Memories & Prayers

Hi, sorry it’s been so long since the last post but time just seems to be flying by.

In the last post I mentioned the dwindling attendances at the Ite church meetings. Well sadly the two subsequent Tuesday meetings also had no attendance in terms of a congregation, just Richard the seminary student working in the village and me. Richard had even gone up early and visited numerous houses to remind them about the midweek but its winter here and after a day’s work many don’t want to come out of their houses. On the upside the Sunday before last we had a congregation of 10 including a couple of young men who haven’t come to the church for a long time, but who Richard knew. I plan to go out again tomorrow night (Tuesday) and see who turns up. This obviously depends on whether or not the national transport strike planned for tomorrow actually goes ahead, just to keep things interesting.

Last week from Wednesday to Sunday I took the opportunity, before the strike, to make a quick visit to Arequipa. I was kindly hosted by the Roycroft family and was able to enjoy their fellowship and see how much baby Grace is growing up. I also visited friends at the language institute and met up with different friends I had made in March. Recently I have been having difficulties finding adequate terms and phrases in Spanish to express concepts for the practical theology module I hope to teach. While in Arequipa I was able to meet up with a tutor from the institute who is a trained psychologist and they were able to offer some useful terms and phrases. This will help my preparations enormously.

While in Arequipa I also met up with a childhood friend I hadn’t seen in 20 years. My friend is the oldest son of a missionary family who worked with a Quaker missionary society in Tacna and then in Arequipa. While they were in Tacna I was briefly home schooled by his mother along with him and his brother. Anyway he and his wife happen to be visiting Peru at the moment both to see the tourist sites and also to revisit some of his childhood roots. Thankfully we were able to arrange our visits to Arequipa so we could meet up. He, his wife and I spent at least 2 and a half hour catching up on everything. The funniest part however, was when we were leaving. Having exited the coffee shop my friend asked to pray for me so the three of us stood heads bowed to the left of the front door and prayed. Then I asked to pray for them and their families. Halfway through this prayer a lady pulled on my elbow and interrupted us. She was one of the waitresses from the coffee shop, and was very eager to find out if the young lady was feeling alright. Apparently a lady walking by had gone in and alerted the staff that there was someone evidently ill outside and the waitress came out to check. I informed the waitress that we were just praying. In one sense it’s very funny and we were grateful for their concern. On the other hand it was sad to think that this kind of praying was so alien that various people mistook it for something else completely.

Thankfully I had a safe journey down again yesterday, but have been suffering a bit of a tummy bug today. Hopefully, as with most of these things, it will pass shortly. Thank you once again for remembering both the work here in Peru and me in prayer.

Alistair.

Midweek connections

I just thought I would write another post to give you an insight into one of the aspects of ministry I haven’t had time to mention yet. Last night was my turn to speak at the midweek meeting in Ite and I distinctly feel I failed to make a connection with the congregation. This however, thankfully wasn't due to my fledgling preaching skills but because sadly I was the only person who turned up. I waited for an hour and in the end decided to call it a night.

This isn’t however, the first time something similar has happened, and no doubt will not be the last. I remember one Friday accompanying Dave Murphy to the youth meeting to find all the youth had gone to some other event in the village. More recently Trevor and I went out and found that the building temporarily being used for the church was having a wake held in it.

Thankfully now the church is meeting once again in its own premises, yet numbers still seem to be low for most meetings. Last night was simply the first time it happened directly to me and also in the new premises which adds to the disappointment. In a way this is just one of those experiences that are part of any church plant situation. Because I’m preaching through a series it means at least I have the sermon prepared, apart from a revision, for the next time.

The meetings in Moquegua and Ite last Sunday seemed to go well and I had some positive feedback. As for the lecture preparation, the more I read, the more I feel I yet need to read. I said I would let you know more details as my preparation went along. Well at the minute having the sermons out of the way, I am trying to write the introduction lectures for 1 Peter, issues like: authorship, context, dating etc. In some ways quite dry but yet I’m finding some of it very interesting.

