Read letters from Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger
March 2013
Marzo 2013
Christmas 2012
Navidad 2012
September 2012
Septiembre 2012
Junio 2012
June 2012
March 5, 2012
5 de Marzo, 2012
Navidad 2011
Christmas 2011
September 21, 2011
21 de Septiembre
June 24, 2011
24 de Junio
March 1, 2011
1 de marzo, 2011
January 20, 2011
Christmas 2010
October 13, 2010
September 7, 2010
Rev. Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger
Mission co-workers in Guatemala
Serving at the invitation of the National Evangelical
Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG)
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Blog: The Rooster Crows in Guatemala
Bacilia and Philip will next be in the USA in 2014. Email them or the Mission Connections office (Rachel.Anderson@pcusa.org) to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger's ministry
Philip and Bacilia work with the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG) to help develop and support healthy, covenantal relationships with U. S. Presbyterians. Their work includes communication and interpretation, coordination of teams and delegations from the United States that visit Guatemala, visits to the PC(USA) by Guatemalan partners, and support for the Guatemala Mission Network.
In their work, the Beisswengers draw upon their experience in the Middle Tennessee Presbytery’s partnership with the Presbiterio Kek’chí Petén in Guatemala. Philip helped begin this relationship in 2002. “I found that, while partnerships aren’t easy, they’re important in God’s mission to redeem the world,” he says. “As a partnership facilitator, I look for opportunities to strengthen all kinds of connections between churches and communities of our two countries.”
Country context
Guatemala is the most populous and the most industrialized country in Central America. It is also by far the country with the highest percentage of indigenous population. During the colonial period Guatemala was an agricultural region in which the Mayan majority served the colonial estate owners. Guatemala gained independence in 1821. The country has been ruled by the military for most of its history. The intense concentration of wealth and land has left the indigenous population and other rural poor almost totally disenfranchised. This is the principal cause of a civil war, which was only complicated by Cold War interventions. In 36 years the war displaced 1 million people, and over 200,000 people were killed or disappeared. Peace accords were signed in December 1996, but the country continues to struggle with violence, corruption, impunity, and global economic challenges.
Download a prayer card that lifts up the Beisswenger's work in Guatemala
About Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger
Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger’s affection for Central America began long before they were commissioned in 2010 to serve as PC(USA) mission co-workers in Guatemala.
“Like many young people, I struggled to find a spiritual and vocational path,” says Philip. “After my first year in college, I served for a summer in Alaska as a Presbyterian Volunteer in Mission. This initiated me to the wider mission of the church. Then my studies took me to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Colombia for several years. While bonding with Central America, I sensed God’s grace calling me to a life of ministry.” Philip graduated from Macalester College, in St. Paul, Minnesota, with highest honors, and earned his Master of Divinity degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA).
Bacilia is originally from Guatemala’s neighbor, Honduras. She has degrees in accounting and computer technology and met Philip while he worked in Honduras for four years with the Methodist Church. “My background is humble,” says Bacilia. “I’m glad that churches in Guatemala can see that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) includes people like me in world mission.”
The Beisswengers cherish the opportunities for mutual learning and shared service that partnerships offer. “I believe God has opened up this door for my family and me to serve in Guatemala with the talents the Lord has given us and to learn from the Guatemalan people also,” Bacilia says. “I enjoy working with all different kinds of people. We hope to relate closely with churches in the United States and in Guatemala, to learn from each other and to strengthen relationships.”
What have they learned in Guatemala? Philip responds, “I’m captivated by the complexity and simplicity of life in Guatemala and its long Presbyterian tradition.” Bacilia responds, “The people are very friendly and committed, and long for a less violent, more equitable society.”
The Beisswengers entered into mission service from Eastminster Presbyterian Church, a growing, bilingual congregation in Nashville, Tennessee. Philip was pastor there for eight years, while also coordinating Hispanic ministries in the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee. Bacilia served as an elder at Eastminster and was lead teacher in the preschool program of the Bethlehem Center of Nashville.
Philip and Bacilia are the parents of three children, Matthew, Manuel and Estefana. Philip also has an adult son, Daniel, in the United States Air Force.
Birthdays:
Philip – February 8
Bacilia – November 28
Matthew – March 9
Manuel – December 22
Estefana – February 10
