From: Karla Koll [kakjtb@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2010 9:54 PM
To: Karla Koll
Subject: August prayer letter

Note: My categories disappeared from my Yahoo account, so I’ve had to reconstruct my mailing lists. Please let me know if you don’t wish to receive my prayer letters.

Dear friends in Christ,

It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, August 1, here in Quetzaltenango. The last few days we have had a bit less rain here than in recent weeks, though other parts of the country continue to receive more rain than usual. Landslides and localized flooding continue. It’s nice to have an afternoon to relax and spend a bit of time with friends through writing this newsletter.

Javier and Tamara, my husband and daughter, returned home from Nicaragua on Thursday, so we are all together once again. Tamara now has a new Nicaraguan passport. Her mosquito bites are fading. Her stomach didn’t respond well to the amount of grease in typical Nicaraguan food, but I hope her appetite returns soon.

I have been asked by the Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA) to be the interim academic dean of the Biblical and Theological Training program for the coming months while we seek to discern what the program is called to be and whom it is called to serve in the future. As I imagined, this has meant more much for work for me as well as much more time in the CEDEPCA office in the capital. I’ve been talking with students, going through files and dialoging with colleagues at CEDEPCA. The program is related to the Latin American Biblical University in Costa Rica, so I have also been communicating with the leadership there.  I ask for your prayers as I live into these new duties and set the program up for the next person.

I’m teaching one course this semester in the capital on Christian ethics. There are five folks who gather with me on Wednesday mornings to consider how it is that Christians make moral decisions and how we can encourage people and communities to take responsibility for the moral dimensions of their lives.

In addition to weekly classes, my schedule includes some special events this month. On August 11, a group of five women from Fairfax Presbyterian Church are coming to Guatemala along with Jennifer Thalman Kepler and Shannon Wooley of the Looking for Lilith Theater Company. Carolyn Thalman, Jen’s mother, is also coming along. They will be participating in a retreat with women from the Sinodica, the national organization of Presbyterian women here as part of the Faith Stories Project. The retreat will be here in Quetzaltenango, which means Tamara will also be able to be involved. The visitors will also be learning about Guatemala through CEDEPCA’s Intercultural Encounters program.  I’ll be accompanying them the week they are here in the country.

On Friday, August 20, I’ll travel to Poptún in the Peten to teach the second session of a course on the mission of the church the following day. I went up to Poptún for the first time on July 23. The students, who come from a number of mostly Pentecostal churches, were eager to learn. They had lots to share out of their own experience as well as lots of questions. CEDEPCA has been teaching classes in Poptún for almost three years now. There are no other opportunities available for theological education there. It’s a long trip, more than seven hours by bus from the capital, but it’s worth it to see people developing new understandings of their faith.

As I have mentioned before, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza of Harvard Divinity School will be coming to Guatemala this month. We are expecting more than 200 participants at the conference where she will be speaking on August 26 and 27. The theme of her talks will be “Traveling the Paths of Wisdom: Feminist Biblical Interpretation”. There is still a lot of work to do to get ready for the conference.  I’ll be working on the translation of the texts for Dr. Fiorenza.

Once he catches up on his rest after his visit to Nicaragua, Javier will be starting back to work on his thesis. He still hopes to graduate this year with his licenciatura in political science from the Rafael Landivar University.

Tamara will be starting her senior year of high school on August 16 at the Interamerican School here in Quetzaltenango. It hardly seems possible! She’s taking another college course on-line, creative writing this time. She’ll also continue teaching English classes on Saturdays at a local language school. It’s time to start the college application process, which will be both exciting and tension-producing for all of us.
It’s certainly a time in which we all need prayers.

CEDEPCA profile

This month I’d like to introduce you to a couple I was able to get to know better when I was in their home in Poptún. Alvaro Perez and Elizabeth (Betty) Andrade used to live in Sumpango, about 35 kilometers from Guatemala City. They have been up in Poptún for four years now. Betty started taking classes in CEDEPCA’s women’s program before starting in the theology program. She talked to me about how important CEDEPCA has been in her life in helping her develop both her capacity for reflection and her leadership skills. Alvaro, with Betty’s help, serves as pastor for the Prince of Peace Church in Poptún, part of a national Pentecostal denomination. As president of the local pastors’ association, Alvaro is encouraging his colleagues to study. He insists on starting every meeting of the association with a class. Alvaro and Betty invited CEDEPCA to come to Poptún to offer classes. These courses have allowed Betty to continue her theological education. I’m encouraging Betty to think about studying in Costa Rica next year.

Reading Corner

My friend, Daniel Caño, a q’anjob’al intellectual who has participated in CEDEPCA’s theology classes in Quetzaltenango, wrote to tell me that some of his poems had been included in a new collection of contemporary Mayan poetry. I just happened to be in the capital last weekend to be able to go to the book presentation at the international book fair and hear Daniel read his work. Fifteen poets have their work included in Uk’u’x kaj, uk’u’k ulew: Antología de poesía maya guatemalteca contemporánea. Maya Cu, another of the poets included, is an educator and communicator who used to work with CEDEPCA. I don’t usually list books that are only available in Spanish, but I wanted to let you know about this important work that shares part of the revitalization of Mayan literature.  It has been published by the University of North Carolina. Unfortunately, this means it will be more available in the United States than here in Guatemala.

It’s a privilege to share my life and work with folks here in Guatemala, just as it is a gift for us to have you share with us. Thank you for the prayers. I also appreciate your messages even if I don’t always have a chance to answer immediately.

