Don Juan and Doña Carmelina welcomed us into their home. They’d known at least one of the members of our delegation for about 20 years. She’d stayed at their home years ago. Now, their children had all left home and Don Juan had suffered a stroke. Doña Carmelina is his only care provider, and she has to tend to their living as well. Being in such a remote location, there was little medical intervention that was possible to aid in Don Juan’s recovery. Pastor Karen invited us all to lay on hands as she led us in prayer. I held Don Juan’s hand. It was warm and rough. I was surprised by the strength he still had in his grip. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I remembered in my own grandfather’s hand after he suffered his first stroke. As his thumb gently rubbed my hand, I thought to myself. “Yes, this is why we’re here.”
After we left their home, we walked along the rocky street back to San Augustín Lutheran Church in La Esmeralda. I was lucky to walk beside the Minister of the Word at La Esmeralda, Balthasar. His liturgical role in the congregation is similar to that of a deacon or deaconess. We skipped past the small talk, recognizing in one another a kindred spirit and a kindred call to lives of faith and service. I was particularly honored as he shared with me some of the lasting effects of the civil war on their community, and in his own life. As we walked along, I once again thought to myself. “Yes, this is why we’re here.”
I had that same thought over and over again on our trip. I am grateful that the “we” in my thought wasn’t just a single delegation or myself as an individual. As it was my first time in Guatemala, I was a bit tempted to make it all about myself. But “we” is Augustana Lutheran Church in West St. Paul and San Augustín Lutheran Church in La Esmeralda. The “we” is the ILAG and the Saint Paul Area Synod. And the “we” is the Holy Trinity in whose name we are gathered into a global community.
Deaconness Claire Schoepp
Children & Family Minister
Augustana Lutheran, West St. Paul
