Jana's Spanish Lesson

Just before we left for Costa Rican our three year mission with Alfalit Latinoamericano, Jana was getting anxious because she didn’t knowSpanish. So at the dinner table, six year old Corry explained to Jana, “Jana, speaking Spanish is easy.  All you have to do is chew bubble gum and talk.”

 When Corry would get bored, his favorite pastime was to get Jana in trouble with Mom. Out of sight, Corry would pick at her. Frustrated, Jana couldn’t control herself and would hit Corry. And he would complain, “Mom, Jana hit me.” And Jana would get a scolding. Corry never got caught. 

“The crucifixion isn’t something God did, but who God is.”

“The inseparable interconnections of Father, Son, and Spirit in Paul’s experience lead to (perhaps derive from} an important, and distinctly Pauline, claim: that God is cruciform, or crosslike.  (The word ‘cruciform’ literally means ‘in the shape of a cross,’ but it can be used metaphorically.) That is, we learn from Paul that the cross of Christ is not only initiated by God, it reveals God. Christ crucified is the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:18-25).” Apostle of the Crucified Lord,  Michael Grogan, p. 118

These statements give support to the knowledge I received when my son died tragically nine years ago.  He caused his own death, and God didn’t prevent it.  Should I blame God?  Is it God’ fault that Corry died?  No.  It was not God’s fault.  Because God died with Corry and he raised him into eternal life, as God did in Christ through his resurrection.    

"The Rankin Latin American Adventure"

Trudy and Larry were invited to serves as “persons in mission,” with Alfalit Latinoamericano with eadquarters in Costa Rica. We were partners  partners working entirely with a Latin American team. 

The name Alfalit brings together two words, “Alfabetizatión y Literatura”– Literacy and Literature.

The Rankins arrived in Costa Rica in  June of 1984, and moved into a rented duplex in Villa Hermosa (Beautiful Village), in Alajuela, Costa Rica. 

They moved into a lower middle class neighborhood, 100 meters East from the Farmacia, del Este; 50 meters South, and 100 meters East to the house.  In Costa Rica, house numbers are ignored.  To find your destination, you use street references.

Neighbors welcomed us their friends and extended family, especially the Rojas family, who lived across the street.  The father, don Mario and his wife, doña Maruja, better known as Maru, hosted parties, at the drop of the hat. Don and Doña are titles of respect for married couples and senior citizens. Jana and Corry learned to dance the salsa (hot sauce) with Katia and Jaqueline, their daughters.  Mario took us on excursions around Alajuela, and into the countryside.  Mario loved to share his country with us while practicing his English.  

Jana and Corry played kick ball and soccer in the street.  They learned most of their Spanish there and in an international an English school they attended during the three years the Rankins lived in Costa Rica. Most Americans lived in upper class neighborhoods and “safe” anclaves, separated from the locals. Rarely did they bother learning Spanish.

 Soon after we arrived, a controversy arose when Alfalit Internacional changed its mission from teaching literacy to adults only to teaching them how to “read their own reality” to pull themselves out of poverty. It also changed its name- Alfalit Latinoamericano.

Alfalit promotes self-sustaining change among the poor, using the teaching techniques of the revolutionary pedagogue, Brazilian Paulo Freire.  Freire encouraged learners to “See their reality of their situation” with a realistic worldview, rather than a mythological worldview.  Freire taught, that we are to SEE our situation as it is, then JUDGE it according to a prophetic standard of right and wrong; such as the prophetic word from the Bible, then to ACT upon that situation for change with the inspiration the community received from the prophetic word.

Traditionalists from Alfalit International interpreted this new form of pedagogy as the promotion of communism. They opened up their own affiliates in the countries where Alfalit Latinoamericano was already established. It became an ideological warfare.

