the Jackson Kemper Missionary Society

PERU 09 ~ VI ~ Synod

2009-04-19T21:33:00.004-05:00

(A fitting symbol of the Church in Peru)

(Bp. Godfrey with Fr. John Park and Dcn. Rachel Hill who is also Bp. Godfrey's daughter)

(The passing of the peace..."La Paz del Senor")

(The Bishop with Dcn. Ruben and two laywomen in traditional garb from Juancallo).

(I just love this picture of the Bishop with people in traditional garb!)

(The clergy of the Diocese of Peru...true heroes!)

(Bp. Godfrey casting the Vision)

(Mark Polley representing the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church as a bicycle being pushed by the Bishop {hidden behind Mark})

(Seminarians from Arequipa, in the south)

(Santa Maria la Virgen)

(Ana, David R and Mark working in the kitchen for the Synod meal)

(It's a wonder any dishes got washed...actually we washed a lot)

(Bp. Godrey giving us a wonderful welcome in front of the whole Synod)

(Claudia, Fr. Misael and Al Shannon who worked in the Andes and the Jungle translating the Bible into the Quechua language for many years...I hope for a chance to talk to him)

PERU '09 ~ Day V ~ San Andres

2009-04-17T22:39:00.007-05:00

(Color homes carved into the mountainside in the north of Lima on the way to San Andres)

(The red line marks the very, very, very steep path we had to climb to reach the San Andres mission. The tiny dark blue dot which is barely visibly that the arrow points to is our bus!)

(David R. overlooking San Andres)

("The Davids")

(Smiling Mark inside San Andres mission, a Church with a blue tarp for a ceiling and this beautiful homemade Crucifix)

(Ana with two of the young girls from San Andres who are learning the book of Proverbs and how to play the piano)

(Fr. Benjamin and David with some ninas from San Andres)

(Redefining Pastoral House Calls...David A. and David R. with Fr. Benjamin. This was about a 25 foot vertical climb up to the house)

(The view overlooking San Andres)

(Ana and Mark making a Pastoral Visit to pray with a family at the bottom of the mountain)

(David A., Carmen, Fr. Benjamin and David R.: Carmen asked Fr. Benjamin to bless a pitcher of Holy Water for her)

(Tonight was our night to relax a little, debrief, regroup and enjoy fellowship as a Team)

PERU '09 ~ Day IV ~ Santa Maria Virgen & Lectures

2009-04-16T22:28:00.011-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Well...one our of faithful team members got a stomach bug. Please pray for Mark Polley, he's been rather sick since last night and so stayed home today to rest and take medicine. He's an incredible brother, the first to pray and always joyful and...he still gave his lecture tonight. Please keep him in prayer as he's not out of the woods.

(Fr. Aurelio leading us in singing on the bus...the "John Wimber of Peru")

(A beautiful icon of the Holy Family in the Church of St. Maria written by Peruvian seminarian Marco)

(The women's ministry which makes beautiful hand crafts at St. Maria la Virgen)

This morning we made Pastoral Care Visits again with Fr. Aurelio. (Ironically, last year the day we visited Santa Maria la Virgen was the day I stayed home sick.) We walked into Fr. Aurelio's beautiful Church and were immediately greeted by a sanctuary complete with tabernacle, sanctuary lamp and icons. As he greeted us he described Santa Maria as "moderately Anglican, extravagantly Catholic"...a sentiment we at Nashotah House appreciated and got a chuckle out of. Fr. Aurelio also keeps beautiful gardens. And so between his love of gardening, the Catholic expression of Anglicanism and wearing an Orthodox style beard he said on the bus, "I sense a Deacon from Nashotah House may need to come to Peru to work with Santa Maria..." and which point all of us on the bus pointed to David Reamsnyder!!!

(Back: Jude, Joel, Ana, Fr. Aurelio & David R. "his future vicar" , Fr. Allen, David A & seminarian & artist Marco. Frt: seminarians Manuel and Mariela...standing on the site on

his newest mission carved into the side of a rock wall he jokingly called "Machu Picchu.")

As Fr. Aurelio was describing his ministry he said he has one parish (St. Maria) and seven missions. I interrupted and said, "Father, when our group was here last year they said you had four missions? You have three new missions in a year?" He replied yes, with a big smile. He's an incredibly creative, passionate and visionary man of God.

(Hiking up the steep incline - steeper than it looks - to visit a mission. L to R: Fr. Aurelio and Jude holding hands - they're buds now - Joel, Tammy and Mariela)

(The view about halfway up the hill we needed to climb)

(Receiving a warm welcome our brothers and sisters at Epifania)

Once we got to the top of the hill / mountain we received a wonderful reception by our hermanos at Aurelio's newsest mission...Epifania. It is on the highest inhabitable hill in the area and they've been there for four months. We had a great time of sharing and had a chance to prayer for the sick with the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. One incredibly kind brother gave Jude a beautiful traditional Peruvian sweater, we were so touched by such generosity. It was a wonderful visit. Fr. Aurelio got out his "Book of Gold" before we left, which is his guest book. It was really cool to see the signatures of our group in there from last year.

(Ana signing the "Book of Gold")

(Jude has absolutely loved these little "moto-taxis", a kind of scooter-rickshaw. Since it was quite a hike down he got to ride down in this with Ana & Tammy. What fun!)

(David A. serving as deacon & presenting our gifts to Fr. Allen)

Tonight was our last night for lecturing in the seminary and like every night we begin with the Holy Eucharist. The seminary has existed for many years on the grounds of the Cathedral and just last year got its own campus. With their new space they are in need of furnishings for their Chapel: vestments, sacred vessels, etc and have had to borrow what they can from local Churches on a temporary basis. Nashotah House was able to donate some altar linens, stoles and chasubles but the one thing the seminary still didn't have was a Chalice, Paten or Cruets. So this afternoon the Lord provided the means for us to purchase these for the seminary. I can't tell you how blessed we were to be able to provide these basic, but incredibly meaningful, needs for our dear brothers and sisters. And to know that when they gather around the Lord's Table there will be these symbols of our partnership in the Gospel, a partnership which we at Nashotah House truly cherish. Praise God!.

That said, they still need furnishings: processional Gospel Book (it can be in English), altar book/missal stand, chasubles, dalmatics/tunicles, stoles, ciborium, pix, thurible and boat, lavabo bowl (additional chalice and paten possibly), crucifix, etc. If you or your Church have any of these items you'd like to donate please contact me and I can arrange to get it there. As an Anglican Seminary having a full supply of liturgical items with which to train the future clergy is incredibly important so thank you in advance for helping in this way!

(Joel, Jhonny, Jude and Tammy)

Since this was our last night of classes Peruvian seminarians Juan Carlos, Dimas and Edith prepared a lovely dinner for us. A real treat was getting to spend time with Jhonny. Jhonny is a member of the Peruvian Christian musical group Nazareno which is one of mine and Jude's absolute favorites! I told Jude this was Jhonny who sings "Peru music" (as Jude calls it). Jhonny started singing one of Jude's favorite tunes and you should've seen the look on his face! It clicked for him that "This is the Peru music man!" Thank you Lord for such simple and sweet gifts and dear brothers like Jhonny. (Not a typo, to make an English "J" sound they write it "Jh").

(Fr. Allen translating for Super Mark)

Let me just say that Mark Polley is my hero. He was terribly sick all day and came out and presented his curriculum with energy and a real love for the Peruvian seminarians. Mark taught on how to keep a Rule of Life with a particular funny yet true analogy that a Rule of Life is like a belt. If you gain a little weight you adjust it. If you lose a little weight you adjust it. A Rule of Life should be equally as appropriate to the circumstances of your life. Fortunately, the analogy didn't include a visual for what happens if you lose your Rule / belt and drop trou'. =op

(Our dear brothers and sisters taking notes while Mark lectures)

PERU '09 ~ DAY III ~ San Pedro & Solemn High Mass

2009-04-15T23:06:00.008-05:00

Bienvenidos! Nothing says Peruvian Missions like a smiling ex-paratrooper/ now Deacon getting his very first taste of national Peruvian soft drink...Inka Cola! Deacon Reamsnyder was a happy man!

