December 12, 2003

Dear Family and Friends in Christ,

As we have entered the Advent season we have realized that this whole year has been one of Advent for us and for Venezuela—one of waiting and hoping:

• In January—Waiting in long lines for up to 12 hours and sometimes overnight in hopes of getting gasoline.
• From January to June—Waiting to see which mission teams from the United States would come and hoping they would not be frightened off by the turmoil here.
• Since March—Waiting to see what will be the outcome in Iraq and hoping that peace will reign.
• All year long—Waiting to see if the Venezuelan government will allow a referendum to ratify or remove the current president, Chavez, and hoping that no more violence would occur between the opposing parties.
• All year long—Waiting and waiting, and still waiting (for three years now) in hopes that the adoption of our children, Jodimar and Jefferson, would finally be approved by the courts.
• Lately—Waiting to see what God has in store for us after this year, to return to Venezuela or serve elsewhere and hoping we will be able to discern whatever calling is in store for us.

Through the eyes of our Venezuelan brothers and sisters we have also experienced the waiting and hoping:

• Migdáleder believes that President Chavez represents an end to the old corrupt political party system here and has built the base for a new way of governing in Venezuela. She hopes president Chavez will continue to govern.
• Epifanio believes that Chavez’s government has caused more injustices than ever before, as unemployment rises, basic food products are in short supply, and corruption has risen. He hopes that Chavez will be ousted by the referendum.
• The Venezuelan Presbyterian Church reflects all dimensions of the social political struggle that is taking place in the country. Richard, Valmore, Ricardo, Gabriel, and the other local pastors seek to maintain the peace within while hoping that real transformation can take place in the church as well as in the country.
• The Lutheran and Presbyterian Churches struggle to keep their new seminary afloat. Migdáleder and Alfredo keep working and hoping for the resources to maintain a high quality program to provide capable and motivated leadership for the work of the church in Venezuela.
• Ligia has worked as a toll booth collector for almost five years. She was recently laid off without justification and has been hoping and waiting several months to receive severance pay. Like thousands of others she is looking, hoping and waiting for a new job.
• Bernarda arose at 3:00 a.m. in order to stand in line, hoping to buy flour that has just arrived, only to be told when she is only the tenth in line that all the flour is gone.

In waiting we have at times been impatient, at other times anxious. Yet we are learning that real Advent waiting and hoping, even among conflicting hopes, also looks to what is and to its present possibilities for signs of Christ’s Spirit working in the world even now as we wait with hope and faith for justice, for transformation, for something new and better, for peace, for love.

• Simona and Rafael have lived all their lives in a remote rural area near Ocumare del Tuy. For the first time their hopes have been fulfilled. The government helped them build a decent home, set up a health clinic and build a school in their sector.
• Good clean running water is now available to three million people in Venezuela that before had no hopes for water. Loida, a pediatrician, and leader in the church, has confirmed that the infant mortality rate has indeed dropped significantly.
• One mission team from the United States was not frightened off. Mike, Kathy, David, Richard, Jinny, Norris, Deborah, Marliana, William, Jean, Martha, and Ormonde from Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church of Richmond, Virginia, came in June and helped us build, paint, and plant in the Jubilee Center, a ministry of regeneration for the church and the community operated by the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela.
• The seminary is growing with 30 students now. Gladys graduated and Leonir, Ricardo, Omar, Jose Antonio, and José Elías are very close to graduating.
• Rainier, Sofia, Gustavo, Eduardo, and Sara, deacons for the Prince of Peace Presbyterian Church in Caracas, are offering food and pastoral care to the hungry in downtown Caracas.
• In Santa Bárbara, Noria, Vishnu, Nadezka, Giro, Edwin and Luis Alberto are all committing themselves as new members in the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, where Deborah is interim pastor. Two are being baptized.
• María Eugenia, Adriana, Avelina and Marian are becoming members at the Prince of Peace Church where Carlos is serving as interim pastor.
• There has been no political violence to speak of in Venezuela since the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and the Carter Center brokered a working agreement between the government and the opposition in May of this year. Praise the Lord!
• And the waiting and the hoping move beyond even signs as we prepare once again to receive the Christ child, the Prince of Peace who at once is coming and is already here with us working, suffering, celebrating, and loving us all.

May the peace of this Advent season fill your hearts with an overflowing gratitude that can only be satisfied with full surrender to Christ’s love and service.

Blessings in the name of our Lord,

Carlos, Deborah, Jefferson and Jodimar

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 153