Days 4 & 5 Lima, Peru

Day 4 Tuesday January 10, there is a new understanding today of why death both the fear and respect of it is so prelivant in this land.  Many are faced with immininent or the possibility death everyday of their life. We went to what is called the “chancharia” translated means “pig stye”.  It is called that because when the invaders took this land (yes, they invaded this land which is another story in itself) it was in the new town (high ground new area) and they built their homes in the middle of a pig pen or pig stye.  There are 14 original families that came here 12 years ago, many did not know Jesus Christ.  When the Holy Trinity church Padre came and established the Mission Pablo, he came to the people to help them spiritually and physically.  This land is desolate, not just poor.  I have seen poverty and many but in settings surrounding of natural beauty that gives hope of God’s love.  This land if you were just to look at it from the outside without Christ is desolate.  We met Esperanza (which means Hope by the way).  She is one of the original families.   She came when her husband was killed by terrorists with her 3 children and 2 orphaned children. She crowds us all in to her small shack to share her testimony of faith with us how Mission Pablo saved her life by coming to know Jesus’ Christ.  She says she has not missed a service since they came.  She tells us a story of last year she broke her arm, she prayed for pain relief so that she could continue her work in the soup kitchen.  Even though she has nothing, she feeds 200 people in the soup kitchen every day.   God heard her prayer and she was able to continue to work (even without medical care) pain free.  Another original family we met was Marcella.  Marcella was very proud of her home, it was a little bigger in comparison and had a couch and a cabinet for her dishes and a television.  She was also very proud of the fact that her home was one of the few with electricity.  I have pictures with Alethea and her two small children (or possibly grandchildren I couldn’t tell) because her daughters were teenage and it was not clear.  All of the pastoral visits we went on the people were happy that we came to pray with them.  They wanted prayers for “salud” which means “health”.  None of the homes have running water.  Someone will bring water up the mountain once a week and they can buy a gallon for $1.  They have creative ways of making that gallon last for 8 days, and remaining clean in appearance in what they are wearing and hygiene.  Many parents left their children at home while they went down the mountain to sell fruit juice or other things.  There is very little vegetation in this part.  Since there is no running water, what little water they have can not be wasted – all the thriving plants are either for consumption or are acclimated to the dryness.

