Holidays in a foreign land

Greetings blog readers, this is Pastor Justin signing back in for my quarterly blog. Yes, you´re right, I used to blog monthly, but before that weekly and before that almost daily. Well what happened was life, work, ministry, mission, teaching, writing 3 books and translating another...can you tell that doesn´t leave much time for blogging now.

At any rate, Happy Advent!  Yes, we are midst of the Advent season, which has its flavors of waiting, anticipation, hoping, joy, faith, peace, love, unexpectedness...of the coming of our Lord. And soon, yes, Jesus the Savior of the world will come into our existence once again, to fill our world and faith with light and life. Great things are happening and we hear God´s advice to: "wake up! get ready! expect the unexpected!" (Mark 13:37)

And as we move through this unexpecting liturgical season, I wonder if Joseph had expected the unexpected when he received news that the Roman Emperor wanted to have a count of the whole world... I wonder if Joseph had expected that he might have to leave town with his pregnant fiancée and walk for 4 days in order to cover the 80 mile distance between Nazareth and Bethlehem... I wonder if Joseph had expected that he´d be celebrating the birth of his son, who just so happened to be God, in a foreign land, rejected, marginalized, unwelcomed, alone... I wonder if being in such a different place without his family or support structure at such an important time in his life influenced how he experienced everything...

This year we have unexpectedly decided to stay in Bolivia for Christmas and New Years, something that we haven´t done yet since we moved here in 2009. Most of our friends here keep asking if we´re staying or traveling. When we say we´re staying, they´re excited because they know they´ll get to share their customs and traditions with us. But what they don´t ask is about how we will feel staying here, away from our families back home. While yes, we are looking forward to experiencing Christmas in Bolivia, we also have a longing deep within to be with our families at this special time of the year.

As we´ve come to find out, it´s difficult to "get in the holiday spirit" when we´re here; no matter if it´s Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. Partly it could be that we´re in spring and will soon be entering summer/rainy season, partly it could be that there´s no Christmas music on the radio, partly it could be that we´re far from family. All these things and many more make the season feel seasonally.  Some holidays just feel like they lack the spark of excitement, the newness of things, the warmth of tradition. And yes, as my family knows, tradition doesn´t necessarily mean "sameness" it means love and telling stories and being together (no matter when it happens to come around in the year).

But despite the difficulty in gaining that holiday skip this year, we are blessed, we have God with us (Immanuel) and we anxiously await the birth of Christ in our hearts and in our midst to bring good news and salvation to the world. As we say in Bolivia, "waiting costs", but the rewards are rich! Thanks be to God, Happy Advent and Merry Christmas to you all!

We are all co-learners!

Good Tuesday afternoon! I just arrived here at the seminary where we teach, el Instituto Superior Ecuménico Andino de Teología - ISEAT, is its name. Being Lutheran professors here is part of our call to work with and serve the Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church. As I may have mentioned before, we started teaching here in January of 2010 and have plans to continue here as long as we´re serving in Bolivia.

One of the neat things about being able to teach, having just come out of seminary (LSTC) in 2009, is that I still remember what it was like to be a seminary student. The majority of my students are around my age 18-45 and come from a variety of faith traditions and churches. About half are Roman Catholic and the other half are a blend of Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Evangelicals, etc.) Most of them are second career and are taking classes at ISEAT at night during the week. This often mean that they arrive to my class tired, hungry, thirsty and not in the mood to hear an hour and a half long lecture.

The first class I taught here in 2010 was Church History 1: from the founding of the Christian Church to the dawn of the Reformation. Yes, that meant that I had to cover 15 centuries in 12 weeks...if you think it is impossible, it´s not, just hurried. I first taught as I had been taught, which seems only natural. I lectured and they listened...for that was the way I had learned. However, I quickly realized that when students are bored out of their mind, they are less apt to learn... go figure. Also they didn´t read the assigned readings nor turn in homeworks, papers, essays and what they did turn in was often plagiarized. So I asked them what was going on. They told me I was giving entirely too much work for them to realistically do in their free time. Ah, I remembered uttering those words to my friends in seminary...why was it that each semester we started classes we were already 300 pages behind in our readings?

Luckily, I had a live-in professor in Bolivia who taught me to navigate the new, uncharted waters of methodologies and pedagogy. Now remember that I am a trained biochemist and pastor...not necessarily a teacher or seminary professor. So I had a thing or two to learn and thanks be to God, Kari taught me everything I know as a teacher-professor. She taught me about effective lesson plans that should guide the lesson, not make it rigid and inflexible. She taught me about objectives and how to create assessments to make sure I had reached my teaching goals. She taught me how to have fun with my students and be dynamic and spontaneous.

