December 2000

Dear Friends and Family,

Now that the mad rush to finish the semester in schools and prepare for Christmas family gatherings and church events has begun, I write to add my bit to the frenzy, and to wish that the God of Peace and Wisdom be with and guide us all!

I was sharing Psalm 132, one of the Psalms of Ascent, with the women’s group at church this week, and we were considering how, in ancient days, the Jewish people left their work, their worries, their day-to-day burdens and joys, three times a year to go up to Jerusalem to worship, singing praises to their God, remembering God’s past blessings on his people and waiting in eager expectation for more blessings to come.

This study was a refreshing reminder to me to put aside the madness of the last minute rush of ending the academic year, preparing a long journey, saying farewell and merry Christmas to those I have come to love here in Argentina. Put aside the madness, and continue on in the pilgrimmage sharing the same ancient joy and hopeful expectations that the People of God have shared for milennia.

The study was also sobering as my sisters in Christ shared their burdens, laying them at the Cross in order to continue on in joyful hope. Argentina in the last weeks has been wracked by massive nationwide strikes of almost all the labor unions, manifestations, and the general anxiety that a faltering economy, increasing unemployment, underemployment, and underpayment generate. My sisters shared their concerns for unemployed family members, uninsured family members facing critical and costly medical examinations, growing neighborhood violence. My own frenzy began to pale as we worked through the daily struggles of my sisters.

Yet as we began to study God’s historic faithfulness to his people, in spite of the many trials and tribulations they have had to work through, the strain on the faces around me began to lift. As we began to reflect on David’s joyful and shameless dancing before the ark of the covenant, which provides part of the background to Psalm 132, and as we began to contemplate the possible difficulties that women of old had to leave behind to undertake their pilgrimmages to Jerusalem, the comments of the women in the group began to change. Their faces began to reflect their love for God and their assurance of God’s love for them. The attitudes of defeat and discouragement began to change to attitudes of compassion one towards the other and encouragement.

We finished our Bible study time with the wonderful Pentecostal-style prayers of gratitude, of confidence in God’s steadfast love and mercy, and of commitment to make a difference in the dreariness and struggle of the world around us. The women at the church where my husband is pastor, are the main missionary engine of the congregation’s outreach ministry. They run the soup kitchen, they keep the community clothing closet in order, they spend hours working on handcrafts to sell in order to make money to build a larger dining space for the children who come week after week seeking food, clothing, affection, improved study and social skills, and an inner warmth to take back to their families.

The Thursday Bible studies are the joy of Advent for us all year round that keep the missionary engine of the church running.

I urge you to share with the hope, commitment, joy and dedication of the lower class Pentecostal women of Argentina. They and those who are blessed because of them are the hope of the Argentine Republic.

In this spirit of faith in an almighty God, hope in God’s promises, and love for and from God and God’s creation, I now move on to share how my plans for my upcoming home leave are shaping up.

I will arrive in Syracuse, NY on December 8. On December 9, I will sleep and visit with my parents and grand-mother. Hopefully on the 10th my grand-mother will be able to accompany me to worship in the church where she is member, Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church.

In my first two weeks, I will be connecting with the Hispanic Ministries program of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery, visiting the Presbytery and Synod (of the Northeast) offices, and finishing two papers that I have been working on in the last month here in Buenos Aires, one in Spanish on religious syncretism in Argentine pentecostalism, which is a case study of the Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios (Universal Church of the Kingdom of God), a church of Brazilian origins which has grown massively in Argentina in the last 10 years; and the other paper, in English, will be incorporated into a Human Rights report on South America that the area coordinator of the Worldwide Ministries Division of the PC(USA) is preparing.

I will also need to make a trip to the library at Princeton Theological Seminary before Christmas in order to prepare a new research project that I am preparing on the socio-historical beginnings of the Pentecostal movement in Argentina in the early 1900's. I will also use that time to work on class preparations for the courses I will be teaching at the Instituto Superior Evangélico de Estudios Teológicos (ISEDET) in the next academic year.

I will be available for preaching, Adult Sunday school classes, mid-week meetings during December. As of yet, I have no specific commitments and am available on a first come first serve basis. A specific invitation (rather than an open invitation) to participate in the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton might help me to fix a date for my trip down there.

Through Christmas and the first part of January, I will also be in the Cayuga-Syracuse area. I have received an invitation to preach in Mexico, NY on January 14.

My husband and his 12 year old nephew, Javier, will be arriving in Newark on January 17, and we will take a week or so of vacation time together, returning to Syracuse before January 27, when I will be addressing the meeting of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery.

From January 27 through February 16, we will be in the Syracuse area. I have received an invitation from the Rev. Ed Kang, of the Synod of the Northeast, to speak with the executive presbyters of the synod, but we have not yet fixed a date. I have promised at least two Sundays to South Presbyterian Church, probably January 28 and February 4.

As I mentioned earlier, I will be available for other invitations on a first come first serve basis. If others of you who are reading this newsletter live outside of the Central New York area (but within reasonable driving distance), and/or participate in congregations that are not of the PC(USA), I can also make arrangements to visit with you.

From February 16 through 28, we will be in the Northwest. I have been in direct communication with Knox Presbyterian Church in Spokane, WA and we will be visiting them from February 22- 27 or 28. The church in Spokane has also been in touch with Mt Tabor Presbyterian Church in Portland, OR, and it appears that they would like to recieve a visit from the 16th through the 22nd. In these two churches, we will be participating in a large variety of meetings: Sunday worship services, Adult Sunday school classes, college groups, women’s groups, and mid-week services. These visits will provide my husband and I wonderful opportunities to share stories of how it is to be a non Catholic Christian in Argentina. I hope and pray that we will be able to make the joys and struggles of theological education, pastoral ministry, and daily witness of Christians in Argentina come to life for these two congregations!

When we return from the Northwest, my sister’s wedding in Pittsburgh will keep us busy until we leave again for Buenos Aires on March 7.

For churches in the Central New York area, I am not only available for pulpit supply, but would also be extremely eager to share stories in other contexts of the life of your congregations.

As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, since I am salaried personnel of the Worldwide Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (USA), I cannot expect to receive honoraria. I would appreciate donations to cover driving expenses. For small churches who cannot afford to pay honoraria for visiting preachers, but who can contribute approximately $10.00 (depending on the driving distance), please do not hesitate to contact me.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the next few months. I request your prayers for God’s guidance in these last few days of frantic tying up of loose ends and preparations. I also request ongoing prayers for my husband and the church he is pastoring during my absence from them, and we also joyfully ask that you give thanks to God with us for the wonderful General Assembly of the Asociación La Iglesia De Dios that took place recently in spite of tremendous obstacles from November 24 through 26.

May God be with and bless each and everyone of you throughout this Advent and Christmas Season.

Your sister and fellow pilgrim in Christ,

Rev. Kathleen M Griffin, PC(USA)

The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 251