All kinds of community projects emerged from this basic premise of learning with mostly peasants and workers in Latin America.  Alfalit was part of a larger movement in the 80’s promoting a “Liberation Theology” in which poor people discovered their gifts and resources, as taught in the Bible, working together for the common good, and finding solutions to their problems of poverty, health, nutrition, land, and community.  Liberation Theology threatened the powers of the  state security systems of most Latin American countries, including those where Alfalit worked.  Alfalit promoters were in danger for their lives in places like, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Colombia.  The military regimes in these countries considered Liberation Theology as a threat to their status quo.  Many innocent people disappeared or were murdered simply for believing they could change their situation and improve their lives through ministries like Alfalit. 

Trudy contributed to the women’s empowerment work at Alfalit.  She developed an equal exchange clothing cooperative with widows from the wars in El Salvador and Guatemala.  The cooperative was called “Dignity Crafts.” Trudy and the women  contracted the price of the garment and sizes. Then Trudy would give the women half of what they would need for purchasing the cloth. Then she visited them during a second visit, she give them the second payment for the finished product. 

These were beautifully embroidered, woven garments, sized for all ages, especially large enough for supporters in the US to purchase.  The profit would sustain the widows during difficult times.  “Dignity Crafts” ceased to exist after the Rankins returned from Costa Rica in 1987, due to the high cost of shipment, and not enough stores buying the items.  Customs became an issue as well.

Larry travelled extensively throughout the thirteen Alfalit affiliates in so many countries. He was often gone two to three weeks at a time, which put stress on Trudy and the children. Logistics and plane schedules to save money were the reasons for the length of time away from the family.  Trudy was raising the children alone in a foreign country, with language and cultural issues.  However, living in Costa Rica was the friendliest of places in the region filled with wars and economic decline, civil strife and ideological battles. 

In 1987 the family returned to Florida, profoundly transformed by their Costa Rican adventure. Corry became gifted cellist who was encouraged to play the instrument from his cellist English teacher in Costa Rica. Jana became bilingual so that today, she is a nurse practitioner in rural clinics in Oklahoma treating Latina patients.

Larry used what he had learned from Alfalit’s pedagogy, inspired by Paulo Freide to  pursue a Ph.D. degree in adult curriculum development. Why not apply that same pedagogy to North Americans who were illiterate to justice and peace in their country and move beyond their provincialism?

Larry enrolled at the Union Institute and University in 1989. His question was, can North Americans learn from marginalized Latin Americans using their same curriculum? Could the North American’s worldview be changed, not just their thinking and theorizing but their actions for justice and peace. Could they be in solidarity with the marginalized in their communities?  

Larry with Trudy’s help wrote a curriculum to teach North Americans to “See” reality; ”judge that reality in light of the prophetic literature in the Bible; then Act on it to accomplish the change for justice and peace among their wider community. 

To prove the question, Larry and Trudy hosted ten “emerging ” experiences with 10-12 participants in 10 countries with 10 Alfalit affiliates. The learners visited marginalized communities. Their “classroom” were the locals who taught them about their realities and the improvement of their lives. 

Historians, clergy, and sociologists lectured them on the causes of poverty. They spoke about the 10% of the wealthy who owned most of the land and means of production.  They sited the interventions of United States which supported oppressive dictators. To get the support of the American government who claimed that they were fighting communism. Instead violently oppressed the poor who sought freedom from their oppression. The poor demanded and their participation in a democratic government that gave them fair treatment of their concerns. 

Many of the participants didn’t have a clue of what the United States was doing, supporting dictators using peasant and workers as collateral damage to maintain their power and the support of the United States. 

Hopefully, the participants can make a difference in their communities changing their lifestyles and influencing their communities towards peace and justice.

"Té Recuerdo Amanda"

Civil charges by the Victor Jara’s family are being brought against a former Chilean military officer, Lt. Pedro Pablo Barrientos.  The civil trial will take place soon in an Orlando court.  

Victor Jara, a folk singer and political activist was murdered in 1973 in Santiago, Chile. A military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet took over the government of socialist president, Salvador Allende.  Allende died in the coup.  

Over 3,000 people, suspected of being socialists, mostly non-violent,  were rounded up and held in the national soccer stadium Santiago.  They were disappeared, tortured and murdered by the military in the ensuing days.  During the military regime years approximately 30,000 people experienced the same fate.

