Apartments & Plants

Hi. Sorry for not updating sooner but I’ve been busy and also I haven’t had regular access to the internet until yesterday.

During the last few weeks Dave and Alicia Murphy were here. It was great to be able to spend some time with them. There were a few frustrations in terms of trying to get things like transport organised. Things like this aren’t as simple as in Ireland. It certainly isn’t a case of just calling a company and arranging a suitable time and price. For example it involved going to the police station and getting ‘Mudanca’ documents done (which are essentially legalised copies of an itemised list you provide) to allow us to transport or send stuff out of Ilo. If you don’t have these documents any police or customs officers who stop you on your journey are entitled to confiscate all your property in case it’s stolen. The fact that the policeman never came to the house to see if we actually possessed the items on the list is beside the point. We had to get three sets of these documents done, but thankfully the police were very helpful in this regard. Although it was a very busy week it was good to meet up again and laugh about the various hiccups along the way; either you laugh or you cry.

Also since the last post I have moved into a flat at the seminary in Tacna. It’s cosy and I’m making myself at home in it. I’m also trying to settle into life in Tacna. I have had to deal with the little frustrations that come with trying to settle into life in a new place and it’s only now I realise how accustomed I had got to living in Ilo. For example I have managed to find places to buy most food items but haven’t found somewhere to buy meat. The thing is that very few places that sell meat keep it in a fridge of any description. In the market meat is laid out on the tiled counter but you never know for how long, and whilst I have bought meat there, preferably I choose the refrigerated variety. Last night I tried a shop and found they kept serving people in front of me and after 15mins I left. I went back today and the same thing happened but I persevered until I managed to get something. In Ilo I had become accustomed to shopping at a little shop that always made point of serving people in turn and today I wished they would open up a shop here. Anyway it’s the little things like this that you don’t think about until you’re in the situation, but no doubt in a month’s time I’ll have a routine established.

On the whole the frustrations have been few and I have enjoyed getting things sorted around the flat. I would like to have bought a pet but that seems unwise at present (though some people are trying to convince me to buy some fish) so I have made do with some plants.

Other than settling into the flat, I am continuing preparing classes for the new semester which is alarmingly close. The first classes are on Monday evening the 31st of August. My first class is that evening. Yesterday I spent the afternoon in the library compiling booklists to give out to the students which involved me having to browse through numerous shelves looking for relevant material. Comparatively speaking there is nowhere near as much literature available in Spanish as there is in English, and for the most part I am using the books I brought with me to prepare my courses. I was however, relieved to find at least some material which the students can make use of. Please continue to pray for me, and all the other lecturers, as we continue to prepare our classes.

Tomorrow (Sunday morning) the seminary administrator and I are going to visit a long list of churches to hand out information about the new semester and encourage the believers to come along and enrol. The postal system in Peru isn’t really that effective and the best way to make sure people find out about anything is to go and tell them yourself. Then in the evening one of the churches in Cono Sur, ‘Palabra de Vida’, is celebrating its anniversary. As usual the four churches are joining together for the service and I plan to attend.

Please pray that God would motivate believers to come along and attend the seminary. There is a wide variety of courses offered and there’s usually something for everyone. I have been able to talk to some existing students who are excited about starting back so that’s good.

Thanks again for your continued interest and support in prayer.
Blessings,
Alistair.

Youth Congress

Hi, this week I had the opportunity to attend a ‘Youth Congress’ at the Camp Centre in Ite. It’s a bit like a camp only more formal with more meetings and workshops. It was organised by 7 of the churches that work directly with the Mission: the four ‘de Vida’ churches from Tacna and the Ilo, Moquegua and Ite churches. The youth leaders from these churches, under the supervision of the pastors, formed an organisational committee who planned everything.

Despite the cold weather (it’s the middle of winter here- and you can feel it), there was an excellent turn out with approximately 120 or more young people (ages ranging from 13 to early 30’s) in attendance and the congress went very well.

The theme was ‘Sirves o no Sirves’ which is a play on words in Spanish and literally means are you serving or are you of no use.
They invited Santiago Quispe, the actor/physics teacher from Lima, who had been the speaker at this year’s youth camp (see previous posts). They could only afford to pay for him but in the end the rest of the team he works with, Proclaim Peru, came along at their own expense, including Pastor Rino Bareta who was the speaker at our family camp.

They ended up with 6 for the price of one. It was such an encouragement that they would sacrifice their time and money to travel what turned out to be 27 hour bus trip, (their bus broke down for 6 hours in Ica on the way), to minister to these young people. In the end Pastor Rino actually delivered the sermons and as a team they acted out dramas which were excellent and illustrated the points Rino was sharing from 1&2 Timothy.

