A letter from Ellen Dozier in Guatemala
February 4, 2009
Friends,
My life since March last year when I returned to the States, has been full of new beginnings—leaving Guatemala after living there 12 years; trying to find a “place to be” in another world; retiring the first of June after some 46 years of working for the Presbyterian Church, and beginning a new job, as a volunteer. I am now serving as missionary in residence with the Mission Connections office of World Mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This means that I am part of a team planning the World Mission Challenge event for the fall of 2009, when PC(USA) brings some 40 mission workers from around the world to itinerate in about 140 Presbyteries; they will share stories of how God is at work in and through their lives and those of their global partners. I have moved to Louisville and am now living in the Furlough Home on the campus of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. New beginnings are times of excitement and anticipation, but as I am learning, they are also times of uncertainty tinged with a bit of anxiety.
There is one new beginning that I am very excited to share with you. Amanda Craft has been invited by the Sinódica (Presbyterian Women in Guatemala) to accompany them and has been appointed by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be the facilitator for women’s work with the sinódica of the IENPG. Amanda and her husband, Omar, a native of Guatemala, will move there at the end of January. Omar is already in Guatemala, looking for housing and a job.
I first knew Amanda in 1999-2000 when she served as a Young Adult Volunteer in Guatemala. Just out of college at the time, I was impressed by Amanda’s maturity, her faith, the quiet but sure way she related to the Guatemalans. For the past seven years Amanda has been the associate for education and advocacy with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, working with young adults interested in peacemaking issues and environmental concerns as they relate to violence and / or peace.
Now I believe that God has invited Amanda back to Guatemala, in the same way that I was invited to be a part of the incredible work that God and the Guatemalan women are doing. Amanda will be a part of a team working with Presbyterian Women as there are now five Guatemalan women who are serving as “obreras fraternales” (national workers). Flor de Maria Alvarez, Silvia Orellana, Patrocinia Cholom, Petrona Tiul, and Marina Monterroso are working in five regions of the country to accompany the women in their ministry and to offer workshops such as Bible studies and other themes. Here’s a note that Flor de Maria Alvarez wrote:
Greetings my sisters in Christ. I have just returned from Selva, an isolated community that you have to walk about 40 minutes to get to since there is no road, crossing over a swinging bridge high above the river, then climbing up and through a very steep tunnel. You have to ride about 30 minutes in the back of a pick-up truck to begin the walk, but the women who made the trip from the Presbyterial of Suchitepequez were going to celebrate Christmas with this community and were happily singing as they traveled. Each woman brought something for the fiesta, crayons and pencils to give to children beginning school in January, simple clothing they had made, tostados (fried tortillas topped with a kind of chicken salad), cake, candies. We played games, sang, prayed with the boys and girls, and of course acted out the story of the birth of Jesus. It was a very joyous time with children, youth and adults from this community.
It is so exciting for me that the women have taken this bold step of assuming more responsibility for their ministry. Amanda will be a part of this team, offering workshops, helping with leadership development, enabling the women to relate to and work with Presbyterian Women in other countries.
This is surely a new beginning for Amanda and Omar and as is true with all new beginnings, there will be times of excitement, anticipation, joy, and also times of uncertainty and the loss of leaving behind friends and family, the known and familiar. It is also a new beginning for the Sinodica as they reach out to more women and assume additional responsibility as leaders.
My hope and prayer is that you will support Amanda and your Guatemalan sisters as they begin this new phase of their ministry—with your prayers, concern, and financial contributions. I know it would mean so much to Amanda to receive a note from you as she prepares for this new ministry. Write her at Amanda Craft.
Ellen H. Dozier
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 204
