Streets & Statues

Hi I decided to write the following as a separate post, simply because the previous was getting too long, and this is really about a different topic.

This is Christmas time, in case you hadn’t realised, and given the heat here I easily could forget. It’s really difficult in some ways to feel Christmassy when you’re sweating and especially when you hear of all the snow back home. Though a friend of mine reminded me the other day that Jesus was actually born in a climate somewhat similar to the desert I am presently living in. It strikes home how little much of the hype about Christmas actually has to do with the reality of Christ’s birth. Anyway during this time we remember Christ and specifically his birth. But as I think of this I remember something I was confronted with last week in Arequipa which has been on my mind ever since. I mentioned previously visiting the ‘Santa Catalina’ (St Catherine of Siena) monastery. It is famous for apparently being the only monastery in the world to be a citadel, essentially a city within the city of Arequipa, with a number of streets named after Spanish cities.

It even had its own cemetry which is no longer used, behind the doors in the distance in this picture.

There still exist a small number of nuns in a little section of the citadel, but the rest has been opened up as a tourist attraction. They live behind these doors.

It is a beautiful place to visit, with old Spanish architecture built mostly out of a white volcanic rock. Anyway what struck me was one statue in particular, out of the many in different locations around the monastery. It was an statue of Christ crafted a in the 16th or 17th century; I can’t remember the exact date the guide said it was made.

What did strike me were some of the details she shared about it. She explained that the hair on its head is real human hair, that the teeth in its mouth are real teeth-the milk teeth of one or many children, and the finger nails are real human nails taken from the cadavers of deceased people. I was intrigued by the black finger tips which are not the result of the finger nails, but were painted that way to represent the flesh dying as Christ died. The guide also pointed out that if I stooped down and looked in the mouth I would be able to see a small mirror placed in the roof of the mouth to give the appearance of saliva and increase the life-likeness of the statue.
I have seen many statues and icons of Christ, the Virgin Mary and various saints, but I have to admit that this one really repulsed me on a number of counts.

First the use of human body parts to increase the realistic appearance of the statue (though this is not unique to this statue). Secondly the fascination with Jesus’ death and not a balanced view of his life including: his birth, ministry and resurrection- reminding me of the importance of celebrating the true reason for Christmas. Thirdly the efforts and lengths to which some people have gone, and still go to, to create statues which end up essentially as idols; creations of man which do not represent the truth about God. I realise there is a difference between idols of other gods and the supposed statues of Christ, yet these still fail to present a truely balanced representation of Jesus.

It made me think how men seem to have had an urge, since the earliest civilisations, to create images of their gods, or to be their gods, and how this urge historically infiltrated the church and resulted in the many representations of Christ and other Christian personages which get paraded though streets and up mountains in various parts of the world. I’ve heard many people say that in every major heresy, throughout the history of the church, there is always an element of truth. And I have to admit that there is an element of truth behind even this effigy; Christ did die and I would not wish to deny that, for if I did I would no longer be a Christian. But how do we get from a Biblical truth to a manmade creation, admittedly of great effort and expense, which people bowed before and has now become a item on display for tourists. I don’t know if I feel more sad, annoyed or repulsed... or perhaps a mixture of them all.

It is beyond the scope of this blog to say much more about whether statues and icons of Christ are in fact idols or legitimate representations of instances of His incarnation. I think it’s evident that I believe that in one way or another they have become more than what they were intended to be, and therefore would not favour them. I realise however, there are those who would disagree. So therefore let me propose what I consider to be a more suitable, and crucially Biblically mandated, alternative.
In the gospel of Luke chapter 22 Jesus has been celebrating the Last Supper and note that in verse 19 He commands the disciples, and therefore us His followers, to “do this in remembrance of me” (also 1 Corinthians 11:25). I have often wondered why Christ chose to be remembered in this manner. Obviously we can remember Him in any given moment in any given place, but in terms of ritual and worship why did he instruct us to remember him in this manner? Well there are many reasons but the following are a few which relate to this discussion. Firstly He chose to be remembered symbolically and not pictorially- in the sense of a picture or physical image of Him which a statue essentially is. Why? I think it’s because it allows us to get a balanced representation. When something is represented as a picture, like a statue, the physical appearance dominates our mind and our understanding. And in many cases this is good, as they say a picture says a thousand words. But in this case it says a thousand words the most of which are those the sculptor wants to say and have portrayed.
When something is portrayed symbolically the symbols themselves no longer dominate our minds (in the same way that a picture does) but rather the meaning we ascribe to the symbol. And what meaning do we ascribe to the symbol? Well we know that the Lord’s Supper should never be separated from the sharing or preaching of the Bible or the Word of God, therefore it is what the Bible says that gives meaning to the symbols. In one sense what the Bible as a whole teaches about Christ can be symbolised, but specifically what Jesus himself declared the bread and the wine to represent: His body and His blood. In other words by joining the sharing of the Word of God we allow God to speak symbolically through the elements what He would have us understand; and in celebrating the Lord’s Supper we do not remember solely his death but his life and crucially his resurrection. In a picture we see only one point in time, but when we remember symbolically we can simultaneously remember various points in time and achieve the balanced view or understanding I believe we were intended to have.

