A letter from Sarah Henken serving as Regional Liaison for the Andean Region, based in Bolivia
november 2014 - seeing anew
When I first heard of the Pan-American Highway, I imagined something like the broad, smooth freeways we have at home in California. Now that I’ve seen certain South American sections of the Highway, I know that this is true at points, but there are also much humbler stretches, and one place where it is a gravel road that simply dead-ends in the swampland of the Darien Gap, just south of the Panama-Colombia border. I was there in September with a group of eager, committed, gifted 20-somethings who had just arrived to begin their year of service as Young Adult Volunteers (or YAVs) in the program’s brand-new Colombia site—which I am now coordinating in addition to my ongoing role as regional liaison.
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YAVs Brittany and Sam open their coconuts—an entertaining sight for those more familiar with the procedure
One day during YAV orientation in the remote Urabá Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia (or IPC in its Spanish initials), we turned off of that gravel road to reach the small rural hamlet of Blanquicet, where members of the local Presbyterian church were waiting to greet us. We shared lunch and conversation and got a tour of the community. One house gave us a treat—the YAVs enjoyed their first experience drinking water out of coconuts fresh from the tree.
We also got a peek at the area where a group of women have set up a small bakery to raise funds. From the samples we tasted, they seem to have a great product! That income-generating enterprise is one among many at local Urabá churches that YAV Sam Susanin is helping to support as a volunteer. Sam majored in business, so he has been asked to offer some basic bookkeeping classes in addition to getting his hands dirty alongside local Presbyterians planting seedlings in the countryside and kneading dough in the bakery.
The IPC takes its theme from Jesus’ own description of his call:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to preach good news to the poor,
to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to liberate the oppressed,
and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Luke 4:18-19
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Bakery products in Blanquicet are sold to make money for the local church
As followers of Christ, we strive to live into that same great purpose, working in God’s mission to share good news of healing and liberation, proclaiming the way God desires us to live. But today I stop and remember that I, simultaneously, need to hear that good news and receive the ministry Christ offers. I find myself wondering, in what ways am I blind?
Now that I have lived in Colombia for a full year, many things have become routine. I can be blinded by many things: by routine, by my own struggles and worries, by my prejudice and limited perspective. Today I pray that God will give me new sight to see the ways that I am called to invest myself in Spirit-led mission service.
Having the YAVs here has opened my eyes anew to life and ministry in Colombia. They bring new insights to my now-familiar environment, and they ask the deep, fundamental questions: Is my being here a benefit to others, or just to me? What do I have to offer? What does a life of mission look like? I trust God will help us all live into the answers day by day.
Look! I’m doing a new thing;
now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it?
Isaiah 43:19
A couple of weeks later, with the YAVs safely dispersed to the communities where they are serving, I was back in Urabá. “I’ll be leaving before dawn,” Diego announced to his Reformed University students as the theology class ended Friday night. “But you’ll be in good hands for tomorrow’s intensive with Rev. Sarah.” Gulp.
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A blurry photo of happy faces, Sarah after class with theology students in Urabá
I have never felt called to be a professor, but I accepted the challenge when I was asked to give a guest lecture on feminist theology and the Reformed tradition for Urabá’s distance-learning cohort. This was, however, the first I’d heard of the professor leaving me on my own, responsible for the entirety of the extended Saturday session. I rushed back to the presbytery’s guesthouse, begged some guidance from the Spirit, and put some finishing touches on an extended lesson plan that I hoped would be fun, experiential, and thought-provoking.
We gathered in the morning in an improvised classroom and pulled some plastic chairs into a circle. Our day ranged from a meditative devotional to lively discussion about the arguments for and against women’s leadership in church ministry. We explored some of the diverse biblical names for God and discussed varied approaches to understanding Christ’s reconciling work on the cross. At the end of the day I felt enlivened and grateful for the experience. I’m not looking to join mission co-worker César Carhuachín on the regular faculty at the Reformed University any time soon, and yet this day gave me a glimpse of something new God may be doing in and through me.
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Pan-American Highway near Blanquicet
I continue to give thanks each day for this strange and wonderful calling to mission service, and I give thanks for all of you who support me on the way. Your faithful friendship allows me to be here, accompanying Young Adult Volunteers as they learn what service looks like and participating in life and ministry with the IPC in ever new and exciting ways.
Please continue to pray for me and for our partners and other mission workers here, and send me a note to let me know how I can be praying for you. If you’re interested in coming for a visit, I’d be delighted to help make that happen—there are some great delegation and mission trip opportunities planned for 2015. Also, I know this time of the year is always brimming with requests for financial gifts, but I hope you might consider sending a gift to support me and other mission co-workers, because we truly cannot continue this work without the support and commitment of the whole church. Whether this is your first gift to Presbyterian World Mission or you would like to provide some additional support, now is the perfect time to do so—gifts received before December 31 will be matched with a gift to the fund that supports all our mission co-workers around the globe.
Thank you for your faithfulness and dedication. May your vision (and mine) be fine-tuned to perceive the new things God is doing near and far, and jump in with joy.
Your sister in Christ,
Sarah
Donate to the Reformed University -- E051801
Donate to the YAV Program -- E049075
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 35
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44
Read more about Sarah Henken's s ministry
Blog: Andean Journey
Write to Sarah Henken
Individuals: Give online to E200475 for Sarah Henken's sending and support
Congregations: Give to D507536 for Sarah Henken's sending and support
Churches are asked to send donations through your congregation’s normal receiving site (this is usually your presbytery).
Double Your Impact!
A group of committed donors has pledged to match all gifts sent by individuals for mission personnel support now through December 31, 2014, up to $137,480. This means your gift today will be matched by a gift to support mission personnel around the world, wherever the need is greatest. We invite you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to double the impact of your gift. Thank you!