Blessings,

Karla

Mailing address:

GUA 2120
P.O. Box 526125
Miami, FL  33152-6125

Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll
Professor of History, Mission and Religions
Latin American Biblical University, Costa Rica
Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA), Guatemala
Presbyterian Church (USA) Mission Co-worker
www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/kollk.htm

From: Karla Koll [kakjtb@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 6:08 PM
To: Karla Koll
Subject: July prayer letter

Dear sisters and brothers,

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is now a reality. It was great to be in Grand Rapids for the Uniting General Council with sisters and brothers from around the world. My interpretation and translation work as part of the language services team kept me very busy. My next newsletter will share more about the WCRC.

I returned to Guatemala on June 26 in the middle of the rains provoked by Tropical Storm Alex before it became a hurricane. The rains continued for several more days, adding to the damage caused earlier by Tropical Storm Agatha. Several thousand more people lost their homes in new flooding. This June was one of the wettest months in recent history. Since the first of July, the weather patterns have been closer to what is normal during the rainy season, a brief period of sun in the morning followed by rains in the afternoon and at night. Yet many rivers are still above flood stage and the soil in many places is supersaturated.

My husband and daughter, Javier and Tamara, together with Yecenia, the medical student who helps in our home, took off for Nicaragua yesterday. The dogs and cats are doing their best to keep me company, but the house still feels lonely. They are planning to be in Nicaragua just over two weeks. Among other things, Tamara will be visiting her grandfather José and getting a new Nicaraguan passport. I hope to be able to use the time while they are gone productively.

The new semester begins at CEDEPCA tomorrow, July 5. There have been some changes at CEDEPCA. Veronica Perez has been let go from her position as coordinator of the Biblical and Theological Training program. I don’t know yet exactly what this will mean for me, but I imagine I will assume some responsibility for the academic direction of the program for the coming months.  I’ll know much more once I get to the office tomorrow. We will be evaluating how we might respond more effectively to church folks who are seeking to gain skills they need to meet the challenges of being faithful in this difficult context. We ask for your prayers as we discern where God is leading this program.

I also ask your prayers for Veronica Perez in this very difficult time for her and her family.

I will be spending more time in the CEDEPCA office in Guatemala City than I have usually done during the rainy season. Parts of the Interamerican Highway between Quetzaltenango and the capital have been damaged by the recent rains. The high degree of moisture in the soil means that landslides are likely. For the time being, I will be traveling every week by bus rather than by car. Please keep my travels in your prayers.

As I write, the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is meeting in Minneapolis. Among other business, the GA will vote on the mission budget for the next two years and the new strategic direction that has been developed by World Mission. Fifteen new mission co-workers will be commissioned in a service on July 8. Among them is Kristi Van Nostran, who will be going to El Salvador to work with the Joining Hands against Hunger program. Several years ago, Kristi served with CEDEPCA through the Mission and Reconciliation program.  I invite your prayers for Kristi and the other mission co-workers who will be going through orientation before they travel to their fields of service.

CEDEPCA profile

This month I’d like to introduce you to one of CEDEPCA’s most gifted students, Arnoldo Aguilar. He is pastor in the Church of God and he serves a congregation in zone 7 of the capital. He is one of the most sensitive pastors I have ever met. In 2002, Arnoldo was one of the students in the first course I taught in Guatemala City. Over the last eight years, he has been taking theology courses at CEDEPCA. Like most of our students, he was only able to study at CEDEPCA part-time. He also earned a licenciatura in communication from the University of San Carlos. This year he finished the prerequisites to enter the licenciatura program at the Latin American Biblical University (UBL). He traveled to Costa Rica in the middle of June to take the integrated seminar, a nine-credit course taught by three professors. This year’s theme for the seminar is sexuality.  Courses at the UBL are taught in two month blocks. When Arnoldo left, he was planning on being in Costa Rica for only two months, but he’s considering staying for another bimester in order to take more courses. Please pray for Arnoldo. Also pray for his wife and three small children during his absence, as well as the congregation he serves.

Reading corner

I am often asked to recommend readings on the history of churches here in Guatemala. The best text available is Virginia Garrard-Burnett’s Protestantism in Guatemala: Living in the New Jerusalem. Ginnie teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. Her text goes through the Rios Montt dictatorship of the early 1980s. She explores the development of the different streams of Protestantism within the social and political context of Guatemala. A translation of her book was published here in Guatemala last year, so we finally have it to share with students.

The afternoon rains are starting, so I will close now. I’m still catching up with correspondence from the two weeks I was in Grand Rapids, so don’t worry if you haven’t heard from me. As always, thank you for walking with me and my colleagues at CEDEPCA in this journey in mission.

Blessings,

Karla

Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll

Professor of History, Mission and Religions

Latin American Biblical University, Costa Rica

Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA), Guatemala

Presbyterian Church (USA) Mission Co-worker

www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/kollk.htm

June 2, 2010

Dear Friends,

Our time here in the U.S. is drawing to a close.  It is with tinges of sadness and with the joy of anticipation that we return to the Philippines next month.  This year has been a wonderful year at the Overseas Ministries Study Center full of the joys of family.  It has been a time of renewal when we have rededicated ourselves to the mission of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.  We have loved talking to churches and meeting so many dedicated Christians around the country.  We thank you all for the wonderful gift of time that you have given us.