On the last morning they presented a very evangelistic drama, Rino spoke and at the end 8 young people made professions to follow Christ.

Apart from the main meetings there were workshops arranged to help the young people learn, or encourage them to develop, skills which they could use serving in their churches. These included two singing workshops, another for drummers, one for guitarists, and then workshops related to drama like mime and choreography. Invited along were some professional Christian musicians from Tacna including a band called ‘3:16’. They sang at one of the evening sessions and then helped out in the respective workshops.
The congress was a great time to catch up with people I had made friends with during the camps and visits to churches with Misión Rescate, and also to get to know a whole new bunch of people I had never met. I’m now looking forward to camps in the summer as hopefully many of these young people will return.

The end of the month is here and I now have to start thinking of moving to Tacna. The seminary starts back at the end of August but I need to get settled into the flat at the seminary where I will be living for the rest of this year. I am planning to make a trip over in the next few days to take some of the stuff I don’t desperately need here in Ilo and to get some cleaning done in the flat before I move over for good. Please pray for me as I settle into a new routine in Tacna, continue preparing for the seminary courses in September and as I start visiting churches over there.

Please also pray for next year’s Misión Rescate team. The deadline for applications is today. We had arranged the date so that potential applicants could bring their applications with them to the congress and I had half hoped that we would have a number of candidates emerge at the congress but so far only one female applicant came forward. In one sense this worries me but on the other hand various youth leaders have told me that in Peruvian terms it’s still early days and there’s still time for people to come forward.

Thanks again for keeping an interest in the work here and remembering us in prayer.
God Bless,
Alistair

Photos of youth congress

These are some photos of the various workshops.

These are all the various tutors who taught the different workshops.

The singing workshop with the lead singer of '3:16'.

The drum group with '3:16's drummer.

The guitar workshop.

A budding guitarist.

The drama group acting things or people you find at a beach.

The mime group was held in the amphitheatre.

More photos of the youth congress

The following are some photos of the congress.
First thing in the mornings was devotions where the young people split into different groups and spread out around the campsite. The talks were given by various youth leaders who were accompanying them.

The games room was popular during break times.

As was the 'Tienda Azul' or tuck shop.
A popular nocturnal activity turned out to be skipping. That and apparently singing into the wee small hours. Given that those reporting this hadn't slept well on account of it, I assume they weren't singing lullabies.

Only two of these are wigs are fake, (Discúlpeme Joel si lees esto).

On hand to make sure nothing got too crazy were some of the pastors who with youthful hearts attended the congress. Above are two of them, Ps. Quintin Anco (Palabra de Vida) and Ps. Freddie Mandamientos (Luz de Vida).

Rain & Uno

Hi, just thought I would get back to you and let you know how Tuesday night went. Well again no adults turned up for the midweek prayer meeting, fourth week in a row. This is not surprising in one way as it was raining, not usual for Ite. When people are not Christians and have made no commitments to the church it’s difficult to get them to come out on a cold night. Obviously unlike Ireland buildings here do not have central heating.

On the positive side seven young people, who would normally sit at the park or football pitch, did turn up looking to get in out of the rain. Richard and I played Uno with them for a while followed by a sword drill session and then Richard shared a short epilogue. So in a way our midweek prayer meeting turned into a youth meeting thanks, in part, to the rain. Richard has been taking advantage of the fact that the young people are on school holidays, which were brought forward nationally because of the swine flu, to spend more time building relationships with them. Pray as he visits in the village and takes the opportunities he can get to share the gospel.

The other issue on my heart that I want to share is with regard to next year’s ‘Misión Rescate’ team. In short we have yet to receive any applications from prospective Peruvian members. This is despite a lot of promoting and encouraging. In a sense I realise I am worrying prematurely. Firstly the application deadline isn’t until the 31st, next week, and I keep hearing that ‘this one’s friend’ or ‘that one’s sister’ is interested. Secondly this is Peru and nothing ever happens until after any given deadline and usually at the last possible moment, but until I get concrete applications I won’t be satisfied. I am constantly aware that time is flying by and I seem powerless to do any more about it; I can’t force anyone to join. So I would ask you to keep praying that these almost mythical interested parties I keep hearing about would be challenged by God to commit thoughts and intentions to paper.

As I close please also pray for me as it is my turn to preach at the Ite church this Sunday afternoon. Pray that there would be a good turnout and that God would help me share what He has placed on my heart.

Thank you once again for your interest.
Alistair.

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.