Peru 2010 - Wednesday

It’s now Wednesday. I’m sitting on the floor of the library with a cushion underneath me. I woke up at 8:30 am this morning. A short, but ok sleep. My butt is still sore : ), hence he cushion on the concrete floor. Rosy is sitting beside me on a chair bugging me, and preventing me from getting this blog started. So, Rosy, would you please GET LOST!!!!! She’s not listening to me, but she IS talking 100 miles an hour and babbling and babbling on.

Whew, She finally left : ). We got up and had our breakfast again. Breakfast time was 9:00 am, as we will be spending longer in Patchacutec today. Our bus ride is getting quieter, though I was on the bus with the less noisy ones. Jackie was in my bus, and I actually had a comeback comment that stumped her. She wanted me to put on the blog that our Dukerol is working quite well and we are all constipated and needing enema’s sent from Canada. I commented to her that the only person here not needing an enema was her because she has verbal diarrhea. There was actually silence at the other end. (I got it on video as proof). For those of you who know Jackie, you know that this is a RARE event. : )

On the bus ride I had a wonderful talk with Erin about Frontline and their vision for what they are wanting to do. I like the fact that we think the same on many things when it comes to partnerships. Erin is such a wonderful person. I am thankful for all her work in helping get us here over the past times we have come to Peru. May God continue to bless you as you work out your place in Peru.

Our groups are a little different today. We have 2 going to the orphanage, 2 working on construction, 1 helping out in the kitchen to help prepare supper for the church tonight and 1 group at the medical clinic. The construction group is done with their work a bit early, but they are keeping busy. Some of the groups are coming back and we will soon be eating lunch. It will then be VBS time and after that we celebrate the 7th anniversary of Gamaliel church. We will be doing some songs, and they will be doing some things, and then we will be blessing the church by feeding a meal to them.

I’ll tell you about all of that at the end of the day. ……………….. HOLA. It’s Hannah and Rosy taking over the blog forever! Ha…no we wish, but we’re here to talk about what we did yesterday. Fernando, our fearless leader led us to the first house, where we would talk with the owners and pray with them. At the first house we met a young man..about in his 20’s and his mother. We went inside their house and asked them questions about their family life. Then, we asked if there was anything we could pray for. The mother wanted us to pray for a united family….in Christ and in body, aka near each other since the distance between them all was very great. We all started to pray, and the mother coaxed her son to pray, who had not yet committed his life to Jesus. It was cool to see the relationship between the mother and her son. The next house was a lady name Madisol (probably not right spelling). Madisol thought we were coming yesterday and she was very disappointed because she was having a bad day. But then, when we came today, it really made her day. She had a 6 year old son and a cast on her knee. Her knee had been hurt in an accident and she had a surgery, but that didn’t help at all. She had many nightmares, and people cursed her knee, and at times she said she really wanted to give up. She even told us she was ready to drink poison because she was in PAIN. Not only was her knee the problem, but she also had many family problems. Then, some ladies at the house offered us some delicious looking drinks..but unfortunately we were not allowed to accept them because of our weak stomachs. After, we all gathered around her, some of us putting our hands on her knee and prayed. It was a very touching time, bringing tears to some people’s eyes. We all took turns praying, and the translator translated for us. After that, we thanked her for sharing her testimony with us and that we would share this testimony with others to encourage them and keep praying for her. We all left, thanking her many times and she said next time we come, we can tell her what to cook for us (she’s a chef).

We went to our last house which was a beautiful home. He had a TV, stereo system, glass doors, laptop & speakers, etc. We all sat down talking to a man, Pedro and his nephew. We asked him questions like what he worked as, (a security dude) and how big was his family etc. And he asked us lots of questions about our trip, relationship with the church and Canada. =) It was nice to just chat with him and hear about his life. He did have problems with his wife and he needed encouragement and prayer. So, once again, we all bowed our heads in prayer and prayed together for this man and his family. We thanked him for his hospitality and left the house, feeling like we accomplished lots today.

So yea, that is what we did Tuesday morning. It was a great experience to experience..hehe….well it was sweet to go into their houses, experience their wonderful generosity and hospitality and pray for their needs, which weren’t much different than the needs in Canada. So, that was our Tuesday morning and we had a BLAST! *OH, and we say hello to: John, Tobie, Lucy, Samantha, Ella, Molly, Calvin, Goob, Gloria and Sam’s hamster…if you found him yet and all the rest of my fam. AND to Peter, Wilma, Chris, Caralynn, Daniel, Oma and Nonno and Grandma and Sami And to everyone else who we love. Don’t worry, we will come back with MEGA tans. =) Have a sweet march break everybody Hannah and Rosy <3>