Simultaneously I am preparing the lectures for the practical theology module. This I thought was just for general students but recently found out that it is being offered to the pastors study group on Saturday mornings which adds another dimension to the issue. The topics I plan to major on are Grief, Addiction and Suicide, not because I have any great expertise in these areas, but they do interest me, they are very valuable if not necessary issues to be covered and I’m told they aren’t presently covered by anyone else. I just can’t decide where to start as I’ve been reading for all three topics so I might just start all three and then see where things go from there.

Anyway, must go, thanks for reading and continuing to pray for the Lord’s work here in Peru,
Blessings,
Alistair.

Reflections

Hi. The following blog is a mixture of a little bit of news and then a reflection on a few different things that I have encountered over the past few months but never had an opportunity to include them here. Some are funny and some are reflections of a serious (as supposed to funny) nature.

In terms of what I’ve been up to since my last update, well, largely it has revolved around starting preparations for the courses I hope to teach in September, God willing. I have also visited Tacna to speak to the Peruvian members of the Misión Rescate team and do evaluations with them. These were good and while there were no major problems highlighted, there were some suggestions which I think would be beneficial for the next team.

Whilst in Tacna I visited the various pastors and churches previously visited. Thankfully there seems to be quite a few interested individuals, though I have only been able to speak personally to one young lady at the Bible hour in the seminary. Therefore I don’t know how serious the other interested individuals are. The application deadline for Peruvian candidates is the end of July so there’s time yet, but I would like it sorted sooner rather than later.

The following are some pictures taken over the past few months which I thought I would share with you for different reasons.

The first two photos were taken when the team and I were returning from Puno. We stopped at a town called Mazo Cruz to have lunch (those of us who were up to it). While there a 'combi' (or minibus in English) pulled up, but I was quite surprised when I saw the passengers.

I thought, either these animals, reknown for their ability to climb mountains and travel long distances have gone soft, or the Peruvian public transport system is getting extremely popular. Alas, this was actually the bus to the butcher shop, so to speak, not that they probably knew that. But then I'm not really sure what they must have thought about it. I wonder in fact how the farmer managed to get them in in the first place!

The second pair of photos were taken when I visited the Zoo in Lima (and no they didn't keep me in). I quickly took this photo of these workmen presumably fixing an enclosure. I remember a caption I once read for a 'Men at Work' sign which read that "when men work they need everyone to know about it" or something similar. Well I thought this picture expressed a similar thought.

I'm not sure if there's a dentistry wing to Veterinary medicine, but I reckon that if there is, this toothy fellow could do with an appointment.

I took the next pair of photos in Mollendo when the team and I visited. This is the harbour where apparently some former missionaries arrived. It's now a tourist attraction and the chair that used to be used to lift people onto the pier is now a monument. Theres also a small museum nearby.

Whilst these serve as vivid reminders of the long history that Baptist Missions has in Peru, I also found personal reminders in the small things. While we stayed in the mission house in Mejia, I found the writing in the cement below. The story behind it is that when we were children we spent a holiday in the house, and while there my Dad supervised the construction of a stone wall around the house. One day while the cement below had just been laid my sister and I wrote our names in the wet concrete. It reads 'Alistair and Andrea' though the 'Alistair' has amost worn away. It isn't too clear in the picture but you can see the 'A' of Andrea almost in the middle of the picture.

Just a little reminder of my own childhood.

To keep you up to date this week end I am preaching in the San Antonio church in Moquegua in the morning and then in Ite that afternoon. This is closely followed by the midweek in Ite on Tuesday night. Please pray for me as I finish preparing and then especially as I actually preach in these churches.

Please also continue to pray for my lecture preparations and also as I continue promoting next year’s team.

Thanks once again for reading this blog and for praying for me, also I am writing another prayer letter which I hope to finish in the next few days. If your not already on my list please get in touch with me and I will make sure you get a copy.