(The neighborhood we made pastoral visits in today)

(Each "neighborhood" is identified by these signs above steep yellow stairwells)

This morning we returned to the Church of San Pedro (where we painted yesterday) in order to make Pastoral Visits to peoples homes and to pray for them. We were divided into two teams lead by Fr. Allen and Claudia and spent the morning praying for dear brothers and sisters in need of healing for their hearts, and bodies and families.

(Peruvian seminarian Marco, Ana and Mark make their way to parishioners' homes)

We traversed the steep, rocky and hilly foot trails to make our visits which included praying for a number of babies who were premature and had jaundice, broken families and in one home healing and repentance for a family that took their sick child to a witch doctor.

(Precious, smiling baby Abigail with her mother Margarita)

At one of the homes we prayed for a precious little baby, Abigail. While Ana held her tiny fingers and prayed little Abigail had the HUGEST smile. We really felt the Lord's Presence in these homes and it was a privlege to fulfill the promise in the Epistle of James to lay hands and anoint with oil for healing the sick; expectantly trusting God to glorify Himself in this. All I can say to sufficiently describe how powerful these times of prayer were is...Wow! God is awesome!

(Jude making friends with one of the "ninos" at a home we visited)

(Claudia & Jude have become fast friends, here they are on the stairs I mentioned above)

Mark, "the Davids" and Joel spent this afternoon with Fr. John Park, the dean of the Cathedral, rehearsing for tonight's Eucharist. Fr. John loves traditional, solemn, Anglo-Catholic liturgy in all its fullness and invited us to serve as the altar party. Being Nashotah House seminarians we were more than happy to oblige of course. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to share with our Peruvian brothers and sisters our unique style of worship. While we're well-trained at Nashotah House nothing could prepare David R. or Joel for chanting the Epistle and the Gospel...in Spanish! (And lemme tell ya, the Gospel tonight was looonnng) We had a full altar party vested in dalmatic, tunicle, biretta, zuchetto and humeral veil with lots of incense and everything chanted. It was a blast.

Then after Eucharist David R. taught tonight on Ascetical Spiritual Disciplines which was wonderfully received by the Peruvians seminarians. The amount of riches he presented from the tradition of the Church spanning the Shepherd of Hermas through Thomas Aquinas and on to Jeremy Taylor and Michael Ramsey in a word...rocked!

P.S.: I'll have pictures from the Eucharist and David's lecture up tomorrow.

PERU '09 ~ DAY II ~ Painting at San Pedro & Lectures

2009-04-14T23:26:00.005-05:00

(David Adams embracing the shanty towns of San Juan de Miraflores)

When I had last left off we were on our way out the door to the seminary for a night that included the Eucharist, dinner and fellowship and the first installment of the curriculum they asked us to teach on Keeping a Rule of Life. David Adams did an incredible job teaching on the topic "What is a Rule of Life and Why is it Important in the Christian Life?" We had a great discussion time towars the end with our Peruvian brothers and sisters where their shared their hopes for our time together and helped us understand their lives and the cultural context in which they live their spiritual lives. It was an awesome evening.

In 2008 Nashotah House made it's first visit to the Anglican Diocese of Peru through a very generous grant from the Evangelical Education Society (EES). Thanks to EES's generosity and encouragement this first encounter paved the way for the relationship Nashotah House and the Seminary of Sts. Augustine are continuing to build now, and which I hope will continue for years to come.

(In front of Cristo Redentor: Ana, "the Davids", Mark, Fr. Misael and Fr. Allen)

Then this morning we headed south on our combi (van) to the Churches of Cristo Redentor and San Pedro which are under the care of Fr. Misael and Claudia. These Churches are smack the heart of the shanty-town/squatter settlements of the district of San Juan de Miraflores and their atop some big mountains and you can see the sprawl in every direction for what must be ten or fifteen miles? It's staggering.

(The four-year-old class at Cristo Redentor. Can you spot a red-head among the students?)

We had a chance to visit the classes of their day school, which are sponsored by Compassion International, and it was wonderful to see Jude connect with the Peruvian kids.

We also were able to help paint the exterior wall of the Church of San Pedro, also in Fr. Misael and Claudia's care, since it unfornately is the victim of graffiti. It was a great team effort with by everyone. These photos show the transformation from grafitti to a clean, white wall. Not unlike what the Lord does with our hearts, eh?

Here you can see the fruit of our labors. Notice the mountains in the background on the left?

This afternoon we had some fun down-time. Half of our team (Mark and the Prathers) are staying with Fr. Allen and Dcn. Rachel Hill and they're two boys and its been such a blessing. Their generosity in opening their home to us, and share their lives and example of life as a missionary family, is incredible. The boys had fun playing "Pile On Mark" this afternoon. It's so great to see Jude enjoy the new friendships with the Hill boys which they're quickly formed.

(Joel teaching about spiritual disciplines of engagement, like Lectio Divina)

Tonight we returned to the seminary for Eucharist and then my (Joel's) lecture on "Spiritual Disciplines of Engagement." It was a real privilege to present this material since it is material I'm passionate about and I'm presenting it to friends whom I have an incredible amount of respect for. These fellow seminarians have incredible lives which include working full-time, serving as ministers in their Churches (often be fully responsible for a Mission Station) having families and going to seminary four nights a week...all of which they do with incredible faithfulness, committment and joy! They're such a wonderful example. It was humbling to be asked to teach them. They certainly are teaching us as well through the incredible examples of committment and joy which they are.

(Ana translating for Joel...even the hand gestures!)

It's been a real blessing as well to have our very own in-house translator in Ana McGlynn. From the moment we headed to the airport she has been reaching out to people, striking up conversation and offering encouragement in the Lord to all and translating our curriculum each night. We're privileged to have her with us as a member of our Nashotah Team.

PERU '09 ~ DAY I ~ On Our Way!

2009-04-13T16:24:00.008-05:00

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

2008 Nashotah Conference on Global Missions

2008-09-09T14:25:00.007-05:00

the Jackson Kemper Missionary Society

in cooperation with

Anglican Global Mission Partners

presents Nashotah House's

2008 Conference on Global Missions

"Global Missions: All are Called"

featuring

the Rt. Rev. William Godfrey

of the

Anglican Diocese of Peru

October 31st and November 1st

for more information contact

Two Articles About Our 2008 Peru Mission

2008-04-04T21:37:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Two articles about Nashotah House's 2008 Mission to the Anglican Diocese of Peru have recently been featured in Nashotah House's Missioner (here) and the Diocese of Quincy's Harvest Plain (here). Both were written by your's truly so much of the content is similar to what you can read in this blog's daily journals (although much more brief) but I wanted to make these available nonetheless.

Blessings,

Joel Allen Prather
President, the Jackson Kemper Missionary Society

Peru Trip Day 1

2008-03-03T10:29:00.000-06:00

January 11, 2008
Greetings Family and Friends,
So after a long day of travel my comrades and I arrived safely in Lima. As I write this I’m sitting looking out the window and enjoying some homemade chicha-morada, a fruit drink made from cooking pineapple and blue corn then adding sugar and lemon. Last night we were warmly greeted by our hosts from the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd at the airport and taken to the five-room apartment my team and I are sharing. It was very foggy this morning and to our surprise, upon returning home from our day, we looked out the window to discover the beautiful view of the ocean in this picture. It's a little foggy but you can see a mountain and the ocean in the background (this photo doesn't do it justice).

Our day today started with Morning Prayer at the Cathedral followed by an official welcome presentation on the history and work of the Anglican Diocese of Peru.

(Here we are sitting in a choir stall as Fr. John gives us the history and vision of the Anglican Diocese of Peru. L to R: (front) Sven, Mark, Sandy, Ellora (back) Bill, Micah, Michael, me and Joe took the photo.)

