A letter from Dennis Smith in the U.S., on Interpretation Assignment from Argentina (Regional liaison for Brazil and Southern Cone)
October 2014 - The Meaning of Citizenship
Dear friends:
A meditation on citizenship
One of our goals for this time in the U.S. is for Maribel to be naturalized as a U.S. citizen. I confess to a certain ambiguity about citizenship—not ambivalence, but ambiguity. I’ve lived most of my life in Latin America. While I’m honored to be a U.S. citizen, regularly exercise my right to vote, and do my best to contribute to the common good, I’m also very aware of competing loyalties. I’m aware that after so many decades living in Latin America I’ve ceased to fully “belong” in the U.S., but also realize that I’ll never fully “belong” in Latin America.
Living betwixt and between is an essential component of mission co-worker identity.
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Dennis and Maribel Smith
I remember well when our youngest son, now in university in Argentina, was part of the Guatemalan national speed skating team. When in high school, he was Central American regional champion for two years running. When he would receive a gold medal at an international competition, his teammates would proudly drape him in the Guatemalan flag. He is, of course, both a Guatemalan and a U.S. citizen. Proud tears would flow from my eyes when they played the Guatemalan national anthem.
Guatemalan political events have also been markers in our lives. As a family we joined tens of thousands of people in Guatemala City’s central plaza when the Peace Accords were signed in December 1996 ending 36 years of civil war. We remember the ceremony at Kaminal Juyú, a Mayan sacred site near our home in Guatemala City, when Nobel Peace Prize–winner Rigoberta Menchú returned home from exile.
Such events in no way diminish the joy and responsibility I feel as a U.S. citizen, but they do make life a bit more complicated!
As Presbyterian mission workers we’ve collected quite the assortment of residency documents. I’m a permanent resident of Guatemala, as is Maribel of the U.S. After years of paperwork, we both are now permanent residents of Argentina. But citizenship is a far more serious commitment.
One question we had as we began this process was whether Maribel would be required to renounce her Guatemalan citizenship if she became a U.S. citizen. This she was not prepared to do. Fortunately, dual citizenship with Guatemala is an option. Another question was whether bearing a U.S. passport would give her a privileged status in Latin America that would make her uncomfortable. But being married to a “gringo,” she has decided, combined with decades of work as a PC(USA) mission worker, helped her come to terms with that discomfort some time ago.
Our time in Latin America has taught us that we all have multiple identities. Family, ethnicity, work, faith community, neighborhood, even one’s regional accent and favorite sports team add strands to the complex web of who we are. Citizenship is also part of that mix.
Visiting U.S. church groups are often surprised to find that Southern Cone church members are just as likely to have family in Europe as in the U.S. In some congregations, with histories dating back to the mid-19th century, older folks still speak Dutch or German, French or Italian. The same was true of many U.S. churches and families in the early 1900s. (Think of Garrison Keillor’s tales from Lake Wobegon!) Not surprisingly, many of these same church members maintain dual nationalities.
The apostle Paul understood how to make judicious use of his Roman citizenship, both in defense of his own rights and to promote the well-being of the early Christian community. Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith,”insisted that while commitments to nation and to religious tradition are important, our final citizenship is made complete in realms yet unfulfilled, and that the greatest commandment is:
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Matthew 22:36-40
Voices from the Border and Beyond: A travel/study seminar
Presbyterian World Mission, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and the Office of Public Witness of the PC(USA) are offering a travel/study seminar focused on understanding why Central Americans—especially children—flee north. From Jan 23 to Feb 1, 2015, participants will begin by experiencing the U.S.-Mexico border with Presbyterian Border Region Outreach (PBRO) and continue by sharing with ecumenical partners in Guatemala and El Salvador. The deadline for applying is November 1, 2014. For more information, and for a link to the application form, go to: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/world-mission/voices-border/
Settling in at the Furlough Home
This last week we moved into a small apartment building on the grounds of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary known as the Furlough Home. This wonderful facility provides fully furnished, comfortable housing for PC(USA) mission workers who find themselves in the U.S. The Seminary grounds are spacious and surrounded by woods; deer are a frequent sight.
In between my duties as interim Area Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, I was able to give a guest lecture in a class on missiology at the Seminary and Maribel is helping some students learn survival Spanish in preparation for their January term at the Presbyterian Seminary in Matanzas, Cuba.
The Presbyterian national offices are about 45 minutes away on the bus or 15 minutes by car, so the location is great. Our heartfelt thanks to the Presbyterians here in Louisville who provide such amazing hospitality!
We’re still not sure how long our stay will be. Please join us in prayer that Maribel’s naturalization process will be expeditious.
As we mentioned in the last letter, we’d love to visit you and thank you personally for your support for our ministry. Your prayers and financial support make it possible for us to be part of God’s mission. While we’re at it, we’d love to talk with you about organizing a mission trip to our region so that you can see, feel and taste for yourself how God is working in these lovely lands. If you are not currently supporting any Presbyterian mission workers, why not consider joining our support network?
We still have dates available to visit your church in February or March 2015. To talk about a visit, drop me a line at dennis.smith@pcusa.org or give me a call at 1-541-380-1042.
Under the Mercy,
Dennis
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 35
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