Victor Jara was in the stadium.  To encourage his fellow prisoners as Jara played his guitar and sang for the captives.  Finally the soldiers had had enough.  Survivors recall that Jara’s hands were crushed with rifle butts and murdered. The Jara family alleges that Lt. Barrientos was in command of the stadium, and responsible for the killings. 

In 1989 Barrientos moved Florida.  According to AP reporter, Mike Schneider (The Ledger, June 12, 2016), Victor’s wife, Joan Jara and her family filed a lawsuit under the Torture Victim Protection Act, “which allows civil lawsuits to be filed in the United States against people who have committed torture.”

Joan Jara said in a statement to the press said, that the trial ‘extends to all who have spent so many decades searching for answers about their loved ones who were tortured, disappeared, or killed at the hand of the Pinochet regime.’”

 In 1990, while a staff member of the Alfalit Latinoamericano, I led an immersion of American Christian laypersons to Chile.  We were met at the airport by local Alfalit promoters.  

Most of them were members of the United Pentecostal Church. At a local church, they shared the activities we would experience while in Chile.  The military regime was on their way out, as the first election for restoring democracy to Chile was scheduled. 

Next, our hosts led us in exuberant prayer and praise for our being there in solidarity with them.  They prayed for their country and the end of state terror.

Following the reception, we were taken to the national cemetery.  They wanted to show us where their heroes were buried.  We were taken where President Allende’s body was laid in a place of honor.  

Prayer and singing broke out again in gratitude for God’s mercy on Chile.  Later, we went to the graves of Victor Jara, Violeta Parra, composer of “Gracias a la Vida, and Pablo Neruda, poet and Nobel laureate, who died “of a broken heart” at the beginning of the coup.  

The struggle for justice never dies, as those who abuse it face their trial, no matter how it takes.

Footnote:  As we were driven in downtown Santiago, I spotted a large billboard announcing a mass revival with tele-evangelist, Jimmy Swaggart leading at the national stadium.  He was a supporter of the Pinochet regime, congratulated Pinochet for bringing peace and prosperity to the country.  I wonder if Jimmy ever saw his bloody souls on hallowed ground.

 “Té recuerdo Amanda” por Víctor Jara

Te recuerdo Amanda; la calle mojada; corriendo a la fábrica donde trabajaba Manuel

 La sonrisa ancha, la lluvia en el pelo, no importaba nada; ibas a encontrarte con él, con él, con él, con él, con el.

Son cinco minutos; la vida es eterna,; en cinco minutos

Suena la sirena, de vuelta al trabajo; y tu caminando lo iluminas todo; los cinco minutos; te hacen florecer.

 Te recuerdo Amanda; la calle mojada; corriendo a la fábrica; donde trabajaba Manuel

La sonrisa ancha; la lluvia en el pelo; no importaba nada, ibas a encontrarte con él, con el, con él, con él, con el.

Que partió a la sierra; que nunca hizo daño, que partió a la sierra; y en cinco minutos,

quedó destrozado

Suenan las sirenas; de vuelta al trabajo; muchos no volvieron; tampoco Manuel

 Te recuerdo Amanda, la calle mojada; corriendo a la fábrica, donde trabajaba Manuel.

 

                               “I Remember You, Amanda”     

                                      by Víctor Jara

 I remember you, Amanda; the wet street; running to the factory where Manuel worked.

The broad smile, the rain in your hair—nothing else mattered; you were going to meet him—with him, with him, with him, with him, with him.

 It is five minutes; life is eternal—in five minutes.The siren sounds, back to work; and as you walk, you light up everything; those five minutes make you bloom.

I remember you, Amanda; the wet street; running to the factory where Manuel worked.

The broad smile, the rain in your hair—nothing else mattered; you were going to meet him—with him, with him, with him, with him, with him.

 Who left for the mountains; who never did any harm; who left for the mountains—and in five minutes, was shattered.

 The sirens sound; back to work; many did not return—nor did Manuel.

I remember you, Amanda; the wet street; running to the factory where Manuel worked.