PERU '09 ~ Day V ~ San Andres

(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

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

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

(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!

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