Our Church's Anniversary

In May, we celebrated our Wichanzao church's 19th anniversary. We celebrated throughout the day with all sorts of activities. We started off the day early with free medical care and educated the women on things women need to be educated about. :) We heard a beautiful concert by one of our short-term teams, and had a "Feria Gastronómica" or in other words, lots of really tasty foods. Boy are we going to miss the food here!!! We ended the day with a dedication of a new library which stands as the only library in the community. No one could avoid the excitement!

It was a wonderful day spent with our friends and church body in Wichanzao. To many more years!!!

A Trip to the Ancient Past

In April, we went on an interesting and educational trip with many of the families from the Mission. The orphanage bus took us to Magdalena de Cao, a small town about an hour outside of Trujillo. On the outskirts of the town are a number of ancient 'huacas' or temples, one of which dates back to 2500B.C. We toured the Huaca Cao Viejo, which was used between the first and seventh centuries A.D. and has had some incredible recent archeological finds. The mummy of a priestess who died around 300A.D. was just discovered in 2006. An fascinating museum was just built and opened this year to display her and many other interesting artifacts.

After touring the huaca and museum we headed to a home to eat lunch together. A wonderful couple from the local church cooked a tasty meal for us, and we had a wonderful time spending the day with each other. The family made a fire with eucalyptus branches to keep away the mosquitos as we meandered through their yard which was filled with fruit trees and flowers. The kitchen area, separate from the house, had walls blackened with smoke from years of cooking. It was a wonderful taste of small town life.

We've found that Peruvians have an incredible ability to so gracefully host large groups of people - no matter their resources or size of their home - they're always so happy to share whatever they have and more. We as a couple have so much to learn from them. We thanked the family for being so generous with us and loaded the bus for the ride home. 

For more pictures, click here.

The More the Merrier

In March, we were treated with a "planned at the last-minute" trip by some of our parents. When we found a price on plane tickets that we couldn't pass up, Eric's mom and Dad, and Lora's mom and step-dad packed their bags. We had a blast. For 10 days, we laughed a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot, and enjoyed Peru. It's so fun for us to have visitors, because we feel like we get to experience Peru for the first time all over again. We get to step back and remind ourselves of the wonder and excitement that Peru offers in its rich history, culture, cuisine, and landscapes. Plus, being able to share our home, jobs, and experiences with our family is something we've looked forward to since soon after our arrival.

We started in Lima and played in the big city for a few days. We toured the catacombs in the old San Franciscan cathedral, enjoyed the beach and it's towering cliffs, introduced them to the famed 'ceviche', visited the artisan market, and ate at some incredible restaurants. Having a wonderful time celebrating Lora's mom's birthday was an added bonus. It was as much of a special vacation for us as it was for them! 

After a few days, we left the comforts of the big city, and brought them home to Trujillo. We actually spent lots of time at home, enjoying each other, cooking together, playing cards, and relaxing as a family. One night, couple's dancing even broke out in the living room... We had gorgeous weather and still can't believe how well our parents get along. We think they may even have more fun together without us!!! We toured the local 'huaca' or ancient temple, showed them the city, spent a day sleeping on the beach, and showed them our communities, where we work, etc. They were some very special days for us all. Even after 10 days crammed into our little apartment, we were very sad to see them go!

For more pictures, click here.

Adding to Life in a Shanty Town

Earlier this year, an accounting group from NC State came down to participate in a service project. Our mission decided to invite them to Clementina, the shanty town behind our clinic where we have begun a local ministry, to plant trees for families. 

As Clementina is "puro arena", or completely sand, the yellow of thatch, the brown of adobe, and the tan of the sand can seem quite lifeless. Thanks to the funds of the accounting students, we were able to purchase hundreds of small, young trees. When the local government heard what we were planning to do, they decided to nearly match our donation of trees to give. Thanks to the efforts of both, we were able to give a tree to nearly every residence in the area. As members of these shanty communities cherish every little thing that they have, we are sure they will take great care and pride in their new trees. It was fun to see how excited the members of the community were as they immediately went to work beautifying the front areas of their homes. 

We are anxious to watch these trees grow and mature and help to bring color and life into the community. Our prayer is the same for our ministry there!

