2006 Report of the International Fellowship Committee

Contents of this Report:

Strategy Being Employed in International Outreach
Korea
Africa
Europe
    Lithuania
    The Netherlands
    Spain, France, Italy
South America
    Ecuador and Peru
    Some important considerations
Mexico and Central America
Central Asia
What we need to be doing

 

The pace of international work has increased substantially over the past few years. At present we are going through a significant period of development which, if successful, will lay a foundation able to support and guide international work over the next few decades.

The spread of The Urantia Book in our world is a project of great importance. The financial and people resources available for this task are extremely limited. Therefore it is essential that we have a working strategy to guide our choices. Several years ago, the International Fellowship Committee selected Latin America as an environment in which we could develop, implement, and test a strategy. If successful, it might be feasible to use that strategy in other regions of the planet. This environment was chosen because there were already many potentials in the region including the publication of the Spanish text, groups in Colombia and Chile which were involved with the development of the Spanish translation, work which was being done by Rosey Lieske, and the presence of Agustin Arellano with his complete dedication to the spread of the book.

Strategy

Our strategy is strongly influenced by The Urantia Book itself. It is a strategy which seeks to work in conjunction with primary spiritual forces presently working on the planet. These are the Thought Adjusters, the Seraphim, the Spirit of Truth -- all working within the context of the evolving Supreme during the present dispensation of the Spirit of Truth. This means that instead of trying to promote a particular spiritual or philosophical ideology, we attempt to work in ways which are responsive to emerging developments in the world. We attempt to work in ways which support, reinforce, foster, encourage, and inspire rather than by attempting to recruit new readers into particular organizations or even to organize them into particular social structures.

Monitoring emergent conditions and situations, fostering and supporting new realities which have promise for our task -- this paradigm must replace that of the industrial model in which a group conceives of a goal and then mobilizes a body of workers to achieve that goal.  Respecting the processes of Supremacy, we need to admit that we cannot know the future -- there are too many unforeseen developments and novel repercussions related to the introduction of the book into the planet's thought stream for such an approach.  Even the Seraphim appear to work on the basis of statistical probabilities rather than any sure knowledge of the future.  We need to be able to adapt and exploit novel situations as they arise.  This is particularly true in cases where we can see emergent leadership.
 
We need to appreciate the workings of the Seraphim.  The book provides enough information about how they work to enable us to develop a partnership approach -- the process is relatively straight forward, can be known, and can be engaged in by any one of us.
 
Lastly we must consider the nature of the Spirit of Truth which has been provided to facilitate a planetary transition to a culture based on the teachings of Jesus and the emergence of the Kingdom of Heaven.
 
Our understanding of these three major features of the superhuman environment is being integrated into a new operational paradigm for international outreach. On a practical level this means attempting to identify leaders and enthusiasts who have emerged in different regions, getting to know them, and putting them in touch with each other. Using this approach we are able to create situations -- conferences, meetings, etc. -- in which revelation workers can meet for purposes of getting to know each other and forming working partnerships on a local and regional level. Such gatherings provide an environment in which unseen spiritual forces can work to catalyze working relationships among the persons involved. We cannot create this social infrastructure but we can create situations which stimulate the organic development of this infrastructure from potentials already in existence.

One of the major efforts made by The Fellowship over the past several years has been that of bringing together leaders from various groups in other countries in the context of regional conferences.  We have been able to supply scholarships and help local groups with the expenses of running conferences.  The result has been extremely positive.  Over the past few years we have been able to foster the growth of a strong network of leaders throughout Central and South America.  We are hopeful that this process can be implemented in Africa and elsewhere during the next few years. It is basically the approach used by Barry and Kaye Clark in their work with the Korean group. We are currently working to identify emerging leaders in central Asia in hopes of being able to initiate this process in that region as well.

It is important to note the sequence of steps which appear to lead to greater development. At the beginning there are one-on-one contacts made by individuals such as Norman Ingram, JJ Johnson, Mark Bloomfield, work done by people such as Sue Tennant, and various Internet services such as UBRON, Saskia Raevouri's site, Truthbook and others. These contacts result in books being placed. Interest begins to evolve around these initial book placements.

