Paraguay Reflections- Erin Weaver

Well I am sorry that I did not write a blog entry until now.  I was not ever able to do one in Paraguay because of lack of computers and lack of time and after getting back I went on a trip to Mexico with my family but now finally I am getting a chance to sit down and write this! 

Both the Assembly Gathered and the Global Youth Summit were great!  Travel went smoothly and I had a great time meeting people from all over the world.  I kept a daily journal so I will take some excerpts from that so excuse me if this entry is very fragmented. 

July 9: Well I arrived in Paraguay today.  I am still in a daze and don’t quite believe that I am here at the Global Youth Summit in Asuncion Paraguay!  I am already enjoying the many people I have met from many different countries including the U.S., Canada, Paraguay, France, England, Indonesia, and India.  I can’t wait for more fun and dialogue with these people around me. 

July 10: Today was the first day at GYS- Global Youth Summit.  It started with a breakfast of very sweet coffee and bread with guayaba jam and then we headed off to our first worship service led by the European delegates.  This week there is one worship session led by each continent.  I was glad to sing in many diffrent languages…there are always songs rising in the air of different loanguages.  You can also at any given moment hear at least two other languages being spoken. 

July 12: My favorite experience this whole trip was talking with Tobias and Anna Marie.  Tobias in from Brazil and speaks German and Portuguese and somewhat understands English and Spanish.  Anna Marie is from British Columbia Canada and speaks English as well as Dutch and somewhat understands German.  I speak English and Spanish and somewhat understand German and Portuguese.  Together the three of us could converse.  When I didn’t understand his German Tobias would explain in Portuguese or Anna Marie would explain in English.  When he didn’t understand our English I would explain in Spanish or Anna Marie would explain in German.  It is hard to explain but this was a very cool cross cultural conversation.  

In the evening we had Latin American Worship service and the coolest part of the service was the section where they said prayers for the world in many different languages.  Even though we could not understand each other it was breath taking to stand with joint hands with people from all around the world and hear many tounges being spoken at the same time.  There are just no words to describe being in that moment with poeple from all around the world and praying together to make a better world. 

July 14: The Youth Summit is over now but the excitement continues with the Assembly Gathered.  It is amazing to see thousands of Mennonites streaming in and out of the mega church we are meeting at.  I have been able to go to workshops and converse with people about issues facing the church.  The best workshop I went to was talking about money within the family of faith.  We were challenged to think of the money as being God’s money instead of ours and instead of asking “how much should we give” we should ask “how much should we keep.”  I feel these conversations have left me with more questions then answers but it is still good to address these questions together as a family of faith.  It was especially interesting to listen to the same questions being answered by someone from the US, Colombia, Germany, and Congo.  It is healpful to hear the opinion of all these perspectives because we each come from such diffrent realities.  

July 18:  I think through all the things I have done my favorite part was meeting people from all over the world and talking to them and feeling connected to them and realizing how many wonderful people are still in the world with big visions for their life and the world.  I am more optimistic about the future after meeting all these people with common goals and dreams for the world.

Sunday morning in the airport

I am writing this from the Asuncion Airport.

The main conference ended with a great final day. Again I will number my observations

1. I have never been to an event at which the last workshops were as well attended as the first ones. My experience and general observation was that workshop leaders had to work to close down the events that were expected to end by 5:00. Many workshops were standing room only.  I, and others, seem to have recovered from the mid conference energy lull.
2. I was particularly interested in a workshop that attempted to lay the groundwork for an Anabaptist Wiki. What that actually means is not clear. The huge Mennonite Encyclopedia is already on line at a site with the acronym GAMEO.  There was a lot of interest in creating a less structured ongoing data source that might also contain stories.  There were a number of techie Germans in the crowd.
3. I think that there was a lot of work being done in public and behind the scenes sorting out issues related to the proposed restructruring  of MCC. There are approaches and assumptions that are being rather extensively vetted. I think it would be good to talk about this at First Mennonite.   
4. The Saturday evening service was the end of the formal conference with communion and much recognition of workers.  For me the most notable thing was that the group that did all the on-site coordination had an average age of 24! The Paraguayan church is young and multi-ethnic. We would be lucky to do this well.
5. There was a mass Paraguayan choir at the service.  I am getting watery eyes just thinking of the singing of  Kyrie Eleison .(Sorry about that spelling but spellchecker is not helping me out.) There were short solos from the major ethnic groups in Paraguayand then we sang it together as a whole group. It does not get any better than this. I don’t usually respond positively to the “this is what heaven will be like” language but last night it seemed right on target.