If I have lost you already I apologise, but in short what I am trying to say is that we do not need to make statues, pictures and icons to remember our Lord. They may have some limited use, for example in Bible picture books for children or nativity scenes. But when we come to a highly elaborate statue with human hair, teeth and finger nails we undoubtedly do more harm than good. Rather than this, we should seek to remember Christ in his own appointed way: through the Bible, our hearts and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

This Christmas I hope we will all remember the whole truth about the life of Christ and especially that he no longer hangs dying on a cross, but lives interceding for us as our all sufficient Saviour.
Merry Christmas,
Alistair.

Graduation & Christmas

Hi, since the last post I had my 30th birthday which passed without too much fuss but thank you to those who send cards and birthday greetings, I really appreciated it. I visited ‘Rosa de Saron’ on Sunday evening (13th) and had a lovely time with the believers there, and John Brew (one of the veteran missionaries and principal of the seminary in Tacna in case you don’t know who he is) was able to accompany me which was an added blessing and encouragement to the believers there. Hopefully he will be able to continue visiting the church there once I leave so remember him prayer concerning that.

On the Monday night (14th) the seminary had its graduation which turned out to be a lovely service. The pastor from the Ilo church, Mario Carhuaricra, was the invited speaker and preached very well and directly to those graduating and seeking to enter the ministry.

A few graduated with certificates, others with diplomas and others graduated from the ladies program.

On Tuesday I travelled up to Arequipa for a few days to meet up with a few people, but sadly most of those I knew were away either on deputation or, as in the case of the Misión Rescate team, away to the jungle. The lengths people will go to to avoid having to see you! It was a pleasant visit none the less and I still managed to see some folk I knew, like those at the language institute, and also visit a few places I hadn’t previously got round to visiting like the ‘Santa Catalina’ monastery; more about that later.

I then returned to Tacna on Friday in time to attend a few Christmas activities this past weekend. The first was a Christmas event in the ‘Luz de Vida’ church, hosted by the ‘Network of Christian Young People of Tacna’ which I have mentioned in previous posts, who had organised to invite in lots of children from the locality, put on a special program, give out presents and also hot chocolate with Paneton (a kind of sweet bread/cake with dried fruit, raisins, currants etc, in it). It is customary in Peru to have hot chocolate and Paneton at Christmas.

Apparently it was only arranged a couple of days previous and involved a lot of last minute running around for the pastor and his wife, but not knowing what to expect, they were delighted that soo many children turned up. Someone mentioned 200 but I don’t know how accurate that figure is, but I do know the church was packed to the door with children and many mothers as well. The program included a lot of children’s songs, some games, a clown, a pink panther, a chicken (don’t ask me what these three have to do with Christmas) and also the pastor was able to present a gospel message over all the noise.

This is the pastor Freddie and his wife Epi struggling to silence the children before bringing the epilogue.At the end the young people handed out the chocolate and Paneton, and later the presents.

It was almost impossible to control the number of children that turned up but the pastor and his wife were very encouraged afterwards at the contacts that had been made, and the prospect of being able to follow up on all these parents and children who had attended the church for the first time.

After a quick dash back to my apartment I was back to the same church to speak at the young people’s group. We had a profitable discussion about issues related to their lives and the society we all live in and I thank God for being able to continually develop relationships with them. The youth leader wasn’t able to attend for unexplained reasons, but it was encouraging to see a few of the young people take the initiative and lead the meeting and worship themselves. For a long time they have been very dependent on the youth leader but she has slowly tried to get them to take on responsibility, especially the male members, and now slowly they are showing signs of maturity. Pray for her as she works almost singlehandedly, with only the Pastor and his wife for support, to disciple this group of young people.

The three young men in this picture led the meeting; below is a photo of them leading.

This is the group that attended on Saturday. Many who normally attend were missing. If they all came at the same time there would be a large group of about 20-30 young people.

Thanks to God a few of them were recently baptised and are now taking these steps of independence.