The Lord has been, and is doing a mighty work here and the Diocese is growing faster than they can keep up with. The Cathedral is its own little walled community which includes the Church, a fellowship hall, library, diocesan offices and (I believe) some residences. (The Cathedral compound, the Churh is on the right and the fellowship hall is the brown doors on the left. I'm standing on stairs leading up to some offices. More offices are through the passageway.)

So after not using my Spanish in years I fared pretty well today talking to our new friends; Mariela, Fr. John and Marco; telling them about my family (mi hijo con pelo rojo y mi sposa qui studia nuovo testamente ala seminario) and where I’m from. Pictured are Mariela and Marcom seminaristas (seminarians) and lay ministers who will be our guides during the whole trip and Fr. John the Dean (priest & head pastor) of the Cathedral. I love the name seminarista, that's what's on our nametags here too...sounds cool huh? Like we should be wearing sombreros with gun belts crossed on our chests shouting "Viva Jesus!!! Y viva la Iglesia!"

(L to R: Me, Mariela, Fr. John and Marco.)

This afternoon we visited pre-Incan ruins that are just a few blocks from the Cathedral smack in the middle if the city. They date from 200 to 700 A.D.

Here are some photos of “American camels”, as our tour guide at the ruins called them, a.k.a. llamas. Guinea pigs are also very popular here in Peru…

...on the menu! They call them cuy (for the sound they make). We’re supposed to dine on cuy at some point while we're here. Should be...uh...interesting.

All that said, I feel so blessed and privileged to be here in Peru seeing the work God is doing. Thanks for your prayers and please continue to pray for my comrades and I. Gloria Dios!

Peru Trip Day 2

2008-03-03T10:28:00.000-06:00

January 12, 2008
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ dear friends and family!

So today our team visited the shanty-towns on the southern edge of Lima. The bakdrop to this area is the Andes mountains as you can see in this picture, a truly breathtaking panorama...This picture is the same view, more or less, for 360 degrees; the shanty-towns spread out literally as far as the eye can see and are areas that are at the foot of the mountain are legal neighborhoods; the further up the mountainside you go they are illegal squatter communities. We spent our day towards the "top" among the squatter communities. The poverty is saddening and the immensity of how many people are here (if I recall, our translator said there are about one million in the shanty-towns!) is staggering. Most of the people who live here are Quechua Indians who've migrated from the Andes.

(Pictured are some women washing clothes at the community water spicket.)

The area on which they build homes is very steep so the way people build is by carving out the mountainside to make a flat enough space for a house (all by hand with pick axes and lugging rocks in a bag).

The purpose of our trip was to visit two Churches in the shanty-town, Cristo Redentor and San Pedro. The couple who run these, Fr. Misael and his wife Claudia, are an incredibly godly couple; totally sold out for Jesus and committed to serving Him. Likewise for a young seminarista, Raul, who works with the youth at Cristo Redentor. Their passion for ministering to the children and youth in these slums was incredible to see. (Sandy, Fr. Misael, Claudia, local kiddies, our translator Clara, Mariela (in the blue shirt) and Ellora)

We had a great time with the kids, singing songs and playing games. Then with the teenagers one of our group, Sven, gave a wonderful short exhortation to them about finding their identity in whom God created them to be.

(pictured L to R: Marco, Sven, Joe, Ellora-seated and Michael-drums)
One fun moment for me was having my new friend, Marco who is a seminarista (seminarian) at the Anglican seminary here, help me translate some Portuguese songs I know into Spanish.

(pictured: Marco, me and Joe)

After our time at Cristo Redentor we got back on the mini-bus to return to downtown Lima and were bid farewell by a common sight...a dog on the roof...

On the way back to downtown Lima where we're staying we got an impromptu tour of the city from our driver.

They have these neat little motorcycle taxis out in the shanty-towns (mototaxis).

After dinner our group, a little sunburned and tired from hiking up and down all the steep inclines like those pictured here...

...prayed Compline together and had fun cracking up excessivley at each other in our tired, slap-happy state. (our team: Joe, Ellora, Michael, Mark, Sandy, Micah, Bill, me, Sven and one of the local priests, Benjamin)

Once again, all I can do is praise God for the privilege to be here and see the passion of those who are ministering for Him. It's truly inspiring. Please pray for Fr. Misael, Claudia and Raul and the churches of Cristo Redentor and San Pedro. They're doing awesome work here to bring the "least of these" to faith in Jesus Christ. May Our Lord bless each of you abundantly! Gloria Dios!

Peru Trip Day 3

2008-03-03T10:27:00.000-06:00

January 13, 2008
Greetings from Peru family and friends!
Today was another eventful and wonderfully day. We began our day at the English-speaking service at the Cathedral. The congregation is a mixture of ex- patriot Brits, Americans and English-speaking (and learning) Peruvians.

(Catedral del Buen Pastor)

We were invited to serve at the English service today and every member of the team did so. I read the New Testament lesson, Mark read the Old Testament, Sandy and Micah were ushers, Ellora lead the Prayers of the People; Sven, Joe and Bill served in the altar party and Michael preached (a great message!). This was a fun chance for us, as Nashotah House seminarians, to do what we do best.

(Bill {hidden}, Sven and Joe showing what Nashotah does best...liturgy!)

We then attended the Spanish service which included the Baptism of a young girl named Vanessa. It was a privilege to witness the beginning of this young girl’s life in Christ and; even though we were halfway around the world, in a different culture and language; reaffirm our own Baptismal vows together with her and our Peruvian brothers and sisters in Christ in this congregation.

(Michael preaching)

We then were invited to the home of Dean of the Cathedral, Fr. John, and his wife Susan for a great time of fellowship and a wonderful lunch.

This afternoon we visited the Mision la Ascension, a very small, new church in the city which is the home Church of Mariela and Marco (who you can see in photos from Day 1). They have been our guides here everyday and are such a blessing. They have true servants’ hearts and have become great friends to us.

(Mision la Ascension, about the size of a typical American garage)

Their priest, Fr. Alberto lead the music and also gave an awesome message on the Baptism of Christ which Sven translated for us. (Sven translating for Fr. Alberto...and possibly the only evidence of him ever wearing a tie!)

The worship was Spirit-filled and lively with a true Peruvian flavor and the faith of the people in this tiny Church was so encouraging to see. We had a great time worshipping with them and fellowshipping after the service.

(Paola {in the purple floral shirt} and members of Ascension; Joe, Ellora, and Bill listeing to Fr. Alberto's sermon)

They are growing and therefore need a larger building so asked for our prayers, please do say a prayer for a new building for Fr. Alberto and Mision la Ascension. Thanks!

(the wonderful band, note the box the drummer is sitting on; its actually a traditional Peruvian drum played much like an African djembe...Cool "guitar mans" huh Booj?)

Tonight was our “free night” and Fr. John and Susan recommended we go to a buffet and show a couple blocks from our apartment. The food was traditional Peruvian food which consisted of rice, cold and hot potato dishes with a curry(ish) sauce; beef, poultry and pork in various sauces; lots of olives and all kinds of wonderful fresh fruit…oh and octopus ceviche (marinated in lime and spices), mmmm!

The show consisted of a live band playing traditional Peruvian music and about a dozen different “acts” of all kinds of traditional Peruvian dancers. One word for the quality of the music and dancing…fantastico!

(Traditional "Scissor Dancers" accompanied by a violinist and harpist {behind "Air Inca"}, these men hold two halves of scissors in one hand which they play like castanets while dancing and doing all kinds of amazing acrobatic feats...a little like American break-dancing. The harp and violin music was Peruvian but vaguely reminiscent of Irish/Celtic music believe it or not.)

The quality of the music, dancing, costumes, etc was really incredible. As one who absolutely loves indigenous / ethnic music this was a real treat for me. It was a fun night out and a blessing from the Lord.

