So, my last post was about the big Nicaraguan celebration of the Catholic feast day on December 8 celebrating the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Since it's (a) a Catholic celebration of (b) a doctrinal point in which most (all?) Protestants differ from Catholics, the Protestant churches here eschew the holiday. La Misión Cristiana celebrates Día del Pastor (I think that is best translated Pastor Appreciation Day) on December 8th. We heard from the pastors at the regional lunch on Monday that different congregations celebrate according to whatever they have on their schedule.
This evening we were invited to the Seventh Church to share in their celebration of their five pastors. As always in this church, the music was phenomenal. It's encouraging to have been to enough services by now to recognize tunes and at least some of the words. I also seemed to have improved in my Spanish enough to get more words (still not all...) in the praying and preaching. The service was much like any other, with praise music, an offering, and a sermon. The extra bits were: a time where all five pastors stood up front and were greeted (mostly with hugs and words of gratitude) by everyone present, presentation of gifts (they looked like a nice supply of basic food, wrapped with cellophane and pretty bows, in a large sturdy plastic container of a very useful size), and having the pastors stand at the front holding hands in a circle while the congregation held hands in rows and prayed for them. A layperson preached, which is very common in the churches of La Misión Cristiana (the senior pastor of this church estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the members preach). She had the pastors come up and sit in the front row, and had a wide variety of reflections from various Biblical passages and words of encouragement about the role of pastors, as well as the ministry of all believers.
Another really cool thing about this evening was that we had visited this church before, shortly after arriving in Nicaragua. It was our first church visit, about 3 and a half months ago. They recently put in a new tile floor and expanded the sanctuary. It was just lovely to see such a tangible sign of their growth. They have also been through many stages of planning and then building more space ever since they started their after-school program for neighborhood kids years ago. They just can't keep their expansion up with the demand -- I think they have close to 300 kids (divided into two groups on opposite schedules), and would have more if they had room for them.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
La Griteria
Spanish for "the yelling." This is the night before what might be Catholic Nicaragua's most favorite holiday, La Purísima, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. There have been fireworks going off in the streets for the last nine days, but tonight is the big night.
Tim calls it the Supergroup of holidays, since we've noticed features of four major American holidays: Independence Day, Halloween, New Year's Eve, and Christmas. We spent a little time after dinner strolling around our neighborhood and observing the festivities. Before dinner we had noticed lines of people at the doorways of certain houses. It turns out that some houses have statues of Mary, often lit up or decorated -- one was in a really pretty flowering tree with a little spotlight shining on it. Groups of people (we saw a lot of what looked like extended families), some more organized than others, go from house to house. When they get to the house, they either go in or stand outside and sing songs addressed to Mary. The one we heard most often invoked "Sweet Mary" to "hear my voice" as the people in the house were handing out sweets. Some of the more organized groups had rhythm instruments, and lots of people had noisemakers.
In addition to the groups walking around singing (caroling), using noisemakers (a lot like NYE in the US), and getting sweets at houses (trick or treat, anyone?), there are also people, mostly boys and young men, setting off firecrackers and fireworks.
All in all, it's an exciting night. It seems that all Protestants avoid the holiday (or "are supposed to") because it's Catholic, and, well, centered on Mary, which remains a sticky doctrinal point. So, instead of the Immaculate Conception, the Protestant churches (at least, La Misión Cristiana) have Pastor's Appreciation Day tomorrow. I think I overheard two stories -- one of a man who was raised Protestant, whose Catholic cousins took pity on him when he was young and snuck him out for fireworks and sweets. The second was a pastor's wife who I assume was raised Catholic -- she was suggesting that the pastors' lunch we went to on Monday as part of the "Pastor's Day" celebrations should have a piñata next year. An older pastor jokingly responded that she was now feeling the cost of what it means to be a Protestant in this society.