After a period of time a more structured visit can stimulate the development of additional social infrastructure as well as relationships with individuals who are motivated to work on local levels for the spread and promotion of the book.

I am confident that if we can sustain this process for a few more years, we will find that we are evolving good administrative structures which will be able to support an emerging international readership.

It is important to appreciate that our approach aims at creating an international readership which evolves its own local and regional social and financial infrastructure. We are not trying to develop an international organization or get folks to join North American organizations. If we can move quickly and efficiently we should be able to lay the groundwork enabling the influence of the revelation to emerge spontaneously from the grass roots as an international phenomena, rather than being an ideology exported from a central bureaucratic agency.

Our approach accomplishes several things:

1. It fosters local and regional social development rather than recruiting membership for North American reader organizations.

2. It encourages the development of local and regional financial support.

3. It attempts to facilitate the work of unseen spiritual forces.

4. It allows us to focus financial and people resources on a small area until self-sustaining growth can occur, enabling us to then shift the focus to a different region.

5. It places us in the mainstream of organizational purpose -- spreading the revelation internationally ". . . through the medium of fraternal association . . ."

6. It focuses on identifying leaders and enthusiasts for the revelation and then supporting and reinforcing their efforts; it seeks naturally occurring opportunities to exploit rather than attempting to implement plans conceived in the abstract.

7. It accepts local and regional expressions of religiosity and does not attempt to change them to conform to some preconceived ideal; it views dedicated religionists as the most effective promoters of the revelation.

8. It focuses on developing opportunities likely to result in greater book distribution and more involved readership.

There have been two important developments this past year of an administrative nature related to international outreach. The first is the mobilization of the Pipeline of Light project which provides funds to subsidize books primarily for readers in the developing world. This project is under the direction of Michelle Klimesh and has broad readership participation.

The second is the International Development Group which consists of key international workers from across the spectrum of reader organizations. This group was set up primarily to make sure that duplication of effort is minimized and that all groups and supportive individuals are kept informed of what is happening. It has also turned out to be a very good consulting group for the making of decisions regarding allocation of resources for international work.

It is extremely important to understand that the spread of the revelation in the world is limited only by available workers and financial support. Every place in the world that we have been able to visit we have found receptive enthusiasm for the revelation as well as requests for help which greatly exceed our ability to meet.

Following is a brief overview of what is happening at present.

Korea

Barry and Kaye Clark report:

Money has been raised for the first formal printing of 1,000 copies of the Korean translation. Negotiations are currently underway with 3 printers in Korea. Final formatting is nearing completion. A plan to advertise/promote the work is in the final stages.

Over 2000 copies of the complete text have already been downloaded via the internet as well as tens of thousands of individual papers. It is estimated that there are at least 300 active readers in Korea, based on bulletin board and study group activity.

Africa

Scholars of religion cite Africa and Latin America as the most fertile regions in today's world for the growth of religion. Earlier this year Buck and Arlene Weimer made a trip into Africa. They visited Zambia and then went down to South Africa to meet with readers resulting in the continuing evolution of liaison contacts in these regions. These are individuals who are interested in supporting the spread of the book and active in fostering local reader groups.

Some notes from Buck Weimer:

As Philip Jenkins says in The Next Christendom: The Coming of World Christianity, “Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin American. Already today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in Africa and Latin America. If we want to visualize a “typical” contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria or in a Brazilian favela.”

Jenkins goes on to identify the 4 emerging “megacities” in Africa as Lusaka, Zambia; Lagos, Nigeria; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; and Kampala, Uganda; and goes on to say, barring a catastrophe, nothing will stop these cities from becoming “goliaths”.

We simply cannot wait for readers or potential readers to emerge. We must go there. We must talk with religionists, give public presentations, place books; then return, again and again, in a model of consistency.

Recommendations:

1. As an organization, the Fellowship must be willing to devote more money, time, and energy toward developing and training a large “Outreach Corps” to go out into the world whenever needed. China will be opening its doors to the world on 8-8-08 hosting the Summer Olympics. This could represent a golden opportunity for revelation outreach -- particularly if the Mandarin translation is ready for distribution by then.

2. An all-African leadership conference is needed to show support, give direction, and develop skills for outreach, study group building, and finding “bridges” in the interfaith community.

