PERU '09 ~ DAY I ~ On Our Way!

Greetings from Lima friends!

(Ana McGlynn, David Reamsnyder, David Adams, Mark Polley; Jude, Joel & Tammy Prather)

Christ is Risen! After departing from Nashotah House on Easter Day we safely arrived in Peru last night around 11:00pm CST (we didn't even need to change our watches!). It was a good day of travel which went safely and comfortably...thanks be to God.

(L to R: Fr. Allen, Jude, Joel, Mark, David A., David R. and Ana)

We began our day today at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd where we went through an orientation with Fr. Allen Hill, dean of the Seminary of Sts. Augustine and Bp. Godfrey, the missionary bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Peru.

Fr. Allen told us of the work of seminary and the need they have in this Missionary Diocese for missionaries and for funding in order to develop a strong, trained Peruvian clergy which can reach the all of the regions of Peru: the North, the Andes, the Amazon Jungle and the South. They have the incredible circumstance of cities calling them and inviting them to start a Church because of their wonderful reputation...however, they need more clergy to meet these spectactular requests.

(L to R: Bp. Godfrey, Mark, David A., David R., Fr. Allen-foreground, Ana and Joel)

We then had a delightful home-cooked Peruvian lunch (cooked by our friends from last year, Meche & Pati) where Bp. Godfrey painted a wonderful picture of the vision and mission of the Diocese and their work, which is to have mission stations, missions and parishes (different congregations ranging from "outposts" to fully self-supporting) on the front lines of ministry...to be salt and light, to be the fragrance of Christ to the Peruvian people through their presence, their service and ocial outreach; their preaching and their worship. All of which is centered upon a desire to build an Anglican Church which is evangelical in its zeal and mission, catholic in its worship and sacraments, charistimatic in its expectation of the power of the Holy Spirit and thoroughly Peruvian in its identity. It was wonderful and inspiring, as always, to be with our dear friend and father-in-God, Bp. Godfrey.

(Squatter homes carved into, and up, the hillsides are far as the eye can see and in every direction)

We then went on a tour of the vast shanty towns with Fr. Allen and Peruvian seminarian Mariela where the majority of the Diocese's congregations currently exist. It was a lot to take in seeing communities that have risen out of illegal squatter settlements and developed into communities carved into the foothills of the Andes where extreme poverty, drugs and lack of education are serious problems to be overcome.

(David A., Tammy, Jude and Mark in front of the Church of San Juan Evangelista)

In the midst of this are Churches like San Juan Evangelista which we visited. It is overseen by Pastor Luis and his wife Teofilia who minister daily to 150 school-aged children and support a Compassion International program.

(Pastor Luis and Teofila)

Pastor Luis took me to the roof of his home before we left and pointed to a cross way off in the distance at the top of a mountain (what they call foothills: the Andes which are about 100? miles away are the longest, widest and second tallest mountain range in the world) and said that under that cross is where most of his children come from. He asked for prayers for his ministry to the children to be able to make a difference and plant deep roots in them in Christ before the culture around them can harm their precious souls.

Right now, I'm sitting in our room at Fr. Allen & Dcn. Rachel Hill's home where we're staying with Mark P. Jude's having a blast playing with their two sons who are 4 and 6 years old. And he's loving being in Peru and taking in the sights, sounds and smells (he said the shanty towns smell like Old World Wisconsin).

In a few hours we beging our teaching currciculum in the Seminary tonight, beginning with Eucharist and then David Adams who'll be leading out opening sessions. Please pray for David and for the Peruvian seminarians that we all be formed into the image of Our Lord through our time together.

Talk to you tomorrow.
Joel