Happy Fourth of July! After a night in which there was a lot of rain -- which served only to increase the humidity today to about 200% -- Kate and Daniela led our morning devotions today. We were asked to reflect on our experiences with the children here. Then we all prayed to be more childlike -- curious, open, trusting, fun-loving, carefree -- in our approach to life here.
Wednesday morning our 11 women led a workshop for our Guatemalan partner women. Men not allowed. After tossing a nerf football around for a few minutes, the eight men in our grupo were treated to a history lesson by the pastor of Iglesia Presbiteriana Arca de Noe (Noah´s Ark Presbyterian Church), where most of our gatherings are taking place here in El Estor.
Rev. Gerardo Pop told us that the beginnings of the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala date to 1882, when the then-president of the country invited Protestants (specifically the Presbyterian Church in Mexico) to send a missionary to Guatemala as an alternative to the Catholic Church, which had become entrenched and corrupt since priests arrived with ¨the conqueror Christopher Columbus." Through the Presbyterian Church in the United States, missionary John Clark Hill came to country to serve the first Presbyterian church in the country, in a building near the national palace in Guatemala City donated by the government. Thus Central Presbyterian Church in the capital has been the flagship of Presbyterianism here for 125 years now. Typical for Presbyterians, the new church first built a hospital (in 1910) and then a string of schools beginning in 1919.
It was not until 1950 that Presbyterians came to the Kek´chi region of Guatemala. The first ¨missionary¨was a mixed Ladino (Spanish descendant)-Indigenous Guatemalan rancher who has property in this area but who lived most of the time in Guatemala City. Travel back and forth between the capital and El Estor was very difficult then, so in 1960, Presbyterian officials from Guatemala City visited El Estor and seven years later sent the Rev. Oscar Barriento to El Estor to establish a Presbyterian presence among the Kek´chi. Getting started was difficult, because very few Kek´chi were literate in Spanish. So Barriento´s initial efforts consisted of introducing the Spanish language to the Kek´chi.
The first Kek´chi Presbyterian pastor, Julio Izam, was ordained in 1968. Our host, Gerardo Pop, is the fourth. His father, Santiago Pop, converted to Christianity while working as a laborer on a nearby ¨finca¨(plantation) owned by Germans. The German, pleased by Santiago´s conversion, ordered the finca´s whiskey still destroyed "which angered the other workers and so our family was thrown off the finca ... for the Gospel," Gerardo said.
The church has grown steadily in the Kek´chi region of the country and in 1979 the first Kek´chi presbytery was formed. There are now five Kek´chi presbyteries and they recently petitioned the synod (there is only one so it is equivalent to our General Assembly) to form a separate Kek´chi synod -- a highly controversial move that is tantamount to dividing the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala.
Pastor Pop said the Kek´chi desire for its own synod is part of an historical feeling of being marginalized and rendered powerless by the dominant Guatemalan culture. The differences include culture, language, theology and geography, but mostly the issue for the Kek´chi is their geographic isolation from the rest of the country. "No matter where you go,¨" Gerardo said ruefully, "church politics is all the same."
Pastor Pop told us he´s somewhat surprised that his preaching has been accepted. "I told the people that they hear the Bible but don´t live it." He told them: "You are like the garbage that blocks the drain -- until you clear the drain by repenting and acting out the Gospel, Jesus Christ cannot get through." Pop conceded that ¨those are hard words, but the people have accepted them and the church is growing."
He thanked our grupo for backing up his message with our presence here. "Your being here and doing the floors and training our leaders is very important because are doing the Gospel, not just saying the words."
The conversation then turned to the effect of Guatemala´s 36-year civil war (1960-1996) on the church. "The biggest problem was the military, not the guerillas," he said. "When we gathered for worship, the army was suspicious because they felt that whenever the people gathered they were up to no good."
He recounted preaching in one church surrounded by more than 300 government troops, all with their rifles trained on him. "All indigenous people were considered ´collaborators,´ so they asked me all kinds of questions,¨ he said. Finally, two things happened that helped the church, he said: the government began issuing certificates that allowed churches to meet for one hour once a week for worship ... but only during daylight, and a government official who was a member of Central Presbyterian Church persuaded the president to exempt pastors from military conscription. "Otherwise, it would have been much worse," Gerardo said.
The government is still corrupt and inept, he said, "but the military is not nearly so strong, so we are neglected but not threatened." With another presidential election coming up in September (there are 17 candidates on the ballot), Gerardo said that whenever he´s asked which party he supports, he responds: "The Party of Christ."
Wednesday morning our 11 women led a workshop for our Guatemalan partner women. Men not allowed. After tossing a nerf football around for a few minutes, the eight men in our grupo were treated to a history lesson by the pastor of Iglesia Presbiteriana Arca de Noe (Noah´s Ark Presbyterian Church), where most of our gatherings are taking place here in El Estor.
Rev. Gerardo Pop told us that the beginnings of the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala date to 1882, when the then-president of the country invited Protestants (specifically the Presbyterian Church in Mexico) to send a missionary to Guatemala as an alternative to the Catholic Church, which had become entrenched and corrupt since priests arrived with ¨the conqueror Christopher Columbus." Through the Presbyterian Church in the United States, missionary John Clark Hill came to country to serve the first Presbyterian church in the country, in a building near the national palace in Guatemala City donated by the government. Thus Central Presbyterian Church in the capital has been the flagship of Presbyterianism here for 125 years now. Typical for Presbyterians, the new church first built a hospital (in 1910) and then a string of schools beginning in 1919.
