Reflection

My trip to Arequipa, Peru was altogether amazing in more ways than one. Yes, I had a few difficult experiences, but the good overwhelms the bad in all cases. I am so thankful for my Peruvian family and what they mean to me. I am fortunate to be able to say that I have one family that loves me in this world (the family that I was born into in America); but to be able to say that I have two families in this world, one in America and the other in Peru, that love me and want the absolute best for me and my life is something rare and very beautiful. And this has only come out of my submitting my life to God's call for me to go to Peru. The way that things have turned out for me are far better than anything I could have ever planned.

My last week I was there in Arequipa, my American parents, who had come on the team from St. Peter and St. Paul, had the opportunity to have dinner with my Peruvian family. There was no shortage of laughter, conversation, or love in that time we spent together. And even though my American family only spoke a little bit of Spanish and my Peruvian family only spoke a little bit of English, we had an interpreter there that gave us fluent conversation in a common language. That interpreter was the Holy Spirit! Just an awkward 'gracias' and a huge smile communicated so much more by the Spirit than we will ever know.

And I like to think that is a good summary of my six months spent in Arequipa. Even though my time was short, even though my Spanish isn't 100% fluent, even though I am a broken man and am prone to making mistakes; God's strength is made complete in my weakness and He did more in my time with my host family, in my time in the orphanages, in my time at the Anglican school than I can ever imagine. And it was all initiated with my small and simple decision in saying, "Yes Lord, I will go." So, I give thanks to God, and praise Him for His power to use His creatures to accomplish great things in this world. Amen.

St. Peter and St. Paul team on its way!

An arch at the cathedral.

They are finally on their way. A short term missionary team from my home church in Arlington, TX is coming to Arequipa, Peru. It is really hard to believe that they managed to fundraise in 3 months enough money to come and spend a week here working construction and spending time with the kids at the two orphanages.

Throughout the week in the mornings we will be heading out to a neighborhood called Via Ecológica to construct the walls of the church. We will be working with sillar, which is a common volcanic, white rock mined here in the Andes. In the evenings we will be heading out to one of the two Casas Hogares. We'll be at the younger kids' orphanage twice and then at the older kids' twice. I know that with this team being here, my last week here is going to be a blast!

Making Chocolate Chip Cookies

Host brother Christian stirring it up.

Christian and Giancarlo

Putting a batch in the oven. Notice the form.

The beggar.

They look good.

About the only thing I know how to do in the kitchen is bake cookies, thanks to my mom. Every time I go home for Christmas or Thanksgiving we always make a double batch. And it's not only my mom that does the baking, it has also turned into a brothers' time as well.

Padre Ron brought me some brown sugar from his trip to the states (they don't have brown sugar here) and we got spend a night making some delicious chocolate chip cookies. It is so great to have a skill like this that I can share with people here in Peru. We made over 50 cookies last Sunday night and by Tuesday they were all gone!

Starting to say my goodbyes

Last day at San Lucas

It is amazing how fast these 6 months have gone by. And now I am already saying my goodbyes. The peruvian government moved forward all of the schools' vacations because of the swine flu. They are taking all the precautions necessary to try and avoid any more cases. The end of July and the first part of August are some of the main holidays for Peru. It's kind of like their winter break as well. (Yes, it's winter here.)

With the vacations being moved forward my last day came a little bit faster than I expected. My time helping teach at the school has really opened my eyes how important it is to educate our children, how important it is to have competent teachers, and how important it is to have good structure in the school and in the classroom.

I don't like being critical, especially of a country that doesn't have all the benefits that I knew growing up. But, this can be said for all societies. For me, to have a healthy society you must have smaller, healthy groups that make up that society (e.g. the work force, the police force, the school system). If these groups of people do not possess high moral values, good work ethics, and relationships built on trust; how can society as a whole bear resemblance to such qualities?

