estoreño Presbytery youth and young adult organization, President Roderico Sacul Tiul, and other officers.

EFL publicity

A dozen Crescent Hill, James Lees, and CCC folks gathered this past Wednesday to brainstorm about publicity for the joint English as a foreign language education ministry and, in the end, to plan its future. The group decided that the fall term would end as plan, on the Monday before Thanksgiving (November 21), but Monday would be a party, with no classes. The group decided on the Monday after the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday holiday (Monday, January 23) through Wednesday, March 14 as the dates for the winter term, and possibly Monday, April 9 (Easter Monday) through Wednesday, May 23 as the spring term. There was a wide discussion about publicity possibilities and a discussion of the need to remake the current flyer in a software that all could use (Phil volunteered to re-do it in Word) and possibly to include that students could start in the middle of the term and that the classes were not religious classes (for potentially leery non-Protestants). The group divvied up a range of different publicity responsibilities.

-Perry