Mission Sunday '99

Sister Parish Homily, 1999
Title: An Update on Tierra Nueva II
Readings: Gospel, Mary Martha story
Other: Compassion, Thomas Moore
Ephesians 1:15-19

Intro. Louise Eidsmoe, AKA Louise Bertsch, has been a member of Sister Parish for 3 years and is the chair this year. Member of SJA for 13 years.

Although it's a little frightening to stand before you, I want to tell you about some important and exciting events with our SJA Sister Parish called Tierra Nueva II in Guatemala City and ask you for a donation.

We have a five-year history of connections with the church and people of Tierra Nueva II in Guatemala City. Like Mary in the Gospel today, we want to sit still and listen, to learn about these people and their lives. Our compassion requires a deep commitment of time. Yet, like Mary's sister Martha, we also want to be active helping them to meet their needs.

In the last 5 years more than thirty-five people have stayed with the people of TNII to learn about their lives and worship with them in their beautiful Spanish liturgy. Just last month 6 Youth visited and worked with the youth of TNII in Guatemala. In 1998, 7 people from TNII visited us MN so they could experience first hand our liturgy, our work at Grace House, and you our parish. Our Sister Parish relationship is alive and growing as two-way process based on learning about each other.

I'm involved in Sister Parish because the people of TNII minister to me, show me a different kind of spirituality, another face of Christ. One of their visible signs of their experience is the banner they made for us that is hanging on the east wall of Hospitality Hall. There is a picture of Christ, the Guatemalan compesino, hanging on a cross of army guns. It takes my breath away every time I see it. If you haven't seen it, go look.

Now, I want to tell you a little about Tierra Nueva II. If I could I would like to take you all to Guatemala. It's so beautiful. The Mts. are recent volcanoes perfectly pointed and purple in color some days. Because of the altitude, the temp is around 70 all year round. They call it the land of eternal spring. The vegetation and bird life is colorful and breathtaking. On my trip in '97, I loved the hummingbirds, blue birds, parrots, and a variety of butterflies. I saw Blazing orange flame trees and purple bougainvillea in the gardens. In the villages and cities, people are still proud of their indigenous culture and dress every day in their traditional hand woven textiles. About 75% of Guatemala's population is indigenous with over 20 different languages. Adding to the color is the beautiful artwork all in bright colors that bring my eyes to life. You can see in these wonderful pictures. But most of all its the people, who are warm and welcoming. They are filled with a love of life, of God, their families and communities.

I first noticed Guatemala because of the terrible war in the 80's that was sending these beautiful people as refugees to Minnesota. They told horror stories of atrocities, of whole villages being killed. In 1982, a Christian Brother from Cretin HS in St. Paul was killed in Guatemala because he was teaching in a dangerous place. Last year Bishop Geared was killed for leading the reconciliation project to recover from these horrors. Today the violence still continues.

Tierra Nueva II was founded because this war created a massive migration to the cities. Land is very scarce. The people settled on this marginal land, a narrow land bridge with steep ravines. Nobody wanted it, so squatters claimed it. The Main road goes down the spine of this hill, which is the heart of the community. From this road, side streets go down into the ravine with more and more precarious dwelling. Just this last year, this main road was paved. I was expecting to be uncomfortable in Guatemala but I didn't know how awful that constant dust could be.

Life in Guatemala is more difficult this year. The economy is pushing prices up and wages down, making people poorer. That's part of becoming a closer part of the global economy. Elections in November are increasing the level of political violence. Since the peace process began, there has been a massive struggle to build more democratic government, but progress is painfully slow. The Court system is especially important. Last year there were bungling efforts to prosecute a priest as the killer of Bishop Gerardi. Because the justice is so slow, people in the rural area act as mobs against criminals. In 1997, I spent part of the 4th of July in a beautiful village on the steep shores of Lake Aititlan. That same night, those villagers acting as vigilantes, killed a local thief.

This year TNII is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Mitch last November. Mitch washed away many houses in Tierra Nueva. In one of the houses, a father, a pregnant mother and 2 small children were all killed. In July one of our SJA members saw the area affected, but she also saw a new community with new houses being built, with water and electricity already in place. It took TNII 4 years to get these services back 10 years ago.

There is other progress in the community: A beautiful new community school is now operating; when I visited 2 years ago I heard one of the community leaders asking for volunteers. We went to watch about 100 families gathered on a Sunday afternoon to dig with hand tools the footings all neatly laid out with string. Even better yet, this new school reflects newer teaching methods with children's art decorating all the walls. One of our Sister Parish members established a connection with a teacher so that his classes can communicate with hers.