Since we will be returning to the Philippines soon, Paul, Rachie and I decided to make the Memorial Day weekend special.  We went to New York City. The morning train left the New Haven Station and arrived at Grand Central.   With map in hand, we headed down into the subway and emerged into the blinding sunlight at Battery Park.  We were off to see the Statue of Liberty! We had our tickets. But first, we had to wait.  The line for the ferry wound around and around Battery Park like a snake. We finally got on the ferry after waiting for two hours in the heat and the sun.   The ferry was tall, heavy and solid!  When I was standing high up on deck, I couldn’t help but remember the boats we had traveled on in the Philippines.  These boats were small and rickety.  Some were made of bamboo, others of wood.  When we sat down in them we were at ocean level.  Salty sprays of water splashed against our skin as our boats bobbed up and down treacherously.  We were part of the ocean, we were caught in her grasp, we were at her mercy.  This was not true of the Staten Island Ferry.  This ferry plowed through the waves and we road high above them in security.

When we arrived on the island I noticed something about the Statue of Liberty that I had never noticed before.  I noticed that Lady Liberty was depicted not as a woman who standing still holding up her torch to shed light to those who came to her. Instead, the statue is captured in a moment of movement.  She had trampled down the chains of bondage and was striding out in freedom with her torch. She had been imprisoned.  Now she was free. But she was not content to stand still in her freedom.  No, with great dignity she lights her torch, raises it up high. She strides purposefully out into a dark world to bring freedom and light to all.

I suddenly had a vision that this statue, Lady Liberty, could also be interpreted as a very powerful symbol of the missionary movement all over the world.  Over the centuries many, many men and women from every nation under heaven have courageously taken the light of the Gospel and have walked out majestically to bring the light of Christ to the World.

The Presbyterian Church has been part of this proud legacy.  In response to the God’s call, the Presbyterian Church has brought the light of the Gospel to people who were hungry for the word of God, medicine to those whose bodies were wasted by diseases, and education to those who yearned to be able to read God’s word for themselves.  Presbyterian Missionaries traveled on rickety boats, they waded across dangerous rivers and fought against tropical diseases.  They watched their children die and buried them in the soil of their adopted countries.  They gave their lives so that all the world could hear the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ.

By God’s grace, they were never alone. When they arrived in the countries, they found men and women, who worked valiantly to spread the Gospel.  This was certainly true in the Philippines!  When the first PCUSA missionaries arrived in the Philippines in 1898, they were greeted by Christians who had read the Bible and wanted to know more!  They were eager to learn more about what Christ had said and what God had done.  These  Filipino Evangelists were on fire for the Gospel.  They took the precious Bible and the Good News it proclaimed to the farthest reaches of the Philippines.

We continue this tradition of partnership in the Philippines. We work with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and join them in bringing the light of Christ to those who are desperate to live in the freedom that Christ brings.  We teach in the Philippines, with our Filipino brothers and sisters in Christ, in a country where life is insecure, jobs are scarce and hope is hard to find.  Faith in God is not an option.  It is not a philosophy to be discussed.  It is a hope that is lived.  It is the only thing that stands between many people and despair.  Faith in God is life, life on this earth and life eternal.

Our students are Evangelists. Some will serve churches that can barely pay their salaries.  Others will serve mission churches and travel up steep mountain cliffs and down sharp valley walls to bring the Gospel to their parishioners.  Others will follow God’s call to serve God’s poorest people in the slums of the inner cities.  Still others put themselves in harm’s way by living out their Christian life in self-sacrificing love to the most downtrodden of God’s children.  We look at them in awe.  We are proud to be part of their journey.

We are proud to serve the Presbyterian Church as missionary co-workers and continue the journey that was begun so many years ago at Pentacost. We thank you for making it possible for us to serve them and to be your hands and hearts in this spirit filled work and ask that you continue to support us and all other mission personnel with your prayers and financial gifts.

In Christ,

Mary, Paul and Rachel Marie

April 1, 2010

Dear Friends,

It is gray here in New Haven on these final days of Lent.  The clouds are close on the horizon and the weather is blustery and cold.  There are fits of sunshine, but mostly the wind cuts through you like a knife.  It almost makes us forget that on the other side of the world the sun is blazing down on graduation day at Union Theological Seminary.  Graduation day for our other students at Philippine Christian University is not far away.

Behind each of the graduates there is a story that stretches back for generations.  It goes beyond the gates of the seminary, beyond the roads and bridges, up the mountains and beyond time.  It stretches for all of our students back to those dark, tear drenched days of the Bible, when Jesus Christ was betrayed, put on trial and crucified.  For many Filipinos the image of the suffering Christ is the one they hold on to in their hearts.

For us and for them these are the days of sorrow and remembrance when we see Jesus walking resolutely on the path that was set before him.  The Filipinos recollect this path of sadness, the Via Dolorosa, not only during Lent, but also most memorably during the procession when they venerate the statue of Hesus Nazareno, the black Nazarene. The procession of the Hesus Nazareno takes place early in January.  Thousands upon thousands of Filipinos make the pilgrimage to Manila to take part in the procession to walk barefoot behind the float that holds the statue of Jesus.  This year a million and a half Filipinos lined the streets to get a glimpse of the statue.  They crowded up to the statue in droves and threw handkerchiefs up to waiting attendants.  They prayed that the attendants would rub the handkerchiefs on the statue’s robes and beg the attendant to throw the handkerchiefs back to them.  When he does they will treasure these handkerchiefs like relics.  They believe that they can rub these handkerchiefs on their own bodies they will be healed like the woman who touched Jesus’ robe.

