The title of this little reflection is “Risk.” I’d thought about calling it “Faith,” but that’s something I know almost nothing about. On the other hand, risk to life and limb in Central America is something I fancy I know a good bit about. Maria and I lived there for almost 4 years in the 1980s.
When the group of us met last week to plan today’s worship service, one of us wondered out loud if we shouldn’t mention the risks that we had taken to travel and stay in Guatemala—the “intentional killing” rate there, for example, is 38 per 100,000 people, which is about nine times higher than it is in the U.S. Plus there’s a list of things like kidnapping, robbery, bad roads, bad drivers, malaria, dengue, and water-born illnesses that anyone with an unhealthy level of anxiety could brood over for a long time. But my immediate response to the suggestion that we talk about this, which in retrospect I see was a probably unsuccessful attempt at graciousness, was that I didn’t feel like I’d taken any significant risk.
When it was my turn to say what I thought was the most important thing to share at this worship service, I said it was the trip we took to Panzos. This happened on our first full morning in El Estor, the morning after we’d spent the night in the homes of different members of the Arca de Noe church. Some of us, including Jane, were giving a workshop on church leadership at the presbytery meeting, so only about half our group made the trip.
The trip took about an hour, following the northern side of Lake Izabal. Just as we reached the border between the departments of Izabal and Alta Verapaz we came to a dirt road leading off toward the mountain to the north. A man was waiting for us beside a gate, which he was already opening by the time our mini-bus got there. He hopped onto the bus and rode with us for the trip out to the community, which was only about a half mile.
The bus stopped at a house, the first house of 18, as it turned out, the house that was closest to the road. We piled out. The community was all waiting there for us. The sun was hot and bright. We were invited into the porch of the house, kind of a lean-to. This space was used to store two stacks of hundred-weight bags of chemical fertilizer that the people had managed to buy cheaply through a government program and which they were saving for the time when they actually had any land to use it on.
The space was maybe ten feet square, not room enough for everyone, but enough room for us, the visitors, to all sit down in the shade.
This territory was familiar to me. When I lived in Central America I often traveled out to rural communities of incredibly poor people, who showed me every kindness and all hospitality, and asked them to talk to me about what they were going through.
These families had been part of a larger community that lived right there until about 3 years ago when they were persuaded to move to work a big farm on the other side of the mountain range. Then, recently, 18 of the families decided to move back because the other place didn’t have a school. They didn’t really have a school in Panzos either, as it turned out. The kids (35 of them) now have to walk an hour and a half to school.
They said that they didn’t own the land. The land was owned by the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala, the IENPG, which had bought it to relocate families displaced by the destruction of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. There was a hold-up. They didn’t know what it was. The land had to be surveyed. There were questions about the title. Lawyers were needed for something. They were working through the Presbytery of El Estor to try to get things moving but they didn’t know where the process was. Whether it was a question of lack of resources, lack of commitment, forgetfulness, bureaucracy…. They didn’t know.
After our talk we sang some hymns and prayed and then we walked around the community for a while. People were in the middle of building their houses or carving out a flat space on the mountainside in preparation for building. They had some sweet potatoes and squash here and there. We loosened up a bit, talked about the great view and the nice breeze they had up on the mountain.
We were only in Panzos for about two hours but we went from feeling like Martians dropping in from a spaceship to feeling like the same people who come from very, very different circumstances.
Here’s the thing. Although we couldn’t have expected it or predicted it, our visit cheered them up enormously. Just showing up and listening to them say what they were going through made them feel a little more connected to the rest of the world.
They had testified, and we witnessed their testimony. If we accepted that what they said was true, which we did, then we became in some sense—a sense we haven’t yet defined—responsible for their testimony. That’s the risk we’re taking, the risk that we would go to Guatemala and get to know people and begin to feel responsible, before the God we say we believe in, as witnesses to their situation.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday worship plan
We Gather in God’s Name
Welcome Guests!
Creation Calls Us to Worship
Greeting by Elder Gayle Trautwein
Leader: The peace of the risen Christ be with you.
People: And also with you.
The Life of the Church
Prelude: “The Music of the Jungle”
*Call to Worship (Perry Chang)
Leader: The mountains shelter the oasis. The sun and rain nourish your creation. The lake and fields feed your people. And the animals cry out your name.
People: Alleluia! God is here!
*Hymn #472 PH “Cantad al Señor/O Sing to the Lord” (Sing the first verse in Spanish and all others in English)
*Prayer of Confession (Soni Castleberry)
Leader: Creator Dios, you made the heavens and the earth, el sol and la luna. You formed the sky above and the aqua below. You let the waters separate into seas, rivers and lagos.