Day 5, Wednesday January 11^th, as everyday we start the day at Good Shepherd Cathedral in morning prayer with Fr. John Parks.  He and his wife Susan have shown us much hospitality in ensuring that all of our needs are met this trip.   Susan has coordinated someone to bring us a packed lunch everyday consisting of a sandwich, a juice, a fruit and a savory snack of some kind.  Fr. John has added the Nashotah House prayer to the prayers of the people that has improved our comfort zone and reduces the culture shock of this foreign land.  Yes, I am learning how to identify cultural differences and dealing with “culture shock” it’s not just a passive term.  Today the group takes a visit to another northern region of Lima to a place that is hurting spiritually.  The Anglican church has gone through some difficult times with changes in priests with different styles that have confused the people, causing anger, and divisions.  The new priest has just started about a month or so ago and his name is Fr. Carlos.  The church is El Salvador.  The building when we approach is very large.  They have much space for a school and worship center.  Many of their conveniences are more modern.  The compassion ministry is already in place here.  I only know that Compassion is a program for children in the schools that relate to issues of healthcare and diet for children.  Fr. Carlos splits us in to groups and asks us to take flyers door to door to the surrounding community to invite the people to church.  We Paul, myself, and Jherlly venture off with Don Pablo.  It is evident that Don Pablo is well respected in the town.  He seems to know everyone and walks with not just a cane – but “a big stick” if you know what I mean.  We go door to door, telling people about El Salvador and praying for them.  We talk to people on the street.  On group in particular I remember were two women and two children walking down the street.  The older woman asked us to pray for the younger woman.  I held both her hands and others layed hands on her and we prayed in the middle of the road.  It was amazing, it was if we were the only people on the block.  As we prayed small tears flowed from this woman’s eyes and I could feel that she was being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Afterwards, her face shown with smiles as you may see in my FB pictures for Day 5 – she is in a black shirt.  I will try to upload photo’s to blog upon return to states – the internet transmission is very slow here.  Anyway, she was smiling and the mother told us she is pregnant and filled with depression.  We are happy that Jesus has made this woman smile in her time of despair.  We walk from door to door, some are fearful and will only take our invitation through the window or a small opening in the door.  Some open the door and tell us their story.  One man in particular opened the door and it was evident that he had health problems – probably a stroke paralyzing his right side.  He told us that he had had an aneurysm and needed brain surgery.  Most people do not live from this surgery.  He was not a believer at this time even though his mother goes to church.  I’m not sure if the dream he had was during surgery or after surgery but he told us he had a dream.  The dream was that he was falling.  Falling literally in to the depth of hell, Jesus caught him and saved him from falling in to hell.  He said Jesus was holding on to him tight.  When he woke up, he knew he was not going to die and was saved.  He began telling people right then in the hospital about Jesus.  When he got home he told his mother that Jesus saved him.  She told him that if he believed in Jesus he didn’t need the wheelchair the doctor confined him to.  So he got up.  He walks by dragging his leg, but this man walks.  He told us he did not think that Jesus wants to heal him completely, but did not say it in a disappointed way.  Though it touched our heart.  Paul touched the man and we all prayed for him.  Afterward, I told him that the story of his dream was very inspiring and that many people would want to hear his story and please come to El Salvador to tell his story.  We walked on.  We came to what was once a market place.  It was basically an enclosed area by concrete wall with stalls inside that had doors.  People came and invaded the space and were now using it as their home.  Don Pablo says this happens frequently until the government identifies the invaders and makes them leave the land that does not belong to them.  It seems quiet in this place and not many will open their doors.  There are several children playing in here – left by their parents possibly at work.  We do not stay long.  There are many others that we meet along the way in our 2 hours of street evangelization.  One that disturbed me was a possible homeless woman we tried to talk to, she was pleasant but Don Pablo rushed us along say she was crazy and “walks with the devil”.  I was confronted with an unpleasant cultural difference in that moment, however I realized that this is their belief that mental illness is associated with demonic possession.  I was not sure how to address this difference and the moment passed.  We went back to El Salvador because we are to meet with Dr. Townsend Cameron.  He has been in Peru for 5 months, he came from Georgia with his wife and daughter as missionaries.  He is addressing what the healthcare needs are in cooperation with the diocese.  He stresses how important it is to identify what is in place for any kind of assistance and to compliment rather than replace what is already established.  He has met with the medical director at the local Children’s hospital in Lima, he has talked with the program directors of Compassion, and is now collecting his own data with daily conversation and relationship building with people in many remote areas.  His theory correlates  to much of what we are learning in the class – and in the book “When Helping Hurts”.  After this we drive back to the hotel and we have free time.  Several of us go with Paula and Fr. Ian from Good Shepherd to the Indian Market.  There Fr. Ian helped us to haggle for some gifts that we will treasure simply from the memories of the day.  We get back to the hotel just in time to change and prepare for the evening at the Diocesan Center.  They serve us a three course meal every night prepared by their own in house chef.  Today is Richard’s birthday and someone gave the kitchen staff a heads up, so for desert they brought out a delicious mousse cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to Richard in 3 ways (2 Spanish and our traditional English). Class discussion was interesting.  We talked about Cross Culturalism.  The Peruvian’s were talking about how many old beliefs were being combined with newer Christianity beliefs and still is a confusion that needs to be dealt with.  One example given was the belief in Mother Earth.  Many traditional rituals from Shamans were done in addition to prayer for the sick.  It was very interesting and a little difficult to follow not knowing Spanish very much, but the class is really helping to bring understanding and enlightenment to much of my mission experiences.  I am thankful.  9:30pm we head back to the hotel for debriefing and compline.

Reflections on mission in Lima, Peru

Day 3 January 9, 2012

Our first couple of days in Lima, Peru was started in preparation of understanding the culture.  Day one was about historical culture.  We visited sacred churches that were examples of the Maryology religious aspect of the people, the monastery of the Franciscans of St. Frances of Assessi group – and the catacombs where the bones of all the saints and hierarchy of the church were still found.  We also visited the Museum of the Inquisition and learned the history of the persecution of the Peruvians that did not follow the doctrine of the Catholic faith, which lasted 300 years.  Detailed pictures can be found on my facebook page. 