What does this statue look like you ask?  If you can access these two sites: GMA News of January 11, 2009, http://www.gmanews.tv/story/181139/longer-slower-route-for-black-nazarene-procession and Bobby Wong, http://www.pbase.com/bobbyw/c66, you will find some stunning photos.  One shows the multitude of crowds that engulf the statue of the Black Nazarene.  The other shows both the statue of Jesus and the statue’s devoted attendants.  If you can’t get to the websites try to imagine a statue that is an almost life-sized figure of Jesus.  The statue was carved almost 300 years ago by an unknown Mexican artist and suffered greatly on its journey from Mexico to the Philippines.  A fire engulfed the boat transporting it and the flames scorched the entire statue.  The statue bears the marks of this trauma and Jesus’ darkened face is etched with exhaustion and sorrow.  His back is bent with the heavy load of the cross he carries.  He stumbles onto one knee and remains prone.  He cannot go on any farther.  His strength is gone.  This is the moment that the Mexican carver has immortalized.

Many Filipinos see in the statue of Hesus Nazareno the image of themselves as a suffering people.  They see it as a confirmation that in Jesus of Nazareth, God came to them in the flesh.  They see their own suffering in the suffering of Jesus.  Their sorrow is etched on Jesus face.  Their broken bodies can be seen in Jesus’ broken body.  His life of suffering, pain and betrayal is their life.  His life turned suffering on earth into joy in heaven, just as their suffering on earth will end in joy in heaven.  He loved them enough to suffer for them and he made their suffering holy.  In their daily suffering, they are close to Jesus.  Their suffering offers them redemption both here on this world and later in the world to come.

If we are Protestants, we do not venerate statues, yet, I believe that the way that Jesus is depicted in this statue can speak powerfully to us.  We can also enter into a greater understanding of the suffering that Jesus experienced by surveying this statue of a suffering master.  Perhaps, we can go a little further as well.  The moment that the unknown artist depicted is the moment right before Simon of Cyrene was pressed into service by the Romans and was forced to carry Jesus’ cross for him to Golgatha.  The Gospel of Mark tells us that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus and came from Cyrene, which was a city in northern Africa.  He was almost certainly a Jew and might easily have been one of the early converts to Christianity since his name is mentioned in three of the four Gospels.  Simon was a stranger to Jesus, yet he accompanied Jesus on his final tortuous journey.

Step by step, he would have carried Jesus’ cross on his shoulders and performed one of the last acts of compassion for a man condemned to die.  In performing this act of compassion, Simon’s life was transformed.  By taking on the suffering of Jesus, his life was renewed.  His sons, Alexander and Rufus are so well known to the community of believers for whom the Gospel of Mark is written, that they are mentioned as great friends and loyal companions.

When we view the statue of the Hesus Nazareno, which the Filipinos hold in such high esteem, I believe that we should ask ourselves, “Can we do for Jesus what Simon of Cyrene did?”  “Could we have walked that last tortuous journey with Jesus and carried his burden for him, at least for a little while?”  “Can we see in this cross, the heavy plank of wood on our shoulders, the gateway to a new life?”  “Can we, take upon our shoulders the suffering of our world, even if for a little while, so that we, can become closer to the one who died for us on the cross?”  Simon’s first encounter with Jesus was not his final one.  His encounter changed him.  If we take on Simon’s challenge, I can assure you it will change us as well.  Who knows what miracles we will see and what works of transformation we will witness?

We leave you, dear friends, again thanking you for your constant love and great support of us and our ministry in the Philippines, and pray that you will experience the miracle of Jesus resurrection as the joy of a renewed commitment to Jesus’ gospel in your lives.

In Christ,

Mary, Paul and Rachel Marie

January 6, 2010

Dear Friends,

Today is the celebration of the Coming of the Magi.  It is the last day of the Christmas season and the beginning of the season of Epiphany.  We have taken down our Christmas trees and put away our ornaments.  The Christmas pudding has been eaten and the smells of Christmas are fading from our houses.  I know it is time to look forward yet I can’t help but to look back at the preceding weeks with longing and nostalgia.

This year we spent a Christmas season surrounded by the sounds and sights of a traditional American Christmas.  It was quite different from the season of Christmas as celebrated in the Philippines where heavy red hibiscus blooms bob from their stems and chickens run clucking happily around our yard.  In the Philippines Christmas usually marks the end of the rainy season so there is an end to the need for hoisting up your pants and skirts as you cope with the surprise downpours. In the Philippines, Christmas is celebrated in our little Church as soon as it gets dark.  The Church joins together in silliness as adults and children run back and forth, participating in “Youth Group Games”  until everyone has assured themselves that they could not possibly be more than 18 years old!  Sometimes the married couples are paired up for a game of, “Do you know your spouse as well as you think you do?,” which always provokes peals of laughter from the younger generation.  A potluck dinner follows for which the wonderful cooks in the congregation have brought their favorite dishes. I am not one of the wonderful cooks so I always bring spaghetti topped with hot dogs since it is easy to prepare and beloved of all the children. Everyone gathers on the pews, with their plates in their laps to share the Christmas feast.  At the end of the Christmas story is retold with much hilarity and grace.  The joy of the Christmas season is highlighted and the radiance of the angels is reflected on every face.  Gifts are exchanged and received in such a way that everyone receives at least a small token of affection.  This is always the saddest part of the celebration for me since invariably some small child will not receive something they have been hoping for and will dissolve in tears.  Open arms are always present to comfort and to guide these children back into the games so that they can experience the happiness of the Christmas anew.  The celebration continues until Midnight when the Gospel story is read with much solemnity.  By this time the littlest of the children have fallen asleep in their parent’s arms, are carried on shoulders of their older brothers or snuggled into the laps of aunts and uncles.  The older children and the adults allow themselves to be gathered together by God’s word and, for a moment, for just a moment the earth stands still and breathes purity.