Yes, we’re here (for now)

The conference is almost over, and it seems that Dad is the only one with enough time and internet access to let you know what’s going on. Indeed, it is nigh impossible to get any decent chunk of time on the seven computer allotted for 7000 conference participants. I’m actually on Dad’s cute little computer right now.

1. I guess I’ll do it number-style, too.

2. I think I speak for the not-so-old people when I say that we love the singing, in spite of (because of?) the diverse languages used and the occasional confusion. The joyous African songs that cause a bunch of otherwise-stuffy-looking Mennonites to dance–or at least to sway awkwardly–have been a highlight for me.

3. In fact, there could be way more singing as far as I’m concerned. There tend to be 2-3 lengthy messages in addition to a full sermon during each service (they happen twice a day). Too much talking! But perhaps that’s just an impatient young person talking.

4. I have been bustling about trying to find various people to interview for my research. Yesterday was fruitful, with a couple of Brazilians and a Dutch Mennonite giving me interesting perspectives on the 1972 conference in Brazil.

5. I’m off now to track down (hopefully) more folks to interview. My tactic at the moment is lurking around the Brazilian-heavy areas and reading name tags or asking after the  people I am looking for. There are so many great resources here, if only I had more time.

6. I made a trip to the supermarket and am now burdened by a large grocery bag filled almost entirely with yerba mate. Paraguayans love meat and and they love yerba. I can at least get enthusiastic about the latter.

Meredith Lehman

More bits and pieces

1.  One evening the reading of the scripture was accompanied by six young people braiding three long pieces of cloth into a single piece. The braided cloth was then hung across the front of the sanctuary. It was a nice symbol but what I noticed was that the large scale braiding process was quite reminiscent of the Bluffton Maypole Dance! Perhaps we are ahead of our time
2. A young woman from Zimbabwe gave a fine report of her YAMEN! service experience in Bolivia. She had a good sense of humor and delighted the audience by noting that a significant learning for her was that, to her great surprise, in Bolivia, a young man can obtain a wife for free! Such things would not happen in Zimbabwe.
3. There are two worship leaders. One is a rather delightfully strict German Paraguayan who tells us rather clearly what we can and cannot do. He is clear about the need for efficiency and order. One night as he started his announcements, which he always numbers, some people started to leave. He firmly reprimanded them with two points. 1-you will miss the information. 2- You will distract your neighbor. No one left after that. Near the end this morning’s service he gave the song leader back the two minutes he had shorted him earlier in the service and said he could even have three minutes. We need this guy to live in some degree of order and harmony.
4. Head coverings for women are not the order of the day but there is an interesting range of options that surpass my North American Mennonite/Amish experience. I am particularly intrigued with the following:
   • A thin gauzy covering with glitter in it,
   • A small black covering, with what reminds me of a small beaver tail on the back
   • A large white starched bonnet that is folded into some sort of “Dutch girl” shape.
5. As I type this sitting on a plastic chair in the hall our whole area is being entertained by an old man dressed in white suit with gold braid who carries around a small harp and entertains whoever will listen. It is really quite nice.

Winding down

 It is Saturday morning.  People are confirming departure plans and the like.  Yesterday everyone I talked with was tired. Our flight leaves at 10:50 tomorrow which means that we will miss the closing worship. I hear that an additional 3000 people from Asuncion and surroundings may come for the final worship. I hate to miss it. However we are already set to get back Monday morning and these are the connections that we have.

