A letter from Elisabeth Cook serving in Costa Rica
november 2014 - movements of transformation
Dear Friends:
As graduates of UBL, unlike others who have continued their studies in the United States or Europe, David and Karoline had a dream for continued postgraduate study that led them to an uncommon place: not the First World, but to another part of the “Two-Thirds World.” They dared to move out into the unknown, eager to learn about contextual biblical studies and gender issues from the context of South Africa, a region that still reels under the consequences of apartheid. In this uncommon place they have been a testimony to what God is doing in Latin America and to the academic preparation they received with the PC(USA) partner institution, the Latin American Biblical University in Costa Rica, where I serve.
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David and Karoline in Costa Rica for the Christmas Break
David and Karoline are in Costa Rica for Christmas break and David has been sharing his research with one of our advanced classes at UBL. The students have been fascinated as they explore the implications of Joseph’s food distribution policy during the famine in Egypt as narrated in the book of Genesis. As David explains in his thesis, this program that provided food also became an opportunity for divesting the people of Egypt of their land and cattle. From the perspective of past and present colonization in Latin America and South Africa, this text speaks to David, who analyzes the ambiguities so often involved in the way in which we seek to solve the problems of poverty and hunger in the world. Emergency response is indispensable, but it is just as important to attend prophetically to the root issues that lead to poverty, hunger and marginalization.
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Birthday tortillas
Speaking of food … one of my favorite things to eat as a treat here in Costa Rica are cheese tortillas. And to my surprise, and delight, my dear friends who organized birthday celebrations for me this year did so with cheese tortillas rather than cake!! One of these friends sent me pictures of a woman making my birthday tortillas in the market in Heredia, a city close to San José, where I live. This simple food, with or without cheese, is a staple of the Central American diet. Corn, together with red or black beans, provides much of the protein the poor have to survive on in many parts of these countries. And making tortillas is no easy task. Traditionally women take their corn to be ground and mixed with lime. They then make this into a dough that is ready to be patted into tortillas. In Costa Rica today, however, machines make tortillas much faster than people, although the taste and texture leave much to be desired. The uncommon gift of a handmade cheese tortilla brought to me by dear friends made my birthday a special celebration. Not because they are costly, but because there is nothing like the real thing and the real thing is not easily found today.
When I think of David’s study of the biblical Joseph and his food distribution policy, a policy that did indeed feed the people of Egypt, I think of tortillas today. Yes, they are made faster, cheaper, and more available by machines, but the business of food distribution has taken over the productive capacity of many women who used to earn a living with corn, a comal (large griddle), and their own bare hands. It seems we live in a world in which it is increasingly difficult to know what is good, what God requires of us. Fortunately, God’s Word provides an answer in the book of Micah (6.8): “to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.” The first two phrases refer to our relationship with others. Justice for those who are needy and suffer from injustice, accompanied by steadfast love for each other. All this is founded on a spirit of humility and the recognition of our place before God.
As David LaMotte reminded us at our Latin American Mission Gathering this Fall, it is easy to love the “hero narrative,” the story of a solitary daring hero who changes things for the better. But real lasting transformation stems not from heroes but from movements. And we may never know the names of the many who play key roles in these movements, but it is their daily work that makes the difference: the women who make tortillas, the Egyptian mothers who found ways to feed their children with the rations given to them, the Egyptian families who had to find ways to survive without their land and crops, the teachers who go to class every day wondering if anyone is listening, the unnamed thousands who struggle every day for justice and love to take the place of the law of might and power.
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David, standing, with students from Chile, Haiti, Germany, Honduras and Peru
I look back on this year as a mission co-worker participating in the ministry of the Latin American Biblical University in Costa Rica, as it offers theological and biblical education for students throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region. I reflect on ways in which I have been blessed to be a part—even a small part—of movements that lead to life, change and transformation. I review in my mind and heart the almost 150 students who participated in our university programs this year and pray that as their lives have been touched and their minds and hearts transformed, so will they inspire others to participate in movements of transformation that live out the love and justice of God in unexpected and unloved spaces and places.
Evangelism, one of the priorities of the mission of our church, calls us to share the good news of Jesus Christ. And Jesus was not a hero, but a movement builder. His evangelistic ministry, as told to us in the Gospels, was one of good news to the poor, the prisoners, women, and others rejected by the society of his time. He urged his disciples to go beyond the borders of what they felt to be comfortable, to share the gospel in uncommon places. These students of Jesus who learned from his words and deeds continued the movement. And so it continues today throughout the global movement of God’s people, our church, and our global partners.
David and Karoline return to South Africa in February to continue studies, a Ph.D. in Contextual Biblical Studies for David, a Master’s in Gender and Theology for Karoline. They are anxious to be better prepared to be builders of movements that bring together the lives and struggles of South Africans and Latin Americans, movements that make known in word and deed the Good News of Jesus for all. You will be traveling with them to South Africa. As students of the UBL, a PC(USA) partner institution, they are the fruit of your prayers and your giving. Pray for them, and for the many UBL graduates who are continuing studies and above all continuing in the ministry of evangelism, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Thank you for your continued prayers for my work and the work of all PC(USA) mission co-workers. I will be in the United States for my Interpretation Assignment in the Fall of 2015. Please let me know if you would like me to visit with you and share what God is doing through you and our church in this region. Your giving makes my presence here possible. Thank you for including PC(USA) mission workers in your Directed Mission Support. Consider engaging with me and the ministry I am involved in at UBL
May we together, in this Christmas season, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly before the God who calls us to ministry and mission wherever we are.
Peace,
Elisabeth
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 47
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 66, 67
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