On Sunday (yesterday) I travelled to Ilo to spend some time with the Morrow family and the Misión Rescate team members and then attend the Christmas service at the Ite church were we all enjoyed a lovely service. I returned to Tacna last night to catch up on unfinished business including this, and hope to return to Ilo later in the week to spend Christmas day there. Then on Boxing Day the whole mission family gathers at the Brews home here in Tacna to celebrate together. Pray as always for safety in travel, but pray especially that these times of fellowship would be refreshing to the missionary family here and that we would know God’s presence as we remember Christ’s birth and the bond that unites us in Him.
Merry Christmas,
Alistair

Red pens & Rojo music

Hi in the last post I wrote about the trip to Tarata which, thanks to God, went very well. I have already arranged another visit at the beginning of January.

The rest of that week went fairly straight forward. Classes as normal, trying to make sure the material got covered as we approached the end of term. Essays were handed in and considerable time was spent correcting them. It was actually quite enjoyable to read some, others very difficult to know what was being talked about (certainly not much about 1 Peter) and then some unashamedly bold attempts at plagiarism. One essay for my Saturday class was an excellent article downloaded entirely from the internet from title to bibliography, a front page with name attached and then submitted. The tip off was the fact that a student who contributes little in class then handed in an essay with a title so specific it was worthy of a doctoral thesis.
Others were good attempts but again it was easy to identify which parts where copied verbatim from commentaries. For example in one essay for 1 Peter, on three separate occasions, the student apparently asked me, in brackets, to refer to comments on specific verses for example in Daniel and 2 Corinthians, obviously copied form a complete Bible commentary. That said they were good attempts and encouraging overall.

Last Sunday John Brew, Chris (who accompanies me to Tarata) and I headed to Moquegua to attend the San Antonio church anniversary at which John was preaching. It was a lovely service and I was asked to pray for the newly appointed or re-elected memebers of the eldership and diaconate.

After a church lunch we headed back to Tacna in time to say goodbyes to the Roycroft’s and attend the Luz de Vida church anniversary at which John was also preaching.

This week has had a number of highlights (not least of which has been marking some more assignments handed in late). Firstly Monday night saw the end of my course on 1 Peter and I was encouraged to have positive feedback as to the course.

In the photo are the majority of those who attended. Some sadly chose to skip the last night.
On Tuesday I attended a summer camps planning meeting and it looks like they will be really good though very tiring.

The highlight of highlights was definitely being able to attend a concert on Wednesday night. The ‘network of young Christians of Tacna’ I mentioned in a previous post has made efforts to bring well known Christian bands and singers to Tacna, no mean feat given that in the grand scheme of things Tacna is fairly remote. This time it was a Mexican band called ‘Rojo’ or ‘Red’ in English- presumably a reference or inference to Christ’s shed blood. One of the other lecturers, Silas Ramos, encouraged me to attend even though I didn’t know who they were. Interestingly they played at the ‘Concha Acústica’ or Band shell/amphitheatre facing the house I lived in for a few years here in Tacna during my childhood. I those days I remember having to listen to all sorts of rubbish play there whilst never actually having entered the grounds.

Well I had a really great time firstly because I met a lot of people, especially young people, who I knew from the seminary, camps and various churches. Secondly because the band was excellent, not just in their performance but in what they shared. They sang a number of worship songs I recognised from the churches here but also at certain intervals the lead singer/guitarist, Emmanuel Espinosa, took time to share a little about his testimony, some of the difficulties faced in his youth like his parents both dying in a short space of time from each other.

Later he spoke about the importance of decisions, both in practical things in our Christian lives with regard to sanctification but then also about who we serve and why; leading to a clear sharing of the gospel.

Later again he introduced his wife who is presently the lead vocalist and then his three boys who had accompanied them. The oldest, no more than 9 probably, had been darting about the stage during the songs moving microphones etc.

He shared then about the importance of family, of parenting and spoke short but directly about Christian principals with regard to parenting and family life.

All in all I got so much more from this concert than simply the music and would highly recommend anyone who understands Spanish to avail of their music and attend a concert if you have the chance.

One of the bands ex-vocalists, Edit Sanchez, who is now performing on her own, sang first. I can’t presently remember what you call the band or singer that performs before the main band, but she was excellent too. In fact I was able to meet her as I was buying a couple of the bands CD’s. I managed to take her picture (in the centre with the stripy jumper) with some of the friends I came with to the concert.
It’s my birthday this weekend so I considered this a very enjoyable birthday outing, and apparently there is another Christian band coming soon (though that might be too late for me) who are even better and if I’m still about here I will try to attend.

This coming weekend I will probably attend the youth at Luz de Vida although it’s not my turn to speak, and then on Sunday I am due to preach, God willing, at the Rosa de Saron church in the evening. Don’t know yet where I will be in the morning. Please pray that God would use me there.

