Our congregation's relationship with brothers and sisters in Chiapas began in the summer of 1998. Minister Paul Kittlaus led a delegation of 12 which visited communities in and around San Cristobal in the state of Chiapas, met with groups and individuals to discuss the history and then current social/economic status of the Chiapas population, and worked with the village of La Esperansa on construction of a facility to raise pigs. The hope was to both increase cash flow for the village and provide an additional source of food directly. A positive and developing relationship with the Diocese of San Cristobol and the parish of Las Margaritas were central to the delegation's activities and objectives. The relationship indeed did grow. Father Mauricio and Sister Socorro, each from the Las Margaritas parish, visited Madison in the fall of 1999. First Congregational U.C.C. sponsored subsequent delegations which engaged in a number of small community development projects in the municipality of Las Margaritas. All projects were under the direction of the diocese and the local parish. First Congregational U.C.C. began to formalize a sister parish relationship with Las Margaritas as confidence and affection between the two church communities grew.

Since the retirement of Bishop Sumuel Ruiz (2000) and the transfer of Father Maricio from the Las Margaritas parish, circumstances changed significantly. The replacements have a greatly different vision of their church mission and the presence of First Congregational U.C.C. in Chiapas. It is not an overstatement to say that we have lost the institutional support of the Catholic church in Chiapas. Further, beginning with the end of the year 2003, the National UCC no longer supports a missionary in Chiapas. These events change dramatically the local church relationship with communities in Chiapas.

A small delegation sent in early 2003 explored opportunities for a continuing role in Chiapas. Discussion during the ensuing months generally centers on the conclusion that, though much has changed in the fundamental relationship, benefits to maintaining our connection with communities in Chiapas are great. We are therefore now engaged in prelimary planning for a delegation to leave at some point during 2004.

Please see the numerous "links" at the bottom of this page for reports, articles, and correspondence related to the various Chiapas delegations.

A group of 8 women from this church travelled to Chiapas, Mexico during the spring of 2002. They visited our UCC missionary, Delle McComick. She provides workshops and classes on women's rights and women's issues in the rural communities near the city of San Cristobal. They attended a workshop and visited with a variety of women's groups, including:

• Two agencies of the Diocese of San Cristobal: Melel Xojobal and Hogar Comunitario. Melel works mainly with children on the streets and their mothers. Hogar Comunitario is a place where mainly indigenous domestic workers who come to San Cristobal to work and are then raped, can stay and have their babies.
• The Center for Investigation and Studies on Women
• The women of Amatenango.
• A group from CODIMUJ in San Cristobal, which has a home for young women who have escaped violent conditions in their villages. CODIMUJ is the Diocesan Coordinating Group of Women.

Part of the delegation also traveled to our Sister Parish of Las Margaritas to continue our support of their work. The very small parish staff visits rural communities such as those this church has helped with our past financial support. In the past, they helped start cooperatives and identified communities in need, as well as providing religious training for community leaders. The women of the delegation were Mary Myers, Sue Jones, Jean Bormet, Jeanne Marshall, Kassi Benedict, Carol Bracewell, Fannie Hicklin and Diana Shaw.

Supporting Our Missionary and Sister Parish in Chiapas

Why a Sister Parish in Chiapas? Our church has had a sister parish in Chiapas since 1998, when a delegation of 12 first visited Las Margaritas. You may wonder how we came to have a sister parish in Mexico. The United Church of Christ (UCC) has had a working relationship with the Catholic Diocese of San Cristobal in Chiapas for a decade. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was civil war in Guatemala. People were fleeing across the border into Mexico as well as coming to the United States. Initially, UCC folks from a variety of churches assisted the diocese in the border refugee camps, providing medical assistance and training. Our own Ron Shaw provided such service on these delegations. Later, as those refugees either returned or settled in Mexico, the UCC focus turned to the poverty and religious tensions within the diocese itself. The UCC created a partnership with the diocese.



Interest spread from Illinois to Wisconsin and more church folk got involved. First Congregational UCC Madison is the first and currently the only Midwest UCC church in a sister-parish relationship with a parish in the diocese of San Cristobal. Our 1998 delegation raised funds from this church and went with the goal of building a pig barn and providing the startup money for a pig-raising cooperative in the village of La Esperanza.

The folks from La Esperanza knew more about building pig barns than members of the delegation, but the delegation helped as manual labor, and later donations bought the pigs. In 1999 three members of the church made a short visit to Las Margaritas to check in. The pigs were huge and there were piglets everywhere. The farmers were concerned about persistent health problems among the piglets that the local vet had not been able to solve. Still, they were optimistic. At that time First Congregational Church provided some funds to start a mushroom-growing cooperative and some other costs related to transportation to the city for training and legal assistance.

In 2000, a delegation of 6 went to Las Margaritas. The delegation members listened to the pig farmers, who saw that they couldn't solve the health problem and didn't want to lose the whole investment. The farmers had decided to cut their losses, sell the pigs, and turn the money into a less risky venture. They bought a commercial-sized corn-grinding mill which the folks in the village can use for grinding their own corn which they use to make tortillas. The cooperative charges a few pesos per kilo and it provides a steady, low-risk stream of income. In 2000 the congregation in Madison also raised funds to start a cattle-raising cooperative in the village of San Pedro. The folks had worked with cattle before and could obtain them from a nearby rancher. They also used funds to start a tiny local store that would be run by the women, also as a cooperative. Faxes from Las Margaritas say that everything in San Pedro is going well and the cows have all had calves.

Our Sister Parish of Las Margaritas in Chiapas, Mexico

Members of this congregation continue in dialogue with the Diocese of San Cristobal and the Parish of Las Margaritas, with the intent of formalizing our sister parish relationship with a written document. The key elements of this partnership are:

• A commitment to building a mutually transformative relationship whose primary emphasis is on learning about each other's cultures and religion, furthering ecumenical dialogue and education, and building each other's understanding of the issues faced by both sides.
• A commitment to political and individual action in the USA as part of our sister parish relationship. This may include educating ourselves and our community about the situation in Chiapas; contacting our elected representatives regarding USA policy towards Mexico; and examining how our lifestyles support the exploitation of poor and indigenous workers in the third world.
• A commitment to sending a delegation to Las Margaritas at least every other year.
• A commitment to involving our larger church in the sister-parish relationship.