All of this boils down to the smallest unit of measurement - the family. Families must be full functioning and healthy. The family is where we come from. We grow up from children into members of society. If a boy can't trust his mother or father, his sister or his brother in his own home; how will he be able to trust his classmate at school? And when he grows up, how is he to trust his coworker?

We depend too much on each other not to be able to trust one another. So parents, my message to you is to love your children and want what's best for them!

Pool Party with San Jose

Jumping in.

Xavier

We corralled them in for one last pic in the pool.

Juan Diego at the picnic lunch.

María and Padre Juan Carlos ended up showing up with a little cookie dessert.

We took the kids from San Jose out to a pool party and picnic. We had a good time. A lot of the kids are great swimmers. Overall it was just a time for them to get all their energy out and have a lot of fun. I know I was tired when I got home.

An idea

Last night I had an idea. I'm going to see if it would be possible to set up a mentoring/discipleship time in the Casas Hogares in my last month that I am here. I have had a few conversations with the kids and it seems like this would be something that would benefit them greatly. I am thinking about making an announcement in mass next Sunday to see if anyone would be interested in participating. Then set each person up with one of the kids at the Casas. I'm thinking about having them make a month long commitment to spend one day out of the week with the kids. Then if they feel like it is necessary to continue they can do as they feel called to do. Just an idea I thought I'd share.

Diego

For all of you who pray, please pray for Diego. He is going through a difficult time. A time of confusion and disillusionment. He has recently moved from the older kids' Casa Hogar Sagrada Familia to another home today. Please pray that God's will be done in his situation and that those in authority over him would be making the best choices for his benefit. Pray also for his comfort in the new home to which he has moved.

Youth Group at Cristo Redentor

Start things off with some ice breakers and games.

If you lose, you have to walk...through the tomatos.

Next comes a lesson, usually from one of the seminarians.

We always try to give thoughtful responses.

Lastly, we finish up with a couple of hours of ping pong!

One of the ministries that I didn't really expect to get involved in is the youth group. Here, youth group has a little bit of a different meaning from that back in the U.S. At our meetings the ages of those who attend range from 14 all the way up to 32! I've been told that in past years they have broken up the meetings into two groups, but this year there was no one to head up the younger group. So, we joined them together to form the A-team! (Equipo A or Equipo Anglicano) We meet from 5 to 7 on Satrudays with a couple of hours afterwards dedicated to playing lots of ping pong.

The group got started up by one of my suggestions. I wanted to start a small, more intimate Bible study with a few of my closer friends here, and word got to one of them who had a little bit of a different idea. My friend Daniel in the past has headed up the older group meetings and used my suggestion to get things started up for the youth group for the new school year. At first I was a little confused and maybe a little irritated that things didn't go quite how I had planned it, but being apart of this ministry really has been fun and a great opportunity to make a lot more friends!

The structure of a Saturday meeting consists of welcoming those who have come to the meeting and playing some ping pong and conversing some before we get things started. At 5:30 we start with a general welcome and introduce all those who have come for the first time to the meeting. We have a time for prayer. Then we do some ice breakers and games to lighten the mood and get people interacting. The main part of our meeting comes next: the lesson. We try and vary it up. Sometimes it is a lesson, sometimes it is a testimony, and sometimes we show them a video. Last comes a time for singing worship songs and reflection. And that wraps it up.

We have had about 6 meetings so far and each one has been very refreshing and filled with great time to get to know others. Our average attendance is at a solid 10-14 people.  At one of our meetings we had as many as 26 people. But the main thing is that now we have given a place for young people to come and feel welcomed and free to ask questions.

Outings with the ladies of Sagrada Familia

Jhass, Margot, and Karola cruising downtown.

Me, Jhass, Margot, and Vicki deciding what to order.

Marta and Me.

Susana finishing off her piece of cake.

Me and Hermelinda taking it easy.