God Bless,

Alistair

Quakes & Shakes

Hi. I’m just writing to keep you all informed of what I’ve been up to this week and plan to be doing next week. I can’t believe the days are flying by so fast.

One of the reasons I’m sitting here on the internet is that at 15:12 (according to the clock in my bedroom) there was a quite strong earth tremor and as usual I’m checking the internet to see what information I can glean about it. It seems to be still too soon as I can’t find anything about it.

I was having a little Saturday afternoon nap when the tremor started, and I thought maybe it’ll just pass, but then it got stronger and the windows rattled very loudly. There was a bit of a pause and then it started even more strongly at which point I thought that I should maybe get up after all and stand under the doorposts. I had just got my sandals on when it stopped. I was already feeling guilty enough about having a lie down without being got out of bed in such a dramatic fashion! An earth tremor is a really odd experience. One part of you wants to worry and the other is so blasé about it. In my case usually by the time I've decided its worth doing something about, its normally over.

I checked out the back window beside my bedroom to see who was about and also to check the sea. (For those who don't know, the house I'm staying in is almost beside the sea). Thankfully no apparent Tsunami’s in sight. As I looked about you could see people out in the street talking to neighbours and mothers taking their children to play on the grass near the sea away from the buildings presumably in case this might be followed by a stronger quake.

I tried phoning other missionaries just to check up on each other but the networks were understandably to busy. It’s all just another interesting aspect of life in Peru, and a clear reminder of how much you rely on God for protection in every aspect of life. Lately Ilo has had a lot of muggings, robberies and even kidnappings. This afternoon reminds us that God protects us in ways we don’t even think about, and for which we are grateful.

To keep you up to date, I have started preparing for the courses I hope to teach at the seminary. Although I’ve been reading for them over the past few months, when I’ve had the time, now I’m getting it down on paper so to speak. I’ve missed this kind of study and, whilst the task is daunting in many ways, I’m also very excited. I’ll maybe write a bit more about this over the next few weeks.

Tomorrow after the evening service in Ite I plan to go to Tacna until Wednesday. On Tuesday afternoon I have arranged to meet up with the Peruvian Misión Rescate team members to do their evaluations. Please pray that this would be useful in highlighting aspects that could be improved or taken into account for next year’s team. The rest of the three days I hope to visit the churches and pastors we previously visited promoting next year’s team to give them another letter with a submission deadline for applications. Hopefully this will hurry things along as we would like to have the candidates confirmed well in advance of October. Pray that young people apply, but also that God would give us guidance as we interview and select the right candidates.

Thanks for reading this blog and upholding me, and all the other missionaries here, in prayer.
God Bless,
Alistair.

The end and the beginning

Hi, I'm just back from Lima and getting caught up with everything. This includes accounts for any mission money I have spent, Misión Rescate accounts (still working on them), writing my monthly report to the mission telling them what I've been up to and other things like this blog which I try to update regularly.

Since the last blog we have said farewell to the year team. The farewell activities went well. The football match was cancelled in the end so a quiet Saturday was spent packing. Sunday included a meal with some of the team members families. It was good to have an opportunity to meet the parents and after the meal was had a bit of a closing ceremony.

I gave out team portraits which Dave Murphy had made before he went to Ireland. Also given out letters were of thanks to the parents for allowing their sons and daughters to come on the team, and also sent letters of thanks for their churches for sending them. Certificates were also presented to the team members for having participated in the team. These were all arranged by Dave before he left and much appreciated my the team members.

