Evangelizing the culture from the Shrine

"The Little House on the Rock" on EWTN –made in the shadow of the Shrine

SPAIN, Iván Olguin. Tentatively scheduled for March 8^th at 11:00 am in Chile (3:00 p.m. in Spain) – the world will be able to enjoy the transmission of the first chapter of the series "The Little House on the Rock" on EWTN. The authors of this series depicting a clear Marian content are a small group of six special people. They are a family, and furthermore, they belong to the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement!

As a response to the call of John Paul II to "Evangelize the Culture", the Schoenstatt Movement in Viña del Mar, Chile presented a variety of proposals, including one from the Olguin family - Iván Olguin, his wife Valeria, and their children Jaime, Maria, José, and Maria Valeria.. Enjoy the story below:

A passion that was born within the family

Valeria and Iván already had an enormous admiration for the arts from simply animated and enormously lovable objects: Puppets.

They shared this hobby since childhood and once they were married, they transformed the hobby into a business endeavor with the knowledge and techniques that they had learned in the university. They began with family celebrations and shows at various schools.

"New members" (their children!) joined the group called VALIVAN. They maintained a Christian-based subject matter, since their objective has always been to take God to others through a simple but profound puppet theater. VALIVAN took off thanks to the content quality and the simplicity of transmitting their message: The Love of God.

This mission led to acting in ‘To Know and to Play", a children’s program, which at that time, had the largest audience on Channel 4 –Catholic University of Valparaíso in the Republic of Chile.

A decision…An Ally

Shortly after attending a seminar about the "Evangelization of the Culture" presented by Father Jaime Fernández Montero, Ivan, Valeria, Jaime, Maria, José, and Maria Valeria agreed to dedicate their work to Evangelization full time.

About that time, Ivan had sealed his Covenant of Love with Mary. "He used this occasion," along with his family to consecrate their work to her, and she took it into her hands.

Since then, our beloved MTA took this offer very seriously, and she opened and closed the necessary doors so that the work of VALIVAN would reach others while consistently maintaining their initial idea: to implement the evangelization of the culture into the world.

She also manifested herself by making it economically possible for them to carry out their work. So by holding the hand of the Blessed Mother, they entered the secular artistic world with great success. The proof of this was their participation in different international animated projects and they remained the most popular worldwide children’s program for five years. Their production was called Sesame Street and was produced by the Children’s Television Workshop in New York.

The years pass by but their ideals remain firm

After participating in this prestigious program, they continued to receive offers from secular television. However, VALIVAN wanted to remain loyal to their first consecration by accepting less profitable projects, but that allowed them more freedom to implicitly and explicitly communicate the Gospel of Jesus. In Spain, where they presently live, they have conducted more than 150 performances throughout the country; they have also toured in Andorra and Portugal. In 1985, they made a Marionette spectacular in Schoenstatt about the life of Father Kentenich for the worldwide commemoration of the Founder’s centennial.

Presently, they are developing the previously mentioned project, which consists of a series of 12 chapters about the Parables of Jesus, for the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) commonly known as "Mother Angelica’s Channel". The members of the Olguin Messina family carry out the demanding work for television side-by-side the catechetical activities in their parish in Aviles, Asturias. Each member of the family has a different unique talent that compliments the other members. They divide the creation of the scripts, the building of the puppets, the backdrops, the music, the animated drawing, etc among themselves. Of course, the heart of their house – studio – workshop is the Home Shrine where the Mother Thrice Admirable presides.

Dear Iván, Valeria, Jaime, Maria, José, and Maria Valeria, or dear Olguin Messina Family, or dear VALIVAN (different names for the same wonderful group), thank you for what you do, and may you continue on this fantastic road as undoubtedly, our beloved MTA will continue to hold your hands and the Schoenstatt Family is with you.

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA/Melissa Schmid, USA