Next Monday then sees the closing ceremony/graduation at the seminary so that should be an enjoyable occasion and then on Tuesday I am heading to Arequipa for a few days. I hope to meet up with some friends, including the Misión Rescate team, as this will likely be my last visit before I head back to Ireland. Pray for safety in travel and that it would prove to be a beneficial visit.

God Bless,
Alistair.

Tarata & Ticaco

Hi, I just thought I would write a little about my weekend because the rest of this week looks as though it might get a bit crazy and I may not get round to this if I don’t do it now.

On Sunday three of us set off up to Tarata. Chris, one of the members of last year’s ‘Misión Recate’ team, and I headed for the Baptist church. Chris has accompanied me on all three visits and I have appreciated his company, not just in terms of the drive but someone to be with you in case something goes wrong. (The AA apparently doesn’t cover the Tacna-Tarata road). In this regard I am thankful to all who give so generously to Baptist Missions so that the Mission can provide reliable vehicles. The other member of our party was Rueben (the radio station technician) who was going to another evangelical church he had been invited to. They were having a baptismal service and he had been asked to preach at it. Upon arrival he realised they also intended him to perform the baptisms. He hadn’t brought a change of clothes but apparently they were able to find suitable attire from somewhere for him to baptise four people in a pool in a nearby river.

Anyway Chris and I went to the Baptist church as planned and shared a lovely time with the believers there. At the end of the service we were treated by the small Sunday school class who sang a favourite hymn of my parents ‘Montes y Valles’. I don’t know the name in English but will add it in when I remember or am reminded.

Over lunch we worked out that the work in Tarata has existed for 66 years. The Pastor was saved at 18 and is now 84 years old. The Pastor and his wife are thankful to God for His faithfulness over all these years and also for the support of both missionaries and visitors from Ireland who have come as far as Tarata to be an encouragement and get involved, when possible, in the work there. They shared numerous stories of how God had blessed them over the years, too many to share here.

In the afternoon we headed for Ticaco, a town near Tarata, and after bumping along a dirt track we were thankfully finally able to visit an elderly lady named Gregoria, the object of our past failed attempt. She is a lady who attended the church in Tarata even when the road was not as accessible as it is now. According to Pastor Orestes, unlike many others, although she was illiterate she had a good grasp of basic doctrine and shared the gospel message clearly with many in her town. Many who have been on past Baptist Mission teams that have visited Tarata have probably also gone the extra mile and had the privilege of visiting this lady.

She now lives in this house with her brother who is much younger than her. He shepherds goats but is not always there or able to provide the support necessary when he is.

She is now very old and frail, almost blinded with cataracts and so deaf that I think all the neighbours were privy to the conversation we had with her. She was surprisingly lucid and remembered many who had visited her in the past even if not by name.

She suffers from arthritis which causes her a lot of discomfort and pain, especially her in elbows she said.

Her living conditions are very basic, and apparently recently she set her kitchen on fire trying to cook. St the minute a niece brings her food most days so she doesn’t attempt cooking. I read to her the 23 Psalm the same passage I shared with her 5 years ago when I accompanied the 2004 mission team who visited Ticaco with Derek Baxter. We prayed and then Berta the Pastors wife led us in a hymn that Gregoria knew by heart.

It was such an honour to be able to share something of God’s Word with someone so isolated.
It was also a pleasure to be able to leave a few gifts of food to encourage her and perhaps even help boost her health.

She was complaining about having developed a cold, so we left her eating one of the mandarins we had brought from Tacna.

The visit really touched our hearts and Chris especially expressed how his heart had gone out to her. As we left we wished we could do so much more but that is when you have to trust that we have a God who knows all about it and will provide, even for Gregoria, in ways and means we cannot even begin to properly understand, as He has done up to now. Please pray for Berta as Gregoria is only one of many elderly people in the towns surrounding Tarata that she visits almost weekly. Pray that she would know God’s strength as she seeks to share God’s Word with many of these elderly people, some who are believers and others who are still seeking but willing to listen.
Pray also for others in difficult circumstances, some similar to Gregoria and others with distinct problems, whom other missionaries and BM workers seek to minister to. In a sense Gregoria is only one example but others could be written about. Please continue to pray for the work of Baptist Missions here in Peru in all the various areas and facets of ministry.

Pray for me as I start marking essays (the students did hand some in eventually) and as the term draws towards a close. Please also visit as I continue to seek future ministry possibilities here in Peru and especially the Lords guidance in this. Finally I would ask you to pray for Gregoria that she would know God’s comfort in her life there in Ticaco and also that the Lord would bless Pastor Orestes and Berta as they serve Him faithfully in the Tarata valley.

God Bless,
Alistair.