Letter From Cherie White
.
Christmas, 2011 Greetings from Cherie White in Mexico
The peaceable kingdom that Isaiah (chapter 11) offers us of non-compatible animals getting along and even coexisting with helpless children is amazing. Can this be? Can they “not hurt or destroy” in all of God’s terrain so that “the earth can be full of the knowledge of the Lord”?
With civil war & strife, and political & economic injustice so present everywhere we do pray that this can become a reality from the birthplace of the Prince of Peace to the last confines of the earth. And, above all, we yearn for this reality for Mexico where over the past 5 years, over 50,000 people have died due to the violence of the drug war, which has mainly claimed young lives, sadly referred to as “collateral damage.”
We are concluding the fall semester at the Baez Camargo Seminary in Mexico City and it has been good to see the enthusiasm of the incoming students this year, who have become aware that ministry is not just running the church, but responding to the surrounding community. They have had Church History with me this semester & will have the continuation next semester, & they have come to realize that our past helps us understand the present in vital ways. The past’s struggles are often still present & we can learn, change & adapt. I also taught Methodist History to advanced students & there were several “Ah ha’s” in that class also, which I hope will be helpful for their ministry.
Next semester is my final semester at the seminary as a United Methodist missionary, serving through the General Board of Global Ministries. I would like to request 2 things of you as my supporting churches and friends:
1) Please fulfill your promises to GBGM in terms of my salary support (Missionary Support Code # 05068Z). I am profoundly grateful for your support in my many ways, especially salary support, yet GBGM has pointed out that not all have sent in the amounts promised for 2011. I will also need support through the end of 2012, since I retire until the end of year & will be visiting as many of you as possible from the end of July to December, 2012. Also, after Dec. 2012, do not forget to support another missionary somewhere. We are enriched when we support work throughout the world.
2) Please continue to support the Methodist Seminary in Mexico City, through the approved Advance Specials. We are preparing the men & women who will be pastoring & leading the Methodist Church of Mexico, and a prophetic & pastoral ministry requires thoughtful & contextualized training. Our 2 Advance Specials are:
- 1. Baez Camargo Seminary Scholarships: Advance No. 10528B
- 2. Baez Camargo Seminary (books for library): Advance No. 3020734
At this Christmas season I am thankful for your support throughout some or most of my 40 years as a missionary of the United Methodist Church. I hope that our relationship has helped you to see another side of ministry, beyond the United States. I pray that the joy of the coming of the Christ child be a reality in your lives & that you never forget that through His ministry, God has shown us vividly that Jesus came “to bring good news to the poor…proclaim release to the captives & recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (and) proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19).
FELIZ NAVIDAD – MERRY CHRISTMAS
Summer 2011 Greetings from Cherie White in Mexico
Our happiest news at this mid-point in the year is the marriage of our daughter Iliana Velazco to Justin Evert on July 6. They met in Australia when she did a semester abroad in college and he followed her here. We had over 30 family members present from the U.S., Australia and Mexico. Jose Luis as a proud father and minister performed the ceremony. We also got to meet our 4 month old granddaughter, Sofia Elena on her first international trip from Seattle to Mexico.
The Methodist Seminary where I teach had its graduation in mid-June with only one graduate this year. The director of the seminary, who was assigned last year in General Conference, has resigned, and our new director was announced last week. He is a former student from about 20 years ago and has been a District Superintendent. Please keep him and the seminary in your prayers at this time of transition.
Last semester I only gave one class on Prophets, but it was a dynamic class in which we not only studied the biblical prophets, including the 4 women named as prophets, but also focused on who we consider to be contemporary prophets in our midst. Mexico is certainly in need of prophets at this time of extreme violence due to the drug war, which in the 4 years of President Calderon has already exacted a toll of over 50,000 deaths (too many categorized as “collateral damage” = innocent civilians); also the poverty level has gone up considerably.
