Travel to Arequipa, Peru, 101

We left Bangor, ME, on February 4 and returned on February 15.  Our trip was fairly uneventful, but the few things serve as lessons learned for the next time we travel there.
1.  If the forecast calls for a lot of rain, do not plan to wash your clothes. It rained every day that we were there.  Without dryers, clothes just do not dry.  Fortunately, we had taken enough that it was not a problem.
2.  Their summer is their rainy season.  While the 60 degree weather was a break from our severe winter cold, the weather would have been more pleasant at another time.  On the morning of this photo, the clearest morning we had, the clouds moved in shortly after lunch.  By afternoon, it was raining.  In the distance, you can see the snow-capped volcano, Chachani.

3.  Peruvian Spanish is easy for a foreigner to understand.  I have been in countries where they slur their words together.  In others, they speak very rapidly.  In still others, they have so much slang that it is hard to follow.  But Peruvian Spanish is clear and relatively free of slang.  While they speak rapidly to each other, when they turn to speak to a foreigner, they usually slow down and speak more precisely.
4. Not all rumbling sounds are earthquakes.  I awoke with a start on Friday night as a flash of light and low crackle reverberated through the room.  In an instant, I was out of bed and halfway to the door, thinking that an earthquake was happening.  As I ran across the room, I realized the house was not shaking, so I stopped.  A few minutes later, the same sound happened, only this time we did not see the flash of light.  This one seemed to awaken the rest of the household.  In the morning we asked our hosts what it was.  Firecrackers.  If people see bands of wandering kids at night who appear to be up to no good, they light off firecrackers as a way of letting them know they have been spotted.  That also awakens the neighbors and they can check as well.
5.  Arequipa has some of the cleanest restrooms in the world.  Having travelled the world, this came as a surprise to us.  Both Charlie and I expected less than clean restrooms.  Yet every restroom was clean.  Some gleamed with recent polishing.  Take your own toilet paper, though.  That is seldom available.
6.  Peru has wonderful cuisine.  We enjoyed such things as Potato Cakes, Stuffed Peppers, Roasted Pork, Rotisserie Chicken, and other wonderful dishes while we were there.  Every dinner had potatoes, and sometimes there was rice as well.
7.  Lima’s airport is one of the best for a the middle-of-the-night layover.  When I saw our schedule included an eight-hour layover in Lima in the middle of the night, I was dreading it.  We arrived a little after midnight and went to see if we could check our bags, but the American Airlines desk did not open until 5:00 a.m.  We wandered, and found a Starbucks open.  After purchasing two mochas, the barista gave us the password to the internet.  For the next two hours, we toured the internet.  Then we browsed in the stores, all of which were open.  When the AA desk opened, we checked our luggage, passed through security, and then enjoyed the international wing until the time of our departure, including catching about an hour of sleep on the chairs there.

If I were a simple tourist, I would certainly want to visit Peru again.  It was a delightful experience for us in that way.  But as itinerant teachers, we want to visit again because the people of Peru are gracious, loving, and wonderful.

Mysterious Misti

They tell me that a snow-capped volcano is a majestic and beautiful sight.  For the past twelve days we have lived in the shadow of a beautiful volcano  named Misti, in the Andean mountains of Peru.  But Misti has remained a mystery to us because the days of rain and clouds shrouded it from our sight.  One morning, the clouds parted just enough to let us catch a glimpse of its shoulder.

Mysterious, snow-capped volcanoes may be incredibly beautiful, but they were not what drew us to the Andes mountains.  Instead, we went to meet a beautiful group of believers who were not at all mysterious to us.  They welcomed us with open arms, loved us, shared their lives and their hearts with us.  They rejoiced with us and cried with us, and we with them.  They have left a deep impression upon our lives that will remain with us until we see them again.

For three days in the evening, Charlie taught a gathering of believers from different churches.  On Sundays he preached in various churches.  I spoke to the ladies one evening, and Charlie challenged the young people in another meeting.  These were joyful times of sharing biblical truths with God’s people.

Perhaps some of the best times, though, were shared around the dinner table in the home of our hosts.  Laughter, tears, prayer concerns, questions about ministry and the Bible, and stories of the grace and glory of God were all part of those dinner time conversations.  Authentic Peruvian food satisfied our stomachs while the conversations satisfied our hearts.  (Our hostess was a marvelous cook.) 