Day two theme is about the religious culture.  The team split up and visited many churches and worshiped with the people.  I went to Cristo Redentor with Fr. Michael, Dcn. Paul, and Richard.  The four of us and our translator Jherlly squeezed into Fr. Anderson’s Honda CR-V when he came to pick us up for church.  He gave us his testimony on the drive.  He was born in Peru, but lived for many years growing up and adult life in Las Angelas, CA.  He and his brother came back to Peru about 15 years ago for a wedding and he decided he was not going back to the USA.  He left his home his job and his family (mother, father and brother) to accept his call to Jesus and ministering to his native people in Peru.   We arrived in time for a tour of the school.  The church served 240 children of the neighborhood, feeding them 2 meals a day and teaching them primary school.  The service was started in contemporary music with drums, electric guitar and a vocalist.  I found out later, the building itself does not have power, that one of the parishioners has electricity and they “share power” with the church.   The 4 of us were asked to give our testimony to the parish during the time of the sermon.  I shared how we were resisting God’s call in our lives for many years.  We were consumed with our successful careers and building a life according to the “American Dream”.  We thought that as long as we gave our money and some of our time to the church that was enough.  I then talked about the eye opening experience we had when we went on a mission trip to a village where there was no running water, no electricity, and no cement floors.  Our lives were changed.  We realized we were not giving 100% of our lives to Christ as he insists upon.  So we decided it was time to accept God’s call to seminary.  We began to scale down by selling what we didn’t need, a car, house, pool table and basically leaving behind all that would not fit in 2 PODS that would meet us in Nashotah, WI to begin our journey.  My testimony was not unlike other seminarian testimonies, it was a testimony of faith.  I am not one to speak in a crowd, but this morning, God held my hand literally.  I was not afraid, I did not get the jitters that normally accompany public speaking and I was breathing with God’s grace and peace.  Our worship experience at Cristo Redentor was amazing.  The differences I saw (other than the obvious Spanish language spoken) was that the ushers did not “pass the plate”.   Offering baskets lay at the altar, and the people were to come up to the altar and drop their offering in the offering basket.  Many came, one by one, than all together, young, old, some with coins and some with folded papers – all giving with joy when it was evident they did not have much to give.  After the service Fr. Anderson told us we had 3 more passengers to squeeze in to the Honda CR-v (now 9 people in this small car – transit Latin style!!).

Which brings us to Day 3; the mission culture.  Today we were introduced to how the church is branching out in mission in many areas.  We visited Padre Aurelio Rodriguez at Santa Maria Virgen.  His vision is promoting hope in many ways.  The first evident is the beauty he has created in the vicinity of his church.  Plants are everywhere.  He says that plants are a natural expression of hope and God’s love.  The other wonderful ministry he supports (with the help of 21 ladies in his church) is a micro finance project.  The women sew together, knit, make jewelry and shoes and sell the items at the church to help support their families.  The court house is on the same street as the church, and Santa Maria serves many people that are in both civil cases and criminal cases for either way a judgment goes.  Then Padre took us to the Sagrada Familia mission.  It is located higher up on the mountain, some call it “shanty town” others with a vision of hope call it “pueblo jevan” meaning young town.  The young towns are built away from city in hopes that they will grow and be able to support themselves.  Sagrada Mission today (will add pictures later) was started with a piece of mountain side land bought by the diocese.  The women in the town cleared the rock by hand.  It was hard manual labor, they do this as well as cook together in the village.  The men are traveling salesmen they call it in English.  They are gone for days at times or locally as street vendors so the women are left to do all this work.  Padre is very proud of the mission – and has dreams of its completion soon.  Mission teams have come to help with the foundation and the bricks for the walls.  There is still no roof yet, but his plants of hope are all around.  He points out where the baptismal will go and where the nativity scene will go.  His vision is an inspiration!   You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but Fr. Aurelio is sick with TB.  He said that because the village does not have running water, the sewage is absorbed in the ground – creating contamination in the ground, there is a cement plant to the east – creating contamination in the air, and his work at the cemetery has all been contributing factors.  The cemetery (seen in pictures) is the largest cemetery in the world.  You may not be able to notice, but some of the pictures you’ll see the graves all the way up the mountain.  The reason the cemetery is contaminated is because the ground is desert, no vegetation, and the bodies are only buried 30 centimeters down in the ground.  The smell of decay and death is evident in this place.   The cemetery is guarded and usually a bus would not be allowed in the gate for “tours”, but with Padre with us, he is a well known and respected man here.  He wants to show us how death is respected as well as feared here.  It is evident in the shrines and handmade memorials.  He told us it is too expensive to neither cremate nor embalm the bodies, so they are buried in a casket and sometimes after a respectful amount of time, the family will have someone dig the body back up and remove it from the casket so the wooden casket can be used again.   This day was so powerful.  So many things to process and take in.  I am still not sure I have gotten it all down, but the one thing I want to take away with me today is the sadness in the eyes of the boy who was thirsty.  May I never forget the thirst in the world.  May I never take for granted the running water that we often waste in the USA with unnecessities.  The people of Sagrada must drink contaminated water (which is sold to them at a high price) because they do not have running water.