Now being in my second year as a seminary professor, every class I teach is half dynamic which means I have created and incorporated activities (most with movement) that make the subject matter apply to the daily lives and situations of my students in their real contexts. This may seem impossible, but it makes learning more fun...go figure. So now, my seminary professor colleagues here are asking about mine and Kari´s teaching methodologies because they have heard from our students that they´re staying awake in our classes and having fun while learning. Some dynamics I use in teaching Church History, New Testament, Worship and Liturgy and Greek 1 are: thematic games, small group work, large group work, presentations, plays-skits, art projects, personal investigations, DVDs, YouTube videos, races, candy, etc. Also, their exams, tests and quizzes always have a part that asks them to apply a specific theme to their daily context or rather relate to said theme from their context. This is how I wish I had experienced theological education in seminary. I know that my experiences teaching here in Bolivia are helping to shape and form the professor I one day hope to be.

This quarter I´m teaching Worship and Liturgy and Greek 1. Two completely different subjects that, in my opinion, are very practical subjects. For me, this means that everything we learn, discuss, watch must have some real life connector that makes it applicable. And I have stuck with this teaching methodology and/or philosophy because my students have responded positively to me as their professor on the end of quarter evaluations. As I continue teaching and experimenting with adult-learning in higher theological education, I have plans to incorporate even more popular education and dialogue education models than I have been using thus far. As I believe and tell my students, "In this class we are all co-learners, the only difference is that we´re learning different things from one another."

So my questions for you blog readers are: how do you teach someone else something? do you think we learn things for the purpose of teaching/training someone else? do you think learning should be free for everyone? if you teach, how have you changed your teaching methods over the years? how have you learned to incorporate the students´ voice more in the learning event? Thanks be to God for learning and teaching!

Home Assignment busy-ness

Greetings All! This is Pastor Justin signing into his long-lost blog to let you know of latest updates...WE ARE ON HOME ASSIGNMENT!!! Woohoo! This means that we are traveling around the US, preaching and presenting in ELCA Congregations about our missions and ministries in Bolivia. I am realizing now that perhaps I could have posted our travel schedule sooner, but better late than never.

June:
2-4: NC Synod Assembly, Hickory NC
5: Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Raleigh NC
12: Advent Lutheran Church, York PA
19: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Hickory NC
25: Messiah Lutheran Church, Salisbury NC

July:
3: Christ Lutheran Church, Libby MT
7: MT Synod gathering, Great Falls MT 
10: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Billings MT
17: United Lutheran Church, Grand Forks ND
24: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Chicago IL
31: Philadelphia Lutheran Church, Dallas NC & Resurrection Lutheran Church, Kings Mtn. NC

August:
VACATION!!!

Also, something you might be interested in knowing is that  since I am not blogging as much due to being on the road, Kari is keeping a smaller blog running on her website: http://karieller.weebly.com.
Please check it out for photos of where we´ve been and you´re ELCA sisters and brothers in other parts of the US.

Take care and many blessings from our busy summer road trips!
+Justin

what´s new pastorcat...oh oh oh oh...

Good Wednesday morning! A month has almost passed since my previous post, however life is así. The new administration of the IELB has been settling into their new roles and getting to know each other better. The nice thing is that there seems to be a willing spirit of teamwork. We were blessed to have the opportunity to sit down with the new Pastor-Presidente to hear his vision of the new administration for the new four years and how our accompanying role with the IELB may look. We left the meeting feel a fresh sense of understanding and that there is much to be done on the horizon. Really, as we are coming to find out, not much in the area of projects will be done during 2011, but will be time to prepare and plan for new implementations for 2012. This works well, I think especially because we won´t be here for two and a half months due to being on Home Assignment for the ELCA during the summer months.

We are also currently in the process of winding up our trimester at the seminary (ISEAT-www.iseatbolivia.org). Final exams are tomorrow for mine and Kari´s students. We have been blessed with good groups of students this first trimester and I have already heard that I will be teaching Worship and Liturgy again in the fall trimester along with a "tutoría" of biblical Greek! We shall see how that plays out...

So now we are awaiting the arrival of our boss in a couple of weeks, finishing project proposals, books and tying up any loose ends before heading out. This month of transitions after the IELB national assembly has been a time of deepening discernment, vision casting for the future and exploration of new areas of growth for the national Bolivian Lutheran church. We are filled again with hope and trust that this church remains in God´s merciful and grace-filled hands. Thanks be to God!

Asamblea General de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana Boliviana (IELB)

Good Monday morning! Today we are resting after an eventful weekend at the IELB national assembly and hosting international friends and guests. We congratulate newly elected Pastor-Presidente Emilio Aslla Flores and the new Executive Council (consejo directivo). At the assembly we presented (photo above) on what we had done with the church in our two years here from 2009-2011. At the end of our presentation, we received affirmation by the assembly.  (below: Pastor Marianne Wagner greeting the Pastor-Presidente Emilio Aslla and Exec. Council)

The assembly was in Choquinayra, a small town outside of Viacha about an hour and a half outside of La Paz. It was Thursday, Friday and Saturday filled with inaugurations, presentations, voting, eating, sleeping, installations and a fair amount of discord. But overall, the Holy Spirit was present and change happened...now we are in a new era and we trust that God will guide us all.

