Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Peru Initiatives Document for Calvin CRC

 Greetings,

The following is a document circulated to Calvin CRC members to inform them of the things going on in regards to the Peru initiative that has been going on for the past 6 years.  The cover letter below explains a process we are going through to gain broader congregation approval for the work of those who have gone to Peru, and those who would like to go in the future. 



On three occasions in the past six years groups from Calvin CRC have been travelling to Peru for Learning Opportunities. Through these trips, as well as through ongoing communication, we have been getting to know Pastor Sergio and the Gamaliel Church in Patchacutec. There have been others outside of Calvin’s Congregation who have come with us, and recently, Immanuel CRC in Cornwall has come and taken a keen interest in continuing to come to Peru.

Those who have gone, and those still hoping to go, desire to have the formal support of the Calvin community as we nurture this partnership with Gamaliel Church. An ad hoc committee was set up this past year to consider the reasons for these trips and the value of international partnerships in general. The focus of this committee was between Calvin and Gamaliel churches specifically, to see if the partnership is worth continuing. This ad hoc committee has evolved into a Management Team and is comprised of Pastor Ron Hosmar, Shawn H , Nick V, Ruth V, Peter B, Rosalynn B and Hannah B. This team, under the purview of the Outreach committee, is moving in the following direction:


1. Share with Calvin CRC the history of the relationship, continually update the community on ongoing activities, and develop with the community a vision and plans for the future of the partnership with Gamaliel church. There are several appendices attached with additional details.

2. Look for input from the Congregation in a round table session to be held on Sunday, November 14th after the AM service in the basement to receive feedback from the community on this ministry initiative.

3. At the November Congregational Meeting a recommendation will be put forward asking for permission for those who have gone to Peru to continue working towards implementing a best practices partnership with Gamaliel church and fostering ways to engage Calvin CRC as that process evolves. This will not involve budget funds from Calvin, but more of an acknowledgement that this initiative is going on and is supported by the Congregation, much like the sponsorship of a missionary.

4. If congregation approval is given, then this Management Team will:

• work on raising the awareness of this partnership in the Congregation,

• Raise awareness of and prepare for the Learning Opportunities that would continue to grow through this partnership , including travel to Peru.

We invite you to read the following attachments and come on November 14th for further discussion in preparation for the congregational meeting at the end of November.

In His Service,

Pastor Ron Hosmar
Shawn H
Nick V
Ruth V
Peter B
Rosalynn B
Hannah B







Contents

APPENDIX “A” - Two Testimonies when it comes to Learning Opportunities

APPENDIX “B” - History of Peru Trips explained by Pastor Ron

APPENDIX “C” - Why International Learning Opportunities?

APPENDIX “D” - In interview with Pastor Sergio

APPENDIX “E” - Areas of mutual relationship building:

APPENDIX “F” - Best Practices and Calvin’s Current Status






APPENDIX “A”
Two Testimonies when it comes to Learning Opportunities:
A. From someone who has been to Peru:

Hi Ron! Its been so nice to be able to get updates every so often about everything that is going on in Peru. I'm assuming you guys have brought together another group to bring to Peru this spring break? I still think about Peru almost daily, it was such a huge influence in my life and where I am now. I can't seem to remember where I was in my journey when last we talked, but I am currently in the Nursing program at the UBC Okanagan as a direct result of our Peru trip.

At first I thought that by taking a missions program at a Bible college, I would be able to work out what sort of career would enable me to be able to work overseas to help in developing nations. But then at some point (I can't pinpoint when it was exactly that it hit me..) I realized that if I went into nursing, so many doors would open up for me to be able to serve overseas. In fact, Missions work is the biggest (and almost the only) reason I am in nursing right now. There are some days when I get a little bit overwhelmed by the thought of working in a Canadian hospital the rest of my life, but then I remember the reason I wanted to get into nursing in the first place..to be able to travel overseas and work in health teams providing physical and spiritual aid to people who really really need it, and then my motivation to become a nurse resurfaces!



B. From someone who has experienced a week long learning opportunity and reflecting on what was accomplished:

I didn’t change the world. I didn’t start a revival. I didn’t eradicate poverty. I didn’t cure whole villages of malaria. I didn’t open a school or hospital. I didn’t single handedly share the gospel with an entire temple of Buddhist monks and have them all become believers in Jesus Christ. I didn’t translate the Bible into an obscure language. I didn’t get thrown into jail for my faith and then have an entire nation repent due to my witness. I didn’t bring a physically poor community into self-sufficient prosperity. I didn’t find every single street child a home with a loving family.