Tim calls it the Supergroup of holidays, since we've noticed features of four major American holidays: Independence Day, Halloween, New Year's Eve, and Christmas. We spent a little time after dinner strolling around our neighborhood and observing the festivities. Before dinner we had noticed lines of people at the doorways of certain houses. It turns out that some houses have statues of Mary, often lit up or decorated -- one was in a really pretty flowering tree with a little spotlight shining on it. Groups of people (we saw a lot of what looked like extended families), some more organized than others, go from house to house. When they get to the house, they either go in or stand outside and sing songs addressed to Mary. The one we heard most often invoked "Sweet Mary" to "hear my voice" as the people in the house were handing out sweets. Some of the more organized groups had rhythm instruments, and lots of people had noisemakers.
In addition to the groups walking around singing (caroling), using noisemakers (a lot like NYE in the US), and getting sweets at houses (trick or treat, anyone?), there are also people, mostly boys and young men, setting off firecrackers and fireworks.
All in all, it's an exciting night. It seems that all Protestants avoid the holiday (or "are supposed to") because it's Catholic, and, well, centered on Mary, which remains a sticky doctrinal point. So, instead of the Immaculate Conception, the Protestant churches (at least, La Misión Cristiana) have Pastor's Appreciation Day tomorrow. I think I overheard two stories -- one of a man who was raised Protestant, whose Catholic cousins took pity on him when he was young and snuck him out for fireworks and sweets. The second was a pastor's wife who I assume was raised Catholic -- she was suggesting that the pastors' lunch we went to on Monday as part of the "Pastor's Day" celebrations should have a piñata next year. An older pastor jokingly responded that she was now feeling the cost of what it means to be a Protestant in this society.
Río San Juan
This past month a long simmering conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over the San Juan river, which marks their mutual border, came to a mini-boil. The story seems to have been reported in the U.S. but mainly as a goofy (and incorrect) piece claiming that an error in Google Maps caused an accidental invasion of Costa Rica by Nicaragua. The actual story seems to be that both countries do, in fact, lay claim to the same tiny parcel of land.
Anyway, we were in Costa Rica during the peak of the controversy and have been back in Nicaragua since, so it has been interesting to watch the reactions. On the Nica side, the event seems to have at least briefly united all political factions -- from President Ortega to the opposition newspaper La Prensa. Bumper stickers claiming the Río es Nica have sprouted all over Managua. Others say this is just a bit of pre-election saber-rattling, both by Ortega and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. There is a large population of Nicaraguans who work in Costa Rica and some fear that the tensions could lead to anti-Nica sentiments across the border.
Thankfully, it seems unlikely that the situation will escalate too much further -- not least because Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948.
Anyway, if you're like me and interested in the geography-nerd details I recommend this post from Ogle Earth which has lots of maps and tentatively concludes that Costa Rica is in the right. Global Voices also has two interesting summaries here and here.
El mes pasado un conflicto entre Costa Rica y Nicaragua sobre el río San Juan, que marca su frontera común, llegó a un mini-hervir. La historia parece haber sido reportados en los EE.UU., pero principalmente como un tonto (y errónea) historis que alegue que un error en Google Maps causado una invasión accidental de Costa Rica con Nicaragua. La historia real parece ser que los dos países, de hecho, reclaman a la misma parcela pequeña de tierra.
Estábamos en Costa Rica durante el pico de la controversia y hemos estado en Nicaragua desde ese momento, y ha sido interesante ver las reacciones. Por el lado de Nica, el evento parece haber unidos a todas las facciones políticas - del presidente Ortega al diario opositor La Prensa. Otros dicen que esto es sólo un poco de ruido de sables antes de las elecciones, tanto por Ortega y el presidente costarricense Laura Chinchilla. Hay una gran población de nicaragüenses que trabajan en Costa Rica y algunos temen que las tensiones podrían causar los sentimientos anti-Nica al otro lado de la frontera.
Afortunadamente, parece poco probable que la situación se intensificará mucho más - no menos importante, porque Costa Rica abolió su ejército en 1948.
