August 27, 2009

Yancuic camanali (good news) from the Huastecas

Nitlapalua noicnihua! Greetings, my brothers and sisters, from Frijolillo where I am resting a bit from what has been a very heavy workload and preparing for a final “hurrah” before a seven-week trip to the United States. 

Celebrating our 25th anniversary

Leaders from the Presbytery of the Huastecas receive a plaque from the General Assembly of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.

On Sunday the 16th the Presbytery of the Huastecas closed its ordinary business meeting with a huge 25th-anniversary celebration here in Frijolillo. Historically the churches of the Huastecas belonged to the Presbytery of the Federal District (Mexico City), but thanks to the faith and vision of a few, our congregations were able to form their own presbytery on August 19, 1984. Though there were doubts in the hearts of some that a rural, indigenous presbytery could survive on its own, God has proven that it is not financial resources nor worldly knowledge upon which the church depends.

The Presbytery of the Huastecas celebrated its 25th anniversary service in Frijolillo on August 16, 2009.

The presbytery chose Psalm 60:12 as its theme: “With God we will gain the victory.” or as the Spanish text is translated: “In God, we will accomplish great things,” and we give thanks to God for His mighty works in our midst over these first 25 years. But as the president of the General Assembly of the National Presbyterian Church exhorted us during last week’s celebration, “it is time for the Presbytery to expand its tent … to broaden its territory.” Indeed, there are many great things yet to be acomplished in Christ here in the Huasteca Potosina and Hidalguense. We invite you to join us in our gratitude to God for what has been done and to be our partner in prayer and active participation in what God will accomplish in the next 25 years.

Ministry staff expands

The ordination of Martin Hernandez Hernandez as a minister of the Word and Sacrament.

As God calls the presbytery to expand its influence, He continues to raise up workers for the harvest. During the 25th-anniversary service, the presbytery rejoiced in the solemn act of ordaining licensed preacher Martín Hernández Hernández as a minister of the Word and Sacrament. Rev. Martin is a graduate of the Bible Institute of the Huastecas and has served as lay pastor of his home church in Octlamecayo for the past six years. Before that, he was lay pastor of the mission in La Peña. He will be installed as pastor of the Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church of Octlamecayo this Sunday, August 30.

During the same presbytery meeting last week, another Bible Institute graduate (a two-time gradúate, actually) was accepted as a candidate for ministry and invited to begin the process toward licensing as a preacher. Brother Moisés Hernández Hernández is a deacon of the Most Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church of Frijolillo. His wife Amalia is a new student in the Bible Institute of the Huastecas.

The presbytery rejoiced on July 4 at the graduation of missionary Carmela Hernandez from the Central Bible School for Missionaries (now called the Central Educational Institution) operated by the Presbyterian Women of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Carmela is a member of the Gethsemane Presbyterian Church of Huitzitzilingo. She is currently serving a three-month comission in the state of Guerrero, but will return home at the end of October and be assigned to a congregation within the Presbytery of the Huastecas.

Praise be to God for providing workers for His harvest field! We invite you to pray for each of those mentioned as they begin a new phase in ministry as well as for those who continue their studies at the Bible School in Mexico City (Sareth, Abigail and Madai) and the Bible Institute of the Huastecas here at home (Obed, Juan, Serafina, Placido, Miguel, Amalia, and Adolfo).

Most Holy Trinity of Frijolillo gets a new roof

We also give thanks to God for His provision of a new roof on the sanctuary of the church here in Frijolillo. After a year of fundraising within the church and among children of the church living in the city and seven weeks of hard labor by dozens of volunteers from the local church, on July 15th more than 200 men from throughout the presbytery and surrounding communities helped mix and pour the concrete for the new roof. Concrete workers from the church have now completed the finishing work on the interior of the roof and plan to paint the new ceiling this week and move on to refinishing the walls. The congregation hopes to be worshiping in their refurbished sanctuary by the end of September. The congregation had to face a number of spiritual challenges during the construction process and there were a few close calls in the area of security, but we are grateful to God for His coverage of the entire project. To God be the glory!

My wanderings

I continue to “wander” the presbytery, preaching, teaching, and providing training for local churches and their organizations. Last week Sister Raquel and I visited the Bethel Congregation of Barco, carrying out a mini vacation Bible school during two evenings and continuing the organizational training I started in April with the newly organized PW circle “Ruth and Noehmi.”

Next week we have Bible Institute clases, so this week I am diving deep into the Books of History (Joshua through Esther) in preparation for teaching the basics of this part of the Scriptures to our first-year students.