I did strive to build relationships. I did walk alongside people as they struggled to live each day. I did value and love those that I worked with and those that I worked for. I did have part of my heart forever planted here. I did constantly learn and grasped that the more you know about a people, the more you understand that you haven’t even begun to figure it out. I did share about Jesus Christ to people who had never heard. I did change from wanting to help “the poor” to acknowledging that we are all poor in one way or another and that we are all walking together. I did allow God to strip away idols and distractions from my life (which is a scary process by the way) to reveal my true heart. I did know more fully that God’s grace is truly sufficient.



APPENDIX “B”
History of Peru Trips explained by Pastor Ron


For the past 6 years groups of young and older people, from Calvin CRC and beyond, have been travelling to Peru for Learning Opportunities. This began back in 2005, after the youth group just finished a mission trip to Chicago. After polling the group, they expressed interest in doing something overseas. I researched CRWRC initiatives, but many seemed very expensive. While at a National Youth Workers Convention I met a member of “Frontline Peru” on a bus back to my hotel. In 5 minutes he gave me the impression that this was something that we could do for the following reasons:

a. The price was very reasonable compared to other places I’d researched.

b. Peruvians were running this organization and all assistance was provided by local Peruvians – another requirement of mine as I researched.

We planned and went on our first Peru Learning Opportunity in March of 2006. The group consisted of mostly youth from Calvin and Barrhaven CRC’s and some youth leaders. As we had decided on doing Trips every other year to reduce fundraising fatigue I began contemplating our next trip in 2007. I toyed with the idea of going to another place, or sticking with Peru for the longer term. I had done some initial reading on the pro’s and con’s of moving around with mission trips, and I was leaning towards staying with one place over a longer term. I polled the group and discovered they all wanted to go back to Peru. I suggested we ask parents to come along, since some younger ones wanted to go too. This was fine with them, so the group type changed from a “Youth Group Mission Trip to a “Calvin Church Learning Opportunity.”

After this trip the group met to talk about any further actions we might be able to take to assist Gamaliel church. The outcome of that meeting was for some members to raise funds for the church’s feeding program over the course of the year and discuss other ways we could form a more structured partnership.

As our third trip to Peru was being planned I was planning to ask some of those who had gone to Peru to form a group to better formulate what a partnership could/might look like and dialogue with Ministry Board as to what this could all mean, or not mean for that matter. At the same time a letter was sent to Ministry Board outlining some concerns with what a “Long Term Partnership” with Gamaliel church might/could mean. This letter prompted the formation of an ad hoc committee that looked into the necessity and possible structure of a longer term partnership with Gamaliel Church in Peru. That committee outlined recommendations, and there is now a more permanent committee overseeing the Peru Initiative. The members are: Pastor Ron Hosmar, Shawn Heij, Ruth Vlaming, Hannah Brinkman, Rosalynn Berti, Peter Berti, and Nick Van Dyk.



APPENDIX “C”
Why International Learning Opportunities?

Nick V did some research on the rationale for overseas initiatives. Here are some of his thoughts:

Members of Calvin have now participated in three International Learning and Sharing Trips. A total of about 50 members, both youth and older, have been to Patchacutec, Peru, as well as many others who are not part of Calvin CRC. Why is Calvin involved in these types of trips and should they continue? Many questions can be asked in connection with these trips.

a. Isn’t this an inefficient and costly way to do mission work?

b. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to send the funds to organizations already doing such work (e.g. CRWM and CRWRC)?

c. Can’t our members do mission work locally at less cost?

d. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to provide funds to the organization in Peru so they could hire local people to do the construction work?

e. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to send the materials or funds to allow the local church members to organize the VBS program?

The answer to all those questions is yes, but only if the trips are seen to be “mission” trips or trips whose main purpose is to construct a building or put on a VBS. But they aren’t. And that is why the trips are not being called “Mission Trips”. There really is no need to send Canadians to Peru to do “mission” work. The “church” has been very active in Peru for centuries and are well equipped to do all of the “mission” work required. Christian Peruvians can organize and put on a VBS and do the required construction work. In some areas (like Pachacutec) there may be the need for financial support since local church members are resource poor, but they have great ability to do God’s Work.

