wfn.org | Worship leader says we must overcome

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Note #6124 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

fears, foes on road to Jubilee discipleship 
17-July-2000
00261

Worship leader says we must overcome
fears, foes on road to Jubilee discipleship 

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- With a pulse-pounding rendition of "Praise Ye the Lord,"
the 5,000-plus participants in the first Churchwide Gathering of
Presbyterian Women in three years got their Sunday morning started with a
high-octane burn.
	Gyrating with every song and sermon, the Presbyterian Women at Sunday's
worship program picked up where Saturday night's bongo-powered, scarf-waving
opening ceremony left off. A simple smile and greeting from a Presbyterian
preacher kept the fuel burning on the second day of the four-day triennial
conference, which began on July 15.
	Presbyterian women gathered at the Kentucky International Convention Center
in Louisville with international and ecumenical partners from around the
globe to discern the Biblical ideal of Jubilee in their lives. Jubilee  --
"the acceptable year of the Lord" -- supports the spirit of global debt
relief and helping humankind (Leviticus 25:8-55; Luke 4:16-19).
	"Buenos días" (good morning), the Rev. Magdalena I. García greeted her
audience of women with a smile.
	"Buenos días," the women responded to García, a minister member of the
Presbytery of Chicago who used Old and New Testament scripture and a
modern-day story about an orphanage in Ecuador as examples of the Jubilee
ideal that good things happen to those who reach out to people in need.
	As with Esther in the Old Testament, those providing deliverance must often
first overcome grave internal struggles and outside threats, even risking
their lives to rise up and "sound the trumpet and proclaim Jubilee," said
García, a copy editor and editorial coordinator for "Exito!," a
Spanish-language weekly newspaper published by "The Chicago Tribune."
	Noting Esther's struggle to save the Jews of Persia from death, García
said: "As I look around our church and our world today, I wonder who are the
.. women who are willing to use their wealth and power to benefit some of
the most vulnerable members of society? Whether they be abandoned children,
or people of color who live, work and worship on the fringes of society and
the church. Who are the Esthers of our day?"
	The Book of Esther explains how the feast of Purim came to be celebrated by
the Jews. Esther, the beautiful, secretly Jewish wife of the Persian king
Ahasuerus, and her cousin Mordecai, persuade the king to retract an order
for the annihilation of Jews throughout the empire.
	The massacre had been plotted by the king's chief minister, Haman, and the
date decided by casting lots (purim). Instead, Haman was hanged on the
gallows he built for Mordecai; and on the day planned for their
annihilation, the Jews destroyed their enemies. According to the Book of
Esther, the feast of Purim was established to celebrate that day.
	"Notwithstanding external threats and criticisms," García said, "and
despite her own fears and hesitation, Esther chooses to act on behalf of her
people, and in responding to her calling she embodied some guidelines and
ministries that we all ought to ponder."
	Despite Esther's initial hesitance, García said, the story "challenges each
and every one of us to (make) our actions speak louder than our words." She
said Esther serves as a "healthy" and "wholesome" role model "for a process
of discernment and action for God's people."
	"The story of Esther reminds us that the community of faith, despite what
you and I might think on any given day, is not an illusion," García said.
"But God's gift to us."
	She also compared successful ministry to Esther's ingenuity in devising a
plan that would prompt the king to spare the Jews. "Discipleship and
ministry, especially in difficult and trying times, require a great deal of
imagination," she said.
	"I pray that each and every one of us might find the strength to join
Esther," said García, "and together with her come forth and declare, 'Take
me dear God, and use me as you see fit.'"
	As further examples of living a life of Jubilee, García offered the New
Testament Book of Matthew 9:35-38, where Jesus went about to all the cities
and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, healing every sickness and disease among the people.
	She described one woman's successful effort to establish an orphanage for
Ecuadorian children in 1992, despite being criticized and disparaged for
doing so. Now the private non-profit institution, the Foundation for the
Adoption of Our Children, houses an average of 12 children, from newborns to
preschoolers, placing them with caring families in Latin America, the United
States and Europe. Garcia and her husband recently adopted a boy from the
orphanage.

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