Harvest Moon

Loading more fall pictures to enjoy.  We went back to Holy Hill last weekend, it is the Basilica Shrine for Mary and the home of the Carmolites.  Also adding some great photo's of the "Harvest Moon" and my newest icon I'm working on.  Blessings to you all! 

Gonna Take A Back Road

http://youtu.be/72k7xWfjTXc 

Oh, Fall is here and this song comes to mind.  My birthday was October 3rd and Roy took me to dinner at the Delafield Hotel.  It was a delightful experience.  Warm, cozy, and quiet atmosphere as well as delicious food and great service.  I had Osso Buco (which is a veal cut) and it melted in my mouth. Gotta run, off to the traditional fall baby shower here at Nashotah.  We have two babies to celebrate coming in to the world this season!  Congrat's Tucker & Bleythings!

The Great Commission

Roy preached in St. Mary's Chapel last week and we hope you enjoy this 6 min sermon/homily on The Great Commission.  www.youtube.com  Prior to coming to seminary, I wondered how I was going to worship with my husband as my rector/priest.  Would I get as much out of the teachings and where would my feelings be.  I think I am beginning to find, that though I still think I will need to reach out to another source for pastoral care when needed, Roy does a great job for me in the teachings of theology and leading worship.  Oh the things as a clergy spouse I have to learn!  I am finding that I look forward to this next phase in my life, more so than the intimidation that it once gave me.  I am so proud of him and his gift of spreading the Gospel.

Well, our last Fall in the Midwest is upon us.  I was noticing this past week, that though some of the leaves are starting to yellow and red (depending on the type of tree) that many leaves are falling already without the glorious color works show.  I've been told that some falls are less colorful if it has been an especially dry season.  I am saddened by the thought that our last fall will be less than spectacular in appearance as the previous seasons.  My sadness has been overturned this weekend, however, since we have had rain showers for two days now.  Maybe, we will get that glorious colorful fall showing by next weekend after all!  I will post pictures soon. 

Heather's home schooling is going great.  Her classes are all now loaded and she is keeping her own schedule very nicely and caught up.  Her grades are good and she seems happy.   The first job was a disappointment.  After her first week, her boss called and told her though she was one of their hardest workers, the company policy was that all employees must be 16 years of age.  Unfortunately, she doesn't turn 16 for another month and a half and that wasn't good enough.  She was down in the dumps for loosing her job.  The experience gave her pride and accomplishment which helps a teenager's self esteem.   At least she still has a steady baby sitting gig on Mondays and we are house sitting and she is dog sitting for the next two weeks, which will give her a little income for her savings.  She has her hopes on buying a truck, a Ford F150 she says...   Anyway, I am trying to reassure her this was a good experience for her in interviewing and now having a reference for applications when she is starts the job search again.

I had hoped to go to Milwaukee this weekend for Doors Open Milwaukee.  It is a free event where 100 businesses and buildings are open to the public for tours and historical education.  There is so much history in Milwaukee.  I was really looking forward to this, not sure if we will make the trek out in this weather or not.  I am not complaining though, because I am happy for the rain.  We needed it.  I will post more pictures if we end up going.