We told our hosts that since Misti had not allowed us to see him, we needed to return.  But to be honest, it is not the mountain that draws us back, but the beautiful people.  It is difficult to put into a few words on this page the beauty of these few days.  As I process and post again, it will become clearer.  In the meantime, it is enough to say that, Lord willing, we will return.

On the Diving Board

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8:38-39 AV)

We are approaching our full time deputation rapidly. The church has called a man to candidate. If he becomes the new pastor the date we start full time deputation will be set and we will be ready to leap into that great adventure, virtually without economic support.

I have likened it to the common illustration of jumping into the deep end, sink or swim. Recently however, I have realized that my real fear is not deep water. My real fear is that there will not be enough water to swim in! I now realize we are walking down a diving board preparing for a beautiful swan dive, head first into a pool of unmarked depth. A deep pool with lots of opportunities that I must only follow the Lord's leading to organize effectively is no threat. A shallow pool without enough opportunities to keep us busy is my nightmare.

We appreciate all those who pray for us, and those who have made financial contributions. We look at these as the Lord's earnest of His opportunities for us. We are walking down the diving board and soon will commit ourself to the tender mercies of Christ, whatever the depth of the water.

Things I Appreciate about IPM

We have just returned from almost a week of meetings in Pennsylvania at the IPM headquarters. During that time, we had two department meetings, two days of symposium, and one meeting of a more personal nature. I came away very glad to be a part of IPM and wanted to share with you some of the reasons why I feel that way.

Partnership: I love the fact that IPM’s middle name is partnership. As I have come to know some of the national missionaries with whom IPM works around the world, I have been impressed with the quality and godliness of these men and women. I am happy to partner with them and happy too, to work under them. I welcome their leadership and admire what God is doing in and through them.

Prayer: Whenever we gather, there is an emphasis on prayer and the realization that nothing we do will matter unless God works. As we embark on this new adventure, I am so glad to be part of a group that loves to pray.

Optimism: There are always negative things going on in our world, but the atmosphere at IPM is usually optimistic because we serve a powerful God. There is never any doubt that God is still is control and that He is very good.

Camaraderie: I do not feel the division that I feel in some organizations. The office staff, the national missionaries, the US missionaries, the representatives, and the board are all working together. We have our individual roles, but we are all part of the team. I love being part of this team.

Willingness to change: It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and to do things because we’ve always done them a certain way. How thankful I am that IPM is willing to respond when God leads in a new direction.

There are other things, but these are the main ones. So thank you, Lord, for IPM.

Packing for the Exodus

"And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders." (Ex 12:33-34 AV)

When they departed for the Exodus and their extended sojourn in the desert the people of Israel were in a hurry and had little time or room to pack the material goods of their lives in Egypt. While we have had lots of time, we will have little room for the material things of the next phase of our sojourn. I realize one Subaru Outback wagon load would have been a vast treasure to an Isrealite household, but by the standards of America in the 21^st century it is small indeed.

The process of our packing started with a yard sale. Last summer we sold much of what we felt we would not need. Then, when our home sold in the winter, we sold or disposed of everything we did not have immediate use for or did not want to store. We now have 300 square feet of rented storage space, and that is with the vast majority of our furniture, almost all our tools and many of my "man toys" sold!

Now the truly hard part comes: What do we pack for deputation? For six months we have been thinking of what clothes to pack, what will our display be like, what storage items will we need for brochures and prayer cards. We have a basic policy - any new purchase must be accompanied by giving something away, unless it is a necessary addition to the deputation kit.

The Lord has allowed us the opportunity to do some part time deputation meetings so we will be able to trial run our presentation and display materials. That will be a great blessing. The day will soon come when we will move from our 400 square foot studio apartment into the Subaru. The few items we removed from storage will go back. The clothes we do not need will be added to the storage locker and we will drive off into our desert wandering.

We have the blessing of a fixed goal for our journey, full time ministry with IPM, which in itself will be a series of sojourns although with the luxury of a home base. We also have the blessing of the same God Israel had in the desert. This is the God who provided manna, the God who prevented their shoes or clothes from wearing out. This is the God who protected them from Pharaoh and his army. While I do not expect Him to feed us with manna or prevent our car from running out of gas or our tires from wearing out, I do expect Him to provide for our needs because He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Moses and Joshua, and through the Exodus journey He demonstrated Himself to be the God that provides.

--posted by Charlie