Final Reflections from Dr. Gregory Cuellar: Dignity, Peace, and Justice

Our two-week mission in Guatemala and Mexico is now complete. Incomplete, however, is God’s Mission, which after this trip can seem more like a ‘Mission Impossible.’ It is apparent that the pervasive and chronic poverty in these countries is only the outer ripple of a broader Western hemispheric socio-economic system, beginning with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Traveling outside the ‘natural’ flows of the tourist industry, we were exposed to multiple and complex layers of indignity and injustice. Yet, even more disturbing is the nefarious use of Scripture to justify the inhumane treatment of thousands of indigenous groups in the region.

(The Ancient Mayan Arch, Uxmal Ruins)


In these margins of margins, the voice of the indigenous Mayan “other” speaks “from below” in a cacophony of dialects (i.e. Kaqichikel, Quiché, Bachajón, Tenejapa, Oxchuc, Chenaltio, Amatenango, Tzeltal). Weighing heavily upon their heads and shoulders are not only basic consumable goods, but also the adverse effects of our hyper-consuming practices and the skewing of justice by those in power. Indeed, the trail we followed took us to the starting point of our “guaranteed low price” merchandise. We came face to face with the women, men, and children who labor for a dollar a day, so that many in the “first” world can enjoy unrestricted access to discounted goods.


In the transnational network of low wage sweat shops (i.e. maquiladoras), many are driven to make the “extreme” decision of immigrating northward. With little recourse in exploitative situations, some inevitably become involved in gangs, prostitution, and drug trafficking. For others, however, the only “dignified” option is to immigrate northward, which means riding on the roof of the infamous migrant train “La Bestia” (The Beast) also known as El Tren de Muerte (The Death Train).

(See site: www.72migrantes.com)


At every stop in our journey, I would ask locals, “Do you have a family member or loved one in the U.S?” And with sobering eyes, their answer was almost always, “Si.” As one young Mayan woman said to me, “I have not seen or heard from my loved one in two years. His name is Vairo. If you see him—please let him know I am waiting.”


Rather than using the next few lines positing on a solution or response to the social and economic ailments of our region, I would like to leave you with an image of the world that I saw during our visit to Central America Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies (Cedepca) in Guatemala City. This appears to be the best place for us to start.

La Bloga de Timoteo: Dos

On Wednesday, we visited a few points of interest on the Yucatan. Dzibilchaltun, Uxmal, and a few cenotes. A cenote is a sink hole where the large peninsula aquafir can be accessed via a hole on the ground. This aquufir spans the entire peninsula creating a network of underground rivers. The water contained therein is beautifully clear and just slightly under the air temperature; in short, it is wonderful to swim in one of these watering holes. The first of these pools that we visited was within the Dzibilchaltun campus. The pool here was beautiful: sparkling blue with lily pads in the center with a bottom that is shallow on one end and descends to the other into an abyss. It was about 10 am when we arrived to the cenote and i had already begun to sweat. Seeing everyone else wading in, I decided to cool off by jumping in. When I jumped in, I had fish swirling all around me. Each jump was as exhilarating as the first and we just drip dried back to the car.


Photo by Bruce Cebell of Tim jumping into the above ground cenote at Dzibilchaltun


After this we drove down a bumpy, nondescript farm road where we eventually stopped at a small concrete tube sticking out of the ground. Down through a small crack and into a cave, we found ourselves standing on a ledge over a giant pool of water. The only thing we could see was two small beams of light originating from the entrance while the rest was black. Small catfish swam silently backlit ever so slightly by the beams of light and a single bat would dart from one side of the cave to the other every once in a while.

Photo by Bruce Cebell of the sunlight shining into the cenote lake in the cave

Photo by Bruce Cebell of the APTS group swimming in the Cenote
From Left to Right: Gregory Cuellar, Greg Allen-Pickett, Cathy Stone, Beth Gleason, Tim Gray

The air was warm and humid as we all jumped in together.
As we sat in the water, enveloped by the cool blue light and smooth dark rock, my mind wandered. What can this mean? Where is God here?

Did you know that there are almost no above-ground rivers in the Yucatan? You can wander for days and never find any water. Although there is jungle everywhere, the majority of surviving plants are either cactus or have long roots to tap the deep water table. This is a desert.

How wonderous and awesome that there are these cenotes, that seem to just appear in the middle of nowhere. For me the teaching is obvious. Where is God? The sunday school answer is: all around us, but we don't always see this or trust in it. Sometimes we find ourselves in a jungle desert which over stimulates us with greenery and the cacophony of noise from a thousand birds and millions of insects. We can walk for days searching for God to quench our thirst, but when we only focus on what we see, we can't find anything.