Today was a great day. I must say the highlight for me was visiting Mision la Ascension. They are such an inspiration and encouragement to me as one who aspires to plant Churches after seminary. Then again, all the Christians I’ve met here in the missiones (missions) and parroquias (parishes) have the kind of faith which inspires me. Praise God for the faithfulness of His saints in Peru. Gloria Dios!

Peru Trip Day 4

2008-03-03T10:25:00.000-06:00

January 14, 2008
Saludos in el Nombre de Jesus!
Today was an incredible but exhausting day, both physically and emotionally, and can be summed up by a sign at the first Church we visited this morning, Jesus es Salvador…

(The Word of God has life and power. Hebrews 4:12)

Over and over today we saw how Jesus radically transformed lives in midst of desperate situations. We started by driving about an hour south to Jesus es Salvador which is in an area similar to the area we visited Saturday (San Juan de Miraflores), neighborhoods which about 30 years ago were settled by squatters and have since become established neighborhoods; poor but established nonetheless. The Church, Jesus es Salvador, has been in this area over 23 years and this woman has been there from the beginning.
(Unfortunately I can’t recall her name)

Marco is a lay minister who serves both Jesus es Salvador and Mision San Andreas de Oasis and studies at the seminary in the evening...whew! After giving us a tour of Jesus es Salvador, which has a beautiful new building, Marco and some members of the Church took us down to a district called Oasis.
(the new sanctuary of Jesus es Salvador)

On the way there they were careful to tell us that this area very poor. Somewhat ironically, Marco and co. are from an area that itself is very poor, so for them to describe where we were going as very poor was startling.

While San Juan de Miraflores (the first shanty-town we visited) was poor, people lived primarily in brick homes, had legal power, etc. In Oasis people lived in makeshift shacks made from whatever materials they could scavenge, dirt floors, illegally acquired electricity by tapping into lines, etc. This was certainly the worst poverty I’ve ever witnessed. And, like all the shanty-towns we've visited, what you see in this pictures seems to go on forever.

(Look closely and you will see a cross next to the red and white flag, modeled on the Peruvian flag, which says "Oasis")

Marco made pastoral calls on a number of families and took us with him. He asked for prayer as serving two Churches and studying at night is taxing on him but he loves the people in his care. Please say a pray for Marco to have strength, refreshment and encouragement in his ministry.

(Sarah - a British missionary who was our translator today, Marco from Jesus es Salvador, Rosa and another young girl whom he made a pastoral call to. Marco loves God's people immensely.)

(the lovely family - Rosa, Giancarlo, Elva-mom, Grandma and Grandpa)

One lovely family we visited invited us all into their home. We learned that around the time the Mision San Andreas de Oasis was started the father, of the family pictured above, was murdered and the priestvRuben (who is working currently in the area hit by the earthquake) counseled the family through it and they all subsequently gave their lives to Jesus. Gloria Dios! They were an absolutely beautiful family and I was again humbled to sit in their simple home (their entire house was about the size of a typical American’s living room) and see the joy on their faces in spite their circumstances.

During our visit to Jesus es Salvador Marco was kind enough to show me a charango (a small Peruvian stringed instrument similar to a mandolin) they use for worship. Some of the ladies traveling with us took us to a music store who sold high quality charangos for a very reasonable price and after Marco (our guide, not be confused with Marco from Jesus es Salvador) inspected one meeting his discerning eye, I became the proud new owner of the coolest souvenir I’ve ever gotten overseas! (And all for $40). And I also got a real zampona (pan pipes) for mi hijo. I can’t wait to learn to play it. Michael and Sven purchased box drums like that used at last night’s show. We’re hoping to rock out some worship songs Peruvian style. Arriba!
(the world's newest charangista)

In the shanty-towns one thing I found fascinating was that even in the worst slums there were Internet Cafes, sometimes in the same kind of makeshift buildings as the homes I mentioned.
(If you look closely in the left of this picture you'll see a vertical, blue sign that says "Internet")

(A young boy sitting on the side of the road playing his charango and zamponas who was elated when I stuck my head out the window to snap his photo)

We then drove two hours from the south of the city at Oasis to the far north to visit the community of Collique to visit a new mission of the diocese. This area was another shanty-town that is known for being home to many thieves and bandits. Most families here are a single mother with children from numerous fathers who are not present. While the other areas we visited were poor, they didn't feel unsafe. Collique was the first place we visited that seemed to have have a threatening vibe.

(A typical scene in Collique - a shack with laundry hanging, mangy dogs and pigeons wandering and the mountains surrounding the community)

The mission does not have its own building yet and meets in the home of local woman named Suzy who donated the 1st floor of her house to the mission. She had to add a second floor in order to make room for herself to live!
(Jerry; Suzy and Edith, Jerry's wife)

Suzy herself was a thief who gave her life to Jesus and now runs an afternoon program Monday through Friday for the local children teaching them Bible lessons and then giving them a small meal of bread with jelly and a beverage of powdered milk and quinoa (like oatmeal). This is the only evening meal these children eat each day.

(This picture the children made of the Good Samaritan was riveting to see here in Collique, seeing as we too had to come through a roadway known to be inhabitted by bandits to get there.)

One of the main purposes of our visit was to help paint Lucy’s home. While helping paint was fun we had the time of our lives with the 80 children who came for lessons and a snack today. I could talk about it...but the pictures tell the story(Before...)

(...and after)
(Sandy with our new friends)
(These little cuties were delighted when I showed them their picture in the display on the camera pointing and covering their mouths and saying in Spanish, 'Look it's me! It's you Luis!')
(Marco - our guide and Micah playing volleyball with the kids)
(Bill fell in love with the little ones in Collique)
(Ellora being mobbed by 'ninas' as we prepare to leave)
(Joe saying grace with the kids before snack time)
(One of the best moments all day, Mark was staining the door when he got a surpise hug from Jesus...we have now officially dubbed Mark "Cuddly-Bear")

We fell in the love with these kids. Praise God for changing the lives of women like Suzy, the theif-turned-Bible Teacher. We saw so much joy and hope shining forth in this area today. In such a desperate, hopeless set of circumstances the only explanation for the kind of joy, hope and faith we saw was Jesus' Presence. Amen. Amen. Amen. Gloria Dios!

Peru Trip Day 5

2008-03-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

January 15, 2008
Greetings in the Name of Jesus dear family and friends,

Today was yet another wonderful day. We're all feeling a little tired as a typical day runs from about 8:00a.m. until between 7:00-9:00p.m. and are looking forward to some down-time Thursday. As has been the case each morning, our team began with Morning Prayer and today the "Prayer for Mission" was incredibly meaningful...

(St. Mary's Chapel South...Daily Morning Prayer in our apartment in Lima)

O God, who has made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and didst send thy blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near; Grant that people everywhere may seek after thee and find thee; bring the nations into thy fold; pour out thy Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of thy kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our first visit today was to San Mateo Mission and School. All of the Churches in the Anglican Diocese of Peru are required to provide (at least) one social program in their community...for example, yesterday in Collique was the meal and Bible school...and San Mateo's is a subsidized private school for poor families.

(San Mateo Mission and School on the east side of Lima)

We were given a tour of the school and then charged with digging postholes for roof supports and painting. Many buildings, including the Chapel at San Mateo, go without roofs for a long time and one of the reasons this is possible is because it never rains in Lima. Now, it's terribly humid of course, but Lima has an usual meterological feature because of its juxtaposition between the ocean and the mountains so it simply never rains.

(The Chapel of San Mateo, we white-washed the trim which is the altar area and dug the holes; which you can see in the foreground. The cross typically hangs on the white pillar above the gray desk.)

The children who attend this school come from shanty-towns at the foot of the mountains directly behind the school; literally out its back door. While we were there we heard very loud music that we thought was Chinese or Indian pop music and were told it was actually traditional Peruvian music which the children were being taught to dance to.

(The area out the school's back door that the children come from.)

(The children learning traditional Peruvian dancing.)

