Violence Continues

A letter from Elisabeth Cook serving in Costa Rica

Spring 2015

Dear Friends:

They had disappeared. All 43 of them. All 43 students had disappeared leaving no trace behind. As Gloria and Priscila, both from Mexico, shared their pain with us, our hearts reached out to the families who were suffering the loss of 43 sons and brothers. These young men in rural Ayotzinapa, Mexico, who were preparing to be schoolteachers, were arrested as they exercised their right to protest. Priscila, who is in charge of the Latin American Biblical University (UBL)’s communications strategies, and Gloria, a student from Chiapas finishing her degree program, invited the entire community to share with them in prayer and solidarity for these young Mexican students and their families. This was in November, and there was still hope as we publicly joined the outcry against the violence plaguing Mexico and many countries in Central America.

Blanca, student from Mexico, and Danitza prepare a poster

The idea that with the end of the military dictatorships and wars in the ’80s and ’90s, violence has decreased and forced disappearances have ceased has proven to be far from the truth. The reality experienced in Latin America countries is quite different. Between 2007 and 2013, 26,000 people were officially declared as disappeared in Mexico.  A report presented by the humanitarian agency ACAPS declared the violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to be similar to that of countries involved in armed conflict. This violence impacts health, education, the economy and, of course, quality of life. Students who live in or come from these contexts face particular challenges as they seek university-level theology education.

Many of UBL’s students are from Honduras, a country wracked with gang violence, poverty and corruption. Young girls, in particular, are at risk and families flee from the threat of kidnapping and death. Gatherings of students who study in UBL’s distance program in Honduras must take place in daylight hours, a difficult feat for those who work and must travel long distances. Guatemala City has become a place where murders are commonplace; San Salvador is an increasingly dangerous place to be. No longer subjected to the violence of “official” military conflict, these countries continue to be at war—in the home, where domestic violence against women and children is increasing, and on the streets, where drugs and socio-economic conditions promote gang and street violence.

Priscila, communications coordinator from Mexico

As a community of students, staff and faculty from many different countries, we at UBL are connected to families, churches and communities all over Latin America and the Caribbean. I am privileged to share and pray with our students from these contexts of injustice and violence. Courses must take into account the difficult realities of the contexts in which the students live, work and minister. Biblical interpretation and theological reflection not only seek to bring transformation, but are continually transformed in the face of these contexts as we seek to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God” (cf. Micah 6.8).

Transformation has been reflected in many different ways at UBL during these past few months. As we worked on new master’s programs we realized that it was necessary to take a step back and look out, from academia, onto the questions and problems that our contexts present for theology and Biblical studies. A workshop on curriculum development, facilitated by an education specialist whose grandfather graduated from the Latin American Biblical Seminary in the 1940s laid the groundwork for this task of analysis and reflection. At the same time we have joined forces with the National University of Costa Rica to develop a Master’s in Religion, Gender and Diversity that will seek to address issues of gender violence and inequality in the context of religious institutions, practices and belief systems. This past month we began a new weekend non-degree program focusing monthly on specific Biblical and theological topics. I will be sharing in June on men and masculinities in the Bible, something I have been researching for my Ph.D. thesis. Other subjects have to do with counseling, liberation theology, and gender and justice issues.

Think • Create • Act—new UBL logo

We began the year by launching a new logo for the university. After almost 70 years of the same (or very similar) logos, this was a huge step. It involved thinking about who we are, where we are, and what our vision is for the future. The resulting logo and motto—“Think-Create-Act”—seek to reflect the dynamic and diverse dimensions and contexts of theological education. The logo is a cross, composed of many intersecting crosses of diverse colors. It speaks not only to our Christian commitment, but also to our engagement with the diverse groups that make up this region of the world, their cultures, religious traditions, and gendered and social identities.

So, yes, there is a lot of thinking going on right now! In spite of the fact that our student registration has not increased as much as we had hoped this year, we are pleased to have about 40 students working on the thesis that is the final requirement for their degree programs. I am working with six students—from Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Chile—who are developing their theses on subjects ranging from the symbolism of water in the Bible in relation to the struggle over water in Latin America today to male social roles in the violent murder of the Levite’s wife in Judges 19.

The opportunity to accompany these students, along with an online course in the joint UBL-National University M.A. in theology program and my work as Academic Dean, keeps me on my toes! My “free time” is dedicated to helping to care for my mother, who is now my neighbor, and to my Ph.D. thesis. The day will come—soon I hope—when the end of the thesis will be behind rather than ahead of me!

I will be in the U.S. on my interpretation assignment this year. Please contact me by email (elicook61@gmail.com) if you would like me to visit your congregation. I thank you for your continued prayers and support. They make my service to UBL and the region it ministers to possible. Through your giving you are present in every home, church and community in which UBL students work to bring light and justice.

Please pray for Mexico and Central America. For the families whose lives are touched and threatened by violence, for the women and children who live under constant threat, for the youth who have a right to a better future.

God bless you this Easter Season as we remember the violent death of Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection.

In peace,
Elisabeth

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 66, 67