Excerpts from a letter from Jack and Joy Houston, Fourth Church members serving as missionaries in Guatemala:

May|September


September 2004

The "orquestina" is a great youth program of the La Merced Church. It includes about 75 kids in all, from about age 8 to age 17. The kids enter with no music experience and play whatever donated instruments are available, including violin, guitar, flute, mandolin, cello, and marimba. They do a wonderful job of leading the music sections of worship, both with the instruments and their singing. We believe the group deserves recognition and encouragement.

We talked with the director and snatched an opportunity to bring in lunch for them last saturday. They usually practice from 9 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturday mornings (in addition to Wednesday and Friday afternoons), but last Saturday they played for a special service at 10:oo a.m. and again for a wedding in the afternoon (and had to squeeze their practice in between). It was a perfect opportunity to send in lunch. We ordered it and arranged for delivery and some of the moms organized the serving and clean-up.

The director asked us to sit down so the kids could thank us by playing a couple of songs. We felt very honored with the private concert! They also made a couple of speeches to thank us, and then we had our turn. We told them this was done in the name of our church in Chicago. We said that music was a very important part of the church worship there, just as they make it a very important part of the worship here. We showed them the 2001 calendar, explained the pictures of the angels with instruments above the sanctuary, and then passed the calendar around so they could have a look. They loved seeing that! They also were visibly delighted with the chicken sandwiches, fries, and drinks!

The kids are really great, as are their directors. The practice sessions have regularly scheduled devotional sessions to make no mistake about what the orquestina is about. We believe that Fourth Church will be proud to be represented by this recognition.

The church also regularly includes in worship dramatic presentations by the children to illustrate the scripture text. They are impressive also, but that's another group.

We've been busy here. Last week Joy was translating for medical teams. Yesterday we attended an inauguration of a 3-classroom primary school (48 students, 1 teacher). We'd been invited by a board member of an organization that's worked here for 21 years. It was started by some Peace Corps alumni. The village was very remote, a long way up on a rough road. It was a very happy celebration, with the whole community turned out! There were balloons, streamers, music, speeches (always speeches here!), a ribbon cutting, and lunch for everyone. The organization works on a policy of community initiatives and participation, which we applaud. All the labor was done by the community.

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May 2004

The Guatemala Connection is a true jewel in the crown of Fourth Church global outreach. We are grateful for the trust the church has placed in us to coordinate and carry out the mission. We treasure that trust. The relationship with the school had an appropriate beginning, initiated at the request of local leadership, was carried out with full respect for the dignity of the people with whom we worked and was brought to a beautiful closure, however grindingly slow the weaning away seemed at times. A wise missionary once told us, "The biggest mistake a missionary can make is not to know when to go away." We applied that wisdom. All that God did through Fourth Church at Colegio Jerusalem was directed toward enablement and self-sustainment, always carefully avoiding anything that moved toward paternalism or dependence, not putting anything in place that imposed a burden on the local administration.

The values of those goals are gratifyingly evident in the friendships that continue and in the advances the Colegio has made on its own since we ended our presence in Coatepeque, gradually after 1999. Among those advances are:

-increased enrollment from 400 in 1997 to almost 700 in 2004
-balanced operational budgets since 1998, previously nonexistent
-self-funded capital projects, including second level classrooms, which made possible additional career track programs
-self-funded scholarships for pastors' families
-Christian Education program
-fair teacher salaries
-ongoing training support through membership in Christian Schools Intl
-20% contribution to the National Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (0 in 1997)

The Guatemala Connection was extended when we moved from Chicago to Antigua in 2001. Among the results are:
-San Juan Gascón water project (2001-2003); community of 400 families now enjoys consistent water supply; in recognition, we were officially invited to the inauguration of the new mayor of Antigua last week; he has signed an agreement giving full control to the community
-oversight of administration of Casa de Fe (2003); gave hospitality to more than 5,000 persons who traveled to Antigua for services by volunteer medical teams
-translation work with Common Hope and medical teams
-identification of Guatemalan resources to use as a reference pool to encourage local resolutions

Being available on-site to several mission entities, we've had many opportunities to host groups from the U.S., from single orientation presentations, to hosting dinners, to escorting tours of Antigua, to leading work/study groups in more remote areas. One of these, with First Presbyterian Church of Davenport, has developed into a lasting friendship and liaison relationship in collaboration with a local Christian NGO in Jutiapa, now constructing a new school with integrated medical and nutrition service. A third team will come in 2004.
We have been happy to see a virtual explosion of Fourth Church global outreach since The Guatemala Connection began. Our prayer is that The Guatemala Connection. . .Face to Face be recorded in a well-deserved and honored place in Fourth Church history for the jewel it is.

Since 2002 we have both been writing for a local magazine that has produced interesting connections and opened doors in high places! Jack is doing a series on ambassadors (U.S. Ambassador is featured in the February issue; Joy has one on his wife in March). We've had great opportunities to throw a spotlight on projects and organizations that deserve recognition. In addition to religious figures, historians and filmmakers, we continue to enjoy the luxury of meeting wonderful, fascinating people with informed global perspectives.

We hold all of you at Fourth Church in a very special place in our hearts. We believe you will rejoice with us over these reflections and hope they make you glad. May God bless you.

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