After our visit to San Mateo we had a joint Eucharist at the Cathedral with the Peruvian Seminarians of the Seminario de San Augustin. The service was primarily in Spanish and we were invited to serve in the liturgy again. Nashotah House is known for our excellence in liturgy and the Peruvian Seminarian are still in a process of learning this so Fr. John said this would be a great opportunity for his students to see what they've been learning in action.
(From L to R are Bill {kind of hidden, torch-bearing} Joe - crucifer; me - torch-bearer; Fr. John and Deacon Anderson in the far background, Mark in the white alb serving as thurifer and our guide Marco, who was the preacher and did an awesome job. Seeing as he's with us all day I wonder when he prepared his sermon?)

After the Eucharist we had a time of fellowship with the Peruvian seminaristas in which three of them and three of us each shared our story. All of the testimonies had a common element of the Lord working miracles in our lives, perseverence and the joy we find in pursuing our calling. A particular delight for our team was hearing Bill's testimony of how the Lord has done a powerful work of healing and transformation in his life which brings hope to many others. Juancarlos gave an equally powerful testimony of his work at a far-off mission which is three hours one way by bus, where he serves a few days a week...on top of being a husband, dad, working full-time and studying in the evenings!

(Bill giving his testimony to the group).

(Juancarlos tells about one night when he stayed so late he missed the bus and had to walk 2 hours to the nearest bus station and then take the bus home arriving at 5:00a.m.! Fr. John translated for us all.)

(The joint group of seminaristas sit together to listen to one another's testimonies. From L to R: Ellora, Fr. Misael and Claudia {from Cristo Redentor & San Pedro: Day 2}, Bill, Juan Carlos, Edith and three other Peruvian seminarians.)

After giving our testimonies and exchanging questions with one another we shared a traditional Peruvian meal of Pollo de Brassas y pappas, roasted chicken and french fries with the best hot sauce ever. Edith, who was with us at Collique yesterday came out in traditional garb and sang a beautiful Peruvian song and then all the Nashotah-ites sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing".

(Edith in traditional Peruvian garb.)

(Clowning around together for the camera.)

We had an absolute blast fellowshipping with our Peruvian brothers and sisters tonight. Teaching each other songs, talking, joking and sharing what excites us about serving God. This picture is a good summation of the fun we had with each tonight.

(Sven, Raul and Edgar teaching one another songs.)

One of the things I've been so struck by is the passion for ministry and the intensity of the vision of the leaders like Fr. Misael and Claudia (Cristo Redentor & San Pedro), Marco (Jesus es Salvador & Oasis), Edith (Collique) and Raul (the youth at Cristo Redentor). During our Q & A time they asked if there was anything that's has impacted us on this trip and I shared with them that they've set the bar very high for us and are an encouraging and inspiring example of serving Christ.

Tomorrow we're off to an area we are totally is terribly poor (again, an ironic statment coming from these folks) and has a high rate of children with physical and mental handicaps. Please pray for us tomorrow to be
fresh as its a three hour bus ride there (often the bus rides are exhausting in and of themselves) and to be sensitive to God's leading as we work in these circumstances.

All that said, praise God for the ways He knit our hearts togethers with our Peruvians brothers and sisters today. Gloria Dios!

(Ok, so I'm a bit of a dork but I really thought it was fun to wear this red cassock. The guys joked it looks like I have episcopal aspirations {to become a bishop} in this photo. Lord have mercy! Ha ha!)

Peru Trip Day 6

2008-03-03T10:23:00.000-06:00

January 16, 2008
Greetings Friends and Family,
We pray you all are doing well. We're nearly halfway through our trip which is hard to believe considering we've seen so much in our short time here. Today we traveled north to the Mision San Andres Centro Poblado: Cerro Cajamarco which marked our first trip outside the borders of the city of Lima.

The bus pulled up to San Andres to the sound of about fifty children singing loudly to welcome us. San Andres is pastored by Fr. Benjamin who was ordained to the priesthood one month ago and they worship in a space which was donated by a local woman (unfortunaley I can't remember her name).

(Fr. Benjamin and the woman who donated her land for the Church greet us and tell us the story of the Mision.)

After some more singing and introductions we were invited to sing and so today witnessed the inaugural performance of Los Seminaristas de Nashotah! Joe, Sven, Michael and I sang a song in Spanish with our newly acquired traditional Peruvian instruments for the kids which was lots of fun. As is the case here, music is a part of every gathering and is one of many expressions of how our Peruvian brothers and sisters joyfully celebrate life.(International singing sensation "Los Seminaristas de Nashotah". L to R: Jose on la guitarra, Miguel on la cajon (drum), Joel on la charango y Esven on la guitarra y canta.)

San Andreas is in the process of building a new building and the children were very excited to take us to see it. As is the case with almost everywhere we've visited, since we're in the foothills of the Andes, most shanty-towns are built into the sides of hills and therefore things are setup on steep inclines. Today took the cake though. Simply to get to the site of the new Church building which is under construction, only 100 yards away..and up!, was exhausting. I can't imagine what it must've been like to haul the bricks up.

(The kids leading us up to the site of the new building, the red bricks on the upper right. Looks are deceiving, this was quite steep.)

After seeing the new building the kids shot up the steep hillside and waved us up. So most of us climbed up the rocky hillside to a small plateau which then continue onto various pathways further up the mountains (technically foothills). One such mountaintop had a cross and a shrine at the top as is very common throughout Peru and something we've seen in numerous places.(Look very closely and you'll see the cross at the top of this hillside. This photo is taken from about halfway up from the site of the current Church. Joe, Ellora and I {Joel} climbed to top of this.)

We had a great time singing and worshipping together with the mothers and children, and then climbing through the hills with the children here at San Andres. After visiting for a few hours we boarded the bus to continue north to San Patricio.(The mothers and children of San Mateo, the Nashotah House seminarians, Fr. John who translated and Peruvian seminarians Edith, Jerry, Marco, Mariela and Fr. Benjamin.)

One treat was that we stopped to each our lunch at a beach on the way to our next visit. Most of Peru is inhabited along the coast of the Pacific and the view was beautiful. There were some pretty serious waves too.

After lunch we drive another hour along the coast to visit Mision San Patricio where, as you can see, they were eagerly expecting us. This is the mission that Juancarlos works at. You will recall he gave a testimony yesterday (see Day 5) where he described a three hour trip one way to serve a mission, this is his mission. We received an incredibly warm welcome and started by playing games with the children, including "Simon Says" which Sven did a wonderful job leading in Spanish.
(Sven leading us all in "Simon Says")

After playing with the children, we had a time for sharing testimonies, with three of us and three people from the local community sharing our stories. It seems that giving speeches is very popular in Peru and frankly it's been a very nice way to share our hearts with one another.

(Here I am giving my testimony about what brought us to Peru, beginning with the Bishop's visit to Nashotah House a year and a half ago, and telling them how inspiring their faith is.)

After testimonies and more singing, from both ourselves and the Peruvians, we helped serve everyone "lunch" which is Peruvian slang for a snack. As has been usual the snack is a thin version of oatmeal or quinoa that people drink like a beverage.

(Here's Mark serving one of the ninos some "lunch".)

After lunch the Church presented each of us with beautiful handwoven blankets made by a woman in the congregation. She had been preparing them for two weeks in anticipation of our arrival. They are absolutely lovely and will be a treasured memento of our visit to San Patricio.

(The woman standing between Sven and Ellora made these lovely blankets for us.)

So the day after tomorrow we will travel to Ica which is near the epicenter of where the earthquake struck last August. We'll be staying there overnight for two nights to help with earthquake relief and during that time I do not anticipate having internet access. I will add a post upon our return however. We'll still be around Lima tomorrow and I'll post an update tomorrow evening. Until then...Dios te bendiga!