Only until we find a cenote are we jarred from this desert. The water cools and relaxes us, but slowly we realize that this water, this agua de vida, streches far beyond this hole but is under the ground everywhere.

God was not hiding in a hole, but was under everything the entire time. We only allowed the desert jungle to maintain our focus when in all reality, we just needed to look under our feet. I'm not saying that we should ignore the desert and only focus on what is underneath. The desert is real, thirst is real. But we can quench that thirst and inform our ideas about this jungle when we realize that God is here. Now. With us.

God bless.

Liz Klar's reflections on the last leg of the trip and our first day in Merida

Buenos Dias mi Familia y Amigos!  

THE RIPPLING EFFECT OF A ROCK…MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2012

We are travelers on a journey…a journey that will have a lasting impact.  For many of us we have no idea how this journey will impact others, much less ourselves.  We are traveling in kairos time and know that it is God’s work to transform us and maybe, just maybe through us and our journey, others will be transformed to God’s purpose.  This reminds me of the times my brothers and sisters would throw rocks into the water tank on our farm just to see who could have the larger ripple effect.  I believe God started forming our rock the day we were born…all the experiences of our lives have transformed our rock in some way and we have been thrown into the water many times.  This journey is just a continuation of our rock being transformed and thrown into the water day in and day out.  Some days our rock is just being transformed and other days it is not only being transformed but it is also being thrown into the water.  Each of us on this journey will experience a unique transformation of our rock and when thrown into the water a unique ripple, not concerned about how big or small the rock or the ripple is.  From my perspective, I believe the seven of us are all trusting God to lead us according to His will and purpose and be open to whatever the rippling effects God has in store for each of us. 

So our journey continues.  Today, we are traveling from Tuxtla Gutierrez to Mexico City and then connecting a flight to Merida in Yucatan, Mexico.  This traveling day has been much easier than the day we were on the bus for almost 12 hours going from Guatemala to Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas, Mexico.  Personally not handling tight spaces and not taking care of my physical needs, made it a very difficult day for me to travel.  Because of my own self-absorption that day, my rock was not being transformed to God’s purpose or will and I don’t believe that my presence had any rippling effect that day at all.  However, through Professor Cuellar’s witness to this young Jewish woman and through Mark Nygard’s witness with this young Danish gentleman, my rock was being transformed as I listened to God’s work being done.  I also believe my rock was being transformed as I looked out at the beauty of God’s creation and reflected on the first part of the journey in Guatemala.  I am thankful for this kairos time to learn, to engage, to listen and to reflect.  I know when I return home, I will be back to kronos time and it will be up to me to make room for kairos time and continue to ask God to reveal his purpose for my life and to see where God is leading me from the experiences I have had on this trip.   

Boarding our flight from Tuxtla to Mexico City, a lot nicer than the bus ride from Guatemala!

THE FIRST FULL DAY IN MERIDA…MONDAY EVE AND TUESDAY DAY,

JANUARY 16-17, 2012

After we settled in at this beautiful hotel, we went to eat dinner.  We continued our quest to see who has the best Mexican food.  We have tried many different kinds of food and the local flavor is really good…not the Tex-Mex we are used to eating in and around Austin.  After dinner we made our way to the plaza (I just love plazas…a place to socialize and be engulfed into the culture).  We experienced the local dancers who entertained us for an hour.  I have inserted a photo of the dancers…it is just one of many songs they entertained us with.

This morning, our hotel provided us with a wonderful breakfast and then we made our way to a walking tour of the churches and buildings around the plaza in Merida.  Our tour guide, Jerry, shared with us some history of the Mayan culture.  Today about 80% are mestizos and about 80% still speak the Mayan language.  A mestizo is the term for a Mayan-Mexican.  Many of the buildings around the plaza are made up of rock from the Mayan ruins.  The Mayan culture has a lot of Spanish and French Influence.  Merida has the oldest Catholic Church on the whole North American continent.  Our tour guide told us that the Mayan and Catholic religions are very different.  Their beliefs are different about life, fertility, Gods, customs and traditions.   However in Chiapas and Guatemala, many Catholics and Mayans celebrate a bi-lingual mass together.  When the Mayan Indians were first seen by a Friar, he thought they were savages and must be taught the European way.  Many years later, Pope John Paul II, considered the bravest pope for apologizing to the Mayan community for how they had been treated and for the spiritual conquest. 

I am sure this apology took place in one of these chairs that we see in the plaza. 

