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December 1998
Merry Christmas to all!
What does "Emmanuel/God with us" mean? What does it
mean that "the Word became flesh and lived among us"?
How is God continually present with us even now, since Jesus is
no longer walking this earth amongst his brothers and sisters?
What does it mean that a minister of the gospel from wealthy North
America, from the highly educated Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),
should be working in lower-class neighborhoods of greater Buenos
Aires, among church folk many of whom are illiterate or semi-literate,
many of whom have been suffering from long-term unemployment?
What does it mean to leave one's context of so-called "privilege"
to try to learn to identify with, live with, love and learn from
Christians who live in what we would call an "underprivileged"
context? (I'm referring here to Philippians 2:5-8.)
I have now finished teaching one semester at Emmanuel Seminary
of the Asociación la Iglesia de Dios (ALIDD). My students
range in age from about 20 to 45 years. In previous academic training,
a couple were finishing elementary school on evenings when they
did not have classes at the seminary, most have not finished high
school, and a few have post-secondary technical degrees (in construction
or as medical assistants, for example). My most advanced student
is simultaneously studying at the University of Buenos Aires.
He is also a construction worker by day, and on the weekends he
pastors a church on his own. How do they do this, you may be asking
yourselves? This has been a question that has been plaguing me
all semester: How does a student who hasn't quite finished elementary
school grasp the fine points of theology, the complications of
history, the details of in-depth study of the scriptures? How
does a student who has four or five children, a four-hour round-trip
commute to the seminary for class, and a job, find time to study?
Their fiery Pentecostal spirit is something that I still haven't
quite grasped. Their "pentecostalidad" (I'm not sure
how to translate this word into English—their "way of
being Pentecostal") drives them to overlook their own needs,
limitations, deficiencies, in order to serve others in their communities,
in order to bring about definite changes in their communities.
It drives them to proclaim in the whole of their lives the liberation
they have found in Christ, through the power and the love of the
Holy Spirit. So I wonder, how does a Princeton Theological Seminary
graduate (with all of the creature comforts that such a wealthy
seminary offers) learn to be flexible and yet firm in her teaching?
How can I learn to acknowledge the obstacles that my students
face, and yet challenge them to grow spiritually and academically?
How can I learn to appreciate the pride they take in being Latin
American, in being poor, in being Pentecostal? They don't appreciate
being a satellite to a North American enterprise. They want to
be who they are, with their own culture, their own struggles.
They don't want relatively wealthy, educated North Americans coming
in to tell them how to do things, how to live better, how to better
understand the gospel. Nor do they need this. How do I empty myself
of the "privileges" I have grown up with in order to
see the world from this Latin American Pentecostal perspective?
What does it mean that "the Word became flesh and lived among
us"? How do I have the same mind as that of Christ Jesus
in Philippians 2:5-8, "though he was in the form of God,
(he) did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in
human likeness." And not only did Christ empty himself, but
he also humbled himself, even to death on the cross!
I must clarify what this wariness of things North American means
for them. The students at the seminary, the people in the churches
I have been getting to know, and other pastors and church leaders
that I have been working with all assure me of how much they appreciate
my work with them. I feel loved and accepted here. The people
I am working with and for appreciate knowing that brothers and
sisters in Christ in other parts of the world are praying for
them, are supporting their growth, their ministry. They recognize
that they are part of the worldwide, ecumenical body of Christ,
and they need all the support they can get that any member of
a body needs from the other members in order to function in a
healthy way. They realize that they have much to receive, and
they receive with great joy and love. They also realize that they
have much to give, and they give with even greater joy and love.
The second semester of the academic year started at the beginning
of August. I was teaching the history of Christianity from the
Reformations of the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe through
20th-century Latin American Christianity. Thus, I have been struggling
with the meaning of Christmas at least since the beginning of
August. I'm not sure who learned more this semester, my students
or me. I know that I still have a lot more to learn. I have been
thanking God every day for my students who have been teaching
me how to become a servant, even a slave, to their vision of Latin
American Pentecostalism. I also thank God for two families in
particular who have been adopting me, loving me, accompanying
me and patiently helping me to sort through confusion in language,
custom, culture, theology, church, life in general: the family
Salazar-Velicio, and the family Fratea. God's faithfulness, mercy,
and steadfast love are beyond measure, beyond words!
My prayer for each of you who read this note is that you also
seek to love and learn with Christians who can teach you how to
empty yourselves and humble yourselves, as Christ did, so that
you can, on a daily basis, meditate on what the birth of Christ
means in this world of ours. This doesn't mean that you need to
seek out people who are living in great poverty, who have a different
expression of their faith, or have a different national origin.
It may mean learning to listen to and respect the views of someone
else in your family, in your church, in your school or workplace.
It may mean asking God to teach you how to love as Christ loved,
in spite of great diversity and division.
I would also ask that you pray for some specific requests here—my
continuing process of adaptation, which though a joyful challenge,
is also difficult and at times confusing—the economic instability
of the country has a direct impact on the economic instability
of the students at the seminary, and on the economic instability
of the national church, which is currently unable to support the
seminary—the two weeks I will spend with my parents when
they visit me in January—my preparations for the classes
I will be teaching in February and March, and for the first semester
of the 1999 academic year.
May the birth of Christ, the incarnation of God Almighty, meet
you in a powerful new way in this Christmas season and as you
begin the new year.
Your sister in Christ,
Kathleen M. Griffin
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