People: You made the tierra that emerged rich for growing all kinds of plantas to meet our daily needs. You created stars to give luz to this world and to provide direction and structure for our time.
Leader: You filled your creation with fish, birds and other living creatures. And finally, you created an hombre and a mujer in your own image and with dominion over themselves and all you had made. You proclaimed it all — excellente!
People: Dear God, we confess that we take for granted your amazing creaciónes. We abuse the land, waters, air and creatures that inhabit them. We abuse each other and ourselves too.
Leader: We forget you created each of us as único, equal beings meant to be interdependent. Instead, we become uncomfortable when others do not seem like us. We forget those diferencias are just other images of you in them.
People: You created us to work in partnership. Instead, we fear reaching out to form conexiónes or do not trust that you will make a way to allow us to experience things we did not believe we could.
Leader: Help us, Dios, to be more willing to step out of our comfort zones. Help us escuchar to you and act on what we hear. Help us to believe the verdad that you are always with us—here at home, in Guatemala, wherever we are.
People: In the name of Christ, we offer ourselves for forgiveness yet again.
(Silence for examination of conscience and personal prayers of confession)
*Pouring of the Baptismal Water
*Hymn #2007 SF “Santa, Santo, Santo”
(Doug Yeager will play, then Luiz Kemmerle will sing a cappella, then congregation will be invited to join in singing)
Santo, santo, santo,
mi corazón te adora!
Mi corazón te sabe decir:
Santo eres, Dios!
*Declaration of Forgiveness
Leader: God forgives us:
People: God makes peace within us and among us.
Leader: Let us claim this healing, in faith and hope.
*Sung Response: “Bienvenido!”
Bienvenido! Bienvenido!
Los hermanos hoy aquí
nos gozamos endecir;
Bienvenido! Bienvenido!
Al volvernos a reunir,
Bienvenido!
(Loose translation: Welcome! We have great joy in saying Welcome! Until we meet again, Welcome!)
*The Peace in Q´eqchi´
Leader: Lix tuktuil rusilal li kawa chi cuank eeriki ut kukin.
People: Lix tuktuil rusilal li kawa chi cuank eeriki ut kukin.
(Translation: May the peace of Christ be with you.)
(Greet one another with signs of Christ’s peace.)
*Sung Response: “Peace, Salaam, Shalom”
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Peace, Salaam, Shalom.
*Litany of Parting
Congregation: May God be with you there.
Children: May God be with you here.
We Hear and Proclaim God’s Word
Prayer for Illumination
The Message Through Scripture and Reflection
Genesis 1#26-27 (Doug Yeager)
John 1#1-5, 14 (Luiz Kemmerle)
Reflection (Peter Kemmerle)
Romans 1#8-12 (Vince Mathews)
Reflection (Stephanie Gregory)
Reflection (Douglass Yeager)
Deuteronomy 31#7-8 (Ginny Brown)
Reflection (Ginny Brown)
We Respond to God’s Word
*Hymn: “Unidos” (Sing first in English, then in Spanish)
Together, together, in your name, we gather.
Together, together, in your name, we gather.
Then we’ll have in this world peace and love around us.
Then we’ll have in this world peace and love around us.
Together we’re united; we hold hands as we struggle;
we walk into the world singing God’s song of love.
The glory of our Lord, resplendent ever will shine.
The whole world will be joyful with love and peace.
Unidos, unidos, en tu nombre unidos.
Unidos, unidos, en tu nombre unidos.
Pues en esté mundo paz y amor tendremos,
Pues en esté mundo paz y amor tendremos.
Unidos, siempre unidos, toman donos las manos
iremos por el mundo cantando al amor.
La Gloria de Jesus, al fin resplandecera
Y el mundo llenara de amor y de paz.
Gathering the Prayers of the People (Ginny Brown)
Minute for Mission (Amanda Craft)
The Offering (Perry Chang)
Offertory: “Raul’s Song”
*Sung Response #2184 SF “Sent Out in Jesus’ Name” (Sing in either English or Spanish)
English: Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain
into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is ours to do, to set it really free,
O help us to obey and carry out your will.
Spanish: Enviado soy de Dios, mi mano lista está
para construir con El un mundo fraternal.
Enviado soy de Dios, mi mano lista está
para construir con El un mundo fraternal.
Los ángeles no son enviados a cambiar
un mundo de dolor por un mundo de paz.