The third week of June, our seminary hosted the Assembly and Theological Consultation of ALIET (Latin American Association of Theological Institutions) of which I am the outgoing Vice-President. It meant a lot of prior preparation, but was an excellent meeting with challenging conferences on the relevance of theological education today in Latin America and the importance of it focusing on our people and their needs. Devotionals focused on Violence within Society, Gender Violence and Violence towards Creation; all creatively presented. No sooner was this meeting over than family began to arrive for the wedding, so I have had a hectic, but very satisfying summer thus far.
I greatly appreciated the many birthday greetings I received, which took place in the midst of the ALIET meeting (one of my best birthdays ever). I turned 65, so had to sign up for Medicare, and I will be retiring next year at the end of the school year. Please do not forget to support the Methodist Seminary in Mexico City with your prayers and gifts. Our Advance numbers through GBGM are:
Baez Camargo Seminary Scholarships, No. 105068Z
Baez Camargo Seminary (books for library), No. 3020734
Fall & Thanksgiving, 2010 Newsletter from Cherie White
Methodist Seminary, Mexico City
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Ps. 42: 5 &11
I know that many people in the U.S. are concerned about the news coming out of Mexico and are concerned for our well being and that of people in general, and the Methodist Church of Mexico. The words of the psalmist quoted above are on our lips constantly.
In these first 4 years of President Calderon’s 6 year term, 28,000 people have died by government admission. Outside figures calculate even more. It is true that many are related to the war against the drug lords due to feuding over territories amongst themselves or in their encounters with police and soldiers (the army has been sent to some of the most conflictive areas). But, many deaths are due to violence towards women, which has increased considerably, and now include attacks on undocumented persons coming from Central America and headed to the U.S. to look for work. Recently you would have heard of the massacre of 72 people from Central & South America.
There is also the death of many due to crime, mostly in cities, and kidnappings to extort money, which is on the increase as the economic situation worsens. It is frankly, a very depressing situation & every time we go to the market we are shocked at prices, & wonder how other people manage.
Truly our “souls are cast down” and yet, we must look at the rest of the quote, which goes on to say: Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. (Ps. 5 & 11)
When hope does not seem evident elsewhere, we, as people of faith, do have the hope & trust that God is present never-the-less.
That is something that is very evident in our students at the seminary & I admire them for this, considering the varied situations they come from. We had 10 new students enroll this semester (2 young mothers had to drop out because of the challenge of studies & child care) and of them, one young woman’s father died in July, & another young man had a kidney transplant last year & just found out that his father might lose his job, which means the family loses health care & he, the medicine he needs on a constant basis. Yet, his confidence that God will provide is unfailing.
The seminary is also having to rework its financial support system, because basic services & needs such as water, electricity & food have increased considerably, & our new Director, Rev. Roberto Arteaga is finding challenges he was not expecting. Please keep the Baez Camargo Seminary in your prayers & know that we greatly appreciate any extra support you share through GBGM’s Advance projects for the seminary:
Baez Camargo Seminary Scholarships…….Advance # 10528B
Baez Camargo Seminary (books for library)…Advance # 3020734
Thanksgiving is coming up very soon. It is not a holiday in Mexico & we do not have an equivalent celebration, but I think of you in the U.S. with the many challenges that you have for ministry in each of your settings, and am grateful for your support. For those of you who have consistently sent your funds to support my presence at the Methodist Seminary, I express my gratitude. For those who have lapsed, I urge you to reconsider & once again send to my GBGM Missionary Support Code # 05068Z. You can do this through your Conference Mission Office.
Reach out at home and reach out into the world!
I have been with the General Board of Global Ministries for 39 years now, of which 35 years have been in Mexico. Mexico is a very close neighbor indeed and in need, and I love being here trying to prepare the future ministers of the Methodist Church of Mexico for the many challenges they now & in the future will confront as they seek to serve the Lord of Life and Peace.
Peace with Justice,
Mailing address: Apartado 20-3
92
01001 Mexico, D.F.
Cherie R. White
Mexico
E-mail: velwhite@gmail.com
.