However, there is another, more important, reason for these trips. That is the development and nurture of the church. In the Apostles’ Creed we confess that we believe in “one holy catholic church”. These trips are an excellent means of implementing that statement. But, cannot we do that closer to home? Perhaps even in our own city? While there can be valuable learning and sharing experiences locally, there is are valuable benefits from doing it internationally. The majority of Christians now live in the “global south” and the church is growing more quickly there than in North America or Europe. We have much to learn from the church in other areas, and they have much to learn from us. These trips are an excellent way of doing that learning and sharing.

We are going to Pachacutec to learn and share together with the Gamaliel church there. We are going to work alongside our fellow Christians, to get to know them better, to pray and share with them. We are going there to encourage them and to have them encourage us. We are going there to learn how the church in Peru lives and does its mission work, and to support them in their work. Through these trips we know that members of Calvin will get a better understanding of how our brothers and sisters in Christ live, work, and worship in Peru where poverty and poor living conditions are common, and in a way that is not possible to experience locally or in other areas of Canada or the U.S.A.

International trips will allow us to develop a better understanding of inter-cultural differences and to provide all of us with better knowledge of how we can serve our Lord, both here and elsewhere and how we can more effectively work together with other Christians doing that. While it could be cost effective to provide funds to the church in Peru to do their own mission work, we would not be building relationships and encouraging each other. We might even be creating a dependency relationship - them depending on our financial support. And we would lose the good opportunity of learning how others live and worship.

There are also benefits for the members of the church in Pachacutec. They are participating in a learning and sharing experience too, and they will be strengthened in their faith and commitment to do mission work by our visit and partnership. Hopefully we will be able to have some of the Gamaliel church members visit us here too. The important thing is to ensure that we are sharing as equals, not just thinking about what we can do for them or get out of the experience. Yes, these international learning and sharing trips can be costly in money terms, but the learning and sharing that goes on provides benefits that make those investments worthwhile. It strengthens both Calvin and Gamaliel churches.







APPENDIX “D”
An interview with Pastor Sergio
This past March Pastor Ron sat down with Sergio to talk about Gamaliel and Calvin’s relationship. He had videoed the time, but as you know, those videos were stolen. He did his best to remember what was said and outlined other areas of the church that we experienced. What follows are summations of those things:
A. Gamaliel Church Structure: Pastor Sergio outlined a three pronged vision for Gamaliel Church.

Feeding the Mind: They have begun a Christian Day School this past year. At the moment it consists of Kindergarten through Grade One. They have about 30 children enrolled. Space is tight so they are building other classrooms to accommodate more children. Sergio hopes to be able to offer classes through to Grade 8, and into high school if possible.

If the church obtains the deed to the land (still working out details for that), they would like to construct buildings of more than one level. That would take much more effort and resources, but Sergio is willing to wait on God for whatever He will provide. Some of our funds sent to Frontline helped purchase materials to build the classrooms, and pay for the workers who laid the concrete floor and set up the two classrooms on that floor.

Pastor Sergio would like to see people from Calvin come to Gamaliel church for a longer duration of time to help teach the children English. At present staying in Patchacutec may not be possible due to housing and sanitation issues, but commuting from Lima may be a possibility.

Feeding the Body: Last year the church began a feeding program. Several members of Calvin decided to assist them in that endeavor by donating monthly for one year towards it. Just before we arrived in Lima, we wired just over $2,000.00 for the feeding program. These funds will help purchase a sink and feed the 20+ children for several months. Frontline is also assisting the church with the feeding program. Sergio knows that God will provide for this program in the years to come. He waits on God for the funds needed to make it happen.

All children in the feeding program spend 2 hours in the library after eating to do homework. A teacher helps them with their studies. Sergio hopes that someday they can have used computers in the library to assist the school, and those in the feeding program, in their studies.

Feeding the Soul: The church is engaged in regular worship and outreach. Part of the benefits that Sergio sees is our coming every two years to do a VBS. The contacts that they make with the children coming have helped the church to grow once we have left. They follow-up on as many of the families as they can. There are many very small house churches in the area, which concerns Pastor Sergio. He would like to see them come together so that sound Doctrine and sound teaching keeps the church strong.

The church is seven years old now. We have watched it grow in the three times we have been there. We see the heart of Pastor Sergio, Fernando, and now the new Youth Pastor Naphtali. None receive any salary in their work for the church. All have wonderful hearts for their people, their church, and God.