These chairs are used for one on one conversation. Many lovers can sit face to face and stare into each other’s eyes. Dr. Cuellar immediately recognized these chairs as a symbol of what we have been experiencing this entire time in our Latin America Missiology course. We had to come face to face with what is going on in the 3rd World Country like Guatemala and in the rural villages of Mexico. We have looked eye to eye with many of the indigenous, the poor, the sick and those suffering in some form or fashion. We have also worshipped with these folks and have seen their faith strong in spite of the conditions that each faces. After worship this past Sunday, we were invited into the home of two sisters who served us some hot chocolate and pastries. I am sure they gave much more than they had, but yet wanted to share a part of them with us. What a gift and an expression of love. It is hard not to be changed when one looks eye to eye with someone less fortunate they we are and continues to be faithful in the one that created each of us. May God go with them each and every day and sustain them in every way.

Buenas noches y Dios los bendiga! 

Liz Klar

Sunday's visit to a small church out in the country. -Beth Gleason

Sunday, January 15, 2012Every journey you take into the world is also an interior journey. In a different place you are presented with a sacred opportunity to encounter the holy in others and in your self.
Sunday was such a day.

Cool and overcast, we journeyed out early for church in our big white van (aka the White Whale) to one of the poorest villages on the outskirts of Tuxtla.   Ocuilapa was on a hilly mountainside, at the edge of civilization, literally within site of the countrys massive jungle reserve. We picked up Rev. Sebastian's wife, Nellie and their two children, Hassidy and Gael on the way, as they were to be our official "hosts" to this remote church community.

Our APTS student guide Greg Allen-Pickett maneuvered the big van well in the rainy, rutted, dirt roads. Although these village roads were being resurfaced, as promised by the government, they had taken their time - over 6 months - and the roads were in tough shape (being polite here). So.....when we stepped from the van, which was several blocks from church due to the road conditions, one and all were ankle deep in mud......wet, thick, brown, suck-your-sandals-off mud. And then it started to rain. So, clinging to each other and some gracious local folks, we slipped and slided our way up to church. And, thank God, not one of us fell down! Si, se puede!

When we reached the church:

dressed in mud (feet, lower legs, pant legs, hems of skirts, you name it) we were met with pails of well water to wash ourselves off before entering the service. The host church, Iglesia Presbiteriana de Ocuilapa,  met us with smiles and laughter, helping us get clean(er)...it was truly a mud removal party for the Lord. When we entered the full (and patient) church we dispersed among the villagers in the pews and then joined them in worship. We were invited to share our hastily van-practiced hymn as their honored guests, and when our second hymn was in Spanish, everyone sang along. When we were invited to introduce ourselves at the end of the service every face was illuminated with love.

And then there was Dr. Cuellar's sermon. His sermon, translated by Greg Allen-Pickett, expressed a theme common to our trip, that of exile and return. This humble little church related to this theme. When Dr. Cuellar offered an altar call at his sermons conclusion, about two thirds of the church responded. Healing ensued among this body of Christ. It was amazing....but you will have to ask Dr. Cuellar to explain..... it would be safe to say that each of us experienced God's presence in our own way among our brothers and sisters in Christ.

APTS Student Liz Klar with congregation members

Fellowship with the Pastor, his wife, the congregants and their home made pan dulce (sweet bread) followed, and on our way out of town, we were invited to stop and visit two other families. More refreshments, more prayer together...such hospitality! And then Dr. Cuellar was invited to stay for the day with the church family, which is another story I invite you to ask him to relate. Grace abounds!


But, wait! Theres more! We had a grand lunch of roasted rabbit at a restaurant called _Cascada de los Conejos ("cascade of rabbits") before saying goodbye to our Tuxtla host, Rev. Sebastian and his family.

Then later in the evening we had the grand pleasure of travelling on the modern, mud-less Autopista toll highway over the beautiful mountains to San Cristobal for coffee with APTS alum (and middler Allie Utley's dad), the Rev. Carl Utley. Carl is on a Lilly Foundation sabbatical to study Spanish language for 3 months in San Cristobal. He had a great deal of enthusiasm explaining his love of the culture and mission work in Latin America. In closing I will quote Carl on Christian mission work from the indigenous perspective....."If you are here to help me, go home. If you are here because your salvation is bound up  in mine, then welcome, and let's get to work."

-Beth Gleason, APTS M.Div., 2013

Cathy Stone Mission Reflections. . .

Saludos desde Mexico!