For more pictures, click here.

Our Biggest Medical Campaign

Peru Mission believes that as the Gospel goes forth redemption and healing are found in its wake. We see this renewal in a physical way when medical teams come to treat the sick and hurting in our comm

unities in the name of Christ.

After realizing a successful campaign in 2008, Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, rallied another fantastic team of medical professionals and lay persons to come and hold a week-long campaign to serve the physical needs of our communities.

Among the visiting team members this year were five doctors, two dentists, four nurses and several other dedicated volunteers. Thanks to months of planning and the expertise of many, we were able to treat hundreds of patients in each of our three churches in Trujillo as well as out in surrounding, impoverished communities.

We worked with IPC's medical team from the early morning to the late afternoon each day, and the patients ranged from the very elderly to the youngest of children. We were able to offer consults with a physician, on-site dental treatmen

t, nutritional education, pastoral counseling, simple laboratory tests, vaccinations for children and even minor surgeries.

 

Many specific needs and challenges were tended to during the week as doctors used their different specialties to offer hope to their patients. Dr. Mel Payne, a general surgeon, was able to perform several small surgeries in a makeshift operating room in our Wichanzao Church. Radiologist Dr. Mark Weatherly, Dr. Tim Folse and Nurse Practitioner JP Odell were able to help a young woman with Lupus, desperate for treatment, by joining forces and expertise. Tears were shed as these special patients left the rooms, walking away with heartfelt thanks and renewed spirits.

 Thanks to the large donation of medications by IPC, we were able to give away hundreds of 

dollars worth of medication to the sick and hurting at no cost, many of them high quality drugs not typically available or affordable for most Peruvians. The team also brought down hundreds of reading glasses which were handed out to those in need and more had to be purchased during the week due to the high necessity.

The work done by teams such as these is a tremendous blessing to the communities that surround our churches. The impact is significant as it helps to create a larger awareness of the spiritual and medical resources available to the neighborhood as well as a better integrated community. We are always honored to be able to share a Gospel that offers compassion, redemption, healing and hope, and we thank the IPC medical team for partnering in it with us.

To see pictures from the medical campaign, click here.

First Peruvian Mission Conference

The Larco church is one of our Mission's three churches in the Trujillo area. It is the largest and most developed of our churches.

"All Christians are missionaries" was the message of the first ever missions conference at the Larco Church. "As the Father has sent me," said the Lord, "so I send you" (John 20.21). All are not sent as apostles, or even as ministers, but all are called to bear witness to Christ and what He has done for us. In this sense all Christians are missionaries giving testimony to the Gospel in a broken world.

Most Peruvians use the word "missionary" to refer to foreigners who work in Peru. Larco Pastor, Jaime Avellaneda, wished to emphasize the importance of Peruvians becoming an active part of God's mission. The Lord used two Peruvian missionaries, Trinidad de los Ángeles from the mountains and Dario Meza from the jungle, to deliver precisely that message.

Pastor Trinidad works among Quechua speakers in the region of Lambayeque, which is the second largest unreached group in Peru. In the jungle, Pastor Dario trains lay preachers among several indigenous tribes. Both men shared amazing missions stories and challenged the Larco youth to come work with them.

A key point of their message was that God calls three types of people to be involved in His mission: goers, mobilizers, and senders. Goers are the ones most commonly understood as missionaries: the ones who proclaim the Gospel across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Mobilizers awaken other Christians to active concern for the lost by investigating new areas, raising awareness of pressing needs, networking among churches, and casting a vision to mobilize goers. Senders are those who support missions through prayer, financial gifts, and encouragement. The central message of the conference was that all Christians should faithfully pray and give to missions, all should be witnesses where God has placed them, and all should also consider whether the Lord is calling them to prepare for ministry in new and unfamiliar places.

For the new believers in Larco this was a revolutionary message. They have watched their church grow in number, and have seen new believers and the church as a whole grow in maturity.  Now the Lord is challenging them to embrace the Great Commission in an intentional way in their own lives. Please pray that the Larco congregation would respond to these new challenges and become fruitful witnesses for Christ in Trujillo, throughout Peru, and to the ends of the earth.