Hi Eric, Carraugh, Gillian, Nic, and Evan. Hope you had a great time in Hamilton. I’m having a great time here! So far people have been pretty healthy and I’ve been out to Pachecutec everyday! I saw a little pet monkey the other day, and there are dogs everywhere! I love you lots. Time is flying by here and I’m looking forward to seeing you soon! Lots of love, Brenda (Mom) xoxoxo

Ron back again. It’s now 9:00 pm. We are just about to leave Gamaliel church. It has been a long, but very good day. Everyone is very tired, but also very energetic after the days events. Our bus is singing the shark song and having a great time. So where did I leave off. Oh yes. Our groups were coming back from a quicker morning of work. Everyone did well, but it was a hot day today. Apparently John’s Backpack was stolen off the bus at the Orphanage, which bummed him out, but nothing valuable was in it. Apparently a teenager snuck onto the bus as the driver was checking a tire on the other side. It doesn’t take long for something to happen in any country. Just a reminder that even though we have a sense of security here, and I do, there is also a sense of danger that we shouldn’t ignore.

After everyone returned, it was time for lunch. We ate at about 1:15 pm. Everyone lathered on the sunscreen and headed out to play with the kids again. People were already getting sunburned, so Brenda had to deal with some of that triage today.

VBS was once again AMAZING!!! : ) . About 130 kids again. Lots of great action songs and another great drama. We seemed to be getting organized finally with VBS. It always takes a couple of days for that to happen and then things begin to settle down. Marsha and the gang who have planned VBS are feeling very good about it, and I’m glad about that.

After VBS it was time to relax in the library for a bit and prepare for the evening. We all put on our red LOVE shirts and took a “family” photo. We helped decorate the church and prepare the supper that the church congregation would be eating.

Pepe and I met with Pastor Sergio for about 45 minutes to begin our conversations about what a partnership could look like between Calvin and Gamaliel church. I received the history of the church and some organizational structure of the church and the hopes of Sergio as that structure continues to evolve. It was good to listen to Sergio’s heart. Tomorrow we talk more specifically about other things.

At 6:30 pm we met with the Gamaliel church to celebrate their 7th anniversary, not 10th. Apparently they officially started in 2003 “officially”. The ceremony began with Pastor Sergio welcoming us and we sang some songs together in Spanish and English simultaneously. You will not be able to grasp the emotions of that time, but it was amazing to see 4 different congregations worshipping God together. The church shared their talent with us.

Their youth put on an amazing dance number and others sang. Our group also shared two songs with the congregation. One in English, the other in Spanish. They did awesome. Then it was time for Pastor John to preach a bit of a sermon.

Some time ago, Pepe told me that Pastor Sergio wanted me to preach a short sermon on this evening. I agreed, but as I thought about this more, I knew that Pastor John loves to preach and has been hanging around in the back ground very graciously this week as I’m the one in charge and I wanted to have him do something within the group context. This seemed like a perfect fit, and it was. He did a great job of sharing our thoughts and hopes and a great gospel presentation. Thanks John for doing this.

It was then my turn to say some words of welcome and blessing. As that time approached I could feel my throat tightening and my eyes getting misty. Watching all the things going on this evening just, well, just seemed to be a God thing. Our team has been amazing so far this week. Everyone for the most part has given 110 % and done everything with a smile and a servant heart.

Listening to Pastor Sergio thank us for coming 3 times now, and how that has been such a blessing to him and his church was humbling to hear. Watching the youth of this church share their gifts with us was inspiring. There is hope and a future for this Gamaliel church. God is alive and well here. I was just flooded with a sense of humility and gratefulness to be able to be a part of making all this happen. It is wonderful to know that the gifts God has given me are being used in such amazing ways. Not something I have intentionally meant to do, but God has seen fit to use me in this way, and I will always cherish moments like this.

After my words Pastor Sergio presented me with the most beautiful painting. (see pictures below). The church hired someone to do the painting. It is a treasure for sure that will hang in my office, or somewhere in the church. Then it was time for John to lead us all in a blessing for this Congregation. We stood in a circle on the outside walls and prayed the Lord’s prayer over the congregation of Gamaliel church. John then led us in a blessing that we said together. Another wonderful God moment.

A collection was then taken by the church. Members of the church came up to the front and deposited their offering into the collection plate. Another song was sung during that time. The final thing that was done was blowing out the candles on a wonderfully make cake. The elders of the church, Pastor John and myself and Erin and Pepe were all up front and we all blew out the candles together. Then the presentation was over.

As a final gesture we served the congregation dinner. That was an amazing feat which Erin once again choreographed perfectly. Our group of 47, minus me who was video taping, lined up from the dining room all the way down to the sanctuary. They then were passed Styrofoam trays filled with rice, beats and meat. We served the congregation this meal which was paid for by us. Just a way to say thank you to the church for the way they have blessed us over the years.