Peru Trip Day 7

2008-03-03T10:22:00.001-06:00

January 17, 2008
Saludos Todos!
We pray you all are doing well. Today was a light day intended as a chance to rest a little before we trek south to Ica to help with earthquake relief work. This morning we returned to Fr. Misael and Claudia's Church Cristo Redentor which was the area we visited on Day 2 (the day Michael played a drumkit).

(Each morning begins with a bus ride to the Cathedral to pick-up whoever is translating for us, and then a bus ride to the parishes/missions we'll be visiting. Buses and taxis here have all kinds of interesting and colorful signage. This bus says "Read the Bible".)

Today at Cristo Redentor we worked with the young children. We started by giving a couple brief testimonies and then singing with the children.(Mark giving his testimony while Eli translates.)

(Some of the ninas dancing.)(Joe and I singing and clapping with the kids to what has become our favorite song here, "Si Tuvieras Fe" {If You Have Faith}.)

Afterward the kids broke up into groups to go to class where the small kids (4-6 years old) did crafts, making maracas by decorating condiment bottles and filling them with rice; while the older kids got cooking lessons.(Making maracas...)
(Aren't these some of the best smiles you've ever seen?)

Before we left, Fr. Misael and Claudia spoke to us briefly on this bus. This couple are pretty incredible. Fr. Misael has a quiet, peacefulness and confidence about him and Claudia has passion, zeal and committment to Jesus that is exemplary. An interesting side note, we learned that Fr. Misael was in the Peruvian military's special forces as a paratrooper during the "Shining Path" era when terrorism was rampant here. It was quite startling to hear this as he is so peaceful and soft-spoken. Joe took pictures of Claudia speaking to us as he hoped to catch her earnestness whenever she speaks about the Lord.

(Claudia speaking to us as we prepare to leave. It's as though you can see strait into her heart through her eyes, no?)

Some of you may be familiar with Compassion International, a Christian organization which sponsors children to provide for their physical needs as well as nuture them in the Faith. Cristo Redentor and San Pedro are a part of Compassion. If you're not familiar I encourage you to click on the link/name and learn more.

So upon returning to the apartment, some of us were feeling saucy and decided we should all cram into the elevator. And between the 9th and 10th floors it stopped...kaput! (We're on the 15th floor). Now, common sense would say that an elevator that comfortably fits four people shouldn't have seven people, two guitar cases and seven backpacks crammed in....but I guess the sun has made us all a little punchy. Thank God Sven was on there with us to yell to the elevator repair man in Spanish and follow his instructions. We were stuck on the elevator for about a half an hour only so that's not too bad. It was an... um... uh... interesting time of fellowship seeing as we were packed like sardines.

(Ellora, me, Mark, Sven, Michael and half of Micah; Joe took the picture. And yes, the space we're crammed into is the size of a closet.)

Since this was our rest day some of decided to walk over to the beach to grab dinner. We had a great meal but even more wonderful was the conversation. We talked at length about what this trip means to us and how we should respond to all we've seen. We talked about what we see as the strengths of the Church here and how we hope to build a strong relationship between Nashotah House and the Anglican Diocese of Peru. We also talked about ways we can support the ministry they're doing here and how we can share their gifts and strengths with the U.S. (Bill, Sven, Micah, me and Joe; Ellora took the photo.)

(The view from along the coast in Lima, note the huge cross lit on the hill.)

Tomorrow we head about 5 hours south to Ica which is near the epicenter of August's earthquake. We'll be there through Sunday helping with relief work. The conditions were described by our Peruvian friends as "very rustic" so we would covet you're prayers that we would be able to serve 110% in these conditions and be a blessing and a witness for Our Lord to those affected by the earthquake.

I will not post any blogs while we're away but will post upon our return which should be Sunday night. Please don't worry if you don't see a post. Schedules are flexible here and plans can change. So until our next update may Our Lord Jesus Christ bless each of you richly. Please pray for us and pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Peru. Gloria Dios!

Peru Trip Day 8

2008-03-03T10:19:00.000-06:00

January 18, 2008

Greetings from Lima friends and family,
We’ve returned safely from our trip down to Ica. It was an intense trip. The Lord is doing wonderful things there and it was a privilege to see it all. Friday…Our day began with a stop at the Church, Jesus el Nazareno, which I was eagerly looking forward to as I was told there was a musical group there who played traditional Peruvian music with a Christian message.

Deacon Patricia gave us a tour of the Church which is decorated with all kinds of lovely murals.

(Deacon Patricia and Sue Ellen our translator; note the mural in the background.)
(One of the many murals in Jesus el Nazareno.)

After our tour we were invited to listen to the musical group, Nazareno, and they were simply incredible. They played some of the best live music I've ever heard. I had the joy of sitting in with them and being shown how to really play the charango, it was a blast! I was overwhelmed with how awesome the Kingdom of God is that a guy like me from Chicago would be sitting on the far edge of Lima, Peru playing music with my brothers and sisters in Christ in their mission Church. As fun as it was, it was more encouraging to see that their musical talent is surpassed by their love for Jesus. These musicians are the same folks who are in seminary, working in the missions scattered throughout Peru and spening weeks at a time down in Ica using personal vacation time away from their families to help with relief work.
(Diego, Enrique, Jhonny {a seminarian who accompanied us to Ica} and Sixto.)

(Jamming with Nazareno: me in the green t-shirt on the left, Marco, ? girl, Pilar, Roger playing the charango, Diego playing the guitar, Enrique playing the flute, Sixto singing and Jhonny on the drum.)

The children did some singing and dancing for us and we all got a little silly having ballon fights and starting conga lines. I'll let the pictures tell the story. (The kids singning and dancing their hearts out.)
(Too fun!)

(Sven, Micah and I get a conga line going.)
(Ballon fight!)

(Micah being...well?...Micah!)

After our visit to Jesus el Nazareno we started our five hour bus trip to Ica. It was a pretty drive with the Pacific Ocean on one side of the highway and desert on the other with the foothills of the Andes in the background. It was also a nice chance to catch up on some sleep.

(The sun setting over the foothills of the Andes on our way to Ica.)

We arrived in Ica after dark, after what seemed like a long trek along a single track dirt road covered by a canopy of trees...it felt a little foreboding, like we were heading deeper and further away from civilization (which we were). When we arrived the Church was showing a movie in the community on the side of building. Apparently since the earthquake most people don't have electricity so showing movies is one way to make a contribrution to the community, provide leisure activities (which help keeo the youth out of trouble) and also provoke questions about Jesus since he films they show contain Christ-centered themes.

(Orlando, the brother of Juan Carlos; who gave his testimony about a 3 hour bus ride each way to serve at San Patricio; greets us uopn our arrival. Notice he's got all our names on there. Jhonny from Nazareno is on the left, from Nazareno and caught a ride down as he'll be working in Ica for a few weeks.
(The recently constructed Church building which serves as a kitchen, guest house, worship space, etc; about the size of a garage.)

As promised, our accomodations were indeed "muy rustico". Half of us slept in the Church building while the other half of us slept in the tent pictured below. All throughout Ica we saw tents like this with the symbol of various national relief organizations on them. Our tent was given by the government of Ireland. Imagine... Americans and Peruvians sleeping in an Irish tent on the edge of the desert, go figure?

(The Dublin Inn in Ica..."I wonder if they'll be serving tea and toast in the morning?")

(Sven settling into our accomodations with the P.A. equipment. Looks roomy, eh? By bedtime this tent was occupied by Sven, Micah, me, Paul {Sarah's husband}, Jhonny, Juan Carlos and Marco!)

Alright friends and family. I've got two more days worth of pictures and news I'll get up hopefully tomorrow. It's late so time to sign off as we'll be here in Lima painting tomorrow. Until then. Gloria Dios y bendiciones!