3. Develop an on-line African newsletter, by Africans and for Africans, to improve and increase the networking between readers from different regions and languages on the continent.

4. As the Pipeline of Light is doing so wonderfully with books, a similar project of “Outreach Response Kits” needs to be in place to send to readers and potential readers after the initial contact is made. Kits could be on several levels -- potential readers, committed readers, and leadership kits (to include things like: brochures, posters, business cards, and stickers identifying local readers and international websites. to place inside books on public shelves), and special materials developed for professionals working within religious institutions.

5. More funds need to be available to facilitate travel to regional conferences.

6. Some form of joint statement signaling a united effort of the Fellowship and the Foundation on international outreach would be very helpful.

7. Encourage African countries to have an internal conference to bring readers from remote areas into closer affiliation.

8. Eventually have an all-African Urantia Book conference.

Without doubt, the most impressive experience of the entire mission was observing (and in some small hopeful way, contributing) to the enormous amount of truly unselfish service going on in that part of the world – by Westerners and Africans alike. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of volunteers of every age provide service in the material, intellectual, and spiritual arenas from levels of government to ordinary people in need. There, service is more than a sentiment, more than an ideal -- service is an action. It is easy for us now to better understand why people become missionaries and why they devote a large part of their adult lives committed to serving the needy in third world countries. Sharing the Gospel and doing service is spiritually and psychologically energizing.

In Africa, ordinary citizens – clerks, taxi drivers, people standing in a line, bus passengers, nearly everyone – were willing to talk about God. It’s as if it is a second nature to them. And because we had a new book about God, the vast majority were inquisitive. It was refreshing! No political correctness. No inhibitions. Just straight-forward talk about the goodness of God. This lessened as we got closer to larger and more advanced cities that reflected secular and material concerns.

One of the biggest lessons we learned from our personal ministries is that giving things as a one-time gift -- such as medical supplies -- makes the giver feel good but it’s not what the receiver needs. What they need is a reliable and dependable source of supplies, regardless of the quantity, quality, or time frame. Another lesson is to avoid going into a country with our solutions. It is more important to partner and encourage them toward their own solutions. Even when giving Urantia Books, follow-up and consistent interaction in helping them to meet their needs is crucial.

The revelation is alive and spreading in Zambia and South Africa!

There is an interesting story from a Zambian newspaper about a witch crash-landing near Endola at http://www.fefadmin.org/international/zambia_flying_witch_story.htm

Europe

Important developments are taking place in both Eastern and Western Europe.

Lithuania

Algimantas Jokubenas has just returned from a 10 day tour of 32 towns in Lithuania where he did public presentations on the book. He distributed some 700 brochures describing the book and had personal conversations about the book with some 500 individuals.

The biggest problem in Lithuania is that there are no books available anywhere in the country. This is partially compensated for through the use of the Lithuanian readers website at http://www.urantia.lt which has a substantial amount of traffic as well as a public forum which is maintained by readers in the city of Kaunas.

The Netherlands

The weekend of June 19 saw the first gathering of Dutch readers in Utrecht in the Netherlands. Hosted by Saskia Raevouri and René Hagenaars, the event drew some 35 individuals and resulted in the determination to have at least a quarterly meeting of local readers. This conference was attended by David Quinn who works in the international marketing of Russian television programs. He commutes back and forth between Moscow and London and is very interested in promoting the book in the UK.

René Hagenaars, a Dutch citizen living in Paris, has formed a Dutch corporation, Urantia Europe, which is intended to act as a book distribution mechanism for countries of the European Union. Books can be economically shipped to Holland where they will be warehoused and from there can be sent to any member country of the European Union free of customs duties and for a reduced shipping rate of approximately 3.2 euros each. Initially translations will be handled in Lithuania, Dutch, German and French. An ebay store is being set up for direct sales from websites.

As more European languages come online, they will be included as well. Saskia Raevouri is currently formatting the Italian translation. In addition, work is being done to create an economical paperback Dutch edition which will likely be ready for printing within the next year. This will be followed up with promotional work in the Netherlands.

We also discussed the need to get some Dutch books to South Africa and René is following up on this.

The readers attending the Dutch gathering were drawn together primarily through the Internet and the Dutch website which is maintained by René Hagenaars at http://www.urantia.nl.