De todos modos, si eres como yo y estás interesado en los detalles nerd-geografía, recomiendo este post de Ogle Earth que tiene un montón de mapas y tentativamente concluye que Costa Rica está en la derecha. Global Voices también cuenta con dos interesantes resúmenes aquí y aquí.
Anyway, we were in Costa Rica during the peak of the controversy and have been back in Nicaragua since, so it has been interesting to watch the reactions. On the Nica side, the event seems to have at least briefly united all political factions -- from President Ortega to the opposition newspaper La Prensa. Bumper stickers claiming the Río es Nica have sprouted all over Managua. Others say this is just a bit of pre-election saber-rattling, both by Ortega and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla. There is a large population of Nicaraguans who work in Costa Rica and some fear that the tensions could lead to anti-Nica sentiments across the border.
Thankfully, it seems unlikely that the situation will escalate too much further -- not least because Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948.
Anyway, if you're like me and interested in the geography-nerd details I recommend this post from Ogle Earth which has lots of maps and tentatively concludes that Costa Rica is in the right. Global Voices also has two interesting summaries here and here.
*/*
El mes pasado un conflicto entre Costa Rica y Nicaragua sobre el río San Juan, que marca su frontera común, llegó a un mini-hervir. La historia parece haber sido reportados en los EE.UU., pero principalmente como un tonto (y errónea) historis que alegue que un error en Google Maps causado una invasión accidental de Costa Rica con Nicaragua. La historia real parece ser que los dos países, de hecho, reclaman a la misma parcela pequeña de tierra.
Estábamos en Costa Rica durante el pico de la controversia y hemos estado en Nicaragua desde ese momento, y ha sido interesante ver las reacciones. Por el lado de Nica, el evento parece haber unidos a todas las facciones políticas - del presidente Ortega al diario opositor La Prensa. Otros dicen que esto es sólo un poco de ruido de sables antes de las elecciones, tanto por Ortega y el presidente costarricense Laura Chinchilla. Hay una gran población de nicaragüenses que trabajan en Costa Rica y algunos temen que las tensiones podrían causar los sentimientos anti-Nica al otro lado de la frontera.
Afortunadamente, parece poco probable que la situación se intensificará mucho más - no menos importante, porque Costa Rica abolió su ejército en 1948.
De todos modos, si eres como yo y estás interesado en los detalles nerd-geografía, recomiendo este post de Ogle Earth que tiene un montón de mapas y tentativamente concluye que Costa Rica está en la derecha. Global Voices también cuenta con dos interesantes resúmenes aquí y aquí.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Heading Out
We're leaving Managua shortly for a trip to El Sauce, in "the West," near Leon. It's the fourth and final training on church governance that I am assisting the church's national Department of Theology with. We're driving there today before it gets dark, doing the day-long training tomorrow, visiting another church and project Monday morning, and should be back in Managua Monday afternoon. I'll have to post Sunday's thoughts on Monday.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Better Angels
One of the articles I read with my Spanish conversation teacher this week was about angels. It was a pretty strange article; I think it was trying to be balanced and provide a variety of perspectives, but the final effect (to me) was sort of incoherent and unresolved. The author talked with four of five people about angels. At least two of the interviewees (if my Spanish reading comprehension skills did not let me down) were "angelologists" (both ladies) They also interviewed a Catholic priest and an evangelical pastor (both men). So there were a variety of perspectives on what angels are like and to what extent people interact with them. At least one of the angelologists offers courses to help people connect with their own personal angels, and had opinions about the colors, odors, and types of music that can be used to help attract angels. It all sounded a bit loopy to me-- both the priest and the pastor seemed to be laughing at the ideas that the angelologists espoused.
My instructor did point out, when we were discussing the topic, that angels don't really show up in the New Testament, except around the birth of Jesus and the book of Revelation (and she did not seem to think too highly of the book of Revelation).