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing before attending a farewell service at the Ite church.
As soon as possible following the service the Peruvian members rushed to try and catch the last bus to Tacna. The Irish team members and I also headed to Tacna to catch the early morning flight on Monday to Lima. Thankfully everyone was able to make it to the airport on Monday morning, though the lack of sleep was evident. In the end seeing the Irish members board the plane probably helped them bring closure to this chapter of their lives. Please pray for me as I hope to visit the Peruvian team members next week to see how they are settling back into normal life again. I hope to carry out evaluations with them regarding the team. Pray that these would be useful in helping us plan for next years team.
Simon, Roberta and I obviously then headed on to Lima and spent most of the day there before their flight home that evening. We visited a souvenir market and Roberta particularly got very excited about some of her purchases for family and friends back home. Thankfully the day in Lima went well and they were able to catch their flight home without any major problems. Please pray for them as they seek to adapt back to life in Ireland. Some missionaries claim to have faced more culture shock going home than when they came to the mission field, so pray for them both.

The rest of the week was spent in Lima with the Roycroft's. This was a good opportunity for fun and fellowship. It's amazing to see how quickly Grace is growing up. The main purpose of the stay in Lima (apart from ensuring Simon and Roberta were allowed out of the country) was to conclude immigration procedures for Grace to ensure she didn't have to leave too. God was good and her paperwork was concluded without any difficulties in less than two hours.

I flew back to Tacna yesterday and then travelled on to Ilo. Please pray as I settle into life here again. Over the past few months I haven't been in Ilo longer than two weeks at a time and it's made it difficult to settle. Hopefully now I will have a chance to try and make a bit of a home here. Pray also as I start concentrating on preparations for the courses I hope to teach at the seminary. I hope to get into that once I get a few loose ends tied up.

Thanks once again for all your prayerful support and the words of encouragement I receive by internet comments, e-mail etc.

God Bless,
Alistair.

Retreat & Farewell

Hi. Since I last wrote we (the team and I) have visited Tacna and then headed on to Mejia (a seaside town) for a sort of retreat. The time in Tacna went well with lots crammed in. We visited the 'Pan de Vida' church and took the Young Peoples meeting on Saturday night and the Sunday School the next morning. We also participated in the main service. It was a useful visit to encourage the members there. Also while in Tacna we visited John and Lourdes Brew's home for lunch. The team have been regular visitors (I think this was at least the fourth visit) and they had accompanied Lourdes to Puno at Christmas time to give out presents. As such the team have become very fond of Lourdes and John and we spent a lovely time together.
Whilst visiting Guido was spotted working at the light fittings. I assure you he was changing the light bulb and not appropriating any removable items to help finance next years team.
We headed to Mejia on Sunday afternoon and stayed until Thursday (yesterday). It was a great time spent together and a lot of fun. The talks were shared, some almost two hours long (sorry) and seem to have been well received. We managed to visit Mollendo and Matarani, two nearby ports that missionaries used to arrive at when they came by boat. The fun included a bonfire (with the required marshmallows) on the beach along with crab chasing by torchlight.

Others almost got stuck trying to climb in and out of an abandoned boat now turned into a type of monument in Matarani. Not to worry, if he hadn't succeeded in getting out again we could have simply launched the boat into the sea and told his parents to expect him home in 4-6 weeks.
Tonight the team have taken part at the young peoples meeting in Ite. Sadly it seems the footballers in Peru have gone on strike and the game that was due to happen tomorrow (see previous post) seems to have been called off, but we won't know for sure until tomorrow, as usual in Peru. On Sunday there is then the farewell activities and no doubt many tears. The Irish pair and I are then due to travel on to Tacna for the flight to Lima the next morning.
Please pray for the team as they split and the emotional time this will no doubt be for both the team members and all those who have got to know them over these months. Please also pray for safety in travel for all the team but especially Simon and Roberta as their travel schedule is very tight. Lately LAN Peru, the airline flying us from Tacna to Lima (and has a monopoly on the route), recently has unexpectedly been cancelling and delaying flights. This could throw the existing travel arrangements into chaos if the flight is cancelled or postponed too long.

Thank you again for your interest and faithfulness in prayer,
Alistair.

Visits & Ties

Hi, sorry its been so long since my last post but I've been both busy and away from the internet a lot.