In starting a conversation with a reader at the Utrecht gathering I asked if he attended a study group in the area. He replied no, that prior to this gathering he was not aware of other Dutch readers. I asked him how he found out about the gathering and he said that a personal friend who lives in Costa Rica had read about the gathering on the Internet and had sent him an email message encouraging him to attend.

Spain, France, and Italy

Agustin Arellano and a small group of readers from Mexico visited groups in Spain, France, and Italy earlier this year. The groups in Mexico had spent considerable time putting together Spanish, French, and Italian versions of the Whelan's spiritual vitamins, which were a great hit. Agustin's work has resulted in some important cross-cultural working relationships between readers in these countries and his groups in Mexico. As a result, readers from both Spain and Italy will be attending and participating in a Mexico conference later this year. These growing friendships and working relationships between groups in various parts of the world are important. Agustin has been very active in promoting a sister study group program with his groups in Mexico.

Agustin writes:

We arrived in Madrid to visit with some of the individuals we had interested in
the book during the Barcelona Parliament in 2004. These readers now meet on a
monthly basis for topical discussions. We received a lot of follow-up email after
our visit to Spain from readers interested in starting more groups. The fostering
of study groups is our chief concern because these groups provide contexts for
personal development as well as a stimulus to promote more reading of the book.

Our present need is for a reader in Spain who will visit and promote study groups
in Spain. A group of readers from Madrid will be traveling to Mexico this fall to
participate in the annual conference at the Ahuatapec monastery.

Arriving in Paris we were met by a Mr.Rosec who was on his way home after some days in a hospital. He was very interested in the book but had been unable to find one so we gave him one of the books we were carrying with us. We visited the EPG (Êcole Parisienne de Gestalt), and left a French edition for their library. We had very productive meetings with several groups in Paris and one in Clermont Ferrand.

Dr. Ana Ravenna who is the director of the Firenze Gestalt Institute in Rome will be coming to the Mexico conference this fall along with some of the members of her group. We did not have Italian books to distribute but had a supply of Italian language spiritual vitamins which were a great hit. We were very warmly welcomed by the Italian readers. We laid important foundations for continuing communication and joint efforts with groups in both Spain and Italy.

The Italian readers were the most warm welcomers in the whole trip and we really enjoyed the time among them.

South America

The Ecuador/Peru Trip

Recently a group of readers consisting of Susan Ransbottom, Dolores Nice, Lynn Chapman, Arlene and Buck Weimer made a major presentation tour of Ecuador and Peru. These folks share the following concerns:

We simply must have more people (polylingual if possible), books, and resources on the ground in Latin America. Failing to do this may create a missed opportunity for the Fellowship of historic significance.

There is a tremendous desire for an alternative to the Jesus of Catholic and Christian organizations in Central and South America; as witnessed by their huge interest in the writings of J.J. Benitez which are taken directly from The Urantia Book. To continue to identify and support emerging Latin American leaders is crucial to ongoing development of their fledgling infrastructure of revelation workers.

It would be very beneficial if Latin American representatives were active participants of the General Council to share first-hand their activities and needs. A well-organized system for distribution as well as translations of brochures, flyers, and secondary materials will greatly assist the spread of the Revelation.

Building relationships, fostering communities of believers, helping to create situations in which they can communicate with each other, and sharing resources with our Latin brothers and sisters is necessary to overcome lingering USA social centrism, and will better prepare us for that time when the mantle of global revelation leadership may be passed to Latin Americans.

Some Important Considerations

Participants were asked to list three or four of the most important things we need to communicate about the emerging Latin American readership. Here is the list:

1. BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS, and more BOOKS. It’s not a big secret that our most important immediate task is getting books into the hands of readers in various parts of the world who are aware of the revelation but unable, for whatever reason, to get a copy. Part of this process includes solving the problems of international shipping, especially to bookstores wanting to carry The Urantia Book, allowing the costs of the book to be within financial reach of ordinary citizens. Of course, the Pipeline of Lights is a great start.