SUMMER 2010 NEWS FROM CHERIE WHITE
Methodist Seminary, Mexico City
There is much to share on Methodism, Mexico and the Seminary:
1. The Seminario “Dr. Gonzalo Baez Camargo” had its graduation and closing worship service on June 19 and 5 students graduated. At Annual Conferences next week, they will receive full time pastoral appointments, which can be daunting after 3 years of just weekend appointments. Keep these graduates, the regular students, and the new incoming students in your prayers.
2. The Methodist Church of Mexico (autonomous of the United Methodist Church) held its General Conference this past May and new Directors were elected for the two seminaries that the church sponsors. As of August 1, Rev. Roberto Arteaga, a District Superintendent from the Southeast Conference will be our new Director.
3. This coming week the 3 Annual Conferences that we serve will be meeting & electing bishops. Our bishops are not for life, as in the U.S. and can only serve a maximum of 2 quadrenniums (8 years total). There will also be elections in the 3 northern Mexico Annual Conferences, so many changes are expected.
4. Mexico, as a country, is a tragic mess. The struggle to control the drug markets has the drug cartels at each other’s throats, and along with defending themselves from the army and police, deployed by federal government to combat them, leaves an average of 30 or more dead each day. The way the “war” is being carried out is nasty with sadistic treatment of corpses, too gruesome to describe. Also, innocent, civilian bystanders are more and more frequently getting caught in the crossfire and described merely as “collateral damage.”
5. Grass roots, social justice organizations have been brutally hit by state governments which have repressed their movements that try to gain social, economic & ecological justice. Recently, a human rights caravan headed to San Juan Copala in the State of Oaxaca was ambushed and a Mexican woman & a man from Finland were killed, heightening the tension is that area and the state.
6. Mexico is a country where economic and social justice are desperately lacking, which forces people to migrate to places like the U.S. & Canada where they can find work and hopefully a bit more security for their families. Unfortunately, the drug lords often use the migrants for their own ends, which gives a bad name to all. Mexicans are, for the most part, hard working, honest people who want to support their families and would really rather not leave their homeland. Mexico is a rich country, having many important mineral, oil & natural resources, plus is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Corn, the staple of our diet, was first domesticated in Mexico and we could feed our own population, but the government has preferred to buy subsidized corn from the U.S. than support local farmers. When they can not “make a go” of it, they migrate.
7. These are complex issues, which this letter does not allow me to go into further detail, but daily, we grieve and pray for a Mexico that desperately needs and deserves social and economic justice. As the prophet Amos reminds us, we must make it possible for “justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (5:24). Water, besides cleansing, can also be terribly destructive as those in Nashville know, & now in Mexico, hurricane Alex has caused major devastation & loss of life & property in northern Mexico.
8. Please keep all these issues in your prayers and know that I am deeply grateful for your support of my ministry as a teacher at the Methodist Seminary in Mexico City. I know that the economic crisis has hit the U.S. hard & that recovery is slow, but please don’t forget to send your standard missionary support through your Conference Mission Secretary. Also, the Seminary has 2 Advances through the General Board of Global Ministries which help us enormously:
Baez Camargo Seminary (books for library): Advance # 3020734 (my pet project)
Baez Camargo Seminary Scholarships: Advance # 10528B (all of our students need financial help, so your support here is greatly appreciated)
May God be present in your lives challenging, supporting and guiding you always.
Cherie R. White
Mailing address:
Apartado 20-392
01001 Mexico, D.F.
Mexico
e-mail: velwhite@gmail.com
Christmas 2009 Greetings from Cherie White
Dear Supporting Churches & Friends.
What a wonderful & renewing time these 3 ½ month of church visitation have been!
It has been good to reconnect with many of you, to make new friends & see that God is at work everywhere & I am deeply grateful for your support. The news from the U.S about increased troops to the Middle East, conflicting viewpoints on health care reform & a lack of reform in immigration laws is very discouraging to us in Latin America. To see that many of you in the U.S. are concerned from a Christian standpoint is encouraging.