We were then invited to have a piece of the cake that was made. It was ok to eat as it was made in a bakery that would be ok for us. After all that wonderful stuff, it was finally time to leave. We are almost home now and people are quite tired. We have to eat dinner yet, and then it’s a quick shower and off to bed. No video blog this evening. The group has worked hard today and they wouldn’t be able to focus. We’ll do a double tomorrow, with a little surprise thrown in which you will hear about tomorrow evening.

If you get this blog entry tonight, it means I have found an internet connection. Otherwise it will be coming tomorrow at noon from an Internet café in Patchacutec. We are ½ way done and the time has already been such a blessing to all of us. Each of us have been touched in different ways in this week, and I have been watching many in the group and pleased to see the growth of this group. I only hope that they realize that this is not just a one-off event in their lives, but part of their journey with God that has been going on their whole life as a Christian. These moments will need to be unpacked when we get home, and we will be getting together again to do just that. So, it’s time to get some pictures ready for you to see and then eat, shower, and post this blog. More thoughts and reflections about tomorrow, after it happens. : ) Oh, and that stolen backpack. Apparently it wasn’t stolen after all……John had misplaced it….though the bus was broken into…..hmmmm I think John feels a bit sheepish right about now……

Wednesday Morning breakfast time.

Don't they all look so awake.....well, most of them do. : )

Gerry, Jeannine and Colin. Enjoying the back of the bus.

Work has once again begun. It was moving rocks from one pile to another. The girls worked this time, two groups actually. They took shifts because of the heat and finished early. You ROCK! pun intended of course.

Look at these girls go.

I see Hannah is in fine form this morning. Nice tongue.

This is the floor nearly finished. I think we will be putting up some walls tomorrow.

Hannah B was asked to help in one of the class rooms for a while, which she did very enthusiastically.

Here we are sorting rice. The good from the bad.

That's alot of rice to sort....but they are still smiling.

I think these are beats they are cutting up, but not sure.

Beans and rice for the children's lunches.

Oh, I just had to put this picture in. Mina was commenting on how much fun it was picking up the rocks. Those upper thighs were getting a real workout she said.

Some of the work crew on rest break. Every 15 minutes I would tell them it was time to switch.

I took some time to begin the blog in the Library, knowing it was going to be a long day, and not much time tonight to complete an entry with pictures.

During the time between working and lunch Mina and Patti were led by Jackie in some arobic excercises. Quit intertaining to watch.

Cindy catching some shut eye. For those of us on the older side of the fence, these are long days.

Just so you know Cindy, I'm on that side of the fence two. Here Hannah and Rosy are adding their blog entry for the day while I catch up on some badly needed sleep.

Another group went to the clinic today. here is a picture of one of their examination rooms.

Another group went to the orphanage again. Gerry put himself to work fixing the toilet.

Marsha put herself to work helping feed the younger children.

After lunch it was back outside to play with the kids. Kyle is trying his skills out here. These Peruvian children can run circles around us in soccer. It was pretty hot out today to.

All three of these girls are in the air skipping.

Then it was once again time for singing, with lots of actions of course. Inese was in charge after all. Here are several from the group helping out.

Another Great drama with the children helping out.

Here I am getting all that video stored up for later use.

Then it was time for more crafts.

Afterwards Gerry helped clean up the sanctuary to get it ready for the evening celebration. Thanks Gerry.

Not to be outdone, John mopped the floor.

A brief time to rest before we celebrate with Gamaliel church.

Here are the guys waiting outside the library so the girls could change into their red T shirts.

The group!

Three of the OLDER group getting some needed rest time. Patti looks quite comfortable.

We have never stayed in Patchacutec in the evening, so this is the first sunset that we have seen there. Beautiful.

Just a nice picture of Megan with her new friend.

Now, I have mentioned that dogs roam pretty much free here. This dog must belong to the church or something because he is always lying around some of us. He doesn't bark, just sleeps alot. He had been here for the three times we have been here.

Bel is having a wonderful time. She is also an excellent translator for us too. thanks Bel for all your help.

The evening celebration began with a solo by one of the girls of the church.

Sergio then had words of welcome for us. Inese is translating.

The youth group doing their musical dance number. What talent. Our group doing our numbers.

An appreciative congregation.

John preaching.

Sergio and his wife looking on.

That's me receiving the painting.

I'm now giving my short talk and blessing.

The group blessing the church.

Blowing out the candles.

Two nice cakes.

Hmmm....I think I was just happy or something.

The beginning of the serving line for dinner for the congregation.

The food makes it's way down the line.

It continues down until the sanctuary. Good thing we had 47 people. JUST enough to reach the whole way.

The congregation enjoying the meal.

A better shot of the wonderful work of art.

And finally, all our translators together. THANK YOU for serving with us in Patchacutec.