Jello and Posole

In September, we celebrated our 75th anniversary. It was a wonderful weekend celebration. On Friday, I had a lot of fun cooking carne asada and dancing with many of you. I like to dance! On Sunday, we had a beautiful bilingual worship where everyone sang in Spanish and English. You also had three sermons from your three pastors. I shared my sermon in Spanish and it was in English on the screen. I know it was a challenge to follow. For that reason, I decided to include my entire sermon in my article for this month.

In 1949, twenty-four disciples guided by the Holy Spirit took a leap of faith and decided to begin a new church. Seventy-five years later, I spend most of my Sunday morning at 8:30 worship with a couple hundred members. But then at 10:45, I move to the Spanish sanctuary where we are still in double digits for attendance. As we planned for today’s event, I have been inspired by imagining those original twenty-four  Ascension members meeting the Spanish-speaking members of our congregation. New Lutherans who were willing to take a risk by becoming part of a new church. History is repeating itself. 

I wonder if among the dreams of those 24 disciples was that this church would cross borders in its journey of hearing the call of God through our companions in faith. I wonder if any of them imagined that 60 some years in the future, a member of Ascension would travel to El Salvador on a synod trip and two years later, that member and I would be married and I would be moving to Waukesha and joining Ascension, eventually becoming a pastor and leading Spanish language worship. I left behind everything, including my home church. But God found me and many of you and led us to this new home of Spanish worship. I wonder if they could imagine that by 2024, Ascension would have sent multiple delegations to El Salvador.

I wonder if any of them would have been able to imagine the technology that would allow a group of Ascension members to gather at church to have breakfast while praying together over a tv screen with our brothers and sisters from Tanzania. Time spent connecting with friends Ascension has built in Tanzania over the past nine years.  

I wonder if they could imagine our high school crossing state lines to travel to other states for service trips and youth gatherings and that they would return to help lead worship and children’s sermons.

I am sure that they never imagined that the place where they met to worship God in one language, is now a Holy place where the message of love, joy, peace and above all hope is proclaimed in two languages ​​at the same time, in their own sanctuaries and with a blend of traditions. Traditions that help us see our own faith in a new way: the celebration of Las Posadas in which we meet to remember the journey of the Holy Family, the making of the alfombras for Holy Week, remembering our loved ones on the Day of the Dead, celebrating the gift of the Jesus, the light of the world on Three Kings’ Day. If they could imagine a Lutheran potluck where posole and jello molds sat side by side on the serving table.

Ascension’s founding members had no idea about the future of the church they started, but God knew the fruits that this community of faith would have over the years. God knew that this community of faith over the years would become a multicultural community, where children, youth, and adults celebrate, learn, and walk in this ongoing journey of learning about God’s calling, here at home and afar.

Brothers and sisters, Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Together we rise, Juntos nos levantamos!

Pastor Edwin

Pastor Edwin: Mountaintops and Valleys

The month of June will mark the one year anniversary of my ordination and installation. It seems like it was a few months ago when you all said yes to calling a third pastor to your ministry. Thank you so much! Many things have happened during this first year as an ordained pastor. If you ask me to reflect on this first anniversary, let me tell you that it has been like a roller coaster! And this is life, right? Many of you have also experienced moments of happiness, sadness, difficult times and good times in your lives. I know my experience is not unique to me.

I felt like I was at the top of the mountain on June 25, 2023 at my ordination and installation, but I also felt like I was at the bottom of the mountain a few weeks later when my family and I met at the hospital to say goodbye to my dad. Only a few weeks had passed since my ordination and now I had to perform my father’s funeral here and burial in El Salvador.

I was initially worried that the new part of my position, high school ministry, would be a low for a year or two as the students acclimated to a new pastor in that role. I am happy to share that I was wrong! It has been a fantastic year filled with moments of fun, community service, worship, and Bible study. Our final gathering of the year was a moment of healing for me coming on the heel of another tragedy.

A high moment for me this year when I accompanied Noé to the hospital to celebrate and give thanks to God for taking care of his wife during the birth of their baby, Melanie. Again, I descended to the bottom a couple of hours later when I had to accompany Elizabeth, Noé’s wife, to identify her husband’s body, and accompany her to their house to share the news with the children that their father had passed away.

Brothers and sisters, on this earthly journey we will continue to experience high moments, but situations will also appear in which we will feel that we are at the bottom of the mountain. The apostle Paul in his letter to Romans 8:35 says, “ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome were going through conflictive times between them. Paul, in his desire to achieve peace and unity, wrote these words to them to strengthen and motivate them so that tribulations, danger and anguish would not separate them from the love of God.

God is always with us! As we walk and enjoy the beauty of flowers, forests, beautiful landscapes and family time this summer 2024, let us remember that there is a God who is always near us with his steadfast love when we are on top of the mountain “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17. We also have a God that is with us when feel that we are at the bottom of the valley: “You change my tears into dance; you take away my sadness and surround me with joy.” (Psalm 30:11)

Pastor Edwin

Quesadillas and Baked Goods in El Salvador

When Ascension hosted Together in Mission at the beginning of February, we wanted to be able to show hospitality to our guests in a way that showed our visitors who we are. With the synod’s connection to El Salvador and our Latino Ministries, it was a natural fit to offer some food from El Salvador. We had pupusas, plantains, frijoles, and Salvadoran quesadilla. Salvadoran quesadilla is a very different food from Mexican quesadilla. It looks similar to cornbread, and is sweet/savory cake to be enjoyed with coffee. Several people asked Pastor Edwin for the recipe. He had to tell everyone that the only person in his family that knows how to make a traditional Salvadoran quesadilla is his very non-Salvadoran wife. 