This year however was different.  We drove the 16 hour trip from New Haven CT to Louisville KY where both our mothers live in one fell swoop.  Over the rivers and through the woods we dashed.  Christmas hectic was upon us.  My brother Louis, Carola and their son Gideon came from Munich Germany to spend Christmas with my mother and with us.  Paul’s sister Sarah and her husband Dennis came from Arizona to spend Christmas with Paul’s mother and with us.  Our Christmas celebration was a contrast between the peacefulness of the celebrations at Paul’s mother’s house and the electricity and life that my brother’s family brings to any occasion.

My mother made sure to have a real Christmas tree for Rachie and Gideon to decorate. I made some applesauce – cinnamon ornaments to put on the tree and to accompany all the beautiful ornaments that we had collected over the years.  The scent of the tree wafted throughout the whole house and conjured up images of coziness and Christmases long ago. Louis and Carola brought their Christmas incense burner with them and it filled the house with wafts of frankincense and myrrh.  The scents of the tree, incense, cinnamon and the burning of the logs in the fireplace combined to form that indescribable scent of Christmas.

There seems to be something magical and mysterious about the Christmas tree. Originally a sign of eternal life, and of light amidst darkness it brings the spiciness of hope to the room. At Christmas, more than at any other time of the year, it seems that our five senses are involved in our celebrations.   Here in the U.S. the scent of Christmas is the scent of the fir tree and the spiciness of cloves and cinnamon. The sounds of Christmas are the music of the carols, the cadences of the biblical Christmas story and the voices of those we love. The touch of Christmas is the feel of the beloved ornaments, the roughness of logs for the fire and the embraces of those who we haven’t seen in years. The views of Christmas are the sight of our families’ and friends faces, the dark form of the Christmas tree bejeweled by lights, the Church decorated for Christmas, and the bare tree limbs that raise their branches up to the sky in hope of spring.  The tastes of Christmas are a medley of apples and cloves, cinnamon and peppermint, chocolate and cream, pumpkin and nutmeg, roasted fowl and buttered potatoes.  All of these combined form Christmas.  There is also the yearning for home and the nostalgia for those who cannot be there.  There is a melancholy that touches the present with awe.  In his play “Our Town” Thornton Wilder proposes that only poets and perhaps visionaries understand how precious life is.  I think the whole of Christmas and the way Christmas can be celebrated affirms the preciousness of life.  It is a time when past and present merge in a celebration of what is eternal and what is ephemeral.  It is, in its essence, the very celebration of life.

May this understanding of Christmas and life surround you as you enter the season of Epiphany, the season of the coming of the Gospel into the world.

In Christ,

Mary and Paul

October 31, 2009

Dear Friends,

The last time we wrote, Paul, Rachie and I were in the Philippines where the sun stood high in Manila sky and it seemed as if the days would never end.  Since then, Paul, Rachel Marie and I have returned to the U.S. for our year of interpretation assignment. We are now living for a year at the Overseas Ministries Studies Center in New Haven CT.  We look forward to this year as a time to get to know all of you better, to communicate with you more effectively and to spend time together as a family.

Rachel Marie is now thirteen years old, which is a critical time for a teen.  She is beginning to gain confidence in herself and is happy to be back with the friends in New Haven that she had made when we were here in 2004/2005.  If you look at her picture on our webpage, you will see that she has grown up quite a bit.  I am almost always surprised when I look at her and realize that she is the same little girl who went with us to the Philippines 8 years ago in 2001.  It comes home to me like a shock when I look at the pictures we took then and compare it to the young lady I see in front of me now.

Last month Paul and I both participated in the Presbyterian Mission Challenge, which took us across the plains of Kansas, through the hills of Missouri and over the windswept terrain of Oklahoma.  The hearts of the churches in these areas are as wide as the star studded skies that cover the prairies like an azure bowl.

Back in New Haven, the seasons have turned, as seasons in New England invariably will.  Crisp fall leaves herald the coming of winter where the evenings darken at 4:30pm and the taste of apples lingers in your mouth.  As we celebrated All Saints’ Day last November 1st and recalled all the Christians, dead and alive who have witnessed to Christ’s love, my thoughts turned to all of our friends in the land of endless summer, smiles, typhoons and mudslides.  As I was traveling through the plains of Kansas I was struck by the news of the disasters that plagued Luzon.

The UCCP Website http://uccp.org.ph brought home the reports that had blazed across the U.S. news services.  The disaster that struck the Philippines left some UCCP congregations under water and in such disrepair that one pastor wrote to me that it took them a full two weeks to locate all their members and that they expected to celebrate Christmas amid the wreckage oftheir small church. and members reported that initial data from 19 UCCP congregations indicate that at least 620 families have been severely affected The most affected conferences were the United Metropolis Conference in Northern Manila and the North East Southern Tagalog Conference.  Several UCCP Churches served as evacuation centers including the Bishop Sobrepena Memorial Church in Quezon City and the UCCP office building in Quezon City.  All in all the Philippine national Disaster Coordinating Council estimated that at least half a million persons were displaced by the typhoons, the heavy rains and the resulting mudslides.

Pastor Berlin Guerrero wrote of the tragedy, “Bagyong Ondoy did not carry so much strong winds but a lot of rainfall. The Laguna lake area has practically expanded and its water level increased by 14 meters submerging parts of several towns in waist-high waters. Several schools were converted into evacuation areas including some of our local church buildings. UCCP San Mateo is worst affected because it was submerged with only its roof above water. UCCP Banaba was also washed out because it is near a brook which turned into a rushing river that that fateful day. Many of our local congregations were not able to hold worship services.