I am also beginning to prepare for a seven-week visit to the United States (September 8 to October 27). I appreciate your prayers for my safety as well as the Lord’s guidance and provision during the trip.

My schedule

September 9-11 - San Antonio, Texas - Doctors visits
September 12-22 - Kearney, Nebraska - Visit with family, FPC Holdrege, and FPC Hastings)
September 22-24 - Louisville, Kentucky - Orientation for World Mission Challenge, the denomination’s month-long mission interpretation campaign
September 25 - October 2 - Southeastern Illinois Presbytery
October 2-9 - Holston Presbytery of eastern Tennessee
October 9-16 - Presbytery of the Peaks of central Virginia
October 16-19 - Abingdon Presbytery of southwestern Virginia
October 19-21 - Cincinnati, Ohio - Debriefing for WMC
October 22-24 - Cincinnati, Ohio - World Mission Conference and Mexico Network Meeting
October 25 - San Antonio, Texas - Covenant Presbyterian Church
October 26-27 - Return home to the Huastecas

The blessing and curse of a pickup truck: A reflection

You may have heard about how our material wealth can impede ministry around the world. I would like to share a short story with you to illustrate this and I covet your prayers that we all may learn to use the instruments God places in our care to edify His people spiritually and not simply to improve living standards over the short term.

We were sitting at table, the conversation had died down and many had already risen from their seats to prepare for their journeys home. A sister asked me if I was going to take the route through her town as I (presumably) took others back to the main highway so they could catch buses to their homes. I apoligetically stated that I was not going anywhere, but that the presbytery’s truck was taking people back to the highway and likely by another route. I did not worry too much for her, as her community was only a 20-minute walk, and her sons had arrived to accompany her on the walk.

This brief exchange struck something in the heart of one of the leaders of the presbytery, and for the next several days she was notably uninterested in my presence, rejecting particularly any offers for rides. What had happened? What had I done? Finally, she was able to say what she was feeling. “Let us be who we are,” were her first words. And then she explained how the people in the presbytery used to be accostumed to walking everywhere and that the exchange with the sister the other night had opened her eyes to their growing dependency on me and my “chauffeur services.”  There are pickups in all of our communities, and people walk very little compared to years passed. I spend very little time taking people places. I am not a chauffeur, but I am always aware that the truck is not my own and should be used to allow many to travel more quickly and comfortably. The truck is not the problem. Nor is the truck a focus of ministry here. Maybe the sister is reacting to her own fears or prejudices. But my eagerness to serve as driver has created a dependence and changed lifestyles for only a season (for as long as Susie is here or as long as Susie wants to give rides). The danger is that my “ministry” would become transportation provision (a physical and temporal good) at the expense of my real purpose here, which is to provide spiritual and everlasting blessing.

So what do I do? Sell the truck and walk or pay others to transport me? It would surely allow me to live more like the majority and there is a clear ministerial advantage to this. But it would also limit my movement and that of other presbytery personnel, and it would increase our transportation costs, since vehicle transport is readily available and we’ve become so accustomed to it that we would probably pay others to take us rather than walk. If I keep the truck, how can I modify my use of it to reduce the likelihood of both my own and others’ unhealthy dependency on it and at the same time reinforce the spiritual blessings God would provide in this region by my presence rather than the material ones? As I ask God for guidance in this and many related issues, I invite us all to consider the following:

When does a blessing become a curse? How much spiritual blessing is lost in the flow of material blessings which are part of our mission endeavors at home and abroad? What have we been called to announce? What are we announcing through our efforts? May God give us discernment, wisdom, and the courage to face our own iniquities and be more effective announcers of the Kingdom of God.

Please keep the following in your prayers

1. Brother Rosalino Hernández of the Frijolillo Church, who has just begun radiation treatments in San Luis Potosi for cancer that has spread from a toe to a vein in this leg.
2. Sister Angelina Hernández of Frijolillo, who suffers heart and gall bladder ailments and has had a very rough two weeks.
3. All the residents of the Huasteca region as we fight a new dengue outbreak (a mosquito-borne disease similar to malaria).
4. The executive committee of the presbytery as they discern where they should place missionary Carmela Hernández.
5. Our theological students in Mexico City and here at home, that as their theological knowledge grows, they might also grow in their personal knowledge of Christ as Lord and Savior and consecuently be prepared spiritually for the ministry to which God has called them. May the Lord develop their character as well as their minds.
6. My continued good health, language learning, and ever-growing discernment of my role here in the presbytery, as well as my travels to and within the United States in September and October.

Tlascamati miac por nochi catl anquichihua. (Thank you so much for all you all do.)

Motequipanojquetl (Your servant),

The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 275