October 14, 2007

Dear Friends in Christ,

Greetings in the midst of the Columbus Day weekend back in the U. S.

Here in central America, October 12 is also celebrated. Traditionally, it was called the Dia de la Raza (Day of the Spanish Race). That traditional terminology not only left out the native populations that occupied these lands before the Spaniards arrived (known today as indigenous peoples), but also glossed over the genocidal violence, discrimination and exploitation suffered by indigenous people that began with and has continued since the Spanish conquest.

Consequently, alternative ways of referring to this day have evolved, including terms such as Dia de las Culturas (Day of the Cultures) which makes visible the rich cultural legacy of indigenous peoples and rightfully places it on a par with the culture of their Spanish conquerors. So, ¡feliz- Dia de las Culturas!

More than anything else, the purpose of this update is to apologize for an extended lapse in communication on our part. For most of you in our network of sponsoring congregations, it has been many months since you have heard from us. You certainly deserve an explanation. To put it succinctly, life has been extraordinarily stressful for our family and me, both physically and emotionally, over the past several months. Some of it was expected, but most of it wasn't.

For example, an ELCA missionary colleague serving here in Costa Rica completed her term of service at the beginning of July (after doing an absolutely fabulous job for 2 years). One of her primary duties was to organize, receive and accompany visiting church delegations on behalf of the Iglesia Luterana Costarricense (ILCO). Immediately following her departure, two ELCA groups arrived. That required an interim delegation coordinator (a time-intensive commitment for several weeks). Given my considerable past experience with church delegations, I agreed to assume this responsibility for ILCO on an interim basis and adjusted my work plans accordingly.

What wasn't planned was the accident that I suffered on August 7 while accompanying the second of those groups. As I was passing from one end of a muddy construction site to the other, I slipped on a wet board, fell and fractured a bone in the middle of my right hand. My hand and wrist were in a cast for a month which made even the simplest of daily routines more complicated and time-consuming (those of you who have gone through a similar experience can empathize, I'm sure). For example, I did manage to continue working on the computer but at a dramatically slower place (it just wasn't the same with the five fingers of my left hand and only the little finger of my right!). Even after I had the cast removed in September, it took weeks of rehabilitation to regain the use of my right hand and wrist after such an extended period of immobilization.

The same week that I broke my hand, we received the unexpected news that my father (84 years of age and in good health all his life) was about to undergo a biopsy on one of his vocal chords. The biopsy results were positive, but the cancer was detected at an early stage which gives us hope that it can be completely cured. We are now awaiting word from the doctors on whether the radiation treatment that he has undergone for several weeks has had the desired effect. As I'm sure you will understand, this situation has kept our family occupied—and preoccupied—over the past 2 months.

Within the past week, life finally seems to be getting back to normal (if there is such a thing in Central America!). That enables me to turn my attention to all sorts of work-related tasks that were put "on hold" for several months, including communications with all of you. Beyond this more personal message, I will soon be sending a news update from Costa Rica on the recently-concluded national referendum on the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Also, the time is rapidly approaching for our next home assignment which warrants special mention.

As some of our key congregational contacts already know, I have recently begun the process of scheduling our next home assignment during the months of December 2007 – January 2008. More accurately, it's a case of re-scheduling the visits that had been set up for the first two months of 2007 but had to be cancelled at the last minute due to school complications with one of our daughters. Especially for congregations that have just become our sponsors in 2007, it's important to explain briefly how we go about scheduling home assignment visits.

The task is a bit complicated given that we have more than 30 sponsoring congregations spread throughout the eastern half of the U.S. (mid-Atlantic states, Twin Cities area and North Carolina). First, I am contacting the group of approximately 15 congregations where we had already committed to make visits at the beginning of 2007. After settling on new dates with them, I will individually contact other congregations about the possibility of a visit during any remaining time slots. For everyone else, I will notify you of our final travel itinerary so that you have the option of meeting and talking with us during a visit to another church that is geographically near you.

On our home assignment three years ago, we were able to visit 16 congregations in approximately 6 weeks. We will do our best to equal or exceed that number this time around. However, the majority of those visits will necessarily take place during the week since there are only 8-9 weekends during the two months that we will be back in the U.S. That means that it will be physically impossible to schedule more than 8-9 of our church visits on the weekend.

Whether through more frequent written communications or personal visits during our upcoming home assignment, we look forward to working with you to identify concrete ways of becoming more actively engaged in the global mission of the ELCA, and to the sharing of our personal experiences and reflections as ELCA missionaries on what it means to accompany our companion churches here in Central America.

Once again, please accept our sincerest of apologies for the extended lapse in communications. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

With peace,

STEPHEN DEAL
Regional Representative in Central America
ELCA Global Mission