Pastor Edwin’s family isn’t unusual. Most people cook either on something resembling a camp stove using propane, or the cheapest option — using firewood. Cooking over the open flames has caused Salvadoran women to suffer disproportionately from respiratory issues since these fires tend to be indoors so cooking can happen regardless of the weather. The World Health Organization is educating the women of El Salvador on the dangers of cooking over firewood, so little by little, tortillas are no longer being made at home, but being purchased from people that have saved up money to buy a propane griddle to make small businesses selling tortillas from their homes.

In El Salvador, owning an oven is a luxury. For the few that own an oven, it is even more unusual to be able to afford to use the oven part for baking. Nearly everyone that owns an oven uses the oven part as a storage cabinet and only cooks on the stove top. When people need baked goods, they need to purchase them since no one has the means to bake at home. This is why the bakery ministry at San Jorge church is a blessing in so many ways. Thank you to everyone that supported the San Jorge Bakery and other ministries during Love Your Church, Love Your World.

If you are interested in trying your hand at making Salvadoran Quesadilla, our favorite recipe can be found at https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/255919/quesadilla-salvadorena/.

Amazing Grace

Jesus told his disciples “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is a direct command to share the Gospel message to all those who do not yet know it. The question we should ask ourselves is what kind of Gospel has been shared? A Gospel of forgiveness, joy, peace, love and hope? Or are we sharing a Gospel of fear and punishment?

As many of you know, I had to travel to El Salvador to hold my dad’s funeral in my homeland. Funerals in my country and in most Latin American countries are different from funerals here. During the vigil, family, neighbors and friends gather to accompany the family in their grief. As soon as the community knows that a person has passed away, they arrive at the family home to sit with the family. The home of the deceased is filled with the singing of hymns, crying, praying, preaching, and eating tamales, day and night. No one sleeps until after the funeral and burial.

I made the decision to preach here and also preach in the land where I grew up. On the night of the vigil, we had a service. My former pastors from El Salvador Pastora Blanca and Pastor Julio were in charge of the evening service, and I was in charge of the funeral service. As I was preparing my preaching for the funeral, one of the things that came to mind was that the message I was going to share was going to shock everyone in attendance.

My message focused solely on the salvation that Christ brought to the entire world… The Gospel affirms that salvation is obtained by faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to pay the price for the sins of humanity… He opened the way for us to eternal life… The tomb will never be closed again… Christ defeated death, death no longer has power over us… if Christ is resurrected, we will also be resurrected…salvation is by grace and not by works…. After the death of Lazarus, Jesus told Martha, ​​“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”… A few verses later, when Jesus saw that Mary was still doubting, He said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”… Grace leads us to salvation, not works… works are the result of the work that God is already doing in us… salvation is a gift from God… Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”

A day after this message, family, friends and pastors said that some people had said that they had never heard of God’s grace before. A pastor told me that a member of his church asked her if we are saved by grace and not by works, then why you have preached to us that we are saved by works. I knew that these reactions were going to happen. I knew it because where I’m from they don’t know about grace. They have been about punishment, fear and resentment. Catholics, Evangelicals and even some Lutherans share salvation through works and not by grace.

On my way back home to Waukesha, I was thinking about all the reactions that grace had provoked in the minds and hearts of many. More than 2000 years have passed since grace came to us and there are still people in many parts of the world who do not know it. Brothers and sisters, as we continue on this continuous journey of learning and discernment, let the light of Christ continue to illuminate us to share the message of grace with all those who have not yet received it. 

Pastor Edwin

The Joke’s on Me

And my first month as an official pastor is over and what a way to start this new journey. As I mentioned in one of my sermons in July, my colleagues gave me the confidence to be in charge of the church just a few days after my ordination and installation. Not only did they leave me by myself for fourteen days, they also took my wife, my secretary, and my musician! Some of you have already heard parts of this story, but what I have not shared is how beneficial these days were for me as the sole pastor.

As the final months of planning for the Tanzania trip approached, questions about who would worship in English came up because I had to lead worship in Spanish. After a conversation, the three pastors concluded that it was not necessary to find a substitute for worship in English at 10 a.m. We decided to have the bilingual service at 10 a.m. both Sundays.

We have already had bilingual worship on multiple occasions. This was not new to any of us. What was new was the lack of multiple worship leaders. For previous bilingual worship service, it was easier to know when to listen: English-speakers knew to listen when Pastor Chris or Pastor Tony were speaking, Spanish-speakers knew to listen when I was speaking. But with only one pastor, the congregation had to listen all of the time because you never knew what language I was going to speak. As I was looking out while preaching, I could see that it was a greater mental effort than normal to follow, but I could also tell that everyone did the work. If it became too much and you tuned out, you did a great job covering it!

The different services had different challenges. Because Spanish worship is the same time as 10 a.m. English worship, the attendees at the 10 a.m. service aren’t as accustomed to my accent. But, they persisted and continued with an amazing effort to understand me!

For the 8:30 a.m. worship, we experienced a different linguistic complication. Those worshippers were the first ones to hear me preach that day’s sermon. Afterall, my wife was in Tanzania! At the end of the service, one of you approached me to help me with the pronunciation of the word “yoke.” It was the key concept and the word I said most frequently throughout the sermon. I found out I mispronounced the word. Every single time. Instead of preaching that Jesus came to lighten our yoke, I told everyone that Jesus came to lighten our joke. I guess the joke was on me! Thank you for your grace with what must have been a terribly confusing story about gathering water in El Salvador with a joke and the questionable theology that Jesus came to bring us lighter jokes.

This is the wonderful thing about our multicultural ministry. We will continue to walk and experience new things together as a community. I will of course continue to struggle with some words during my preaching, but also all of you will continue to develop your ears listening to the words of hope, peace, joy and love.

Pastor Edwin