The visitors and delegates from St. Joan's in July also saw a lot of Progress on TNII church. The roof, electrical work and lighting have been completed with part of your donations from last year. The church has been transformed from a rough shelter to a building with 4 solid cement block walls and a real roof and lighting inside. It's still awaiting the installation of windows and doors and flooring. Since volunteers do most of the work, it will take awhile. Our SJA youth delegates helped the TNII youth to pour cement for a new sidewalk and step in the front.

But, the TNII church is more than a building. There is a new priest, Fr. Toy. Fr Toy is a Philippine native who belongs to the Belgian order of the 2 previous priests, Fr Alfonso and Fr. Antonio. He is shared with another church. This order of priests promote the teachings of liberation theology which the people of TNII demonstrate in their liturgy and their lives. Liberation theology teaches the people of TNII how to use the gospel of Christ for their communal and spiritual liberation. They are empowered as lay leaders and teachers of the gospel. Tell story of Estella.

How do we at SJA sister parish connect with Tierra Nueva to keep this relationship growing and in balance? We hope you will continue to join us, like Mary and Martha in all these activities.

Most important is our Face to Face visits like the recent Youth Delegation. The delegates brought books from the children of SJA to Tierra N children. What made the books special were the signatures of our children at the Guatemala day summer camp in each of the books.
Next we send email and letters in Spanish.
We Sponsor speakers that keep us informed on current Guatemala political situations.
We belong to new services on Guatemala through Email And we share this information with all of you through our Web Site, and Bulletin Board in the back.
The Alfombra our Easter Sunday sawdust carpet which brings the culture and spiritual practices and joy of Guatemala to St. Joan's
New this year is a Bible studying using their materials and spirit to guide us. Unites us with TNII,
George's prayer every Sunday for the people of Tierra Nueva II.

In all of these activities, we have need of more members to join us.

Like Mary and Martha we struggle with where to put our energy in all our Sr. Parish connections. We go back and forth trying to find the balance between doing for them and being with them. We are deeply concerned about the effects of Poverty in Guatemala and how that affects our relationship. When we visit TNII, we experience it first hand in sharing their lives. When they visited us they experience our abundance. This imbalance calls us to express our solidarity with them by sharing our resources. In compassion we see the needs of the community and again ask you for your donations. Small amounts of money in this community cultivate great hope. Small dollars have a huge effect because the people of TNII themselves participate in the allocation of these assets.

Most of the things in Tierra Nueva funded last year are still getting off the ground and will continue with our contributions this year.

Scholarships. Five people going to school who would not otherwise. Small amounts can keep a student in school for a year. Many more in the community need this kind of help. Education should not end at the 6th grade and families should not have to decide which of their children will go to school this year. I remember the single mother I stayed with telling me with sadness how her youngest daughter at 15 could not go to school this year because her older son needed to finish his course. She could not afford to have 2 children in school.
Library. Our friends in TNII have a limited education; they thirst for books because they need knowledge and practical skills. They have developed a unique system for sharing the books they purchased in their community. Yet it's just beginning. The library will help the adults with limited education expand their knowledge and skills. It will help their children learn to read better.
English classes. For 3 years, the people have been studying English in formal classes now offered in the community. The English classes help them communicate with us and help increase their economic opportunities.
Business classes. We both struggled to find something practical and accessible for the community. This one is especially oriented to young adults. People who are taking the training now will need start up business loans.

What is our vision for the future? Like Mary in the gospel our greatest concern is being together in Solidarity. We are in an interdependent relationship, where we respect the history and culture of the people of TNII. We have a lot to learn from them. Some SJA members may want to live in TNII for longer periods of time. We want to share in their material poverty and their spiritual and cultural riches. We want them to share in our abundance of resources and our open spirit. We are in this for the long term. This is part of our faith in action, our liberation.

At the same time, like Martha we see opportunities to help them develop their dreams and achieve them. By making this contribution, you join in this great adventure. It means a lot to the people there. They really do care about us. They are asking us not to forget them. That is our most important message to TNII. We are here, we are with you. Just as we prayer for them they pray for us. Both sides of this relationship are learning together.

Thank you for joining us in this journey to bring the spirit of Joan of Arc to other parts of the world, to Tierra Nueva II in Guatemala. Gracias.