Peru Trip Day 9

2008-03-03T10:17:00.000-06:00

January 19, 2008
Good Morning from Lima everyone,

OK, Saturday; Day 10. We were told in the morning that a new Deanery or Vicaria (district for you non-Anglican types) was being established for all the Churches in Ica and the Vicario General (Canon to the Ordinary, a.k.a. Asst. to the Bishop), Fr. Julio would be coming down to Ica from Lima for a special Eucharist to celebrate the new Deanery.(This sign reads: "the Anglican Church of Peru - Deanery of the Resurrection - District of St. John the Baptist and Ica - Welcome".)

(the Canon to the Ordinary, Fr. Julio.) (Now that it's daylight you can see better the Church building and the "Dublin Inn".)

(My nemesis...this rooster began crowing at about 3:00a.m. and didn't stop...EVER! I actually was asking myself in the middle of the night how much I would have to pay the family who owned it if I...uh...silenced him. Ha ha.)

Our agenda for the day was to tour the various missions and parishes around Ica. As a quick aside, it sounds strange that on some days our "mission" is simply to visit the missions and parishes and we're often given a royal welcome with gifts, food, etc. "How the heck is that mission?" one might ask. But we were told that a bunch of their American brothers and sisters travelling halfway around the world to visit them was tremendously encouraging and affirming to them.

Fr. Jaime, one of the Deans (head of a district) in the Diocese, guided the tour. The earthquake happened on August 15 and the Diocese sent people down two days later to begin relief work immediately. From the time of the earthquake through December the Diocese provided 2,500 meals each day. Another important ministry Fr. Jaime described was comforting people who were afraid to go back into there homes, for days, as they were terrified of another earthquake. He told us how many of the seminarians had travelled down to Ica to help with the relief work. While driving he told us that many come down to Ica for weeks or a month at a time to do relief work, including John (more on him in a minute) who came down prepared to stay three days then went home for his belongings, returned and has been home since. Fr. Jaime said the relief work in Ica was truly their "seminary". That was a tremendously humbling comment.
(Fr. Jaime)

On our tour we also saw the destruction from the earthquake.

(The Roman Catholic Church in Ica which was devastated by the earthquake. You can see some damage on the bell tower on the right. So why did I say it's devastated? Because the only thing left of this Church is the front...the entire backside is gone.)(A family's home reduced to a pile of rubble.)

(Directly across from the rubble is their makeshift, temporary housing of reed mats and tarps.)
(This is a typical Peruvian Cross which you'll find everywhere here. Each symbol on it represents something.) (Dcn. Ruben , Sven, Micah and Marco make a side trip into the desert. Can't you just hear the soundtrack from "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" playing to this?)
(This is one of the typical methods of hauling things in Peru, even in Lima. It's the first clear picture I could get. As you can see it's a motorcycle chopped with a cart added to the front. People also do this with bicycles.)

(And the more common method of hauling things in rural areas.)

While my comrades went to check out the above-ground cemetary I sat and befriend this older gentleman named Roberto. He said he had a stroke 23 years ago and was in the hospital at the same time as six other stroke victims and was the only one to survive and each day he would walk five or six times around the town square for exercise then sit down to read the paper.(Roberto and I.)

In the photos from yesterday you saw a picture of Orlando, Juan Carlos' brother. Well, he has an incredible story. Six years ago he went to Colombia to attend a seminary there but was kidnapped by geurillas who held him hostage as a laborer cooking, chopping wood, etc. After a year he asked if he could do ministry with the children and they agreed. So one of the kids tells him how to trek to a bus stop secretly and Orlando takes off for it and within a day is on his way back to Peru. Orlando has a huge heart and does great stuff with the kids here in Ica.

(Orlando.)

After touring the missions and parishes we had a Eucharist to celebrate the inauguration of the new Deanery. It was celebrated outside on a peice of pressboard on two saw horses but the "reredos" (decorative back wall) was the foothills of the Andes!

(Who needs a beautiful building when you've got this, eh?)

(The altar party: Fr. Jaime, Fr. Julio and Dcn. Ruben.) (The Peruvian-American worship team: Joe, me, Sven Julio {seated}, Juan Carlos, ? maroon shirt and Jhonny.)

(Our "Sanctuary".)

(The faithful coming forward to receive the precious Body and Blood of Our Lord.)

Peru Trip Day 10

2008-03-03T10:16:00.000-06:00

January 20, 2008
Greetings Dear Friends,
For the sake of time I'll just post a few pictures and comments from yesterday. After the morning Eucharist we spent most of the day driving home on the bus so, while worship was wonderful, not too much to report.

One person I do want to tell you about is John (English names are very popular here, kind of sheik). He is a 17 year old young man from Arequippa which is south of Ica. A few months ago John came to Ica thinking he'd stay for a few days and after seeing the need there went home, got all his belongings and has been there ever since. One of John's primary ministries while we were there was leading musical worship. I was privileged to sit with him for a few minutes before each service to learn/rehearse songs. John would always ask us to pray for the service and the prayers that came from this young man were incredible. He has a depth of maturity and sense of urgency about his faith which I rarely find in people twice his age. He spends a lot of time in Ica working with the youth, doing physical plant type work and praying and leading worship. May God bless you John!

(John and I.)

Another great moment in Ica before we left Sunday was Bill having an opportunity to talk to a young man. This young man shared that he has recently come to faith in the Lord and is struggling to overcome many of the same things which Bill struggled with in his past. Bill was able to encourage him and tell him of the healing, transformation and victory he has found in Our Lord Jesus. To see the look of hope this young man's face after talking to Bill was wonderful.

(Bill sharing his testimony and godly encouragement while Sven translates.)

Peru Trip Day 11

2008-03-03T10:15:00.000-06:00

January 21, 2008
Greetings All,
So on this day we went to Santisima Trinidad (The Most Holy Trinity) where they have a Church and a school for children. Dcn. Anderson (his first name, again English names are popular here) serves here and his wife, Isabel, runs the dayschool.

(Isabel)

(Dcn. Anderson)

(Some of the ninas clowning around in their toy house.)

So we were given our choice of projects today. Paint walls outside or paint a mural in the kids playroom in the school. We eagerly asked to do a mural. Marco is a painter and has done many of the murals in the Churches around the Diocese. So we were asked to paint Jesus con los ninos and I asked if we could paint kids in traditional Peruvian attire and the ladies who run the school were very excited at that suggestion. So we spent the afternoon having the time of our lives painting a mural for the kids at Santisima Trinidad.

(Here's Marco drawing the outlines of everything on the completely blank wall. Marco is an incredible artist and it was fun to watch him effortlessly create his art.)

(It starts to take shape. The painters, L to R: Mark, Dcn. Anderson, Sven {crouched down with sombrero}, Sandy, me, Edith and Marco.)

(Me adding details to the chico on Jesus' lap.)

(Mark, Sven, me, Edith, Sandy and Marco.)

(Lots more color now, and clowning around...Marco painting Sven's face while Juan Carlos is unknowingly painting Marco's head. Ha ha!)

(It's really starting to look like something.)

(We ran out of time so weren't able to completely finish it but here it is! Aren't the traditional Peruvian costumes way cool?)
(Los artistas!)

After painting we visited a mission parish in a shanty town. Most of us agreed this was the toughest area we visited. While the poverty was extreme in places like Oasis and Collique this area felt very rough, more edgy. This area was very steep and had a lot of pigs being raised here.

(The steep hike up to the mission.)

(Here it is.)

The Vicario, Fr. Julio was the celebrant and he invited Micah to assist. There were a lot of kids there and one of the more funny moments was when the kids were dismissed for kids Church during the sermon. They all rowdily ploughed their way through us to the little Sunday School room and Fr. Julio starts reading the Gospel and then come bursting back into the room and are all grabbing chairs literally out from under us. They made so much commotion that Fr. Julio had to stop reading. So kids are milling around everywhere grabbing chairs, plough back through us and take them all into the Sunday School room. It was like a tornado blew through and took all the chairs in like 30 seconds. It was hilarious.

(Micah assisting while Fr. Julio prays the Eucharist.)

(Fr. Julio distributing the elements.)

