Popcorn, Potatoes and Poverty

There's a short article here about our early experiences in Peru.

Yucay

Last weekend, we were privilegerd to be able to visit Yucay. This is a beautiful place in the Sacred Valley, a shortish drive from Cusco. It was a beautiful day, and we were made very welcome as we sat in a beautiful garden, surrounded by flowers and eating figs fresh from the tree and choklo con queso (maize with cheese). The experience was made more poignant as Yucay was one of the areas that was flooded in the rainy season last year; we could clearly see the after affects, as the house attached to the beautiful garden now only had one storey.

Our church in Cusco gave a lot of support to this community, and Scott and Anjanette were greeted very warmly. First, they visited each week and provided food. Then, BMS WOrld Mission gave a grant that provided lots of new seed. As I ate the corn, I realised that this is the gospel in action - in a cynical world, I could clearly see evidence of God's love changing things and changing people in practical and emotional ways.

The fields now are full of maize, which is good for the harvest this year, but also means that they will have seed for future years. The corn that I ate has never tasted so good.

This is really the Williamsons' story - they blog about it here This is also the subject of BMS World Mission's Harvest Appeal, launched next month.

Daniel's blog post!

Daniel requested that we posted a picture of his bedroom on the blog. We have been adding lots of special things to the walls and bookcase that remind him and Sophia of friends and family back home. Can you spot anything?

Maria's funeral

A few days ago, a lady called Maria died. She was the grandmother of Mercedes, a lovely teenager who comes to our church. Neil, Sophia and I attended to support Mercedes, although we didn't know her 'abuela.' She had thyroid cancer and it sounded as if her last days were difficult as there is not provision for palliative care in Peru. As well as wanting to support members of our church community, it was also an interesting experience to see how the funeral was conducted. I had a little insight earlier that week, as my Spanish teacher took me to a huge cemetery in Cusco, where people aren't buried in the ground, but placed in a concrete wall, several 'storeys' high. Also, Maria was buried less than a day after she died, which is very typical. I explained to my teacher that there is often a gap of a week or two between a death and funeral, and he said 'Why? To pray?', which I thought was an interesting observation.

The funeral itself was lovely, with Pastor Scott leading an address, before driving to the cemetery. This was a very different experience, as the coffin was placed on a pick-up trick, not a hearse. The 'burial' was also very different, as the coffin is cemented into a wall, rather than placed in a ground. However, although there were differences, there was still a sense of grief, as well as thanksgiving, just the same as funerals in the UK.

Our New Home

Well, we have done it! We are in our lovely new apartment, with Internet and nearly all of the furniture that we need. We have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, meaning that we have designated kids and growm ups bathrooms - very civilised! The place has just been refurbished and is lovely to have our own space. Our prayer is that it is a safe place, where we can know God's love not only for our family but for people in our community. In other news, it has been a hard week. Moving is always a bit difficult, even when it goes well, but I also heard last week that a friend from England had died, and I am very sad about that. It also makes me miss home, as I would have loved to have gone to the funeral. I am also in the middle of root canal treatment. I had previously had trouble with the tooth, but the situation may have been accelerated by being at altitude. It is nothing too major, but I don't like the dentist at the best of times, let alone in a new country where I can't speak the language! However, the dentist speaks English and Anjanette came as well, so it all went much better that I could have ever hoped. We continue to pray for Japan, joining with many others around the world. So, we are in the middle of happy, if sometimes challenging times, but love our new home!

We are here...

We are in the new flat, we are all fine, we are quite tired and we will post some photos soon!

Happy Birthday Sophia!

Our darling Sophia was 2 yesterday. She is the first one in the family to have a birthday in Peru, and we wondered what it would be like to celebrate when we were so far away from friends and family. We ended up having a weekend full of celebrations, despite the fact that the Williamsons had only arrived back a few days previously, and probably felt very jet-lagged!

On Saturday, we went to a chicken restaurant (chicken is really good here!) with some friends. There is also a huge play area, and the children had lots of fun there. We are normally very keen on baking cakes for the kid's birthdays, but this time, we opted for a shop bought and very tasty torta. Afterwards, we went to our favourite local park with huge slides.

On Sunday, we visited a llama sanctuary and saw some amazing local scenery.



Church was great, not only because it was the Williamson's first time at church following their home assignment, but also Sophia had another huge cake! She has looked a bit over-awed on Saturday when she received the cake, but on Sunday she had obviously got used ot the idea; the cake was taken to be cut and she pointed to it and said 'mine!'




On Monday, Sophia opened presents which included some great packages from the UK - thank you! She also had a doll and a pushchair, which she loves. In the evening, we had a small tea party. We feel that her birthday was well recognised and celebrated and look forward to many more Roper birthdays in Peru!

New Beginnings

This week has been pretty full on... the Williamsons came home on Tuesday, Daniel started school on Wednesday and we have found a flat!

We have - on the most - enjoyed settling in to Cusco on our own and having to find our way around Cusco. However, it is great to be part of a bigger team of BMS workers, especially as the Williamsons know what they are doing! We had a great night a few days ago, where we shared our hopes, dreams and vision. It was very exciting and gave us even greater impetus to study hard at Language School, in order to get stuck in with the youth and children's work. The children are also getting on fabulously. Daniel and Samuel(6) play great games together, and Sophia just loves Jessica (8), sitting for hours while Jessica does her hair.

We are getting to know each other very well and very quickly, as we are currently all living together in the Williamson's house. However, we have found a flat which is in the perfect location, just one minute's walk from the Williamsons and the church! We hope to be able to move in this weekend, and are currently busy buying furniture. We have been very blessed over the last 8 months since we moved out of our house, as Neil's parents, IMC in Birmingham and the WIlliamsons have housed us and been wodnerful, generous hosts. However, it will be lovely to be in our own place again - as well as in the middle of the community we hope to serve.

Finally, Daniel started school last Wednesday. He is really enjoying it, although the mornings are quite long (8.30am-1pm) and he still finds the amount of Spanish hard. However, he continues to pick it up and we are confident that in a couple of months things will be even easier for him. He says he has already made a friend and we were so proud of him on the first day when he walked in with confidence, barely remembering to say goodbye. Please pray for him as he continues to settle.

It was also an important time for Sophia, as it was his birthday on Monday. more to follow on that...

Fun in Lima

We had a great couple of days in Lima, and it was gloriously hot! It was incredible to leave a very rainy and misty Cusco and arrive just over an hour later in a steaming hot Lima. The trip made an interesting benchmark, as we compared how we felt when we arrived in Lima 2 months ago, and how we felt now. We enjoyed the experience much more this time, maybe because we weren't surrounded by suitcases and Immigrations took 1 and a half hours, rather than several hours. We also took the opportunity to do some things that we can't do in Cusco. Thanks to Margaret's generous babysitting, we managed to see the King's Speech, which was fantastic. We also went bowling which is Daniel's personal favourite. We tracked down a sports club where we could go swimming. This was also a big deal for us, as back in the UK we used to go swimming most weeks, and the children both love it. It isn't impossible in Cusco, but it is pretty difficult. And we went to the zoo, which was fantastic! We really enjoy living in Cusco, but it is weird to adjust to living somewhere so different from what we are used to. I didn't think that I would be so bothered about going to the cinema, but it was a real treat to be able to do this. It was also wonderful to return to Cusco, our home!