My sense is that the workshops here have generated quite a bit of energy. The Colombian church has led a workshop on the church’s interaction with government that generated large crowds and intense conversation on six occasions.I was part of a lively discussion regarding the creation of an MWC Global Sharing Fund. Some workshops have been moved off site 5 blocks in order to handle crowds larger than the classrooms here (some of which can easily handle 150 people) can accomodate.

Latin American Mennonite Youth of all cultures seem to have endorsed a music style which is sort of a combination of a gospel rock band and American idol. I guess this gathering is not primarily about me and my preferences.

I want to say a bit more about the Indigenous people who are here. The Navicle and the Enhlet are the two large groups of Paraguayan Indigenous churches. There are large number of these people here (400?). They tend to stay together and move in large silent masses. Lynn Miller says that about half way through his workshop on simple living they started to respond to the topic. Mostly they sit in the back of the sanctuary. I wonder what they are thinking. My guess is that the are relatively comfortable observing this strange foreign culture.  One of their leaders did the Thursday evening sermon. He surprised a lot of people by saying “I am a Mennonite.” These groups have not routinely used that language. Having said all this I was quite surprised when a group of eight teenage girls from one of the tribes  did a worship service routine that seemed to me like an aerobic workout routine set to loud music.  It may be that youth culture trumps tribal culture.

More info available

The MWC website is making daily updates with pictures and video. You can find it at http://www.mwc-cmm.org/en15/

This location also has live streaming of worship services. I have no idea what the quality of transmission is but it may be worth checking out for the 30 or so of you who are following these reports.

Random Observations

1. The youth must be a bit a more engaged than I am since they don’t seem to be posting much. They also don’t have my neat little wi-fi netbook that I am testing out.
2. The conference “floor language” is Spanish so everything  is either in Spanish or translated into Spanish from the podium. Other languages are translated via earphones. I look forward to those North Americans, who like me, speak only English!
3. The most fascinating speech was a rousing call to service and action by Nzuzui Mukawa from Congo. In addition to talking in broad terms about a range of concerns, he talked (and sobbed softly as he spoke) about the use of rape as a war tactic in eastern Congo. Stylistically he was dramatic and, since he was speaking in French, he had a Spanish interpreter beside him who matched him in enthusiasm at every step along the way. (Perry Bush, if you are reading this, you have competition in content and in passion.)
4. Yesterday I went to two choir concerts at side venues. One was a mixed Swiss choir that did essentailly a program of classics from Mendelsohn and others.  I watched them warm up and then I enjoyed the presentation though I started to doze off at points.  On the other hand, the Faith and Life Men’s Choir from Winnipeg had a number of songs created specifically for this event and also did a few more recognized hymns. They wowwed the crowd with a version of “dry bones” that included different noise makers for each bone of the body, as in the “the ankle bone ( a pan lid) is connected the leg bone ( a small anvil that was struck with a hammer).”
5. The Lutherans are going public at MWC with their intent to change the Augsburg confession to no longer advocate persecution of Anabaptists. Many seem quite excited about this though I must admit that this is not an area of great passion for me.
6. The world wide Baptists that are products of the Southern Baptist Convention appear to be in a process of theologically moving toward Anabaptism and away from conventional Southern Baptist thinking. Part of their 500th annivserary will be a kick-off event at a Mennonite church in Switzerland.

Singing at MWC

Singing and music is always a big deal at Mennonite gatherings and this is surely the case in Asuncion. The range of groups that perform and of songs that we sing is striking. I have become particularly pleased by the sound of the Andean Pan flute.

Caution: old guy writing. The singing is complicated.  Our most frequent pattern is to sign a single song sequentially in different languages. Frankly, I get confused and find myself waiting for the verse in English. I have noticed that the volume goes up when we get to the verse in English.

There must be a formula for the optimal size for a large group of people singing together. I suspect that 7,000 is well beyond the optimum unless the space is particularly well designed for group singing. Mostly the musicians in the front,with the related amplification, carry everything along. I have noticed that even when they don’t, it is hard to hear the rest of the audience.