Some other points about the church that came out of our interview time together:

a. They have just started asking members of the church to tithe. This has been a long time in coming, since they don’t have much. We watched them bring their tithe on Wednesday evening to the front of the church. A neat experience.

b. The church sits on land that belongs to some squatters. Sergio is trying to find the squatters to ask them to give up their deeds so that the church can build on those small parcels of land.

c. There is a board of elders that helps Sergio govern the life of the church, but I got the impression that the vision and final decisions rest with Sergio. Some of that stems from the fact that 10 or so years ago God told Sergio to come to Pachacutec to start a church from nothing. He obeyed, and is now seeing the fruits of that decision.

d. Sergio and Naphtali are full time teachers and work for the church for nothing. Fernando is in the same situation. He has started studying to be a machinist, I think.

e. The church initiatives have been started without Calvin’s help (feeding program and Christian School). This puts into practice their words that they desire a relationship with us, not the funds that could come with that relationship.

f. A lady working in the feeding program came to the church asking for food. They worked out a relationship where this lady works in the feeding program, and her wages are food. A creative way to help a lonely woman in the community.

g. The church keeps meticulous financial records. I will be receiving a summary of how the Feeding Program funds have been spent. At times they can get food much cheaper from places that don’t issue receipts, but they record those manually for us anyway. The detailed financial records are translated by Erin from Frontline.


B. Home Visits: This year we once again visited homes of many of the church members. Some were longtime members, others fairly new. Some had nicer homes, others not so. In all the visits, the one theme that shone through was the openness of our hosts in sharing their lives and the joy they felt in having us come to Peru to be with them. Lives are not easy there, and those struggles were shared too. This proves to be a highlight for many who come to Peru.

C. Orphanage: We once again visited the Orphanage/Day Care centre. We played with the children, helped them with lunch feeding, and did some crafts with them.

D. Medical Clinic: We also all went to the medical clinic nearby. The purpose of this was to expose the group to the kinds of medical access that Peruvians have. There were some needs expressed certainly, and they were very appreciative of the donations of medical supplies we provided.


E. Possible areas of assistance: As we come home now, there have been discussions as to areas where we might be able to be a blessing to Gamaliel church. Pastor Sergio is very clear that he does not desire any $$ from Calvin church. He desires that the relationship between our two churches continues to grow, and if that includes help from Canada, that is an added bonus, but not an expectation on his part. He talks about this with his church members as well. Having said that, there are some areas that we could consider to be a blessing:

  1. Used computers for the Library.
  2. Continued support of the feeding program for those wanting to.
  3. Assisting the teachers of the Christian School through giving them training in Peru and we help pay for those courses.
  4. Assisting Pastor Sergio (and Fernando and Youth Pastor) in some way so he can teach a little less and be a Pastor a little more.
  5. Assist Pastor Sergio and Youth Pastor in Seminar Training.
  6. “Today Devotional’s” are published in Spanish. I took some with me and gave to Sergio. We could do more of this. Faith Alive publishes other items in Spanish that we could donate to Church for Church school teaching.
  7. Medical clinic needs some dental equipment.

 NOTE: Whatever we do, we want everything to be funneled through the church so that the church is perceived to be the one blessing the community. We will let the church explain where things are coming from.






APPENDIX “E”

Areas of mutual relationship building:
As Pastor Sergio has so clearly explained to me, he is so very thankful for the relationship that we have between our two churches. When times have been tough for him in ministry, it has been the knowledge that there is a church in Canada that cares and is praying for him/the church that keeps him going. We acknowledge that coming once every two years is good, but not ideal for relationship building. Pastor Sergio and I talked about other things that can be done to enhance our relationship between our visits (Including Cornwall CRC in all of this as well):

a. Have Pastor Sergio come to Canada to visit.

b. Once a month share what has been going on between our churches via info emails and prayer emails. Frontline would be the translators for us and this information would be shared with our congregation through the mail slots.

c. Somehow encourage families here to begin writing with families in Peru and sharing our lives together. Much the same as one who would sponsor a child or family and would write letters back and forth.

d. Set up a group that would like to Pray for Gamaliel Church on a regular basis.

e. That whatever partnership we form (if that is the end result) it is done well and Calvin CRC is informed as to the parameters of such a partnership. Other Partnerships in other parts of the world would follow similar guidelines as they are presented to Ministry Board/Steering Committee





APPENDIX “F”
Best Practices and Calvin’s Current Status

The Ad Hoc committee received a document from Jason which is a compilation of several sources that we have put together as an outline of  best practices when it comes to International Partnerships. We compared the best practices to our current status.













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