But I was thinking about the basic meaning of angel, a "messenger" (often, of God). And yes, some shiny, possibly winged, airborne, singing angels show up in the Christmas story. (And they sure do look pretty in the Christmas pageant.) But I finally got around to reading the lectionary readings for this coming Sunday. And it occurs to me that John the Baptist, with his message of repentance, like all the prophets, is also an angel. It's harder to hear the message "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (especially when John gets to shouting about the "brood of vipers") than "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy." But that is a message of God, as well. I like to talk about how repentance has as its root the idea of turning, changing direction. "Turn around, the kingdom of God has come near." Shift your attention. Look at what's important. See how God's kingdom has come near.
In my conversation class, we also talked about the very popular cartoon image of a miniature "good angel" and "bad angel" sitting on someone's shoulders and encouraging good or bad behavior. This is what we mean (I think) when we talk about "listening to our better angels." The world is so full of messages and messengers -- and it is up to us to discern which ones to listen to, to pay attention to.
So, here's a bit of confession. While I was "trying to think of something to write about" this evening, I spent a lot of time doing online window-shopping, thinking about Stuff for myself and my friends and family. I did say in my first Advent post that one of the reasons I wanted to blog through Advent was because I felt myself getting pulled in by the commercial, materialistic bits of Christmas. So, perhaps the buying-things websites are playing the role of the little red guy with horns in this moment. So I give thanks for my personal "better angels" on the internet: Fidelia's Sisters, the Vanderbilt Divinity Lectionary, and, lately, the Advent Blog Tour. And especially, a song I heard for the first time today from the people behind the SALT project.
And now I will take the advice of my interior "better angels" and get myself to bed.
My instructor did point out, when we were discussing the topic, that angels don't really show up in the New Testament, except around the birth of Jesus and the book of Revelation (and she did not seem to think too highly of the book of Revelation).
But I was thinking about the basic meaning of angel, a "messenger" (often, of God). And yes, some shiny, possibly winged, airborne, singing angels show up in the Christmas story. (And they sure do look pretty in the Christmas pageant.) But I finally got around to reading the lectionary readings for this coming Sunday. And it occurs to me that John the Baptist, with his message of repentance, like all the prophets, is also an angel. It's harder to hear the message "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (especially when John gets to shouting about the "brood of vipers") than "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy." But that is a message of God, as well. I like to talk about how repentance has as its root the idea of turning, changing direction. "Turn around, the kingdom of God has come near." Shift your attention. Look at what's important. See how God's kingdom has come near.
In my conversation class, we also talked about the very popular cartoon image of a miniature "good angel" and "bad angel" sitting on someone's shoulders and encouraging good or bad behavior. This is what we mean (I think) when we talk about "listening to our better angels." The world is so full of messages and messengers -- and it is up to us to discern which ones to listen to, to pay attention to.
So, here's a bit of confession. While I was "trying to think of something to write about" this evening, I spent a lot of time doing online window-shopping, thinking about Stuff for myself and my friends and family. I did say in my first Advent post that one of the reasons I wanted to blog through Advent was because I felt myself getting pulled in by the commercial, materialistic bits of Christmas. So, perhaps the buying-things websites are playing the role of the little red guy with horns in this moment. So I give thanks for my personal "better angels" on the internet: Fidelia's Sisters, the Vanderbilt Divinity Lectionary, and, lately, the Advent Blog Tour. And especially, a song I heard for the first time today from the people behind the SALT project.
And now I will take the advice of my interior "better angels" and get myself to bed.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
In a Nutshell
So, by way of further introduction to La Misión Cristiana, the church we are working with here in Nicaragua, here is their brief self-description. I first read this (in Spanish) a couple weeks after we arrived, as part of a project proposal for the theological education project for pastors I will be helping to lead over a two-year span (2011-2012). I almost fell out of my chair, I liked it so much.
