A letter from Kristi Van Nostran in El Salvador
December 1, 2013
ADVENT HOPE
Pastor Santiago and his family left home early this morning, as they do every Sunday, to come into the city for worship. As they came around the underpass to merge onto the freeway that leads to San Salvador, it was impossible not to notice that the police had cordoned off where a vehicle was blocking one lane. While it is not uncommon to encounter a stalled car or broken-down pickup on Salvadoran roads from time to time, unfortunately today this was not the case. Having slowed to pass by in the adjacent lane, one could clearly see the series of bullet holes that had rendered this vehicle inoperative and claimed the lives of its driver and two passengers.
“I asked myself,” Santiago shared from the pulpit, “what could have gone so wrong, and so early on a Sunday morning, that would lead to such an event? There is no excuse for this kind of violence, yet this is the world we wake up to each day.”
It is a sad reality that in El Salvador, as in many places around God’s world, injustice, desperation, conflict and violence seem to rule the day. However, it was within a context not so different from this that God’s kingdom broke forth through the adventus, the arrival of the Messiah. On this first Sunday of Advent we claim hope; the waiting, the expecting, the eager anticipation of God’s becoming physically present with us in our human journey through the birth of Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace. In El Salvador we enter this season of hope encouraged and empowered by the potent words of the prophet Isaiah:
[YHWH] shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! (Isaiah 2:4-5).
There is hope for us! We worship a God for whom nothing is impossible. There is no conflict, no injustice, no evil that is too great for God to overcome. God sustains us in the dark and broken places and gives us hope for a new future—that together we might work toward a new reality in which the implements of violence and war will be transformed into instruments for the care and cultivation of the land. No longer will young people be trained to kill and to die, but rather to embrace God’s life-affirming charge given in Genesis 2, to till and keep the Garden. Is this not your hope? Is it not the hope of all peoples? There is hope for us. It is the hope that came as Emmanuel—God with us. Amen.
December 8, 2013
ADVENT PEACE
On my way to church, around 10 o’clock this morning, the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. Even this early in the day it was already pushing 80 degrees, but with a light breeze that made the walk quite enjoyable. Sundays are usually pretty quiet with very little traffic. Ideal, I thought, to go over my sermon in my head as I strolled through the few neighborhood blocks from my house to the church. As I reached the end of my street, however, music was blaring through the open windows of a house, and what surprised me was not the volume level since there tends to be a kind of loud and proud attitude here when it comes to music. What surprised me was the song: “White Christmas”!
Christmas lights and decorations are up around town and more fireworks (a favorite holiday tradition in Central America) can be heard each evening as the year comes to its close, and I’ve heard some Christmas music on the radio, so the season is clearly in full swing. There was just something that struck me about the paradox of dreaming of a white Christmas in sandals and shirtsleeves.
This week’s scripture lesson paints a picture of a world that is no less paradoxical. The prophet Isaiah proclaims a Peaceable Kingdom, the utopia that God intends for all of Creation, and the coming of the one who will rightly rule with justice and integrity:
“Just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arise from the line of David… He will not judge by appearance or hearsay; he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of those who suffer in the land… Righteousness and faithfulness will be his royal robes. Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and a little child will lead them” (Isaiah 11:1, 3b, 4-6).
Advent is the season in which we prepare our hearts and very lives to receive the Messiah, the long-awaited king from the descendants of David. Yet, as radical and paradoxical as predators cohabiting with their prey, the king we expect is not a warrior brandishing his sword, but the one who comes as a child, meek and vulnerable, the Prince of Peace. Let’s envelop ourselves in the marvels of this season that requires nothing more of us than our participation in preparing the way of the Lord. Let’s put aside the external preparations of purchases and travel plans that can keep us from celebrating Christmas for what it is: the birth of Jesus, the coming of the King who reigns with Justice and Peace. Amen.
Dear partners in mission,
The Messiah came as one of us to proclaim and work for shalom from the inside out, and the one who came as the Prince of Peace calls us to do the same. In this second week of Advent I invite you to join me in the work of reconciliation and restoration of relationships in Central America by supporting the ministry of Joining Hands El Salvador. Your prayers and correspondence are always deeply appreciated, and it is not too late to take advantage of two special giving opportunities: the Mission Giving Matching Campaign and the Presbyterian Giving Catalog.
Through December 31, 2013, thanks to a generous gift to Presbyterian World Mission, all individual gifts sent for mission personnel support will be matched. This means that your gift to my sending support (E200479), in any amount—there is no gift too small—will be matched in equal amount with a gift to the general mission sending fund.
Don’t miss this opportunity to double the impact of your contribution! https://www.presbyterianmission.org/donate/make-a-gift/gift-info/E200479/
Check out the 2013 Presbyterian Giving Catalog, which offers a collection of gifts that exemplify the work carried out by the various ministries supported by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s four churchwide Special Offerings (One Great Hour of Sharing, Pentecost, Christmas Joy, and Peacemaking). The Joining Hands initiative of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, including Joining Hands El Salvador, is among these ministries. Although gifts are not tracked from donation to distribution to specific communities or families, you can be sure that your symbolic gift will be utilized to address the areas of greatest need through the ministries represented. Give a gift of hope today! https://presbyteriangifts.org/
Kristi
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 18
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Join the Matching Gift Challenge for World Mission from now through December 31, 2013. Individual gifts given in this time frame, up to $90,500 will double in value and impact! Consider giving your individual gift today. For more information, please contact Relationship Development Operations at 1-800-728-7228.