The last few weeks on Sundays after Mass, we have been taking the ladies of Casa Hogar Sagrada Familia to hang out at our house and then go cruise downtown. We usually end up at one of my favorite dessert places to eat some cake and drink a cup of coffee. It's called Capriccio and it is right downtown next to the Cathedral. All the ladies have seemed to enjoy their time out. It has been a good opportunity to get to know all of them a little bit better, and it gives them some time out of the house too.

Things just keep getting better

Musculos sin frenos: Me and Miguel Angel

Some of the older girls showing off good manners we taught them :)

Notice the pinky fingers. 

This one's got a smile for Hollywood: Lizet and me

Since the last update I have been having some good times with the kids at the Casas Hogares. It feels like we got through some of those growing pains and are now closer than ever. I had some trouble connecting with a few of the teenage girls when I first arrived. It may have been that they were shy, or just didn't really know what to think about me. But now, it feels like they have come to appreciate my visiting them. Things are good right now and I hope they just keep getting better!

Difficult week

Katiuska and Yasmin hanging out in the park

This past week has been pretty rough considering all the relational conflict that has come up between me and host family and teenage girls. It seemed like everyday there was something coming up.

In the host family I had a communication breakdown with the youngest of the brothers. Wouldn't you know it, all of us guys in the house were making claims on the remains of the food in the house. There were a few words exchanged between all of us and the youngest brother and I came out of this conflict with some hurt feelings. We were both joking with what we said, but for whatever reason the words we said were taken seriously. The next day I took him aside and apologized for what all that was said. He accepted my apology and now we are on good terms again!

In the same week I had a bit of a scare with the girls at the younger Casa Hogar. All 20 of us went to the park that is located a couple of blocks away from the house. We had a good time playing soccer, swinging on the swingset, and hanging off the jungle gyms. When it was time to go I found the girls all huddled around an young lady that was a stranger to me. When I came up I saw the young lady hide something away in her backpack. Again, there was conflict. They didn't understand why I needed to know what they were looking at. And they didn't understand that I wanted to know because I wanted to make sure that they were safe from all harm. That night I took them aside and apologized for getting upset and told them that I love them and cared for them; and that's why I was upset before.

I am so glad that these conflicts have come up. Naturally, I am wired to shy away from conflicts. And, naturally, the last thing that I want to do is to be the one to take steps to make amends. So, in these conflicts I have been given opportunities to make changes to this weakness of mine. I have come out of this week with my head still held high and I am more aware of all of our dependence on Jesus' love to see us through this life. I will never be able to do all things perfectly. And that's why I depend on Jesus.

Pool-time

Flex - off

Pretty hilarious - "El Pollito" y "El Patito"

Gringo attack

Jhassmanny and I have decided that every Sunday after Mass we will take one or two of the kids from the Casas Hogares out to do something. Usually we'll go play soccer with some other friends but this Sunday we went to the pool. We've only taken out the boys so far, now after Mother's day we will start taking the girls out. We haven't really planned it out yet. Boys are easy. All they want to do is play outside. We'll probably go grab some ice cream.

Working outside

Billy and Padre Tony getting dirty

Another view of the trench

Making some headway

Went on a hike and got a view of Misti

Some beautiful desert wildlife

A missionary team from St. Matthew's Cathedral in Dallas came out for a week to start the building process in a site called Via Ecologica. This is one of the mission sites for the Anglican Church here in Peru. It is about a 25 minute drive out from the city center of Arequipa.

After about 3 years of waiting the people of this area will now see the firsts of a brand spankin' new church. When I was here in Arequipa 3 years ago they had just bought the land, and now they are building. It is pretty incredible to see.

The work was really hard. We had 3 straight days of digging and picking making the trenches. And then finally we got down to the level that we needed to (a little more than a meter deep) and we saw some of the columns go up. The St. Matthew's team was able to make the foundation to the new temple. We were all very proud.

Thanks St. Matthew's!

Hooray! A team is coming!