Today, I translated this "brief profile of the organization" as part of another project proposal, for starting a dairy operation on a church-owned farm. Since at least one of the groups of people who are helping with this project speak English but no Spanish, we were asked to translate the proposal. And, as a fringe benefit, I now get to share with you all these words that I found so inspiring.
"The Christian Mission Church of Nicaragua began in the 1960s as a movement of ministry to prisoners, calling itself in those years "The Christian Mission in the Jails." Its founders were Rev. Marcelino Dávila Castillo who was a pastor in the Assemblies of God, and Rev. Antonio Martinez who first belonged to the Church of the Nazarene. The first church was founded in the Acahualinca neighborhood in 1959. The second church was founded in Barrio José Dolores Estrada in 1972.
The Convention Association of Christian Mission Churches obtained its official recognition on October 19th, 1983. Currently, the Association consists of 51 churches organized at the national level. The churches that belong to the Association are part of the pentecostal movement. The Christian Mission Church has been marked since its beginning as a church committed to addressing social problems and very open to relationships with other churches. Throughout its history, the Association has participated in the founding of various Christian organizations at the national level, with the goal of strengthening ecumenical relationships and supporting the development of churches and their communities.
These organizations include: CEPAD (Evangelical Council for Aid and Development), CIEETS (Interchurch Center of Theological and Social Studies), and UENIC (Evangelical University of Nicaragua). The Christian Mission Church also is a member of CLAI (the Latin American Council of Churches), and has maintained relationships of exchange and sister/brotherhood with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The Brethren, the United Church of Christ (especially the New York Conference), and with the Christian Pentecostal Church of Cuba.
The Christian Mission Church has as its mission the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, proclaimed by Jesus and the first Christians in the power of the Holy Spirit. This preaching is done in words and deeds, so that the gospel may be seen and heard through the testimony of the church, and its commitments to the values of the Kingdom of God: justice, solidarity, equality and respect for diversity. The vision of the Christian Mission Church is to encourage and support social transformation, incarnating the gospel as good news for the most vulnerable sectors of society: the poor, the sick, women, children, and people excluded from our socio-economic systems."
Today, I translated this "brief profile of the organization" as part of another project proposal, for starting a dairy operation on a church-owned farm. Since at least one of the groups of people who are helping with this project speak English but no Spanish, we were asked to translate the proposal. And, as a fringe benefit, I now get to share with you all these words that I found so inspiring.
"The Christian Mission Church of Nicaragua began in the 1960s as a movement of ministry to prisoners, calling itself in those years "The Christian Mission in the Jails." Its founders were Rev. Marcelino Dávila Castillo who was a pastor in the Assemblies of God, and Rev. Antonio Martinez who first belonged to the Church of the Nazarene. The first church was founded in the Acahualinca neighborhood in 1959. The second church was founded in Barrio José Dolores Estrada in 1972.
The Convention Association of Christian Mission Churches obtained its official recognition on October 19th, 1983. Currently, the Association consists of 51 churches organized at the national level. The churches that belong to the Association are part of the pentecostal movement. The Christian Mission Church has been marked since its beginning as a church committed to addressing social problems and very open to relationships with other churches. Throughout its history, the Association has participated in the founding of various Christian organizations at the national level, with the goal of strengthening ecumenical relationships and supporting the development of churches and their communities.
These organizations include: CEPAD (Evangelical Council for Aid and Development), CIEETS (Interchurch Center of Theological and Social Studies), and UENIC (Evangelical University of Nicaragua). The Christian Mission Church also is a member of CLAI (the Latin American Council of Churches), and has maintained relationships of exchange and sister/brotherhood with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The Brethren, the United Church of Christ (especially the New York Conference), and with the Christian Pentecostal Church of Cuba.