Me ha tocadoa mí hacerlo realidad; ayúdame, Señor, a hacer tu voluntad.
We Give Thanks to God
*Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: Take what we and our brothers and sisters in Christ offer
People: and blend it into a heavenly concoction that unites us in praise, service, and thanksgiving to You.
We Go in God’s Name
*Hymn #432 PH “Song of Hope” (Sing first in Spanish, then in English)
*Charge and Blessing (Jane Larsen-Wigger)
All: *Alleluia! Amen!
Welcome Guests!
Creation Calls Us to Worship
Greeting by Elder Gayle Trautwein
Leader: The peace of the risen Christ be with you.
People: And also with you.
The Life of the Church
Prelude: “The Music of the Jungle”
*Call to Worship (Perry Chang)
Leader: The mountains shelter the oasis. The sun and rain nourish your creation. The lake and fields feed your people. And the animals cry out your name.
People: Alleluia! God is here!
*Hymn #472 PH “Cantad al Señor/O Sing to the Lord” (Sing the first verse in Spanish and all others in English)
*Prayer of Confession (Soni Castleberry)
Leader: Creator Dios, you made the heavens and the earth, el sol and la luna. You formed the sky above and the aqua below. You let the waters separate into seas, rivers and lagos.
People: You made the tierra that emerged rich for growing all kinds of plantas to meet our daily needs. You created stars to give luz to this world and to provide direction and structure for our time.
Leader: You filled your creation with fish, birds and other living creatures. And finally, you created an hombre and a mujer in your own image and with dominion over themselves and all you had made. You proclaimed it all — excellente!
People: Dear God, we confess that we take for granted your amazing creaciónes. We abuse the land, waters, air and creatures that inhabit them. We abuse each other and ourselves too.
Leader: We forget you created each of us as único, equal beings meant to be interdependent. Instead, we become uncomfortable when others do not seem like us. We forget those diferencias are just other images of you in them.
People: You created us to work in partnership. Instead, we fear reaching out to form conexiónes or do not trust that you will make a way to allow us to experience things we did not believe we could.
Leader: Help us, Dios, to be more willing to step out of our comfort zones. Help us escuchar to you and act on what we hear. Help us to believe the verdad that you are always with us—here at home, in Guatemala, wherever we are.
People: In the name of Christ, we offer ourselves for forgiveness yet again.
(Silence for examination of conscience and personal prayers of confession)
*Pouring of the Baptismal Water
*Hymn #2007 SF “Santa, Santo, Santo”
(Doug Yeager will play, then Luiz Kemmerle will sing a cappella, then congregation will be invited to join in singing)
Santo, santo, santo,
mi corazón te adora!
Mi corazón te sabe decir:
Santo eres, Dios!
*Declaration of Forgiveness
Leader: God forgives us:
People: God makes peace within us and among us.
Leader: Let us claim this healing, in faith and hope.
*Sung Response: “Bienvenido!”
Bienvenido! Bienvenido!
Los hermanos hoy aquí
nos gozamos endecir;
Bienvenido! Bienvenido!
Al volvernos a reunir,
Bienvenido!
(Loose translation: Welcome! We have great joy in saying Welcome! Until we meet again, Welcome!)
*The Peace in Q´eqchi´
Leader: Lix tuktuil rusilal li kawa chi cuank eeriki ut kukin.
People: Lix tuktuil rusilal li kawa chi cuank eeriki ut kukin.
(Translation: May the peace of Christ be with you.)
(Greet one another with signs of Christ’s peace.)
*Sung Response: “Peace, Salaam, Shalom”
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Peace, Salaam, Shalom,
Peace, Salaam, Shalom.
*Litany of Parting
Congregation: May God be with you there.
Children: May God be with you here.
We Hear and Proclaim God’s Word
Prayer for Illumination
The Message Through Scripture and Reflection
Genesis 1#26-27 (Doug Yeager)
John 1#1-5, 14 (Luiz Kemmerle)
Reflection (Peter Kemmerle)
Romans 1#8-12 (Vince Mathews)
Reflection (Stephanie Gregory)
Reflection (Douglass Yeager)
Deuteronomy 31#7-8 (Ginny Brown)
Reflection (Ginny Brown)
We Respond to God’s Word
*Hymn: “Unidos” (Sing first in English, then in Spanish)
Together, together, in your name, we gather.
Together, together, in your name, we gather.
Then we’ll have in this world peace and love around us.
Then we’ll have in this world peace and love around us.