I got the news yesterday that a team from my home church St. Peter and St. Paul will be coming to Arequipa at the end of July! Awesome news. They put in their request to come 4 months before their proposed date and were confirmed about 3 months before their arrival. Maria, my host mom, said that usually teams need about a year's notice to  be able to come on a trip. She thought it was pretty miraculous that they were even approved. The team will be coming out to help construct a church in a mission area of the local church. It will be a week long trip full of great experiences.

So these last couple of days I have been full of thanks and wonder. What is happening here in Arequipa? What kind of works are being done? Time will only tell.

St. Peter and St. Paul, get excited with me and give some thanks up. There is a lot of good to do in the world, and we are privileged to be given such a wonderful opportunity to come and work and experience such an amazing place.

On another note, these pictures were taken on Saturday in the downtown area. There was an amazing sun setting with golden light playing off of the Cathedral walls. I couldn't believe I caught that bird in flight on the picture in the middle. The last picture is of some action going on downtown.

The newness of Easter

I wrote this poem during Holy Week and seems to go well with the newness of life that comes with the Easter Season. Hope you enjoy!

A new fascination

On the grass under the sun

Lies a young boy and lion

One and the same he crawls

On hands and knees, open jaws

He lets out a half lion roar

Then charges, always looking forward

I put out my hand

And he puts out his paw

We walk together

Under the sun

We pass all kinds of colors

All seeming new to me

Looking through the eyes

Of a boy, half lion, of three

Each flower is valued

Equally for its color and smell

Many prizes are found

Each step a new story to tell

Everything has a shade of new

And every moment is precious

Looking through newest of eyes

And walking under the sun

-JM 

Daniela

La Pascua

Padre Juan Carlos looking on after a great sermon

Today was a nice Easter Sunday. Mass was really great. The message that Padre JC gave made me thank Jesus for how good He is to us. The message that he gave was focused on God's grace, overwhelming grace. The main passage was Mark 16:7 - The angel tells the women to go and tell the disciples and Peter the good news. Peter, the one that betrayed Him 3 times - Jesus calls him by name. And in this He makes a special effort to reconcile and console him.

This is what Jesus is all about! He wants to have real relationships. He wants to get into the gritty with us. He doesn't ignore things that are wrong in the relationship, no, He goes for the throat and lets us know when we've messed up or when something is out of joint. Jesus is always the one taking the first step to make things right. Death and Resurrection, it is His nature to make things good and make things right - reconciling the world to Himself. And His strategy for reconciliation is to focus in on each one of us, on each and every relationship, just like He did with Peter.

Hallelujah!

Went to the pool afterward: Me and Daniel

After mass some of the guys and I went to a local swimming pool to exercise and have some fun. The picture above is pretty funny. You'll notice that everyone has a swimming cap on, including me. It is mandatary in all public pools in the area that swimmers wear caps. I think it is pretty funny, but it's the culture. You just have to laugh at yourself and then blend on in...

Happy Easter Season!

Futbolito

Host brothers: Jhassmanny and Christian warming up

The soccer...court

I always thought that soccer was played on a field, but when I arrived in Arequipa, Peru for the first time that thought was proved to be otherwise. Yesterday morning my 3 host brothers and I went out to play some soccer. Jhassmanny and Christian were calling their friends and cousins so that we could get a full game. We played for about 2 hours! It is a very fast game that involves a lot of skill, especially if you want to control the ball. I have gotten to where I can stop the ball alright, pass, and occasionally shoot.

Going out and playing with the guys has been a great way to build relationships and break down some of those cultural barriers that exist. It is easy to see what kind of person you are when you are on the court. Passing the ball and being a team player carriers over into life in so many ways.

After the 2 hours of soccer we went over to my host brothers' grandparents' house to drink some Orange Crush and talk about our victories on the court.

Jueves Santo - Mass and Desert

Padre Juan Carlos welcoming all

Alesca wouldn't leave the camera alone

Victoria chowing on some arroz con leche

Padre JC with the ladies

I made a mess with my Mazamora Morada