Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters
August 2013
"Update on the Latin Link Project"
Though we had been looking forward to welcoming the Marroquin family (Karen, Pedro and their children Sofia and Esteban) from Guatamala in September we have just heard that due to difficulties with the UK Border Agency they will now not be arriving until January. However, when they arrive they will be here for two years to help us to better reach out to those on the periphery of our churches in the Redcar section. The exact details of welcome event will be published nearer their arrival, but for the first four weeks I hope to be able to take them wherever I am on a Sunday morning so they can be seen in each of the four churches.
A management group is currently looking at the work we hope they can initially engage with, though no final decisions will be made until after Karen and Pedro have arrived so they can have some say in this. What is clear is that we want them to be working in those places where the church presently does not have a huge influence or presence. So, just as one example, we could ask them to work with the Toddler groups which take place on church premises but with which we no longer have any regular direct contact. We might also set them on with trying to reforge links with people with whom we have lost contact to see if they can be drawn back into the life of the church.
What we don't want is for them to be so drawn into the current church activities that they get distracted from engaging with those who don't come to church who we want to be their focus - their brief and their experience is in outreach - befriending people who don't come to church, talking to them about our faith, and helping those who want to know more to grow in faith. The long-term hope might be that churches see more people attending worship and getting involved in the life of the fellowships. But, on the other hand, it might be that we will need to set up "fresh expressions" of church to accommodate people who might not be comfortable with our traditional forms of church. This could include house church, as just one example. This project is not about "filling pews" but rather about the number of people we can bring to faith in Christ! Perhaps the best way of viewing what we are asking them to do is to be modern-day missionaries to our secular society. Thus I don't expect them, at least initially, to be speaking to church groups.
All this said, the first thing we need to do is allow time for the family to settle in and acclimatise to life in the UK - it will be a huge culture shock for them, I suspect. The children will quickly need to be settled into their new schools, and Karen and Pedro be allowed to make themselves a home for the family - what will be their home for two years - in what will be a strange world to them. They will also have a Latin Link Conference to attend, we think. It would be really good if during this time we can make them feel really welcomed whilst not putting them under any pressure whatsoever. The sooner they feel settled, the sooner they will be able to start feeling their way into this new work.
Two words of warning:
1) Even after they are settled, we can't expect the Marroquin's to just get
straight on with the work on their own; they will have to get to know people
and places and learn how to get around. To help them I am anticipating that for
their first three months I will need to spend a lot of my time with them,
introducing them to people and organisations, and showing them places. In order
to allow this I expect to need to restrict some of my 'normal' activities
during this period so I might seem to be less visible for three or so
months.
2) They can't work everywhere at once so they might not be seen working in
every church straightaway. Over the two years we hope to achieve a balance, but
initially they may seem to be focussed only in one place - this, however, will
be more effective than spreading them too thinly.
In arriving at may of these ideas I have been guided in my thinking by long conversations with my brother and sister-in-law about what helped and what hindered them settling into their work in Haiti last summer - a very similar situation to that which the Marroquin's will be facing!
Above all, please keep praying for the Marroquin's and this project.