Dear All September 2007
Greetings from a cold, damp and dreary Lima! This winter has been so terrible and although as I write it is ‘officially’ Spring, the weather shows no signs of letting up. Yesterday we had the Diocesan Youth festival and it was rained off from the local park with everything, including the big amplifiers, being transferred into the church at Jesus El Salvador. Thankfully they have a lovely new church which was an excellent venue for the final events including drama, choreography and the concert with presentations from several churches including the group from Nazareno.
I hope the latest blogs have kept you up to date with some recent events and activities. It is not always easy as uploading photos seems to shut down the internet but will post this letter along with some photos and hope you are able to access them. Also the weeks and months seem to be flying past and soon we will be into October and the end of 2007 will be along before we know it, no doubt.
One of the main issues recently has been the illness and hospitalisation of the Bishop of Peru, William Godfrey. He was taken into hospital with stomach problems 4 weeks ago and has had 3 operations, the last being very serious and requiring the removal of a large part of his intestine. He is making steady recovery but as you can imagine it is a difficult process so please pray for him and his family at this time and also for the Diocese in his absence.
In Jesus El Nazareno we have finished the Youth Alpha course and are continuing with the Emmaus course on Saturday evenings. Please pray for all the young people reached through Alpha, many who are attending church and becoming more involved, also the leaders who have really grown in their faith through leading Alpha. We plan to do another Youth Alpha starting in January during the summer break here as people have more then as schools are on vacation. The Holy Spirit day was particularly good with time to be together and pray, receive and worship as a group.
The other significant event here was the terrible earthquake of 15th August hitting the towns to the south of Lima. I was in the church teaching English and when the quake continued for several seconds we got downstairs and out of the building. The movements were so strong and seem to be going on for ever. It was a very frightening experience, people crying, children looking for parents and parents worried about children still coming home from school or elsewhere. There were many aftershocks during the following week and the atmosphere was very tense with the news from the towns worst hit very distressing, homes flattened, people killed and whole communities left devastated. The Diocese was quick to respond and we have implemented 8 soup kitchens providing 2 hot meals for over 4,000 people each day, apart from weekends. There is also pastoral work alongside as people come to terms with their loss, family, home, belongings and community. People are living in tents and the rubble is gradually being cleared away. The Diocese has sent various people to work and Jhony from Jesus El Nazareno is there working on the administration and logistics of some the soup kitchens in Ica.
I give thanks and praise for how God continues to work in the lives of the people in Nazareno despite the difficulties many are facing, illness, unemployment, the weather etc. Since the earthquake I have been doing more pastoral visits and it has been a busy time. I am also visiting and preparing those who will be baptised, with baptisms planned for the celebration of anniversary of the church on Sunday 7th October, to include Sixto and Enrique, two members of the music group, and a young mother, Judith, and her 4 children members of the Sunday school. There are still many waiting so other baptisms will be in November and December. One factor is just the size of the church – we have standing room only on Sundays and so with other invited guests it would be almost impossible to accommodate everyone comfortably. We have divided the Sunday school children into two groups, I teach the older 8+ group and Diana takes charge of the younger ones. It has been great to have the extra classroom and space to work in this way. I have been getting the older children to look up the stories in the bibles and read together. I am very encouraged and pray that these children will develop and grow in their faith
During 12 – 14th October Lima is host to the International Alpha Conference with a team from HTB London and local people running training and activities to encourage the use and development of the Alpha course. I have been attending weekly prayer meetings on Tuesdays with Christians from different denominations to pray and plan for the conference. I have found it a very encouraging time and hope also to send some of my youth leaders to the conference to receive more training and meet with others. I feel it is also significant for unity within the church here and please pray especially for the evangelical - catholic polarity here. Praise God we have had some charismatic Roman Catholics attending the prayer meetings and that has been a great encouragement but there is still a lot of difficulties at denominational level. I shall be on the ministry team for the conference so please pray for us as we continue to prepare, pray and plan for this very important event. People are also coming from other Latin American countries so pray that the publicity would spread and others may be able to participate.
On Saturday 29th the disabled ministry, Shalom, has a fund raising event. The mothers will be preparing and cooking ‘anticuchos’ which are a traditional Peruvian dish, BBQ cow heart on skewers! I am afraid it is not my favourite dish due to my vegetarian preferences but pray others will enjoy the food and I am sure we shall have a great time together. Pray for the weather as we plan to be outside. At the moment we have therapy sessions 3 times a week in the centre but we are currently looking to expand and fund raise so we can provide more support to the families. The local special school has had some difficulties this year and many parents feel their children are not making any progress. They have tried to go down the ‘inclusion’ path but without the required infrastructure or training necessary to implement it and make it function for the benefit of the children. I still feel the disabled ministry is an important one so please pray for the co ordinations and give thanks for the input of Ruth, Theresa and Lourdes, the therapists, and Luisa and Etelvina, the church volunteers. We are also nearing the annual distribution of wheelchairs through the Joni Earikson charity, during the week 3rd – 10th of November almost a 1,000 wheelchairs, crutches and other appliances will be given out to disabled people in Lima, Arequipa and other locations in Peru. I shall go as a volunteer for a couple of days to help in translation with the visiting team from USA.
Sunday 30th September sees the Anglican churches in the Southern Cone of Lima gather together for a united service in the parish church of Santisima Trinidad (Holy Trinity) in Pamplona Alta. After the service there will be a march around the park and lunch together. Please pray for a good attendance and that God will increase the unity between the churches so we can witness to the communities around us.
So it is a busy time as you can see. I really give thanks to God that so far in this dreadful wet, damp and humid winter I have not been ill with my usual bronchial problems. I praise God for that and continue to pray for good health. I have had a couple of things, puffy eyes due to dust from clearing out rubbish in the old medical centre and a bit of a bad back due to carrying things back and forth but nothing serious, Praise God! A few weeks ago I escaped out of Lima to find some sun and hope to repeat the experience tomorrow. They say that we lack vitamin D as we never see the sun so I shall get my intake and certainly I did feel much better and energised afterwards.
I am not being good with my MA studies and have done very, very little since returning to Peru. I am faced with discerning the priorities and I feel at this time God’s priority for me is being with the people here and supporting and encouraging them. A priest came a couple of Sunday’s in July to Nazareno to lead the communion service but he is now in Ica working with the earthquake victims so it’s back to being on my own most Sunday’s. We have suspended the Sunday morning service as attendance was dropping and the weather was just so bad, so that has been on less responsibility. Occasionally I go to the English service at the Good Shepherd which provides fellowship for me and a chance to participate rather than lead. Every other Wednesday the clergy meet for a bible study and last Friday we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Bishop’s consecration. He, of course, was not in attendance but following the reception afterwards we walked to the clinic and he waved to us from his window.
Well I have not put any photos into this letter so do log onto the blog to see them and I will try and get them updated asap.
Prayer requests:
· Health of Bishop William and his recovery
· Bishop’s family as they care for him
· For all those ill and suffering at this time
· Saturday Emmaus course
· All those suffering in the south as a result of the earthquake
· Those working in the south, soup kitchens and pastoral support
· Those being baptised on 7th October and those in preparation
· The Sunday School and those who lead
· International Alpha Conference 12 – 14th October
· Shalom event and future development, wheelchair distribution in November
· United service on Sunday 30th
· My continued good health and time to relax and be refreshed
With much love and many blessings, Pat
