A letter from César Carhuachín in Colombia
Late FAll 2013
Greetings from Barranquilla City, Atlantic Department, Colombia,
I want to begin this letter by giving thanks to God for God´s mission in Colombia and your involvement in that mission. Particularly, for the ministry of our church partner the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, which is sharing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Children leading the Worship Service at Seventh Presbyterian Church (Oct. 27th), Barranquilla. Photo from Gina Zabala.
This church is worshiping God in several creative ways. For example, on Sunday, October 27th I was preaching about “The Women and the Bible and Society” at “Comunidad El Camino” Presbyterian Church while at the other side of the city, a group of children was leading the worship service at “Seventh Presbyterian Church.” This church is serving the poor and several displaced communities around the country, which are victims of the structural violence. This church, through our Ecumenical partner, the Colombian Reformed University, is providing an accredited theological formation to many inquirers, candidates and pastors in the Christian ministry. The group of students comes from several denominations such as Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Pentecostal. I praise God for this ministry and for the opportunity of collaborating with them.
The Colombian Reformed University has an Annual Reformed Lectures series in October. In this year it was from 21st to 25th. We had several lectures such as 1) “The Context of the Reformation” by the Rev. Gloria Ulloa and the Prof. Martin David;
2) “The Bible and Theological Principles of the Reformation” by the Rev. Jairo Barriga; 3) “The Church and Socio-Political Identity of the Reformation” by the Revs. Adriano Portillo and Milciades Pua; and, 4) “Contributions of the Reformation to the Bible Interpretation and Theology” by Rev. César Carhuachín.
The Rev. Gloria Ulloa presenting her lecture about "The Context of the Reformation" at the Reformed Lectures (Oct. 21st).
This event was of tremendous impact to the students, particularly to those of other denominations. I heard some of them saying, “I never heard about the Reformation” and others said, “This is a new perspective to understand the faith and this is good! One student wrote on Facebook “These conferences are very good… this new information is helping me out to build a new understanding, a new knowledge” (Sosa Mendoza Jr). Now, the students have to work on a paper about some issues presented in order to receive some credits. Please pray for these students! They need our prayers! At some point in the not so distant future, they will be ministering in some congregations!
As I mentioned before, I preached at “Comunidad El Camino” Presbyterian Church on October 27th. I talked about “The Women in the Bible and the Society.” It was a very well received. After the sermon, we had a time of ten minutes for questions and answers. The congregation affirmed the right of the women to the pastoral ministry and society, but they had some questions regarding the role of the women in the family. In Latin America, the role of the women is changing in some churches and denominations, in the political area and in the business world. But women’s role and functions in the family are not changing at the same time. Most of women in Latin America don´t have too many opportunities to attend the college for higher education, basically because they are taking care of their families at home while their husbands are working.
The Revs. Milton Mejía and Diego Higuita (right and left) at the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (Oct. 29th, Busan, Korea). Photo from Milton Mejía
I want to request your prayers for two commitments I have, one for November 16th and other for December 1st. On November 16th I will be leading a seminar on Baptism in the Reformed Tradition at the Leadership Certificate Program, provided by a partnership between The Presbytery of the Coast and the Colombian Reformed University. And on December 1st I will be leading “A Study about Mission from the PC(USA) Perspective” for a group of leaders from The Presbytery of the Coast and The Presbytery of Tres Ríos (Texas). The Rev. Adelaida Jimenez will be leading a similar study from the Colombian Presbyterian Church Perspective. The Presbytery of Tres Ríos has a partnership with The Presbytery of the Coast of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia.
Also, I request your prayers for two colleagues and friends, the Revs. Diego Higuita and Milton Mejía, who are attending to the World Council of Churches, 10th General Assembly in Busan, South Korea (Oct. 30th-Nov.08th), “God of Life, Lead Us to Justice and Peace”. Both of them are Presbyterian ministers, professors at the Reformed University and national ecumenical leaders… and new friends of mine.
Sports are a part of the life and a part of the Reformed University also. Right now there is a soccer internal tournament, and I am part of the soccer team of the Theology Program. We are doing well and hopefully will playing the final game. I am not asking your prayers for this… but just sharing with you about something I love and which part of the school.
I post weekly news about the mission work in Colombia on my Facebook page Cesar Carhuachín in Colombia. Like it if you want them. If you want to write me a note or contact me, please use my email cesar.carhuachin@pcusa.org.
Thanks again for supporting God´s mission in Colombia with your prayers and financial contributions. You are making a difference and showing us that we are not alone in our mission field. If you are not a part of this mission work yet, I invite you to consider it. You can pray for us, send correspondence and support us financially. Please, check my page at the World Mission for information about it www.pcusa.org/cesar-carhuachin.
Grace and peace,
César Carhuachín
2013 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, Colombia, p. 30
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