| "Of course I do," I
replied. "You are the son of Don Chepe, the baker, and Doña
Chavela."
I recalled how Oscar and his brother had fought since they were
very young. Not just brothers fighting, but bitter, no-holds-barred
conflict. I recalled how they sometimes hurt Doña Chavela,
their mother, and how sometimes, she beat them hard. It was a
very violent childhood.
"So you do remember,” said Oscar. “You see,
nobody wants to talk to me anymore. But you greeted me. And you
will give me some money, won't you?"
I felt a flash of fear. I dug in my pocket for a one quetzal
coin. By mistake, I also pulled out one worth 50 centavos.
"Ah, Seño Mari, don't be bad to me. Give me both
the coins."
He extended his hand and took the coins. In the process, his
fingers paused to touch the watch on my wrist. He pulled a bit
at the velcro watchband and I thought, "One of my catechism
kids is going to steal my watch."
But he pushed the velcro back together. "Fine, Seño
Mari," he said. "Thanks." Then, still staggering,
he walked away.
What does Oscar’s future hold? An early death from cirrhosis?
(How many friends have we buried due to drink?) Will he be shot
while stealing a watch, a pair of sunglasses? Will he be targeted
for “social cleansing” by the security forces and
end up as just another John Doe in the morgue?
I remember Oscar, the child, in catechism class. This isn’t
what God had in mind.
Maribel Pérez Smith
Silence on the Mountain
Sometimes, terrorism works. That is the underlying argument in
Dan Wilkinson’s provocative book Silence on the Mountain:
Stories of Terror, Betrayal and Forgetting in Guatemala (Houghton
Mifflin, 2002). By tracing the history of one particular community
from Guatemala’s coffee-producing Pacific slope, Wilkinson
documents how decades of state terrorism gave rise to a culture
of silence in Guatemala. An excellent read!
Precarious Peace
We are pleased to announce the release of “Precarious Peace:
God and Guatemala,” a two-part video documentary that details
the involvement of churches in Guatemala’s long and tortuous
peace process. The first part (40 minutes) looks at how churches
were able to break through the logjam of armed conflict and initiate
the peace process. The second part (32 minutes) looks at the current
religious landscape through four vignettes: a poor Pentecostal
congregation on the outskirts of Guatemala City, a traditional
Evangelical school in heavily-Mayan El Quiché province,
a conversation with Mayan Christians who find nurture and identity
in their traditional spirituality, and a Neo-Pentecostal politician
who is running in this fall’s elections. An excellent resource
for Church education programs, mission study delegations, academics
and journalists. Study guide available. For ordering information,
please see www.precariouspeace.org.
The producers are Presbyterian colleagues Rudy and Shirley Nelson
from Albany, New York.
New office address
After 18 years, Cedepca is going home. At the end of this month
we will be moving to the Cedepca Center, a large, two-story house
that we have refurbished to accommodate three classrooms, a library,
space for worship and study, and staff offices. Next door, we’re
putting the finishing touches on our women’s clinic and
emergency shelter. Plus, we have plenty of space to grow in the
future. God’s grace and your support have made this possible.
Please accept our heartfelt thanks! Please note Cedepca's new
address:
8 Avenida 7-57, Zona 2
Ciudad de Guatemala
PBX: (+502) 254-1093
Fax: (+502) 254-7538
My new direct email is dsmith@cedepca.org.
Check out our new Web site (under construction): www.cedepca.org.
Please delete from your directory our old email (densmithfam@guate.net).
It will be discontinued at the end of August.
Under the Mercy,
Dennis & Maribel Smith
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
244 |
