Cruz Del Sur

Fourth Sunday in Lent B 2006

John 3:14-21

              It was a week ago Saturday night in Iguazu.  We were on the tail end of our mission trip to Argentina.  We had said goodbye that morning to our hosts in Bariloche and flown to Iquazu for a couple of days to see the famous water falls that boarder with Brazil.  We were sitting outside waiting for our reservations for supper when I looked up into the sky and, there it was, so bright and clear, the Cruz Del Sur, the Southern Cross.  We had been looking for that constellation all week long, but because of cloudy nights, we had not seen it.  It was a beautiful sight, reminding us of our mission experience with Congregation Cruz Del Sur, the Congregation of the Southern Cross.

              We had a wonderful experience in Argentina.  Our group from United included Christy Bystedt, Dan and Barb Heilman, and Greg and Jean Lahaie.  There was another couple, Paul and Linda Strand, from Oak Knoll Lutheran Church in Minnetonka, who were also part of our group.  We appreciated your thoughts and prayers while we were gone and for the financial support that the Church Council approved for the two mission projects that we completed.  It was our privilege to represent United on this first mission trip.

              You need to know that the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Argentina, IELU for short, is alive and spiritually strong, even though it is very small.  There are 10,000 members with 30 congregations and 6 new mission sights.  The congregation we visited, Cruz Del Sur, was established in 1908 by missionaries from Pennsylvania with Danish roots.  The town of Bariloche was established in 1902 and has grown into a resort town of over 100,000.  People come from all over the world to ski and fish and hunt big-horned sheep.  It is very close to the boarder with Chili, the Andes Mountains in the distance.  One of the startling things we learned about this affluent vacation spot is that over 40% of its people live in poverty, many living on the outskirts of town in what are called Barrios.  They live on lands that are owned by the government, in houses that are not much more than tarpaper shacks. 

              The majority of the population in Argentina, over 95%, is Roman Catholic in background, yet religious participation in the church is very low, many people disillusioned, or indifferent with the church.  Some people said this is the result of the church’s lack of response to the dark years of the 1970’s when over 30,000 people disappeared, never to be seen again, victims of a repressive, military dictatorship.  There are still a group of mothers who march in front of the government buildings in Buenos Aires wanting to know what happened to their sons and daughters.  Even though Argentina is one of the world’s food producing countries, many of its people go hungry.  Because of political instability and a culture of corruption, the country can not seem to get on its feet.  They told us that they once had five different presidents in a two week period of time, highlighting that instability.  The country is just coming up from a financial crash that occurred in 2001 when the peso was greatly devalued, something like our great depression in the 1920’s.  When I asked if it is possible for the people who live in the Barrio to lift themselves up to a higher economic station and get out of the Barrio, the answer was always no.  It is nearly impossible for the people to ever get out of the Barrio, because it has become a cultural, political thing.

              It is in this kind of situation that Congregation Cruz Del Sur has its mission and ministry.  Like the constellation that shines over the southern hemisphere of the world, Congregation Cruz Del Sur seeks to shine brightly upon the city of Bariloche, lifting high the cross of Christ for all to see.  The mission and ministry that God has given to them in that place and in this time is a beacon of light that gives hope, healing and new life to people who have great material, physical, and spiritual needs.  And that, I think, includes both the rich and the poor.

              It was our privilege to be there with them, to learn of their mission and share in their ministry.  There were two major renovation projects and a couple of little projects that we participated in.  The first was fixing a wall in the kitchen/community room in the church that was damaged by water.  We plastered and painted the wall, built storage shelves, and painted the sliding doors.  The other project was to paint and put up the trim in the new sleeping room of a daycare facility in the Barrio.  While some of us worked, others had the opportunity to play with the children and converse with the women who worked in the center, eating fry bread and sipping a type of tea called Matae.  Some other projects included going with the women of the church to sort out the children’s clothing and toys that we brought for their clothing self in the church.  The women also brought school supplies to the Barrio school, bringing tears to the teacher’s eyes because they had no supplies on their selves.  I received an e-mail on Friday from Pastor Octovio relaying the thanks of the school superintendent for those supplies.  Some of us also went to a construction sight and collected scrap wood and delivered that wood to elderly people in the Barrio.  They used this wood for heating and cooking.  We also supplied a woman named Julia with material so that she and the other women who worked in the daycare could make coats and sweaters for the children.

              Even though these mission projects were fulfilling in and of themselves, the best part of the mission trip was the relationships we made and the interaction we had with the members of the church and the people in the Barrio.  That was our purpose in going to Bariloche, to develop a long lasting relationship with this congregation and be partners with them in their ministries.  We believe we accomplished our goal.  They are very interesting in continuing this relationship with us.  In the years to come, we will stay in contact with each other, send letters and e-mails and pictures of our ministries, pray for one another, learn more about each others needs and concerns, and, hopefully, send more groups from United to visit Bariloche and Congregation Cruz Del Sur, making it possible for others to have a global mission experience.

              By doing this, we encourage and strengthen each others mission and ministry.  That’s the beauty of this kind of mission trip, it is congregation to congregation.  As I told their church council, even though they are small, they have a big mission.  As they reach out to meet the physical and material needs of people in their community, I encouraged them to be like Andrew who told Nathanial to “Come and see” Jesus.  Come and see the wonderful and exciting things that God is doing among and through them.  Invitational evangelism and sharing the faith needs to be a part of their mission outreach.  Another way of saying it, they need to be less Lutheran, and I think that applies for us as well, and actually tell others about what God is doing and invite others to be a part of their community of faith.  Pastor Octovio also challenged us to be bold and creative in our mission outreach, to take the chance of doing something new and different for the sake of the gospel.  I interpreted that to mean “think and act outside the box.”  As we shared our dreams for ministry, we encouraged and affirmed each other in the mission that God is calling us to do.

              As our gospel text for today reminds us, we need to lift high the cross of Jesus so that all who see and believes in him may have life that goes on into eternity.  The experience of eternal life begins now as we live in faith in Jesus Christ.  Through us and our witness and service, others will come to know the good news of life and salvation, that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved, delivered, healed, through him.”  The cross of Christ reveals the judgment of God, but it is a judgment in our favor and for the world that God has created.  God has judged in favor of the people of Bariloche and for the people of Red Wing through his Son Jesus.  Come, see the cross.  Come, see his light.  It is here that you will find all that you need - healing, life, salvation.  Amen.