A CHRISTIAN
MISSIONARY IN
http://www.elimpulso.com
Everyone who knows me, will be surprised to
see that me, a catholic lady without excessive abilities, (even though with
profound beliefs) , will be writing with admiration and affection, about a
North American missionary, of the Christian assembly Missions, from Atlanta
Georgia (more specifically), who has devoted much of his time in recent years
to Venezuela.
His name is Andre Head. A southerner, from the intricate south of the
Physically speaking, Andre in not an
“Adonis”,black and stocky, short and intense; makes up
for a friendliness, politeness, graciousness, as we say in Venezuela “the
outside charm”, and supplanting it by that inner charisma, with a real concern
for life, that is translated into love for the elected mission, and with a
great respect for the people of God, and with a beautiful, authentic passion
for the world around him.
Andre has come to my dwelling to take
english classes, from
Nayleth (my daughter-in-law), who is a transcendent, and
linguistic professional young lady. All the team of love and livelihood, of
fantasy and creativity, the team of fatigue and anguish that depicts my family,
and every human family, have taken a great liking to him. And gradually we have
been cultivating a friendship that has enriched by its beautiful gifts of spirit, and by the
riches of its observations, the respect of its performances, the sensibility of
its understanding of the less easy world (and it may be more fascinating!) that
there is in Venezuela. I’m talking about the Amazonian world, where Andre has
just spent some un-expected, unusual, and fascinating days. An experience that
may well be called “A trip on le Genesis”, made by a man of God, through a magmatic land, linked up by its
great rivers; its amazing “tepuyes”, its silence, fauna, solitude,
vegetation, wild beasts, its stories, to
the essence of human life.
Andre Head has navigated up and down the
tremendous waterways next to Puerto Ayacucho, on a canoe steered by Yanomami
missionary Isaías, ( the fact that there is a Yanomami missionary by the name
of Isaías, reconciles with this name and erases that of the nation’s Attorney General, and, in case this is a
joke!) Isaías being a polyglot, because he
speaks English, Yanomami and
Spanish, has gone through magically
distant places of all villainy. We chaotically cite the “Tobogán De La Selva”,
“El Porvenir”, “El Venado”, “Monduapo” and “Laja Lisa”, “Canaraben”, and “Punta
Piaróa”, out of yet more remote names.
Andre Head, floating along the large
Amazonian river, in the small boat, on a star-less night, lighting up with a
flashlight on his GPS ( a devise that tells you with
greater precision than a compass, where we are and where we can go), he could sense by the size of the river, the
intensity of the night, the confusing noise of un-known animals, amongst which
were flying fishes, and anteaters. Panic-strikken by the cocodriles and
anacondas lying in wait in the streams, they had to stop and try to survive by
fishing for some animal they could cook and eat, some fish, I guess. And under
the leadership of Isaias, Andre Head (a modern hunter and fisherman) with an ad
hoc hat on, the hooks and a nice fishing rod dangling from it, etcetera, endevoured to fish for awhile. And in a long lapse he could
only get two small fish.
But the missionary was shocked to learn,
that a group of Yanomami women that were fishing nearby, on the same cove
could, by just dipping their hands in the water, kindly slap the animal out of
the water. This was a cove that was also infested by all kinds of vermin; and
they quickly gathered up a big basket of fish which they just boiled and ate
like that.
Another shocking sight for our
missionary, was to see how the Yanomamis grabbed and clubbed an anteater to death.. The beautiful thing is, that all
of this was told by Andre, with an unusual understanding about survival, not
making any protectionistic scandals un-implemented in such a complicated place.
In these very same days, the president of
our sound judgments, deliriums and bewilderments, has been standing at squares crouded by the audiences, lashing out against imperialism.
His speech has been perceived phony and distorted, perhaps because
, while it is true that empires do exist and are harmful, it is
absolutely untrue that the life of a
great country like the
I believe that no one can, and should
not, interrupt all of the canals, streams, and the river navigations, where us humans can keep trying our realization. I also believe,
that we should not give in to the snares of the common places, and that, in
every way we should be more generous and available with the idea about God. And
with all the pennant-bearers of the spirit, like Andre Head, this Georgian man
who learned to walk the outdoors, in the mountains of his homeland, bringing us
from his infancy and from his America, his kindness and hidden grandeur and beauty.
Beatrice Viggiani
www.Amissions.com