It’s hard for us to imagine how they felt trying to cling onto something for their lives on a Sunday morning when they were supposed to be in the comfort of worship and safety of a sanctuary building.

By God’s grace, many of the not-so-much affected congregations immediately sent teams in the areas devastated by the typhoon even while streets were still flooded. UCCP Paete, Sat Cruz and other churches became evacuation sites for residents fearing landslide and escaping the rising level of the lake.

We now have a relief operation with UCCP Calamba as center and nodal centers in the districts. The Community Ministeries Committee (CMC), of which I am a member, is taking care of the operation. We are glad because we continue to receive donations from friends and partners coupled by the strong initiatives from local churches. As this situation may last till December or even longer, the rehabilitation stage may take a different form (perhaps not similar to North Quezon). We are in study of the steps to be taken. A type of situation adaptation (which includes strong advocacies) is in the offing.”

As all of us know, the tragic effects of these typhoons will continue through the coming months.  I fear that increased outbreaks of dengue, malaria, and typhoid will shadow the Filipinos affected by this catastrophe and will claim even more victims. Yet it seems that the Philippine Spirit is undaunted.  Rescue efforts will continue and faith in God will give people the courage to pick up the pieces of their lives and begin a new day.

In this season of Thanksgiving, we give thanks to all of you who have supported us throughout the years.  With your support we can continue to do God’s work in the world that longs for God’s healing touch and outstretched arms.  We invite you to continue to support our work as we seek to do God’s work on your behalf and spread God’s love to the Philippines.

In Christ,

Paul, Mary and Rachel Marie

Wednesday, June 02, 2010 4:07 PM
A Few Post-disaster Reflections, June 2

As the fourth day after the passage of Tropical Storm Agatha through Guatemala begins, I want to share a few reflections on experiences I had yesterday here in Quetzaltenango. After a cloudy dawn, we had sunshine all day yesterday. The good weather made it hard to believe that we had just been through one of the worst disasters in recent years.

Traffic here in Quetzaltenango was back to near normal levels, though schools are still out and travel between cities is difficult. The shelves in the supermarket were also close to normal, though supplies of eggs, milk products, bread, vegetables and meat were still low. Gasoline trucks arrived in the afternoon, so there is now gasoline available.

The shelters here in Quetzaltenango were closed on Monday as people returned to their homes to begin the process of cleaning up. Yesterday I accompanied a small group from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church to a neighborhood in zone 2 where 530 families had been affected by flooding. Up to three feet of water had entered the houses. Soldiers were controlling access to the neighborhood and helping shovel the mud out of the streets. The mud was drying, producing clouds of dust. Many people were wearing surgical masks. The soldiers had been on patrol since the neighborhood was evacuated on Saturday. Thieves had moved in even as the evacuation was happening.

We didn’t have much to share. Roberto Armas, the priest at St. Mark’s, is also a medical doctor. He had the children line up to receive anti-parasite medication. Each child was also given 15-days worth of vitamins, as well as a hot snack. We also had bags of food, basically instant soups and purified water, to pass out. The food was donated by the Patriot Party, the political party that lost the last presidential election. The elections aren’t until next year and it’s illegal for political parties to be campaigning this early, but each of the bags had material promoting politicians. We opened the bags and passed out the food and water without the propaganda. Political parties here are not above trying to take advantage of people’s vulnerability in times of disaster.

I came away from zone 2 with a series of impressions. One is that though the help arriving from outside has been minimal and not well-coordinated, the neighborhood is organized and folks are working together. The primary worry of people seemed to be getting their homes cleaned out, a very difficult task with no water supply for the neighborhood at the moment. I was remembering how several churches I visited in the US had put together clean-up kits for Church World Service. How nice it would be to have some of those kits! Garbage was piling up in the streets as people threw out what the water and mud had ruined. Some had moved their furniture outside and were scrapping off the mud. The dominant sentiments I heard from the women who brought their children were exhaustion and frustration. They were also worried about the possible health effects on themselves and their children from contact with so much mud and dampness. The concrete walls of the houses are still retaining a lot of humidity.

The folks in zone 2 here in Quetzaltenango are victims not of a natural disaster, but of the lack of urban planning and poor civil engineering decisions made decades ago. Several years ago one of my students here in Quetzaltenango told me that much of zone 2 was a lake when she was a child. The lake was filled in and houses built without sufficient attention paid to drainage and the natural flow of water. Parts of zone 2 flood every rainy season.

Poor civil engineering decisions are not limited to Quetzaltenango. A sink hole with a depth of 170 feet swallowed a three-story house in zone 2 in Guatemala City, only five blocks from the CEDEPCA office. Initial reports indicate that a storm drain collapsed. Needless to say, my colleagues who work and live in zone 2 are worried about what might be going on under the buildings.

For those of us here with resources, the concurrent disasters of the eruption of the Pacaya Volcano y Tropical Storm Agatha mean minor or not-so minor inconveniences. For some it meant not being able to get home for several hours or several days due to downed trees and landslides blocking roads. Judith Castaneda left her home Saturday morning and was unable to return until Monday night. It might have meant spending hours or days without electricity and/or water. It might have meant having travel plans interrupted. A group visiting CEDEPCA from Davenport, Iowa was supposed to fly out yesterday. The airport did reopen at mid-day yesterday, but the group wasn’t able to get a flight out until Saturday. While thousands lost their homes and all of their possessions, our lives continue more or less as normal. And for the relatives of the 156 people who lost their lives, life will never be the same.