To get you right back up to date with things, since Puno, the 'Misión Rescate' team have been visiting churches to promote next years team along with getting involved in all the usual activities. The first weekend they visited the Baptist church in La Pampa here in Ilo. Among many other things like Sunday school and youth meetings they helped the ladies with a 'Picaronada'. Picarones are like dough rings (sometimes made with sweet potato) which are fried and then served covered in a type of honey. The ladies group were doing this to raise funds so the team took a load to the market and sold them there. Apparently some of them turned out to be quite the salesmen.

The following weekend they visited the church in San Antonio in Moquegua. I was only able to visit on the Sunday which coincidently was Mothers Day here in Peru. Again a great time was had by all and old friendships continued.


In between visits to the churches some of the team members have been working at the church building site in Ite.

Last weekend was then spent in Tacna visiting both the 'Palabra de Vida' church in an area in Cono Sur called Vinani and then also the 'Luz de Vida' church. I accompanied the team on this trip and both visits were very enjoyable. Its good to make contact with the young people in all these churches.

On a more personal note I've never tended to be a shirt and tie person but due to the fact that I was intending to participate, be it briefly, during the service on Sunday morning and speak a little about the team I though I might as well wear a tie and look a bit more the part. In fact it turns out that this church only have an all age Sunday school in the morning and leave the service to the evening. However, on our account they had convened a brief 'culto' or service to give us an opportunity to promote the team. The young lady leading however, due to the fact I had a tie etc on, presumed I must be intending to preach and proceeded to invite me to share the Word. I hadn't even an old sermon on me let alone anything prepared. Thankfully having promoted the team we were able to bring things to a close without me having to submit those present to my uncoordinated ramblings. I'll have to think twice before getting too dressed up in the future.

During the visit we were also able to visit the Radio and promote next years team there, live to the whole of Tacna and beyond. Almost everyone got interviewed and I had my first experience of being interviewed on radio.

Simon Curry was even coaxed into doing the 'Pollo Chevre' live on air accompanied by some of the other team members. I don't know what its called in English but its something like the crazy chicken and involves singing a song while flapping your arms and legs. How this was going to be transmitted effectively over radio I'm not sure, but Simon encouraged those listening to use their imaginations.

Wednesday Sara, the team co-ordinator, and I spent five hours driving round Tacna handing out the promotion material to a list of Pastors we had been given. Trying to find some of these men was a difficult task and by the end I felt like a detective chasing down leads. Often Pastors live on site at the Churches but in the case of those who didn't we had to ask neighbours who then told us where someone belonging to the church lived who in turn gave us an address of where the Pastor had a shop or lived etc. Thankfully we only have three more Pastors left to contact when we visit Tacna again this weekend.

I would ask you to pray firstly as this is the teams last church visits. Pray as we then go to Mejia for a short retreat to finalise the team. They have asked me to prepare some talks which are relevant to the team ending. I've spent a lot of time over the past two/three weeks preparing five talks. Please pray that they would be what God would have me share with the team, and that they would be an encouragement to them.

The following weekend then ends the team. On the Saturday there is an inauguration of a new football stadium in Ite. We hope to attend this both for the occasion and also if possible as an evangelistic event. Invited to play are the top team in Tacna called 'Bolognesi' and perhaps the team top team from Arequipa called 'Melgar'. What's more exciting is that the council have arranged for the Bolo team to stay at the camp site for two nights. The prospect of this has caused great excitement among the team (particularly the girls). Pray that this would be an excellent opportunity to witness to these players and their entourage.

The farewells are scheduled for Sunday the 31st. That night Simon, Roberta Sherlock and I then head for Tacna for an early flight Monday morning. They then fly out to Ireland late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Please pray for all the farewell activities and the emotional time that it will undoubtedly be. Also pray for their safe travel home to Ireland. Pray also for the Peruvian team members as they return to their families and face the anti-climax they are already dreading. Pray as I try to maintain contact with these individuals in the months ahead and as they settle back into their churches, something some of the team are worried about.

Thank you again for all your prayers.
God Bless,
Alistair.