We had several international guests with us: The Rev. Dr. Patricia Cuyatti from the Lutheran World Federation (photo above), The Rev. Marianne Wagner from the Lutheran Church of Palatinate in Germany and the Gustav-Adolf-Werk, the Rev. Maija Kuoppala from the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission and Mr. David Wunsch from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. David and Maija were election observers/counters for the assembly voting (photo below).

The assembly´s voices were heard and the new administration and executive council consist of representatives from each of the 10 districts of the IELB and the Eastern Missions (Cobija, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz). There is more representation of the diverse districts and languages, but we lack an equality of gender with the absence of women in higher church positions. With everything new, we continue to pray that this church will be faithful to their calling as pastors and leaders to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and lift up this church, making it more solid and sustainable. Thanks be to God!

don´t throw scripture at me!

Good Monday morning! Today is indeed a new day, with bright sun shining and horns honking...the greetings of a new day in La Paz. This morning in my scripture reading, it has me walking through Luke again and I just read about the devil´s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness for the forty days after his baptism. What is interesting is that the devil quotes scripture to Jesus and Jesus refutes his temptations.

To be quite honest, I am usually not so calm as Jesus to say, "It is written, ´One does not live by bread alone.´" While yes, it is the more Christian response, my usual sharp tongue lashes out, "Do not throw scripture at me, because we all know the devil can do it too!" I know, it´s not necessarily a helpful response, but it often makes me feel better. Ok...so truth be told...that is what I always think I´d like to say to a scripture quoting tempter, but really, if you know me...I wouldn´t say it (yet).

So what does it mean to meet someone who quotes scripture like the back of their hand? How are we to react to those who use the literal meanings to hurt, even damn, others? What should our response be to the inflated bible thumping ego, knowing that just because he or she has memorized selected "sting" texts does not mean she or he has grasped the grace and freedom of the Word of God?

Interestingly, in Luke 4:13 it says, "When the devil had finished every test, he departed from [Jesus] until an opportune time". I hadn´t really thought of that before or really every paid attention to the more "opportune time", but it leaves us with the notion that the tempter isn´t completely gone. And really neither is the temptation to lash out at people who try to shove scripture on other people (further alienating seekers, questioners and faithful believers!)

So when the temptation passes, be prepared for the next opportune time for the tempter or temptation to return...perhaps inviting us to spit fiery words, spew harshly barbed phrases or forget how Christian love and peace can overcome temptation of hate and division. See how it goes for you today...when you are tempted to say something you wish you wouldn´t or hadn´t. Remember Jesus and despite his deep hunger and possible delusional state, responded calmly, assuredly and full of faith.

unfaithful blogger

Good Sunday evening! Today has been a rather restful day (so far). We went to church this morning, came home to make lunch, then started in on a mountain of work that has been awaiting us! In the past several weeks, we have been up to our eyes in work, which is not typical of our missionary lifestyle. Before we got back, it was more relaxed and there would be days of busyness and days of restfulness. Lately our schedule has been FULL of busyness. Many of the things I had wanted to do during Lent have not been faithfully maintained, despite the good intentions behind them. At any rate, Lent is a time to remember our human-ness, our inadequacies and vulnerabilities, our need of God to make us righteousness. While I have not done some things, I have done others...like for example, we started intensive Aymara language classes. Two hours a day for five days a week for three weeks! Yes, intense might be an understatement, but needless to say we have learned A LOT!

"Nayax sutijax Pastor Justinuwa. Mä utanimp mä k´añaskunimpitwa. Warmijan sutipax Kariwa. Nayan ñik´utajax p´aq´uwa. Pastor luteranax nayatwa."

Also we have been preparing for the National Assembly of the Bolivian Lutheran Church to be held at the beginning (7, 8, and 9th) of April near La Paz. At this assembly that takes place every four years, the entire church administration is up for election. With that said, come April 10th, there may be an entirely new group of people in the central office of the IELB. Our journey with Jesus to the cross this year includes our unsteady journey to this assembly. Any time there is the potential for change there is the potential for conflict. The church really is no different. In our case here with the IELB, the whole world is awaiting the results of this assembly. We have been asked to be a "spiritual presence" at the assembly: facilitating dynamics, leading songs and managing the prayerful spirit amidst all the reports, presentations and possible unrest. Speaking of, we have prepared a report as well of all that we have done during our two years with the IELB. However, our report is 24 pages long and is full of photos...which is a good thing (because we can prove we did what we say we did).

So with all this work and running here and there, I have failed you, the people who might still be reading this blog. I am an unfaithful blogger. And I can´t promise you things will change anytime soon (at least not before the assembly). So in this season of pilgrimages and repentance, self-reflection and meditation please forgive me for not blogging more frequently. Everything now with the future of our ministry and mission with the IELB, rests in God´s hands. And so, we continue to pray. Please pray for and with us.