Christian history of Baños
I wish to start out with some definitions. The terms "Christian" and "Catholic" are thrown around a lot but rarely ever defined, and the definition of these terms also varies by Continent and Country. Many statistics that talk about different religions lump Catholics and Christians together. These surveys say that there are around 1.8 Christians +/- of the 7 billion people on the planet. Of these, Evangelical Christians (Protestants, Reformers, Baptists, Methodists, Lutheran etc.), account for 600 million and Catholics account for 1.2 billiion. Of the Catholics, however there are huge contintental, and regional differences. American Catholocism is quite different than that of Ecuador and other countries that have been around for many hundreds of years longer than caucasians in the US. In Ecuador, as accross the world, there are 4 main classes of "Catholics". 1. Those born into Catholocism who do not attend church or even know what they are supposed to believe. (past popes sentence these people to eternity in hell for not following the teachings of the Catholic church) 2. Those who go to church occasionally or more, who have some idea of what the Catholic Church believes, but believes they are just like every other "Christian" (past popes also condemn this group to hell). 3. Those who attend church religiously, adhere to all teachings but still do not consult the Bible as the inerant word of God.(These people, by the stadards of tradion will go to heavenbut may have to do a stint in Pergatory) 4. Those that follow the new pope in his beliefs that everyone is going to heaven, just through different means. To a chorus of thunderous applause, Pope Francis stated "because Muslims, Hindus and African Animists are also made in the very likeness and image of God, to hate them is to hate God! To reject them to is to reject God and the Gospel of Christ. Whether we worship at a church, a synagogue, a mosque or a mandir, it does not matter. Whether we call God, Jesus, Adonai, Allah or Krishna, we all worship the same God of love. This truth is self-evident to all who have love and humility in their hearts!" In a speech that shocked many, the Pope claimed "All religions are true, because they are true in the hearts of all those who believe in them. What other kind of truth is there? In the past, the church has been harsh on those it deemed morally wrong or sinful. Today, we no longer judge. Like a loving father, we never condemn our children. Our church is big enough for heterosexuals and homosexuals, for the pro-life and the pro-choice! For conservatives and liberals, even communists are welcome and have joined us. We all love and worship the same God."
In Ecuador, there are these main groups as well. However, the plot thickens as they add tradition, superstition, and indigenous beliefs into the Catholic religion. For example, the whole month of October is filled with worship of the "Virgin of the Waters". Every single day, 31 days, fireworks start at 5am with a processional in which they carry a statue of the virgin with a young child. (This equates to Mary and Jesus but is really wierd.
There is another processional in the afternoon to take the Virgin back to her place. Then there are major celebrations in different neighborhoods with huge parties and much alcohol. There is absolutely nothing about God or Jesus in the month of October. The folks here do not pray to God, do not pray to Jesus; they pray to the Virgin of the Waters as God (as Mary is God). They do not call themselves Christian. They are Catholic.
Now the begining,
During Spanish class last week our Spanish teacher told us a bit of history about Baños. As you all know from previous posts, Ecuador is 95% or more Catholic. Baños is no exeption. He told us that the first missionaries arrived here only 60 or so years ago. It was a group from Texas that settled in Shell (the nearby town where we stayed this past summer). The missionaries and new christians experiences horrible persecution from the "Catholics" in Baños, being pelted with rocks and beaten with sticks. Initially there weren't many converts (go figure!) but the missionaries and a few die hard christians proceeded in faiths and eventually the persecution started to subside.
Fast forward 60 years. Shell is now a community with many missionaries and many, many evangelical churches. However, the number of christians in Baños has not grown much, although there are a few churches and christian organizations here. This is due in part to the very large Catholic Church here, the huge statue of the "Virgin of the Waters" and a very long tradition of behaviors associated with the Catholic Church.
Christians are still "hazed" in many aspects of their lives in Baños. Children are mistreated in schools, those choosing to follow Christ are oftentimes disowned from their families and, until recently, it has been very difficult to even obtain a public venue for Christian fellowship. Marcello (our Spanish Teacher) recently rejoyced with many others as the government in Baños not only provided a venue (the government school), but also paid for many expenses for a Christian concert that occured in Baños a couple weeks ago. We talk about being "persecuted Christians" in the United States, but it is commonplace to hold Christian events almost whereever we choose, so while we take things like this for granted, Marcello and his fellow Christians in Baños do not.
Today at church Pastor Patricio told the same story. Coincidence or providence? He talked about how christianity has not been in Baños long and he thanked the Lord for providing the missionaries that brought the true words of scripture to Baños. The main part of his message seemed to be to the teens, telling them that it is time for them to start shaing the Gospel, and that we are all called to be missionaries. There are many sill alive here who remember life in Baños without Christianity, without scripture.
My Soapbox.
After spending 3 months here many things are becoming apparent. I think we in the US take being a "Christian" for granted. We push out all sorts of passive/agressive garbage on facebook ("share if you agree!") as our poor attempt to "Share the Gospel". We call ourselves "persecuted". We are more interested in defending Christianity than loving our neighbor. We are more interested in defending Christianity than sharing the gospel. We rally around those like Kim Davis for her "courage" and "Christian Conviction". What is she doing "for Christ" rather than against the people she is supposted to love and serve. People, we are picking the wrong battles and drawing lines in the sand for the wrong reasons. We are distracted by the enemy in believing we have to defend ourselves and our rights. Christ never said anything about that. He said for us to love our neighbor as ourself, and He said to go, teach, and baptize. How can we say we are followers of Christ if we do anything different than what he has commanded?