We’ve been talking here in the house about how to be prepared for the next disaster: nonperishable foodstuffs to have on hand, keeping the gas tanks of the cars at least half-full, keeping cell phones and radio batteries charged. Already the pressure of daily routines is already taking over, lulling us into forgetting just how vulnerable this region is to disasters.

While the violence of the volcano and rain occupied the headlines for several days, violence caused by humans has once again become the top news story here. A dismembered body found in Guatemala City, attacks against bus drivers. The levels of violence did drop during the story. If only the drop had been permanent.

The radio stations have shifted from reporting on the damage caused by the storm to issuing announcements from the government, church and other organizations asking for donations of foodstuffs, etc., for those left homeless. There is a tradition here in Guatemala of helping one’s neighbor, but such donations do nothing to decrease the vulnerability of families or increase the capacity of communities to response to disasters. Emergency aid is needed on a short-term basis, but it’s not a solution.

One of my colleagues circulated a note from an organization that is collecting cortes, the traditional cloth Mayan women wrap and tie around themselves for a skirt, for women left homeless near Lake Atitlan. Many times donors take no account of local culture. I remember an indigenous friend commenting after Hurricane Stan that his displaced relatives were given food that was very strange to them, not the food they were used to eating. Disaster response must be in harmony with people’s culture so that it doesn’t produce cultural disruption to compound the physical displacement people have already experienced in losing their homes.

I was not in Guatemala when Hurricane Stan hit in early October of 2005. I asked my daughter, Tamara, to compare the experience of living through the two storms. She remembered that it rained for more days during Stan, but she thinks the damage, at least here in Quetzaltenango, was about the same. Last night President Colom said that Guatemala received twenty percent more rain during Agatha than during Stan, however, that rain came in only half the time of the previous storm. Since the rain had less time to penetrate the ground, the landslides have been less devastating than in 2005. Thus far there are no reports of entire villages being buried. But there was more flooding with Agatha.

Hurricane Stan also came at the end of the rainy season. Agatha struck right at the beginning of the rainy season. More heavy rains are expected in the coming days. The next few months could be very difficult. Hunger could affect many areas that lost crops. Not much rebuilding will be possible until the next dry season.

Members of the CEDEPCA staff are meeting today to develop a response to these disasters. We continue to dream of a Guatemala in which all live in safety and in dignity. Please continue to dream with us.

Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll
Professor of History, Mission and Religions
Latin American Biblical University, Costa Rica
Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA), Guatemala
Presbyterian Church (USA) Mission Co-worker
www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/kollk.htm

The Mission Committee will be selling Corazon Scarves from Guatemala on  Sunday, June 6 after Church.

Corazon Scarves is dedicated to producing the world’s most beautiful scarves made by women artisans at a fair market price. Their  goal is to provide markets to women overcoming the effects of violence and oppression around the world. The versatile scarf, used to carry babies and food, provide comfort, warmth and beauty, seems an appropriate symbol for women as they unite globally to work towards their own justice, liberty and economic sustainability.

Download a catalog, or visit the Corazon Scarves website at http://www.corazonscarves.com/, and subscribe to the Corazon Scarves mailing list to receive the latest news!

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Greetings from Guatemala as folks here begin to recover from the passage of Tropical Storm Agatha. I had hoped to get this letter off yesterday, but I have yet to talk to Judith Castañeda, the General Coordinator of CEDEPCA. The most of the CEDEPCA staff in Guatemala City were able to gather in the office yesterday. Many of the people who work at CEDEPCA have been helping in shelters in their neighborhoods. I hope there will be some official communication from CEDEPCA for all of you soon. Here’s the news I do have.

As May ended, officials were still assessing the damage. Tropical Storm Agatha was the first named storm of the Pacific hurricane season. Rains began last Wednesday as the storm sat off the Pacific coast and gained strength. The storm made landfall Saturday evening (May 29) close to the Mexican border. The speed of the storm had increased, so it moved quickly to the north.  Rains stopped here in Quetzaltenango early Sunday morning. Some places in the country received more than 20 inches of rain in 24 hours. The government released the following figures last night (May 31): 123 dead, 90 disappeared, 69 injured, 155,000 evacuated and 50,000 currently in shelters. The numbers are sure to go up as contact is made with isolated communities. In addition, 14 bridges are out around the country and landslides still block many highways. There is no estimate yet of the damage the flooding has caused to crops. School has been suspended throughout the country for a week. Though the greatest damage was experienced here in Guatemala, deaths are also reported in El Salvador and Honduras.

On Thursday afternoon, in the midst of the rain, the Pacaya Volcano started erupting, sending ash and rain down on Guatemala City and the surrounding area.  One reporter was killed by falling rocks. More than 2,000 people were evacuated and many crops were lost. The airport in Guatemala City is closed. The rains have complicated the task of cleaning the volcanic ash off of the runways, but officials hope to open the airport today (June 1). Helicopter flights were authorized on Sunday to aid in the rescue efforts. The volcano has returned to normal levels of activity, though another eruption could come at any time. The presence of volcanic ash in Guatemala City contributed to the flooding because it blocked drains and sewers.

The destruction also touched the CEDEPCA family. The building of the Church of God Full Gospel in San Miguel Petapa, where CEDEPCA students Mario and Rosa Bolaños serve as pastors, collapsed under the weight of the volcanic ash. Thankfully, no one was in the building at the time.