The other thng is that most songs go fast and I find myelf looking for something slow enough that Ican get emotionally connected to the song before moving on the next song in the next language.

Am I a bit dissappointed? Yes, I am but it is a disappointment related to very high expectations. There have been some wonderful times of singing.  Perhaps, like everything that crosses such divergent cultures, this too, takes time, patience and practice.

George Lehman

11:30 a.m. Thursday

I need to add a p.s. to my post. This morning when I went into the worship service I decided to forget about the translation devices and just “go with the flow.” I missed catching some instructions and a joke or two but soon I was caught up in singing “Lord you have come to the lakeshore” and then a German song “Father, I will love and praise you.” I stopped trying to sing words but simply sang whatever seemed to come out of my mouth. Much better.
A few minutes later, in the middle of a presentation about the building of the Trans Chaco Highway, the power went out in the main auditorium. What to do? The answer was obvious. The singers returned to the stage and for ten minutes we did the low tech version of “Alabere’” and “Grosser Gott, wir loben dich.” A bit confusing but good. The lights sort of came back on we proceeded with the service.

By the way we eat our meals in a parking garage which is still on emergency power. I have no idea where the food is actually prepared. We will soon see how we cope with this situation. I suspect we will do well.

Arriving at the conference site

Oh my, the conference site is indeed a huge mega church. It is also a huge mega churchwith a building that is stillvery much in progress. Linda Miller says that the lovely landscaping in the front was installed yesterday! In most of the seminar rooms the ceiling tiles have not been installed. Plastic chairs and improvised table tops are everywhere. I am sitting a an old door laying across sawhorses as I type this.

There are young people everywhere working as volunteers. They understand the computer systems for registration and speak English, German and Spanish. They are warm and enthusiastic helpers. One senses that they know howmuch they are needed and are excited to respond to the challenge. (To be fair many older people are also multi-lingual.I personally feel rather under educated.)

The anticipation and enthusiasm are almost palpable. My roommate is from Kanshasa. He was up at 5:00 and showered and dressed by 6:00. He said that we wanted to make sure he did not miss anything.

I think some of the Global Youth Summit participants will be able to post more now that we are at this site. I understand that there was quite a back up at the computers at the GYS.

 

George Lehman

Adjusting assumptions

All goes well at the Global Youth Summit. In fact, things are winding down already at the GYS. This was a whirlwind three days of worship, cultural exchange, and a whole lot of yerba mate and carbohydrates (two critical forms of sustenance for Paraguayans, it seems).

The group of about 700 young people is at least half Paraguayan, with the large majority coming from German-speaking colonies in the Chaco. These South American Mennonites, who are more and more culturally Paraguayan while still maintaing German appearence and language, are the folks who really mess with my assumptions and categories.

I´m noticing how dependant I am upon appearences to determine levels of commonality, and how silly my first-impression assumptions tend to be in this context. During lunch on our first day here, for instance, I was on my own and scouring the cafeteria for a friendly-looking table. Admittedly, I had no desire for an enriching cultural encounter–I just wanted comfortable small talk with minimal awkwardness.

I settled on a table of young women who would have fit right in at the Bethel College cafeteria. But as I sat down and tried to make conversation, I got a few sideways glances and uncomfortable silence. It became obvious that these women were from the Chaco and were a bit taken aback by my presumptuous English overtures.

After some more silence, I ventured into German and stumbled through some simple questions. That seemed to break the ice, and soon one the girls who spoke very good English (her third language, after German and Spanish) mecifully relieved me of my need to further assault the noble Deutsch tongue. We had a pretty good conversation, mostly in English, and the girls even helped me buy some fruit from a local vendor.

Based on that early experience, I´ve developed a strategy for communication with German-speaking types. I open with some sad-but-endearing attempt at German, and my patient interloper politely asks me–in English–how I came to learn German. Common ground having been established, conversation ensues. Preliminary friendship achieved!

–Meredith Lehman