In these months of visitation I have shared about the Mexican reality and the Methodist Seminary where I serve in Mexico City. Mexico is a beautiful & very diverse country culturally, linguistically geographically, in terms of biodiversity, and many other aspects. Yet, at the present time we are experiencing a violent drug war, epidemic levels of violence towards women, & a 60% poverty level that expels people to the U.S. for job reasons. Justice is a key word for economic, political & gender reasons.
Hence, the words of the prophet Isaiah 32:17 are important reminders of God’s call to us as we remember the coming of the Prince of Peace:
And the effect of justice will be peace, & the result of justice, quietness & trust for ever.
I am not first to say it, but how true that there can be no peace, unless there is justice for all, and once again Isaiah’s words are my vision for a reality which I hope is not too far away:
They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, & their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
My vision for the future Methodist ministers that will come forth from our seminary is that they be God’s presence in the world guiding their churches beyond their four walls, making theirs the words of the prophets, which are exemplified & fulfilled in Jesus’ ministry. As Jesus came to show us the meaning of being the Prince of Peace, we too must follow by our example through words & deeds.
May this Christmas & the New Year be ones of joy, health, challenges, and awareness of the world around the corner & way beyond. May you creatively carry out acts of justice, so that peace on earth can lead to goodwill for all of God’s people.
Peace with justice,
Cherie R. White
New mailing address:
Apartado 20-392
01001 Mexico, D.F.
Mexico
The Dr. Gonzalo Baez Camargo Seminary of The Methodist Church of Mexico where I serve has 2 Advances approved by the General Board of Global Ministries, which cover critical needs for us:
- Baez Camargo Seminary Scholarships Advance # 10528B
- Baez Camargo Seminary Advance # 3020734
(for books for the library & to update the computer lab)
I know the economic situation in the U.S. is difficult at this time, but these are ways to further support the preparation of ministers for the church in Mexico.
Thank you,
Cherie R. White
GBGM Missionary Code # 05068Z
Summer Newsletter from Cherie White in Mexico
July, 2009
You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1,2
These words from Psalm 91 of trust in God are so a pros pos for the various things I want to share at this time.
On June 20 we graduated 8 students from our seminary residency and extension programs. Knowing well the students from our residency program where I teach and am Academic Dean, I know that the words of this psalm have been an important part of their faith as they chose to respond to God’s call, plus all along their 4 years of studies, and now upon the reality of being in ministry full time. Some of them have had serious health or family situations which almost kept them from finishing, and others have encountered the usual challenges to ministry as they carried out their student practice. Yet, they have persevered because they have believed that God is their refuge and fortress.
This past weekend we were in Morelia, Michoacan so that Jose Luis could preach at the 60th wedding anniversary of friends, who have also been in ministry. It was a lovely occasion, yet while we were there, there were attacks by drug lords on the federal police headquarters there and in 6 other cities. The war against the drug lords is a violent reality with up to 30 or 40 deaths per day in different areas of Mexico. This reality has not affected us directly, but is a tragic one that must concern us as Christians. Also, in one part of the State of Guerrero, where the Methodist Church of Mexico has a couple of missions, the present minister has been threatened, as well as former ministers (one young woman minister was killed), because they opposed the growing of drugs by the people in their congregations. The drug lords make it impossible for the impoverished peasants to refuse to plant such crops, and their lives continue to be no better off. I have heard several of the ministers there mention their faith and trust in God, and the importance of accompanying the people in spite of everything.
Finally, we have found comfort and refuge in God over these past 3 months since the death of our 19 year old son, Roberto Byron. We are grateful to everyone who has shared love and condolences with us at this difficult time.
I will be visiting as many supporting churches as possible from September to mid-December and ask that you be in touch as to a possible visitation date. Some have already set aside a date and I would request that the rest be in touch as soon as possible. You can contact me via e-mail: velwhite@gmail.com.
My home base will be with my father at 451 Manley Drive, Nashville, TN 37220-2019 and telephone is (615) 333-2144.
Blessings, Joy and Peace,
Cherie White
Mexico City