November 2005

Advent

Dear Friends,

As the years go by, the liturgical year, with its Scripture readings and celebrations, becomes more a part of the rhythm and meaning of my life wherever I am in the Americas.

Advent is the season for celebrating the coming of our Lord. I enter Advent and the new liturgical year reflecting on the many references in John to the “comings and goings” of Jesus.

John 1:9 proclaims the good news that “the true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.” Later Jesus talks about “going” to the Father, the “coming” of the Holy Spirit, and the “sending” of the church to continue God’s mission. These “comings and goings” remind me that mission is movement, many comings and goings as the Spirit leads the way.

This past year has been one of comings and goings for me. I went to Argentina to attend the General Assembly of the Waldensian Church of the River Plate and witnessed the interaction of the synods of Argentina, Uruguay, and Italy. I was happy to meet with colleagues in Quito, Ecuador, at the office of the Latin American Council of Churches to finalize a joint project for series of books about mission and partnership.

I also a trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to see Maria Arroyo, PC(USA)’s area coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean. We met with our partner, the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, to evaluate our work together in Brazil’s northeast hinterlands and to discuss future cooperation in the Amazon region. Then Maria asked me represent the PC(USA) at the General Assembly of the Korean Presbyterian Church of America held at Iguassu Falls. (Going to the site of the 275 waterfalls at the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay is never a sacrifice.) The KPCA has a South America Synod with congregations in nearly all of the countries, and their new moderator serves in Chile. There were moments when I was the only woman and only non-Korean in the room with 400 people, so it was an honor to bring a greeting on behalf of Clifton Kirkpatrick and the PC(USA) and to be invited to offer a prayer at the closing worship.

The chance to go to Burlington, North Carolina, to give Bible studies at the Peru Mission Network meeting was a gift from God because I was able to visit my parents’ grave and our old home and to have meals with relatives. Everywhere I experienced the one Body of Christ engaged in God’s mission. In the midst of all these comings and goings, I moved from Campinas to the city of Curitiba in south Brazil.

In September I came to the United States to share with folks in the PC(USA) the beauty and faith of our sisters and brothers in our partner churches and institutions in South America. From September through November I visited churches in Texas (and one in California) to speak, preach, and engage in prophetic mission dialogue. I love to tell the story of Jesus’s presence in the southern hemisphere, how Jesus comes to us in the faces and lives of people who struggle for life and dignity and who depend on God for daily bread and guidance. Latin Americans have taught me the meaning of solidarity and hope in trying times. They have shown me how important it was that Jesus came to Galilee to minister at the margins of society. While Jesus identified with and spent most of his ministry in Galilee, John shows him periodically visiting and teaching in Jerusalem, at the center of power.

Being based at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has been a special gift. It was a delight to give a public lecture on “Faces of Christianity in Brazil” and to teach some classes. I have joy in the classroom. I thrive on meeting sisters and brothers from everywhere around the world and feel almost “at home” in many places in the Americas, but never completely “at home” anywhere. I prefer viewing the world from the Southern Hemisphere, always coming and going, following the Savior of the world who came that all might have life with abundance and dignity.

At the beginning of Advent, I will be heading back to Americas South, going to Costa Rica for a meeting with Maria Arroyo and all of the regional liaisons who work with her in Latin America and the Caribbean (five of us). We will meet with our church partners there and will spend a day at the Latin American Biblical University, one of the five ecumenical centers of theological excellence that I have researched and recommend highly.

As we enter this meaningful season of Advent, my prayer is

Come, O come, God with us;
be with all who are rebuilding their lives after hurricanes and earthquakes.
Come, O Come, Light of the World;
guide all nations who long for fair trade and the right for all voices to be heard.
Come, O Come, Prince of Peace;
bring peace with justice to Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Sudan, Haiti, Colombia, Bolivia.
Come, O Come, God with us;
make the PC(USA) an instrument of your self-emptying love.

Yours in Christ’s service,

Sherron George
Regional Liaison for South America

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 39