The government here was gearing up for an earthquake simulation on June 8. Those resources have been mobilized to meet these concurrent disasters. No need now to simulate an emergency. The Pacific hurricane season started on May 15. The Atlantic season starts on June 1. Though the Pacific season is expected to be mild, forecasters are predicting several strong storms in the Atlantic. Many, many people here are living in vulnerable conditions.

I returned to Quetzaltenango on Thursday afternoon from Guatemala City just as Pacaya started erupting. We spent Friday and Saturday indoors, listening to the radio. Sunday there was even some sun in the afternoon.  There was localized flooding here in Quetzaltenango. Several schools in the city are serving as shelters. Our house is on high ground here in La Esperanza, though we had water coming in under the doors and around the windows. The drains in the patio were overwhelmed at times, so we had a wading pool for a while. We had electricity throughout the storm and the internet was cut only briefly. Supermarkets are running low on foodstuffs, but we hope trucks will be able to start arriving soon.

Thanks to all of you who sent messages and prayers our way during these emergencies. I have been sending regular updates out on Facebook.  I’m fairly new to Facebook and I’m enjoying the easy communication it provides. Please look for me on Facebook if you are on it. Prayers are certainly still needed.

Due to the storm, I won’t be traveling to Guatemala City this week as I usually do. I was also supposed to travel to Poptun in the Peten this weekend, but classes there have been suspended until further notice. The government is still asking people not to travel unless it’s absolutely necessary. Landslides might still continue. Here in Quetzaltenango, we had another three hours of rain yesterday. More rain is predicted in the coming days as the rainy season has now started.

Now for some other news. Our daughter, Tamara, finished her junior year of high school last week. She’ll continue to teach English on Saturdays and there is a possibility she’ll have some hours during the week as well. Her next online college course starts on June 7.

Javier, my husband, continues to work on his licenciatura thesis in political science. The writing seems to be going faster. I’m helping as I can, reading drafts and making suggestions. His greatest frustration is that his university program did not prepare him for the task of writing a thesis.

The big event for me in June will be the United General Council where the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) will join to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The Council is going to be held at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I’ll be part of the language services team, translating and interpreting between English and Spanish. I served at the last two General Councils of WARC. I’m looking forward to being with brothers and sisters from all over the world as they reflect on the meaning of Reformed faith today. I’ll fly to the states on June 13 and return on June 26. I will have my cell phone with me, 502-689-8333.

CEDEPCA profile

It’s fitting that I should be introducing you this month to German Garcia, one of the people who is helping CEDEPCA develop our Ministry in Situations of Crisis program. German began working  as an advisor to the program two days a week at the beginning of March. He is an architect by profession. He also has a master’s degree in disaster response. For nine years he directed World Vision’s emergency response program. German has known Judith, CEDEPCA’s general coordinator, since they were both in the university. German grew up in the Presbyterian Church, though he now attends El Shaddai, a neopentecostal church.  His wife, Silvia Montefur, worked as a receptionist and administrative assistant at CEDEPCA for a while. Now Silvia has her own radio show on an evangelical station.  German and Silvia have three children: Gustavo, 24; Diego, 22; and Ivet, 20.

German has been working on the pilot project for CEDEPCA’s Ministry in Situations of Crisis. In Xolpic, Aguacatan in the department of Huehuetenango, a community severely affected by last year’s drought, CEDEPCA is providing support for 105 families. The folks in Xolpic are Aguacateco Maya and many folks in the community speak only Aguacateco. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is providing the funding. CEDEPCA is also working with CIEDEG, another Guatemalan organization that has more technical expertise in agricultural production. Though provision of basic foodstuffs is part of the program, the principal focus is to provide people with psychological and pastoral support to increase the capacity of the community to respond. Since the beginning of April Eduardo Izaguirre, a Nicaraguan psychologist sent by PDA who is also a pastor, has been living in the community. The people there are grateful that someone has come to share with them. During the third week of May, German was in Xolpic, eight hours away from Guatemala City, to attend a workshop Eduardo led.

The initial funding for the project is for three months. German is currently writing a report that will accompany the request for an additional three months of funding from PDA that will provide support for the community through the next harvest. Many thanks to those of you who support PDA with your gifts.

German asked that you pray for CEDEPCA’s Ministry in Situations of Crisis and funding to strength the program. He hopes that this program might become a model for other organizations, given that the focus is on increasing the capacity of communities rather than turning those in need into objects of charity. He also asks your prayers for him as he works in this program, that God might use him in God’s mission. Another workshop was planned in Xolpic for this week. I have not heard how Xolpic fared in the storm, but I hope there will be news soon. It’s unclear when German might be able to travel to the community again.

Closing words

I’ll close for now. I promise more news about recovery efforts here as information becomes available and CEDEPCA has a chance to discern what we are being called to do. Please keep praying. Notes of encouragement mean a great deal in difficult days.

Blessings,

Karla

Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll
Professor of History, Mission and Religions
Latin American Biblical University, Costa Rica
Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA), Guatemala
Presbyterian Church (USA) Mission Co-worker
www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/kollk.htm

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the New Haven Connecticut Food Bank’s Walk Against Hunger, held on Sunday, May 2nd. Special thanks to our 22 walkers. As of May 9, we have collected $811. In addition, we disbursed in 2010, $860 from our 2009 Thanksgiving Offering. The Connecticut Food Bank is encouraging gardeners to plant an extra row for the hungry. Produce can be donated to the Connecticut Food Bank, 150 Bradley Street, East Haven, CT. See Nancy Rupp for details.