The days continue to just fly by for our group - it's hard to believe we've now been gone for one week. Thursday and Friday were full of travel, new experiences (those just keep coming!), and learning as we left Guatemala and journeyed into Mexico. The 12+ hour day of travel was long, but filled with blessings and adventure. We began the day with a  5 am van ride into Antigua and then were packed like sardines into another van with others also traveling to Mexico. When we stopped for gas it was mind boggling as I looked around the van at the group that was to share this journey - there was Spanish praise and worship music loudly playing over the gas station speakers, a Guatemalen driver, seven of us from the U.S. (with only 2 speaking Spanish), a group of five Jewish young adults from Israel, and a young couple from Italy (although he's originally from England). What an assortment! The ride began quietly,with little interaction between our various groups, but that didn't last long in such a small space!

I was particlarly intrigued by the group of young folks from Israel. One spoke English rather well and we quickly learned they had recently finished serving their mandatory National military service and are now traveling for three months before attending University. One young lady from the group found herself sitting on the very back seat of the van with part of our group and a row of us between her and the rest of her group. While her travel mates quickly went to sleep, she found herself being engaged in conversation by our own Dr. Cuellar.

Dr Cuellar shared with her that he is a professor of Old Testament and knows/teaches Biblical Hebrew. He explained some of what is expected in these classes and the kind of learning that occurs. This young lady seemed unable to understand why we would be wanting to study these topics, to learn Hebrew and learn so much about Torah. She shared with him that she is not very religious and has not read Torah much since childhood. Her mom is the religous one in the family. Before I knew it Dr. Cuellar was opening Bibleworks on his computer and the two of them were reading the story of Sarai and Haggar from Genesis together. I closed my eyes, smiled, and settled in to listen to this fascinating converstaion. As they took turns reading passages I heard English and Hebrew, with a passionate discussion occurrirng between the two of them about the meaning of certain words and this Biblical story. After a while the discussion drew to a close and the young lady slept for much of the remaining part of the trip out of Guatemala while the rest of us contemplated the dramatic mountainous scenery. When the time came to leave our van (only to end up all together with many others on a large bus) Dr. Cuellar told her to make sure and let her mom know that while she was traveling to Mexico she spent time reading Torah. He also handed her a Hebrew blessing. She quickly questioned when he had done this, and of course it was while she slept. It was clear that she was deeply moved and honored by this gift. I truly believe she felt the love of God that day on this crowded van ride into Mexico and will carry this time with Dr. Cuellar fondly in her heart.

As I reflect on this interaction between these two people from different parts of the world, I can't help but think about how language brought them together, Hebrew and English in a Spanish setting - who'd have thought?

Language has been weighing on my mind the entire trip. For me, language has been more of a divider rather than a connector. I don't speak Spanish and have often felt somewhat disconnected from the people was have met in both Guatemala and Mexico. It's almost as if there is a thin wall or veil between us that I can't reach across, giving me a feeling of being an observer, rather than a participant.

This feeling was heightened on Friday when we spent most of the day at the Semario Dr. Juan R. Kempers, a Presbyterian seminary here in Chiapas. Dr. Cuellar presented the thesis of his book on Latin American immigration in relation to Biblical themes of exile and return in Isaiah to the seminary faculty - in Spanish.

 I was able to understand bits and pieces (with the help of his powerpoint even though it was also in Spanish - I'm finding the written word much easier than speaking or listening!) often enough to be intrigued but not fully understand, and certainly  not enough to engage in the conversation. We had lunch with the faculty and I sat across from the New Testament professor who is from the Netherlands and speaks English. We had a great conversation, but I still ended our time there frustrated with the language barrior. I kept thinking about the first grade students I had over the years for whom English was a second language and the families we have at my church from Burundi, Africa who have struggled with these languages challenges much more than I have. But, I found my frustration turning into desire, a great desire to learn the language. For the rest of the day I kept asking, "Where can I buy an English/Spanish Bible?"  At times the group lovingly laughed at my sense of desperation as I asked more than once. We haven't been able to find one yet, but my enthusiasm has been contagious, others in our group want one too!

Earlier today, as I looked back over the past week and the challenges there have been with not knowing the Spanish languge, I realized something - yes, Dr. Cuellar and the young woman from Israel were brought together by language, but not just words in English or Hebrew, it was the Word of God. Through Torah, they connected as children of God. I may not have been able to connect as much as I would like to with the people we have met, but through the Word of God, la palabra de Dios, we are connected, no matter what language is spoken. But this means we must live in and with the Word, it is staying in the Word of God, through reading Scripture, that keeps us connected to one another and to God. Language and relationships, brought together in the most unlikely of places, are glipses of the Kingdom of God, right here and right now. Thanks be to God!