2. Identifying leaders is also very important. However, supporting their leadership is equally important. We can do more to help “connect” the present and emerging leadership to the leadership in the Fellowship and the Societies and study groups in the USA through more widespread implementation of the sister study group program being pioneered by Agustin Arellano and enjoyed by groups such as the Pueblo and Guayaquil groups, and Ken Raviell's group with the Pakistan readership. We need to build solid working relationships and communications between third world and first world readers and leadership. Part of this can be providing them with a “to do” kit of things necessary for effective leadership in their language. Some of this leadership packet can be literature that will describe how to initiate study groups and help them grow, promote projects like library book placement and public presentations, to join or develop a system of networking with readers in their own area, region, country, and the world. Supporting leadership conferences is essential for the evolving of strong and viable regional networks of revelation workers.

3. It could be of benefit to have the different regions of the world “blanketed” by the International Committee; and other volunteers as needed. For instance, have one person primarily (not exclusively) responsible for sub-Sahara Africa, one person responsible for Central America, one person for South America, another for Eastern Europe, Asia, etc. (I understand this can become a rigid and paternalistic system, but sometimes trying to assess the whole world is a little daunting.) With David working in Eastern Europe we have begun to use a program called Skype for our business calls -- it is free and works very well. It includes a video component so with an inexpensive webcam it is possible for us to have video conferences.

4. An area not before discussed, is our activities in “bridge building” to the individual Christian ministers. My experience with Rev. John Oliver in Cape Town, South Africa helped me formulate these thoughts. Although he couldn’t/wouldn’t declare himself a card-carrying member of the Urantia Book movement, he identified himself as a “bridge” between the old and the new. It would be useful to prepare introductory materials for individuals working inside the various Christian denominations. Some of the material which Meredith Sprunger has developed could be adapted and used. We need to provide these folks with literature which describe our activities so that they know we are not a sect trying to penetrate their organization. They need to know about our study groups, library book placement, programs, reader conferences, etc. We might consider a special program to offer them literature (JANR, El Libro) for personal reading and/or for placement in their church libraries. Yes, there will be many rejections. But we must think in terms of partnering with the Christian religions – not as an institution, but with individual ministers.

Susan Ransbottom shares a personal story from this trip:

In Ibarra, I watched as one young man (early 20s) listened intensely to the presentations. He asked me several times if he could have one of the books on the front table. He showed me papers he had downloaded (quite well used) and said he had limited access to computers to print or study the book. I gave him the “join the study group” answer. I told him that I would let Nelida know that he was sincerely interested in having a book.

I watched him as Nelida handed out the 3 books left. His face fell to the floor in disappointment when Neli handed the last book to an older gentleman sitting in front of him. I watched as he talked to his two friends who seemed to be consoling him. At that point I couldn’t stand it, went back to the suitcase and pulled out one more book (one less book for the next stop!), and asked our local host and study group leader, Carlos, to talk to this young man and if he thought it appropriate, to give him the book. Carlos sat down and talked to him for a few minutes, I saw them exchange information, and Carlos gave him the book.

I cannot begin to describe the look of joy on that young man’s face. I went back to talk to him afterwards and he thanked me profusely. He explained that he was driven to learn about Jesus and listed many older and new age books he had read. His limited contact with the Urantia Book led him to believe this was the book he needed. I suggested that this book would indeed satisfy his yearnings, and that I hoped to hear through Carlos about his studies and participation in future events. He left the room walking on air, arm in arm with his two friends, they practically stumbled leaving because they were trying to read as they walked.

Mexico and Central America

The work of Agustin Arellano in Central and South America has catalyzed the most significant outreach program the movement has yet developed.  I urge you to talk with Susan Ransbottom, Dolores Nice, or Buck and Arlene for more insight into this matter.

With funding provided by a grant from the Northern Light Foundation, Agustin has been able to place 500 books over the past year in libraries as well as with individuals. These books were distributed extensively in Mexico as well as in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica -- all countries in which meetings and conferences were held during the past year.  

We are starting to distribute Spanish copies of the Jesus timeline poster which Ken Raveill created.  This has turned out to be a popular item. Another very popular item has been the Spanish spiritual vitamins. Thanks again to the Whelan's who pioneered the use of this popular device.
 
From the Mazatlan conference in May, readers were able to carry more books to Ecuador and to Mexico City.  In June books were provided to three groups in Hermosillo.  In addition, Agustin had meetings in Culiacan, Mexico City, and Queretaro.
 
