A letter from Katie Griffin in Argentina
June 28, 2013
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well” (Romans 16:1-2).
Dear friends and fellow pilgrims,
Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 16, is a wonderful example of the connective nature of the earliest Christian churches. Paul sends greetings to and from co-laborers in mission who had traveled throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin, from the Italian peninsula through Greece, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Travelers on three continents received each other as guests, simply because they shared a common trust and calling: that of proclaiming God’s great news of salvation, liberation, mercy and justice through Jesus Christ.
Paul, with all confidence, could ask believers in Rome to receive generously a committed worker for the gospel even though they had never met her.
Like Paul’s church in Romans, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a connectional church. Through Presbyterian World Mission each of us connects not only with the local congregation and community, but also with the Body of Christ in foreign lands and among foreign people. As you actively learn about, pray for, and support God’s mission in Argentina through World Mission, YOU ARE CONNECTING! I am so honored and pleased to be able to represent you to the Body of Christ in Argentina! When mission co-workers are in the States on Interpretation Assignment, we are able to bring this connection to life.
Would you consider attending to me as Paul asked the church in Rome to attend to Phoebe?
My first-year class at ISEDET. Guillarmo is sitting in front of the window.
I need to take the first step now to determine where we will live for a yearlong sojourn in the States. I need help from you to make that decision. We plan to return toward the end of 2014, after I finish and defend my doctoral thesis. We could go anywhere. We would like to find a place near an elementary school with a good ESL program. We are also interested in finding a car to borrow or rent for our family’s transportation needs. My husband is also looking for ways in which he could use his skills as a psychologist in a local Hispanic community. We need your love, support, ideas, and tactical help in order to bring you closer to your brothers and sisters in Christ here in Argentina. And we need your prayers so that my family can feel accompanied in their journey to a foreign land in a foreign language. Please send me an e-mail kathleen_m_griffin@yahoo.com.ar if you have suggestions or can help.
I look forward to connecting with each of you, sharing stories about the life and times of evangelical Christians in Argentina with you, and hearing your stories.
Now I would like to tell you the story of Guillermo, a student who shares a similar passion to my own: that of bringing to the pages of church history the stories of Pentecostalism in Argentina.
Guillermo País Costa was 6 years old when his mother began taking him to the Pentecostal Holiness Church. At that time, this particular church was the only evangelical church in his neighborhood, in the far western suburbs of the city of Buenos Aires.
Guillermo was raised in this congregation, which was started in the 1930s. At the age of 28 he currently has the privilege of attending to the founding pastor of the denomination, who is homebound due to an automobile accident he suffered about two and a half years ago. Guillermo is now in his first semester of classes at the Instituto Superior Evangélico de Estudios Teológicos (ISEDET), where I teach church history.
In my first-year class I help students to think about what kinds of questions one can ask about the history of churches, Christians, Christian thought and movements, and what kinds of primary sources are needed to explore these questions. I also teach them the basics of writing a research paper. It just so happens that I am in the process of writing my doctoral thesis on the first Pentecostal group that was started here in Argentina in 1910 while also teaching an advanced-level class on the history of Pentecostalism in Latin America.
While there is almost nothing written about the first 100 years of Pentecostalism in Argentina, Guillermo is nonetheless inspired to write his licentiate thesis on the topic. Even as a first-year student he has already started an oral history project, interviewing the pastor he helps to care for and his adult children. This is the second student I have had, in the 12 years that I have been at ISEDET, who has shown an active and very perceptive interest in studying the history of Pentecostalism. For me it is incredibly satisfactory!
It is rare but very important that a new generation of Pentecostal theologians begin to exercise the gift of teaching in their churches. It is very exciting to be a part of God’s mission in educating an enthusiastic generation of church leaders!
God’s peace be with you,
Katie Griffin
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 36
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