|
Reality, Politics And
Rios Montt
If you've been watching the news you know that
Guatemala is in a state of political unrest with sometimes violent demonstrations
and mob actions perpetrated by both supporters and detractors of presidential
candidate Gen. Efrain Rios Montt.
This would be "So what?' news normally.
Latin America's history is dictatorships and social unrest. But the
General (as he is commonly known) is a member of one of our Verbo churches,
and back in the early 80's when he became president through a coup d'etat
I was one of his pastors.
Since that time he has been tagged in the international
press as a genocide. It's true that during the civil war of the late
'70's and '80's there were atrocities on both sides, with more done
by government forces than by the guerrillas, but I believe during his
time in office Rios tried to curtail the extremists. Eventually, his
generals and their wealthy collaborators forced him out of office because
they didn't like his reform attempts. He later organized a political
party, the FRG, which today controls the presidency, congress, and good
portion of a questionable court system. Unfortunately, the government
has been far less than exemplary and Rios is surrounded by what I can
only term as "quite dubious characters."
The complication is that the international press
loves to demean Christianity and particularly the Verbo church by associating
us with Rios and some alleged government corruption. Since I have almost
no contact with him all I can say - based on the reports of mutual friends
who work with Rios - is that he tries to do an honest job. That said,
I believe many high ranking FRG members are steeped in corruption. I
also believe the General - for political reasons - has tolerated much
political disorder that he should have stood against for the sake of
presenting a strong Christian witness. I also think he has made a lot
of unnecessarily provocative comments that have alien-ated both the
press and many
Guatemalan citizens. I'm fairly certain the
communications media, especially the local press which is basically
a tool of certain very wealthy political/economic interests, distorts
and lies about the news, so it's hard to tell what's true reporting
and what's fabrication.
So that's Guatemalan politics, and that's what's
going to bring Verbo's name into the limelight at least until the November
elections. When you hear something derogatory about Verbo or about Christianity
in this context, or even about Rios, be sure not to assume it's true.
Investigate. And pray for us. Under normal conditions this a poor and
violent country. With the political upheavals, things could get a lot
more unstable.
Finally, please contribute to our financial
support. Help from our Guatemalan churches is seriously compromised
by inflation, so we really depend on your help to maintain our very
vital ministry throughout Latin America.
I assure you that having friends in government
and politics has never favored our budget. In fact, some people have
gotten angry and stopped donating to us because there are/were politicians
in our churches! Please help us with a generous contribution today!
-- James & Lynn
|
All they are saying is,
"Give Verbo Angola a Chance."
OUT OF AFRICA - Sermão
(right) and Madeline have this Bible school site picked out in the suburbs
of Luanda, Angola. All they need is the funding to make Verbo Ministries
function in Africa.
Dear Friends,
Missionary outreaches work in strange ways,
like when I went to Luanda, the capital of Angola last year. The young
African pastor and his wife who met me at the airport who had been trained
by one of the leaders of our Rio de Janeiro congregation. Sermäo
(his name translated to English means "Sermon," which is a
good name for a pastor) and Madalena told me they knew all about Verbo
and were ready to implement the ministry training center we were thinking
of starting.
Of course I told them that we really didn't
know anything about each other, and that they really didn't know about
Verbo's doctrines, practices, projections, etc. They were undismayed.
I also told them I had no money available for African projects. That
didn't bother them either. They took me to the site (in faith) of the
new training center and explained where everything was going to be.
 ODDITIES
DEPT. - While setting up a new church in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala,
we came across this mausoleum in the local cemetery. The British brought
East Indians to Central America as domestic servants over 100 years
ago. Some stayed and their descendents, known as culls (coolies.), still
live in the area, hence the Hindu motifs.
After a week of scouting possibilities I left,
explaining that my visit was of an exploratory nature, and that there
were no commitments. A couple of months after getting back to Guatemala,
they sent me a letter asking when the ministry was going to start…
Just recently, Sermâo sent me the following news, "Verbo
is now planted in Angola. according to your orders. We started six months
ago, but the government just passed a new law prohibiting meetings in
unauthorized buildings. To get our new meeting hall (the place we showed
you for the Bible school) we need you send us all the proper ministry
documentation. It would be a shame to close everything down now.
"So please send us the money to set up
a bank account, buy land, a building, office furniture, and a telephone
line."
If I didn't know better I'd think it was one
of those Nigerian email scams in which the sender tells you that he
wants to deposit two million dollars in your account as a way to safely
transfer money out of his war-torn nation, and that he will divide the
money with you - only first you need to send $20,000 so he can set up
the paperwork for the transfer.
Sermäo and his wife are very sincere, and
like many simple believers, they have complete faith that Americans
have unlimited capital for every kind of spiritual venture, or else
why would they come to Angola in the first place? So here I am with
a hot new Verbo church and Bible School on line in An-gola, site of
one of the world's longest and hopefully over civil wars. Would you
like to put in your $20,000 to get extraordinary eternal returns?
 PREACHER
JAMES - I spoke to a crowd of more than six thousand believers at
an allGuatemala Verbo celebration in the capital a few months ago.
In more mundane activities, Lynn and I continue
overseeing the Verbo Ministries in Guatemala,. Recently I was re-elected
to the International Council, and possibly will continue as the interna-tional
director. Our more specific project at the moment is to work with one
of our churches in Guatemala City that needs to revamp its pastoral
care. I'll be working with the five elders first, training them to provide
pastoral care to one another. Though it seems a contradiction, pastors
are noto-rious for not being pastored. Once the team is taking care
of itself in about six months, we'll extend a network of care through
them to the home church leaders and the members.
 BOOKMAKER
- Lynn teaches the older girls at the Case Bernabe orphanage just outside
of Guatemala City how to dye and fold paper and make personal-ized books,
a handicraft that is turning into a source of pocket money and pride
for these young ladies. Lynn also helps them design invitations, tags
and other paper goods during her weekly classes.
Central American Christians take a lot of their
cues from the United States, so the current fad is apostolic networks
and the operation of the fivefold giftings. Since Lynn and I come from
a ministry (Gospel Outreach) that pio-neered the restoration of those
concepts starting almost 30 years ago, we've seen (OK, even participated
in) all sorts of odd doctrines and practices involv-ing apostles, prophets,
etc.
Without negating the need and power of all these
gifts, the fact is on a day to day basis, the men that make the difference
are well-rounded pastors who are there discipling, teaching, car-ing
and guiding the congregations. All the other gifts can be ministered
on a visit basis (except the apostolic when starting a church), but
the pastors have to be there all the time. So that's why I'm taking
more time than ever to help ministers develop their pastoral skills.
Our hope is that at the core of every Verbo church will be a team of
elder/pastor/teachers with a heart to serve.
|
Summer 2003