The Christian Mission Church has as its mission the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, proclaimed by Jesus and the first Christians in the power of the Holy Spirit. This preaching is done in words and deeds, so that the gospel may be seen and heard through the testimony of the church, and its commitments to the values of the Kingdom of God: justice, solidarity, equality and respect for diversity. The vision of the Christian Mission Church is to encourage and support social transformation, incarnating the gospel as good news for the most vulnerable sectors of society: the poor, the sick, women, children, and people excluded from our socio-economic systems."
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Of Partnerships and Previews
Over a year ago, when we were starting to think and pray about working for Global Ministries, I did some Internet Research (yes, this is a theme in my life ;) ) looking for La Misión Cristiana, hoping to find any information about who the people of this church were and what they were about. They do not, you might not be surprised to find, have much in the way of a web presence. But I did find this video on the website of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ.
The video is from a trip some of the staff from the New York Conference made in August 2007 to visit La Misión Cristiana and re-affirm their partnership. I watched this video quite a few times in the months leading up to our arrival, as I wondered what our experience here would be like. As things turned out, we arrived almost exactly three years after the trip in this slide show. Now that we've been here a little over 3 months, watching the video again to write this blog post was almost funny, because we now know many of the faces and places featured.
So, for those of you who are wishing for a tangible glimpse of our life and work here, this is a pretty good introduction. We have been to almost all of the churches and projects in the video, and even the Masaya Volcano! :) Doña Pilar, who was featured in the 7th Church portion of the video, is the current national president and one of my favorite people ever. Tim will be doing some teaching at the school run by the 2nd church, and I have already participated in a training at the Emmanuel Center, and that will be the location for what I currently think of as my main project -- a comprehensive series of workshops to enhance theological education of pastors. And we just realized today that Ruth, the young woman who is the current secretary in the national office, is the daughter of Raul Davila Castro, who was the president when this presentation was made. We discovered this today when she gave us an invitation to her wedding (which will be in the 7th church!).
I intend to post a fuller report of our trip to visit the cattle farm in Waslala, but we were also chuckling in recognition of his description of the roads, and when we realized that we stayed at the same hotel in Waslala.
This partnership with the New York Conference, and the video produced as a result, was helpful to us as we prepared to come here to serve, and I hope it will also be helpful to you, whether it might be a "preview" for a visit (personal, mission trip, or people-to-people pilgrimage -- we like them all!) or simply a chance to connect with us and La Misión Cristiana virtually.
The video is from a trip some of the staff from the New York Conference made in August 2007 to visit La Misión Cristiana and re-affirm their partnership. I watched this video quite a few times in the months leading up to our arrival, as I wondered what our experience here would be like. As things turned out, we arrived almost exactly three years after the trip in this slide show. Now that we've been here a little over 3 months, watching the video again to write this blog post was almost funny, because we now know many of the faces and places featured.
So, for those of you who are wishing for a tangible glimpse of our life and work here, this is a pretty good introduction. We have been to almost all of the churches and projects in the video, and even the Masaya Volcano! :) Doña Pilar, who was featured in the 7th Church portion of the video, is the current national president and one of my favorite people ever. Tim will be doing some teaching at the school run by the 2nd church, and I have already participated in a training at the Emmanuel Center, and that will be the location for what I currently think of as my main project -- a comprehensive series of workshops to enhance theological education of pastors. And we just realized today that Ruth, the young woman who is the current secretary in the national office, is the daughter of Raul Davila Castro, who was the president when this presentation was made. We discovered this today when she gave us an invitation to her wedding (which will be in the 7th church!).
I intend to post a fuller report of our trip to visit the cattle farm in Waslala, but we were also chuckling in recognition of his description of the roads, and when we realized that we stayed at the same hotel in Waslala.
This partnership with the New York Conference, and the video produced as a result, was helpful to us as we prepared to come here to serve, and I hope it will also be helpful to you, whether it might be a "preview" for a visit (personal, mission trip, or people-to-people pilgrimage -- we like them all!) or simply a chance to connect with us and La Misión Cristiana virtually.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)