It was not until 1950 that Presbyterians came to the Kek´chi region of Guatemala. The first ¨missionary¨was a mixed Ladino (Spanish descendant)-Indigenous Guatemalan rancher who has property in this area but who lived most of the time in Guatemala City. Travel back and forth between the capital and El Estor was very difficult then, so in 1960, Presbyterian officials from Guatemala City visited El Estor and seven years later sent the Rev. Oscar Barriento to El Estor to establish a Presbyterian presence among the Kek´chi. Getting started was difficult, because very few Kek´chi were literate in Spanish. So Barriento´s initial efforts consisted of introducing the Spanish language to the Kek´chi.
The first Kek´chi Presbyterian pastor, Julio Izam, was ordained in 1968. Our host, Gerardo Pop, is the fourth. His father, Santiago Pop, converted to Christianity while working as a laborer on a nearby ¨finca¨(plantation) owned by Germans. The German, pleased by Santiago´s conversion, ordered the finca´s whiskey still destroyed "which angered the other workers and so our family was thrown off the finca ... for the Gospel," Gerardo said.
The church has grown steadily in the Kek´chi region of the country and in 1979 the first Kek´chi presbytery was formed. There are now five Kek´chi presbyteries and they recently petitioned the synod (there is only one so it is equivalent to our General Assembly) to form a separate Kek´chi synod -- a highly controversial move that is tantamount to dividing the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala.
Pastor Pop said the Kek´chi desire for its own synod is part of an historical feeling of being marginalized and rendered powerless by the dominant Guatemalan culture. The differences include culture, language, theology and geography, but mostly the issue for the Kek´chi is their geographic isolation from the rest of the country. "No matter where you go,¨" Gerardo said ruefully, "church politics is all the same."
Pastor Pop told us he´s somewhat surprised that his preaching has been accepted. "I told the people that they hear the Bible but don´t live it." He told them: "You are like the garbage that blocks the drain -- until you clear the drain by repenting and acting out the Gospel, Jesus Christ cannot get through." Pop conceded that ¨those are hard words, but the people have accepted them and the church is growing."
He thanked our grupo for backing up his message with our presence here. "Your being here and doing the floors and training our leaders is very important because are doing the Gospel, not just saying the words."
The conversation then turned to the effect of Guatemala´s 36-year civil war (1960-1996) on the church. "The biggest problem was the military, not the guerillas," he said. "When we gathered for worship, the army was suspicious because they felt that whenever the people gathered they were up to no good."
He recounted preaching in one church surrounded by more than 300 government troops, all with their rifles trained on him. "All indigenous people were considered ´collaborators,´ so they asked me all kinds of questions,¨ he said. Finally, two things happened that helped the church, he said: the government began issuing certificates that allowed churches to meet for one hour once a week for worship ... but only during daylight, and a government official who was a member of Central Presbyterian Church persuaded the president to exempt pastors from military conscription. "Otherwise, it would have been much worse," Gerardo said.
The government is still corrupt and inept, he said, "but the military is not nearly so strong, so we are neglected but not threatened." With another presidential election coming up in September (there are 17 candidates on the ballot), Gerardo said that whenever he´s asked which party he supports, he responds: "The Party of Christ."
In a later post, one (or more) of our women will tell you about the women´s workshop. For now, may God continue to bless us here and may God continue to bless you there. Enjoy the fireworks!
Jerry
4 comments:
Greetings to all! Thank you for the great reports on the mission trip. Sounds like an abundance of blessings and God's good work. We convey a sad note to Andrea: Grandma Jan died peacefully this morning (July 4). We'll all be going to California next week after you're back. Thanks to the CHPC mission group for supporting Andrea as she gets this difficult news. We keep you in our prayers and ask for your prayers as well.
Well, it's "Happy Birthday, America" day here in the good old U.S. And even though for me, at times, it is difficult to summon up pride in being an American, there is a group of people who left behind the creature comforts of America traveling to Guatamala to open their arms and hearts to their expanded human family who welcomed them in kind. It is this group of folks of whom I am extremely proud to count among my friends.
I have been checking out this blog daily with great interest. Thank you for what you are doing. I can only imagine that you are receiving as much as you give.
From my heart I pass on to you this old benediction (slightly modified): May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be forever at your back. And may a Power Greater Than Ourselves cradle you lovingly in the palm of her hand.
---Brad Castleberry
P.S. Would one of you please give Soni a big hug and kiss from me and tell her that words cannot adequately describe how much I love her and how proud I am of her.
Oh, and tell her that the broccoli casserole tastes better with a little buttermilk dressing mixed in. She'll know what I mean.
Thanks for sharing! Sebastian and I are missing Gabe and Sandra but we are also glad that they are having a good time and doing such great and needed work.
Love
Helmer
It is a wonderful privilege to share your mission trip experience through this blog. Thank you so much for your entries. I have especially enjoyed all the pictures. My love and prayers to you all! Please share my sincere sympathy to Andrea for the loss of her grandmother.
Post a Comment