Matthew 2:36-39 -  Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Pastor Sebastian and his family. Our "hosts" in Mexico

A woman making fresh tortillas in Guatemala

A group of girls practicing liturgical dance as part of the praise team at their church

La Bloga de Timoteo

Hello There! Hope you have been enjoying reading about our adventures in Guatemala and Mexico. Instead of writing about our day's excursion, I wanted to start a discussion about photography in other countries and cultures.
While walking around in Antigua and even while on other mission trips, I have noticed the amount of photos being taken of locals while selling, sitting and going about their normal days; and most of the time this is being done without their explicit consent. Don’t worry, this isn’t me wagging my finger at everyone, mainly because if anything, it would be me wagging my finger at myself.
Why should we care if and when and how someone is photographing someone else? Let’s look at a few reasons why we might be photographing a local in a different country or culture.

1. “Because I find their (the locals) interesting/strange/confusing and I want people back home to experience this with me.” For a long time this was my reasoning and frame of mind. I love studying people. I have a BA in Psychology and wanted to double major in Sociology. The internal and external mechanisms of human behavior fascinate me. So when I come across a picture or video of a person or people behaving or dressing differently, I want to understand every nook and cranny of the reasoning and context of those behaviors or attire.
2. “I can use the images of a wanting child or overworked mother to help fund raise.” This is my most recent frame of mind. Fund raising for a cause, especially for some sort of poverty, is admirable. In terms of looking outside of ourselves and seeing God’s creation for its beauty, it’s a good first step. Studies have shown time and time again that when a potential donor can connect emotionally with the subject of a cause, that potential donor is more likely to donate and donate more than they would if they hadn’t connected.
3. “I want to remember the moments here as I saw them first.” We sat on two planes, took a bus for a number of hours, spent time being bitten by foreign bugs and spent a large sum of money to do so; why shouldn’t we want to be able to flip back through some photos and videos and re-experience our time in this country? This frame of mind is planning to try and relive what has already past.

So here’s the crux, why I’m even writing this post. We, as creations of God and followers of Christ are called to respond to the love of God’s creation through the sacrifice of God’s Son—by also loving that creation. The question is: how do we love God’s creation?
By not turning the complex creation of humanity into a diverse set of objects. If we think of humanity as a group of individual creations where each is a multi-faceted, we can evaluate our photography behavior as a product of whether the photo will detract from the individuals' creation.

Reflections on Mission from APTS Special Student Mark Nygard

Today is Wednesday Jan 11, We left the mission house and headed to a village high in the mountains called Buena Vista. The sights are breath taking. The city is about 7,000 ft in elevation and has a population of around 7,000, many of whom are children.

When we got near the village, we were met by two independent missionaries, Brock Johnson, and Mark Schmidt. Brock arrived at the village in 2008 looking for a place to serve the poor. He could not speak Spanish but remained in the village and learned the language and the needs of village people. His friend Mark arrived in 2009 with his family. Their first project was a home construction ministry called 12 by 12. This simply meant their goal was to build twelve houses in twelve months. This goal was accomplished, and they have now built seventy homes and already have twenty-one financed and ready to build this year.

They share their passion and their goals with us. They stated that domestic violence is high in Guatemala, even among Christian families. Men do not realize it is wrong to abuse their wives. A burden was put on their hearts to develop a sports academy for boys to teach them how to grow up and treat their wives properly. Their goal was completed last year with the building of a soccer gym and classrooms as well. Their next dream is to build a 14,000 sq.ft school. They stated that only 10% of the children of Guatemala go past the sixth grade. They want to see that changed. They have purchased the land for the school in the heart of the village and now are trusting in God to provide the funds for the project. They challenged our team to go out and be the church and to really live God’s word. They shared a statement given to them by a friend, which says, “Don’t be afraid to follow Jesus into the unknown, remember you are following Jesus, not the unkown.” It is evident that God is blessing their ministry. Their final challenge to us as we left was to go out and do something radical.

We visited several of the homes they had built in the village and met several of the people who live in them. I was very impressed with their ministry. We stopped in Antigua on the way back for a couple of hours.

Dr. Gregory Cuellar, Rev. Linda McCarty, APTS Student Greg Allen-Pickett and Faith in Practice In-Country Director Laura Shearer

In the evening, we met Rev Linda McCounty, who is CEO of Faith and Practice. She shared more about their ministry in Antigua. She stated that it was not just about healing bodies, but about the wholeness of helping the people in every way. She stated that even those who can’t medically be helped can still know someone loved and cared for them. She stated that often times the people who come to help are the ones who have the life changing experiences. She stated that even if one cannot speak their language that there is a lot of communication that transcends language.