In August he visited Tlaxcala, Puebla where there are now two groups.  He also visited Hidalgo and groups in Tula and Pachuca.  Books for five groups in Monterrey were sent as well as books to the groups in Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa. 

In September he tried to do some presentations in Aguascalientes but ran into problems securing a place for a presentation as oppositional catholic groups are strong there.  The same problem was encountered in October in Guanajuato, even though there are quite a few readers in the area. 
 
In November he put together the first national meeting in Bolivia, also visiting with groups in Peru on his way.  This was an important trip to Peru -- in the past it has seemed impossible to find readers or groups to develop in Peru.  This year he was able to make some very good contacts and some solid foundations are now being developed in Peru.  This trip included visits to San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas.
 
In December he worked on setting up a meeting in Mexico City to celebrate the second anniversary of Grupo Nambia.
 
In January he participated in the 3rd National Conference in Guatemala, going on to El Salvador for their first National Conference, visiting groups in Honduras and Panama as part of this trip in an effort to get the two groups working together.
  
On January 21 a regional meeting was held in San Jose, Costa Rica under the able direction of Dr. Arias and his family.  Dr. Arias and his group are working to provide books for all of the libraries in Costa Rica. He and his family also participated in the recent Ecuador/Peru outreach trip.

Central Asia -- Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan

We are in the early stages of meeting readers and attempting to network them in the Central Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan. Visits to readers in Pakistan and India are being planned for later this year. We have been fortunate to have preliminary work done in the form of book placement and startup study groups by both JJ Johnson and Jorgan Andrews who travel extensively in their professional work. Trying to keep JJ supplied with books and names of local contacts in places where he travels has become an important part of the overall effort.

What we Need to be Doing

Here is a list of critical things which need to be done in terms of the international spread of The Urantia Book:

1. Book distribution and pricing remain major problems.

2. Far more funding for travel is needed than is available today. Our community spends some $70,000 each year for travel to General Council and Executive Committee meetings. This is more than twice the annual budget for international outreach to the entire rest of the planet.

3. We need a Spanish speaking reader services coordinator. If the Fellowship is going to be an international organization it needs to start expanding significantly its services to the growing international readership. Susan Ransbottom is currently working well beyond what is reasonable simply to make it possible for us to respond in some small way to the many opportunities we have. It is extremely important that we do a better job of providing administrative support for key workers and stop pushing them to the point of burnout.

4. Creation and translation of introductory materials.

5. Continued networking of leaders and support for emerging readership social infrastructure.

6. There is a need for much greater logistical support for international outreach trips. These trips are very demanding and require financial resources in addition to printed materials, travel arrangements, money transfers, at-home on-call logistics support for crises which emerge in the field, and much more.

7. Long term planning: We seem to be operating in a mode which only takes action when things break. We should be doing more long-term business planning so that we can finance and respond as opportunities emerge. This includes the health of revelation workers who often push themselves beyond reasonable limits simply because the opportunities so far exceed our ability to respond.

8. More detailed logistical planning. The Argentina trip was cancelled because we could not get a good idea of the costs before proceeding. These trips need to be carefully budgeted to keep costs from getting out of hand. The sad fact of the matter is that we simply do not have the resources to respond to all the opportunities that present themselves.

9. We need to evolve our working group so that there are specific individuals overseeing work on each of the major continents. As the work grows, this group should be expanded so that specific regions on each continent have someone overseeing and coordinating work. These individuals must have appropriate language skills and cultural background.

10. Coordination amongst international workers from various reader organizations (and independents) needs to continue so that we optimize the use of our limited resources, avoid duplication of effort, and evolve a coherent strategy for continued growth.

11. It is important to recognize that effective revelation propagators may not be competent administrators. Tolerant teamwork and appreciation for significant diversity is essential for success.

The world is beginning to open up for the reception of The Urantia Book. How can we better organize ourselves to respond?

"There is but one law to obey--that is the command to go forth proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom." [192:2.11 (2049,2)]

Report prepared by David Kantor, Buck and Arlene Weimer, Dolores Nice, Susan Ransbottom, Lynn Chapman, and Agustin Arellano