This facet of Christian hope is seen in the protest against unjust death that forms an integral part of some Latin American worship services. The names of the deceased are read off one by one, and at each name the congregation exclaims, Presente! Parents, children, relatives, and friends lifted up in this way have often died brutally and tragically. Yet the Christian worshipers refuse to accept violent death as the last word on them. As part of the "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1), they are declared present to the living community through God's gift of life that triumphs even over the last enemy, death.
— Amy Plantinga Pauw, Practicing Our Faith by Dorothy C. Bass, editor