Dear Friends,

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:4)

Pentecost, which fell this year on the first Sunday in June, passed without a mention in the Emaus Presbyterian Church in San Mateo, a mostly Kiche’ village close to Quetzaltenango. This congregation warmly received our family when we arrived in Guatemala and we have continued to attend there. The preacher that afternoon was Samuel Mazariegos, one of my students at the Presbyterian Seminary. Samuel spoke of the need to dedicate time to God on Sundays. He completely ignored the strange happenings on that day long ago in Jerusalem recounted in Acts 2.

Perhaps Presbyterians here in Guatemala ignore Pentecost because they feel threatened by the success different forms of Pentecostalism have had in attracting large followings here. Pentecostalism takes it name from Pentecost, and Pentecostals derive their distinctive identity as a family of Christian churches from their emphasis on the exuberant manifestations of the presence of the Holy Spirit reported at Pentecost, especially speaking in tongues.

I have become convinced over recent years that the miracle of Pentecost is to be found as much in the hearing that happened on that day as in the speaking. Acts 2 tells us that Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Cretans, and Arabs were present in Jerusalem. People from Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and Libya were also there. The crowd included both Jews who lived in many nations as well as others who were attracted to the Jewish faith and its promises. Each of those present heard the good news being spoken in their own language by people of another culture.

How do we hear the gospel when it is spoken to us by people from other cultures, especially cultures that do not share the linear patterns of thinking of Western culture and who have been the victims rather than the victors during the past 500 years of history? My colleagues and I struggle continually with this question.

At the end of February I traveled to San José, Costa Rica, to meet with the rest of the faculty of the Latin American Biblical University (UBL). We discussed the problems that arise in guiding students through the process of writing theses at both the licentiate and masters degree levels. Much of our discussion focused on how we can best work with students from the various indigenous and African cultures of Latin America. How do we help them express their reflections and the results of their research in ways that are recognized as acceptable to the academy while at the same time we allow them to challenge dominant ways of thinking?

While I was in San José, I participated in the installation of Jaime Prieto Valladares as the new rector of the UBL. Jaime was a student with me at the SBL. He went on to receive a doctorate in church history at the University of Hamburg. He is the first Costa Rican to serve as rector in the nearly 80-year history of the institution. Jaime brings gentle ways and profound convictions to the leadership of the UBL.

In March, the Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA) held its assembly, which brought together delegations from all five Central American countries. CEDEPCA seeks to be a space where evangelicals from Central America can share their experiences and learn from one another. We were particularly moved by the stories of suffering and solidarity coming out of El Salvador following the earthquakes of January and February.

In April, I traveled to Pittsburgh to participate in a consultation of the History of the World Christian Movement project. Most textbooks tell the history of Christianity as what happened in Europe, with the rest of the world tacked on as an afterthought. Professors of mission Dale Irvin and Scott Sunquist received funding to write a textbook on the history of Christianity which is global in perspective. While Dale and Scott are the primary authors, they regularly convene a group of scholars from around the world to critique the text and make suggestions. We hope to write the text in such a way that Christians anywhere in the world will be able to find the story of their faith community in it. (Volume One is due out from Orbis Books in August. Contact me for details.)

In May, the Synod of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG), the national governing body of the church, held its annual assembly. The IENPG took major steps to overcome the corruption that has plagued the church in recent years by electing new leadership. Yet many challenges remain. Though the majority of the members of the church are Mayas, the key leadership positions are held by non-indigenous men. How can Guatemalan Presbyterians of different cultures overcome centuries of discrimination and learn to hear and understand each other? The students in the anthropology class I teach at the Presbyterian seminary struggle with this question each week.

I am looking for PC(USA) congregations who wish to join me on this journey of listening to Christians from different cultures share the gospel story. If you are part of a PC(USA) congregation that you think might like to share with me in my ministry, please contact me. We have a new modem now, and we fixed the phone line after it was damaged by the first rains of the rainy season. Please write.

In the hope of God’s coming Reign,

Rev. Karla Ann Koll, Javier Tórrez, and Tamara Tórrez-Koll

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 241