Have a great weekend.  God Bless you!
Marcia

Windows to Heaven

September 10th marks the completion day of icon #2 The Guardian.  My teacher is now confident enough in my writing skills that no longer am I considered "student" in her class.  She now calls her protege an assistant in her workshop.  I will be going on workshop tours and talks with her as well.  Judy is an excellent teacher, and I will continue my icon writing with her on Saturday mornings for guidance, but mostly the fellowship and to assist her now that I've brought two new students to her workshop.  Cindy a seminarian student on campus started with us this past Saturday, and Amanda a student spouse started two weeks ago.  My enthusiasm for this devotional experience is spreading on campus.  I have even been honored to be asked by our resident professor Fr. Steven Paey to write an icon for use on campus.  We will be discussing the details on this specific icon soon.  However, next I've already started one of Mary, Mother of Tenderness.  It is a beautiful depiction of a mother's devotion for her child and I am working on this for Heather.  We been through a difficult summer and this icon has been calling me to represent the bond between us.  The Guardian has been a joy to work on, and I am so happy for it to come to completion.  Michael of course, was my first and I see a big difference in the two.  When I began the icon writing workshop with Judy last fall, I was not prepared for the overwhelming amount of emotion, joy, and spiritual enlightenment that would come with this exercise.  Praying with icons was not a reality in my spiritual life.  It was not until I realized the focus that came with praying with icons that made me understand the true value of this experience.  Veneration of an icon is like kissing the picture of a deceased loved one, an adoration to the image it represents.  Icons are like a Window to Heaven, giving a mere glimpse of those watching over us on earth.

 

 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise God, in the heights.
Praise God, all you angels.
Praise God, all you hosts.
Praise God, sun and moon.
Praise God, all you stars of the light.
Praise God, you heavens of heavens,
and you waters above the heavens. 

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for God commanded and they were created,
God established them forever,
making a decree that will never pass away.




Other September happenings.  Today, Heather is excited to announce she got her first job!  She starts working tomorrow at Spirits!  It is a seasonal Halloween store, and seems like it is going to be a fun first job experience for her.  She is so happy.  I'm proud, and alittle remorse of the idea that my baby is old enough to even have a job.  Thank you Lord, for all of your provisions and guidance in our life.

School Daze!

Nope, didn't spell it wrong.  School daze meaning we are all in a daze getting settled in to the chaotic routines once again.  It is fun though.  Heather is being home schooled this year.  She is excited about this, as it will be an easier transition I think when it is time to say good-bye.  This is also giving her a chance to learn more about herself, in meditation and reflection.  She will be using the Florida Virtual School system for Spanish I, Geometry, English II, and Marine Biology.  In addition, we will incorporate her horseback riding lessons in to a PE curriculum and she has decided to attend daily chapel services to incorporate a Religious Studies elective.  I hope that this is a good year for us, one to close this chapter in the journey and begin to plan our new life in ministry.

I am committed to getting all of the fall activities and last minute "to do" things checked off my list before the first freeze and all the places I have left to see close for the winter.  Today we went rasberry picking at Henke's in the Town of Jackson.  Our new friend Amanada and her two kids Ayda and Wiles went with us.  We picked 12 pints of rasberries, and now the rasberry cobbler is tickling my senses in the oven as I type.  Next weekend we are housing sitting a very nice home on Seminary Ridge, right on the lake.  That will feel like an almost get-a-way weekend.  I'll be sure to post pics. 

This past week has been a whirl wind of orientation activities.  From getting Heather set up on the FLVS website to my WoNH presidential responsibilities of welcoming the incoming class.  I couldn't do it without the awesome support of this community, however.  WoNH has put together Welcome Baskets, the annual Winter Closet (a thrift shop of donated items for newcomers to get them ready for winter climate of WI), the orientation Ice Cream Social, and many other meeting type events that take place to get to know the new student body and reconnect with returning families after summer.  This week we have a refreshment hour at the Klukas home that should be fun.  WoNH keeps me very busy in planning the board meetings and keeping everyone focused on the seasonal events that we need to keep planned and organized.  Soon it will be fall and that means the annual Fall Festival.  So much to think about and plan!

Work has been crazy the past few weeks as well.  I have a new boss, a new contract, and new business practice initiatives that I must create tools for our intranet resource page for the production team.  Thankfully, the late nights work is complete.

Stephanie is excited to tell us that she has a new job.  She now works at a training center called "Happy Paws Pet Resort".  She seems so happy, and that makes me very happy.  I am so proud of both my children.  Being far away from Stephanie is difficult, but her independence and responsibility make me confident that she is ok without me.

Below are pictures I just wanted to share of our barn on campus, with the corn ready for harvest in the background.  Oh how I will miss this scene. Also, a picture of the cobble booth that Zion had at the annual Art Festival in Oconomowoc.