Companions in Mission

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Dear companions in mission,

I first came to Costa Rica in 1984 as a theology student. I had been working with Central American refugees, first in Colorado and then in New York City, while I studied at Union Theological Seminary. I believed my calling was to work with Central Americans in the United States. However, to do that with integrity, I believed I needed to spend some time in Central America learning from Christians here how they understood God to be present in their struggles for peace with justice. When Union offered me the possibility of doing part of my studies at the Latin American Biblical Seminary (SBL), I jumped at the chance.

When I arrived in Costa Rica, I was convinced that the time for mission workers from outside the region was over. The Protestant churches were growing, and Latin Americans were leading many Christian institutions. However, I kept hearing from students and professors from various countries how the mission workers from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were different from the missionaries many had known in the past. The folks from the PC(USA), instead of telling people what they should believe, supported the efforts of Christians in the region to develop a contextualized theology to respond to the needs of the people. Biblical scholars Irene and Richard Foulkes, faculty members of the SBL, had just become mission co-workers of the PC(USA) after the Latin America Mission decided to no longer support the SBL.

Toward the end of my time at the SBL, the dean called me to his office. Saul Trinidad was a Quechua-speaking Methodist from Peru. “Karla,” he said, “we know the gringos are going to keep coming. We can’t stop them. What we are asking for, as Latin American church leaders, is to be able to pick the people who come to work with us. We want people like you.”

Saul’s words turned my understanding of my vocation on its head. Was this God speaking to me? If so, I needed to discern what were appropriate tasks for people coming from outside the region to collaborate with local Christians as they participated in God’s mission. One important task, then and now, has been to build bridges between Christians in North America and our siblings in Central America. The need for theological education was also clear to me. These two tasks have defined my work in Central America over nearly 40 years.

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The invitations came to work in Central America. When I joined the Managua staff of the Center for Global Education of Augsburg College in 1986, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recognized me as an overseas mission associate. While working with church groups visiting from the United States, I was also teaching part-time at the Evangelical Faculty for Theological Studies (FEET). When the FEET invited me to work with them full-time in 1989, the PC(USA) named me a mission diaconal worker. Three years later, I became a PC(USA) mission co-worker.

In 1994, I took a leave of absence from World Mission. I moved with my husband and our young daughter to the United States. I am very grateful to the doctoral program of Princeton Theological Seminary for the space and support as I examined the work our denomination had done in solidarity with Central American Christians during the wars of the 1980s.

By 2000, when I was ready to return to Central America, the Latin American Biblical Seminary had become the Latin American Biblical University (UBL). The UBL invited me to work with the Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA), the institution in Guatemala that administered the UBL’s programs. Once again, I became a PC(USA) mission co-worker. In 2013, I was invited to move to the central campus of the UBL in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Over the years I have been teaching at the UBL, I have been able to say that when my students have seen me, either in person or lately on a computer screen, they have also seen folks in the PC(USA). My students know that I have been able to be with them because their siblings in the PC(USA) have believed in them and their ability to be agents of change in their churches. My colleagues at the UBL, our students, and I are so grateful for the generous and prayerful support we have enjoyed throughout the years from congregations and individuals. We are also thankful for the groups that have come to Costa Rica and allowed the UBL to be part of their spiritual formation.

Now my mission service with the PC(USA) is coming to an end. The Interim Unified Agency (IUA) has decided that the PC(USA) will innovate to establish new ways of relating globally and ecumenically. A number of global ecumenical liaisons will be deployed internationally to relate to our mission partners around the world. I encourage you to pray for the PC(USA) as our denomination moves into this new form of international engagement.

I also hope that you still believe in the students of the UBL and their ability to be agents of transformation in their churches and communities. The UBL welcomes direct connections with congregations and individuals who would like to accompany this ecumenical effort in theological education. If you would like ideas about how you and your congregation can connect to the UBL, I invite you to write to the rector, Elisabeth Cook, at rectoria@ubl.ac.cr. You can also write to me at my personal address, kakjtb@yahoo.com. My husband, Javier, and I will be staying in Costa Rica.

In the hope of God’s ongoing mission,

Karla