Our visit here was filled with all kinds of unique experiences. One was that all during the Eucharist we could hear pigs squealing, which was kind of strange, and I could help but think of when Jesus was met by the Gerasene man possessed by demons that Jesus sent into the herd of pigs.

(Mariela and Juan Carlos standing at the back of the mission. A pretty incredible view, eh?)

That said, this was some of the most Spirit-filled worship I experienced here and many of us agreed that was true here. We were originally going to sings some different songs but I felt compelled, maybe even lead, to sing a song I learned in Brazil called Sua Prescena e Real (Your Presence is real) which Marco helped me translate into Spanish from Portuguese. It's a song about God being present with us in our worship therefore with will praise Him with the Cherubim and Seraphim .
(Fr. Julio administering the sacrament to Bill while Marco and I sing praises.)

So after a short (for Peru) Eucharist we headed back to the apartment ready for some rest. Today Joe and Ellora stayed home as weren't feeling well. Many of us picked up a stomach bug in Ica and weren't feeling well, myself included.(Sandy with one of the little ninas.)

After coming home we found out today is Bill's birthday! So we had a little festivities and Mariela and Marco came over. We had some great conversation with them about our trip. They were very concerned that we were enjoying the trip and getting a lot out of it, they've been incredible hosts and have puts tons of work into this for and made lots of sacrifices. We talked a lot about future trips and how we can strengthen our relationship between the seminarians here and at Nashotah House. I pray God will bless our future together and we can be a resource and encouragment to one another for many years. Gloria Dios y Feliz Compleano Bill!

Peru Trip Day 12

2008-03-03T10:13:00.000-06:00

January 22, 2008
Greetings All,

So today Joe, Ellora and myself stayed home as we weren't feeling well. Therefore I don't have much to report other than successfully getting a haircut without a translator and sleeping all afternoon. One blessing today was that It was uncharacteristically sunny so the view out the window was beautiful.(Today's view out the window.)

Michael has written the following report on the day's activities of the team...

Today, we started our day with three of our hearty group sidelined with the Inca’s Revenge. No matter. The remaining six team members stopped first at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd for Morning Prayer, and then we travelled with Susan Delgado-Parks to our first stop, Santa Maria Virgen. This parish is a well established and thriving one that specializes in job training programs for women in the Parish. They teach skills such as shoe making, jewelry making, sewing and knitting so that each women can better earn a living and provide for their families. They showed off some of their wares, and their work was quite impressive. Many of the members of the team bought jewelry and garments while we were there.After a short stay at Santa Maria Virgen, we left to visit or at least see the four missions that Fr. Aurelio has opened in the last year. Take note of that: four missions in ONE YEAR! We had to walk a short way up a 30 to 40 degree grade to get to the first mission, which consisted of four woven cane walls and ceiling. It was pretty bare, but Fr. Aurelio says that they have Mass there every Sunday, and he plans to turn the mission into a center for training mechanics and handymen. It is important to note that the area in which these four missions are located has the most expensive and most contaminated water in the world.While at this first mission, we were treated to some amazing hospitality. The woman who was in charge of the mission welcomed us and provided us with soft drinks. Soon after this, we walked further up and over the top of the hill to see and visit the other missions. Fr. Aurelio had just finished pointing out one of the missions that we were not going to visit, when he stopped on the road and introduced us to a mother and child he knew. Because the child was sick, he, and all of us around, gathered to pray healing upon this sweet little girl.We then walked down the mountain and stopped in front of the third of the four missions, before we stopped at the fourth for our main work of the day. Fr. Aurelio showed us around the area and introduced us to the ladies that were already there, and then we started working. Our job was to move a large pile of bricks across a road so they could build a wall. We managed to move about a third of the pile before everyone was tired. Then we moved back into the mission, which consists of three and half woven cane walls and a roof and dirt floor, for Mass. Fr. Aurelio celebrated using the Anglo-Catholic style Mass that Bishop Godfrey brought to Peru when he became the Bishop. Fr. Aurelio started by leading the congregation of about 50-75 people in about a half dozen praise songs. He loves to sing and broke into song numerous times during the service. There was an adult man who celebrated his first Communion at the service, and after the service, Fr. Aurelio blessed the marriage of a couple that had been married for 17 years. After Mass, the ladies of the mission treated us to a wonderful lunch of chicken, rice and vegetables plus chicha morrado, and then a fantastic desert. Then, Fr. Aurelio took us across the street to the site of the new church. The land was donated to the diocese and is literally a part of the side of the mountain. The women of the parish have been working to clear a flat place for the last year. They have a retaining wall and about half of the land cleared. They are carving the lot out of the side of the mountain with picks and shovels and hard work. As Fr. Aurelio was showing us the wall that they have built, he called it their “wailing wall”. Being the smart seminarians that we are, Sven, Michael and Micah showed off our cultural prowess by bobbing back and forth and singing the Shema in Hebrew. Fr. Aurelio thought it was hilarious. Before we left, the children of the mission performed two incredible native dances for us, involving some of the group at the end of the first dance. We were also each given a personalized certificate commemorating our visit. The hospitality of the people was overwhelming.

Peru Trip Day 13

2008-03-03T10:08:00.000-06:00

January 23, 2008
Greetings Friends and Family,So today is our last day here in Peru. We started our day with Morning Prayer, or Matutinas, at the Cathedral and then were taken to the Inca Market, a kind of outdoor shopping mall, to do some shopping. We had a lot of fun haggling for the best prices on pottery, alpaca clothes, hats and other colorful stuff (the colors here in the textiles are incredible!).
After the market all of the clergy and seminarians in the Diocese of Peru had farewell luncheon at a Chifa buffet (Chifa is Peruvian slang for Chinese food which is extremely popular here).
(This photo shows about 1/4 of our group.)
We had a wonderful time of fellowship together. The Diocese of Peru presented us all with gifts which was extremely kind of them. Then both the Peruvians and Nashotah-ites gave speeches back and forth sharing with each other how much we felt blessed and encouraged by one another and thanking God for the ways He has brought us together. It truly is amazing how big the Kingdom of God is and yet how our common Faith unites us across cultures and languages.
(Sven translating Micah's speech.)
After lunch we had our much anticipated soccer match. To our surprise a couple days ago we were presented with uniforms with the Nashotah logo embroidered on them! So we had a very serious soccer match at the stadium with uniforms, a ref and everything.
(The Peruvian Seminaristas: ?, Raul {from Cristo Redentor}, ? and Marco {from Jesus es Salvador & Oasis}.)
(Friends: Orlando, Jasper {who was helping us out, hence the Nashotah Jersey} and me.)

(Los Futbolistos de los seminarios de Ss. Augustin y Nashotah.)
They take soccer very, very seriously here. Of course the Peruvians annihilated us and the star player was the Vicario, Fr. Julio who scored the winning goal. (The Vicario, in red, giving his "A game".)
We then had a much more evenly matched game of volleyball.
(Sven, Isabel, Claudia and Raul trying to get under the ball.)
Afterwards it was time to say goodbye to the wonderful friends we've made. It's difficult to put into words what an incredible trip this has been. We have seen such incredible faith and sacrificial service to Our Lord Jesus here and we have seen the Church exploding throughout Peru from downtown to shanty-towns to the vineyards & cottonfields in Ica. We also are incredibly excited for what the future holds for the relationship between the Anglican Diocese of Peru and Nashotah House Seminary. We all hope this is merely the beginning of a long and meaningful relationship. Glory to God for providing this incredible opportunity and for the wonderful works He's doing here!
(Our last few moments together.)

So we leave for the airport at 7:00p.m. (CST) and our flight leaves at midnight. Our ETA for Nashotah is about 2:00p.m. tomorrow. Please pray for us as we travel, for safety and health (for those of us who've had a stomach bug).

Muchas gracias Senor Jesuscristo por este visita, y muchas gracias nuestros hermanos en la Diocesis Anglicana del Peru for su amor y hospitalidad. Gloria Dios!