August 2003

Dear Friends in Christ,

The instructor of my water safety classes in college used to say, "You start with the comfortable known and move to the related unknown.” If someone could hold their breath, then move to holding breath and putting the face in the water, then let go of the side of the pool, go on to kicking their feet, etc. Not a bad educational principle, though I admit I haven't always remembered it when it counted, often wanting so badly for others, and myself, to already be someplace we are not…yet. People do a lot of moving from the “comfortable known to the related unknown” when they visit Guatemala as part of mission groups, coming to learn, to share, to work, to build relationships. After being here for over a week, hearing the stories of political and military oppression, seeing the humble and scarce resources with which people manage to sustain the lives of their families, their churches, and their communities, one man said, “I’m beginning to think this is almost like a Third World country.” Well, yes. But he had moved from his “known,” risking exposure to life in a very different context, and he was learning, moving, changing, and growing in the midst of the related unknown.

It was time for fiesta. Some years of planning, working, sweating together had brought these partners to this point. Most of the labor had been Guatemalan, but not all. Most of the funds had come from Hillsboro Presbyterian Church, but not all. It was a shared effort and now it was time to celebrate together the results. It was time to dedicate this work, this building—and by extension this relationship—to the Lord of life and creativity, to the God worshiped in the church in Nashville and in the churches at Las Camelias, El Progreso, El Mirador, El Tamariz, SusanMamieMitch (a resettlement village named for the coordinator of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance program, a young adult volunteer and, oh yes, for the hurricane that took their homes). Churches in this K'ekchí Sayaxché Petén Presbytery. Hillsboro from Middle Tennessee Presbytery.

The evening before, the bull had been butchered, while some from Hillsboro stayed to watch, to share. All night, people worked to prepare the feast. A large tent had been erected to guard against the sun's heat—intense at this low elevation. “Gallo” was the name printed on the tent, which means “rooster,” yes, but it is also the name of the most popular beer in Guatemala. It's ironic that Gallo appears to sponsor the event, since Presbyterians here strongly prohibit the use of alcoholic beverages.

Yes, there is to be a feast, but first and more important, there is gratitude to be expressed, hymns to be sung, the Word to be proclaimed. We gather, sitting on benches, folding chairs, steps, the ground—standing, leaning against walls and fence posts. Hymns are sung in K'ekchí, Spanish, English. Prayers are lifted up—all pray at once in these K'ekchí services—God can sort out the cacophony of praise and petition raised by earnest voices in three languages. Poems written for the occasion are shared. One begins, "I am a beautiful K'ekchí woman, a flower of the field." The person translating to English pauses to control tears and emotion before getting the words out. The Word is read and proclaimed by the pastor with the Hillsboro group. Her words are translated twice, first into Spanish, then into K'ekchí (no English-K'ekchí speakers here, few anywhere). The theme is brothers and sisters sharing, working together, living into the oneness promised and available through Christ.

Following worship, we eat and talk, sharing stories, sometimes awkwardly through double translation. The table is spread, the feast is abundant, we commune together, on beef, beans, tortillas. A ribbon is cut, the building officially dedicated to serve as a dormitory for students coming long distances to attend school in this central town of Sayaxché and as office and meeting space for the presbytery and the presbyterial (presbytery-wide women’s group). And then we worship again, with choirs from churches of the presbytery and preaching by a K'ekchí pastor, again translated twice.

This is only the beginning of a week's visit. There will be workshops on first aid and family planning in four different communities. There will be medical clinics in improvised spaces in those four locations, conducted by the young and compassionate doctor who gives each person and each complaint her full attention as she honors her patients' hard work and dedication to their families and helps them understand their problems, things they can do, sometimes giving medicine. There will be conversations, long hours in the van used by the Guatemala Presbyterian Church to carry visitors, meals prepared by the women at the churches and graciously offered.for sustenance—both physical and spiritual.

Such was one delegation visit by a PC(USA) partner with Presbyterians in Guatemala. Sharing, service, learning, relationships formed and strengthened. Differences and distances begin to fade. Christians are discovering one another, and in and through one another are catching glimpses of the face of Christ, Christ's suffering, Christ's joy at friends coming together from north and south, from east and west to sit at table in the Kin-dom of God.

Grace and peace,

Joe and Selena Keesecker

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 244