Together we’re united; we hold hands as we struggle;
we walk into the world singing God’s song of love.
The glory of our Lord, resplendent ever will shine.
The whole world will be joyful with love and peace.
Unidos, unidos, en tu nombre unidos.
Unidos, unidos, en tu nombre unidos.
Pues en esté mundo paz y amor tendremos,
Pues en esté mundo paz y amor tendremos.
Unidos, siempre unidos, toman donos las manos
iremos por el mundo cantando al amor.
La Gloria de Jesus, al fin resplandecera
Y el mundo llenara de amor y de paz.
Gathering the Prayers of the People (Ginny Brown)
Minute for Mission (Amanda Craft)
The Offering (Perry Chang)
Offertory: “Raul’s Song”
*Sung Response #2184 SF “Sent Out in Jesus’ Name” (Sing in either English or Spanish)
English: Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
Sent out in Jesus’ name, our hands are ready now
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes.
The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain
into a world of love, of justice and of peace.
The task is ours to do, to set it really free,
O help us to obey and carry out your will.
Spanish: Enviado soy de Dios, mi mano lista está
para construir con El un mundo fraternal.
Enviado soy de Dios, mi mano lista está
para construir con El un mundo fraternal.
Los ángeles no son enviados a cambiar
un mundo de dolor por un mundo de paz.
Me ha tocadoa mí hacerlo realidad; ayúdame, Señor, a hacer tu voluntad.
We Give Thanks to God
*Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: Take what we and our brothers and sisters in Christ offer
People: and blend it into a heavenly concoction that unites us in praise, service, and thanksgiving to You.
We Go in God’s Name
*Hymn #432 PH “Song of Hope” (Sing first in Spanish, then in English)
*Charge and Blessing (Jane Larsen-Wigger)
All: *Alleluia! Amen!
Another conversation
As preparations for the Sunday, August 12 Guatemala mission trip-focused worship service wound down before worship August 5, 2012 Guatemala mission team members brainstormed more about trip follow-up. Perry suggested that, instead of trying to rush the draft partnership plan through the Outreach Council and session, the Guatemala task force take more time to deliberate about it and perhaps to run it by the Estoreño partnership committee. Other suggested it be edited more. Peter also suggested that follow-up about the possible Panzos land distribution take place. Eventually, the group agreed to arrange to talk with CHPC’s Maria Arroyo about a range of issues related to working with the Guatemalan Presbyterian church (IENPG), the Q’eqchi’ presbyteries, and the PC(USA): facilitating the land distribution, trying to figure out the recommended 5% tithe to IENPG in connection with all gifts to individual presbyteries, sorting out the three different Q’eqchi’ theological education initiatives, and tracking the possible freeing up of the Walton funds for the education of indigenous people in Guatemala. Perry was to try to arrange such a time for discussion, which would build on a lunchtime discussion with Maria at Impellizeri’s on Main Street after the January 2011 Guatemala mission network gathering that she attended.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
August prayers
This month Crescent Hill church will pray with and for our Guatemalan partners:
- On Sunday, August 5, and the week thereafter: Puerto del Cielo church in the El Estor suburb of La Union and worshipers.
- On Sunday, August 12, and the week thereafter: Arca de Noe church in El Estor, Pastor Gerardo Pop Ich and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, August 19, and the week thereafter: Altar de Noe church in El Estor’s Los Cerritos neighborhood, Pastor Raul Contreras Tut and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, August 26, and the week thereafter: Espiritu Santo church in El Estor’s San Marcos neighborhood, Pastor José Domingo Xo Ical and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, September 2, and the week thereafter: Monte Sinai church in the village of San Carlos El Pouvenir outside of Puerto Barrios, Pastor Pastor Santos Teyul Mucu and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, August 5, and the week thereafter: Puerto del Cielo church in the El Estor suburb of La Union and worshipers.
- On Sunday, August 12, and the week thereafter: Arca de Noe church in El Estor, Pastor Gerardo Pop Ich and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, August 19, and the week thereafter: Altar de Noe church in El Estor’s Los Cerritos neighborhood, Pastor Raul Contreras Tut and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, August 26, and the week thereafter: Espiritu Santo church in El Estor’s San Marcos neighborhood, Pastor José Domingo Xo Ical and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
- On Sunday, September 2, and the week thereafter: Monte Sinai church in the village of San Carlos El Pouvenir outside of Puerto Barrios, Pastor Pastor Santos Teyul Mucu and family, and elders, deacons, and members.
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