Preparing for youth camp

I am off to a youth camp on Wednesday with the entire youth group (3 young people, but small is very beautiful.) I am very excited about it. I bumped into one of the organisers and he warned me to make sure everyone had old clothes as there is a very messy and muddy activity planned - sounds fun...

Anyway, as well as mud, it has come at a great stage in the youth work, as I am hoping we can all get to know each other better, as well as draw closer to God, before we look to expand things. In order to pay for the camp, the church took an offering yesterday as a contribution towards costs. As well, to raise funds, the young people spent Saturday night baking goodies for church. It was good for the young people to contribute as well.


We needed 210 soles to pay for the young people and the offering raised 216 soles - praise God. The cakes were good too. If you pray, please remember us over the next few days and also Neil with the 2 children. It is my longest time away since Sophia has been born, so I shall really miss them all!

Water of Life

The blog is a bit quiet at the moment, as we are in a busy period. After a full-on weekend, last week, Neil is gearing up for a Holiday Club in Huambutio, while I am going on a youth camp next Wednesday for 3 days. It was therefore, not perfect timing, to find a man outside the front door yesterday late afternoon, while we were on the way to Kids's Club. I had the children with me, and I asked what he wanted. He explained that he had cut the water for the whole building, as the bills hadn't been paid. I explained that we had paid all of our bills and we needed water! There is a vacant flat with unpaid bills, but not us.

After some bad Spanish on the phone to my landlord, my lovely friend Cecilia stepped in and helped me. We left all of the children at Kid's Club and attempted to race to the centre, to sort things out at the main office. This turned out to be very difficult, as roads were shut once again for more festivities. We knew we had a deadline of 6pm, when the office shut and were disheartened by the news that they wouldn't turn the water back on after 5pm. Faced with queues, we attempted to circumnavigate the system by taking all available tickets in the queueing system.

We were sent back and forth to various people, before I finally paid the bill for the vacant flat, there seeming to be no other option and there being some issue with whether we were paying for the right amount of water in the last month. We then went to find a man who could help with the water, only to be told that there was no way that we would have any until Saturday - which was better than my dread of not having water until Monday. I think my pitiful face combined with Cecilia's persuasive Spanish caught the attention of a lovely man who was leaving work, and he took us to someone who could help. A short phone call - and a miraculously short form later, and apparently it was all fixed. All we had to do now was fight back through the dancers, festivities and traffic and reclaim our abandoned children.

Before Neil got home from Kid's Club, the water was back on. We are very grateful for this precious gift, and I am just hoping that we don't have the same problem next month.

The Lost Sheep

I am sitting here, all at once shattered and excited. We had a busy weekend, culminagting in an all-age service, based around the Parable of the Lost Sheep. The church is starting monthly(ish) all-age services, with the idea being that the young people and children can be a part of these. So, this Friday at Kid's Club, we were busy making sheep masks, so that the children could participate in a drama. Last night, the young people prepared jellys, cakes and balloons for the party that we had in church after we found the lost sheep. And yesterday morning, we had Kid's Games in the local park, with lots of activities for children from the local community. It was again based around the story, and it was great to see the children running around the park searching for the various lost sheep that were hidden.

There were a number of positives over the weekend. This was the second time that we have been a part of Kids Games. This time, more people from church were involved, with a couple of people afterwards discussing ideas for improving it... I suggested we could plan it together next time! I also got to chat for an extended period with some young people. Although they didn't come to the Youth Cafe in the evening, it was great just to spend time with them. Some new people came to church, as they happened to be passing. Perhaps best of all, it was great to see the young people and children actively participating. The jelly was pretty good too.

I took the role of the shepherd - my acting debut in Peru. The Spanish wasn't perfect, but my over-acting speaks a universal language. I think the church needs to increase its costume budget though.





I am looking forward to seeing this develop, and pray that in time, we will see greater links develop with the community through kids games, and that the young people and children can input even more into this service, the life of the church and the lives of their friends and family.

Family Days

Over the weekend we had two family days, one with church and one with school. It was busy but lots of fun. On the Saturday was our church day.

We travelled together in a large people carrier to a place called C.O.R.A.S.O.N in the hills around Cusco. It is a centre where churches can go for time together and is also at the foot of a prayer mountain. We spent time together playing volleyball, football, parachute games and circus tricks, before we had an excellent lunch together cooked by Pastor Scott.







After lunch and clear up there was more playing followed by a short time of worship a little further up the prayer mountain. This included prayer, Bible reading and sung worship, as well as a chance to pray for the Pastor who runs the centre we were using. It was an excellent day which gave us a great chance to spend time with each other, as well as focusing on our life as a church.

The following day was spent on a recreation field with people from Daniel's school. There were races...



As well as competitions...



But the highlight of the day for us was that we got to spend lots of time with a family whose son is one of Daniel's best friends. We chatted while the children played football and climbed trees. It was a great time of building friendships and having fun.



So we had two family days in two days and enjoyed them both, as well as feeling part of the bigger families that we are part off her in Peru.

Psalm 139 - youth work in Cusco

We had a action-packed weekend, with lots more things in the diary. Neil will write soon about the family days that we were involved with, but I also had a great time at the youth cafe that happens on a Saturday evening. It is great being involved with youth work in another culture, and particularly exciting in a church plant context. There are currently 3 young people involved with church, and it has been great to see them becoming more confident in their faith and more a part of church in the last few weeks.

On Saturday, we looked at Psalm 139. I asked them to each choose an object from a table of random things, and explain how it presented them. Answers ranged from a felt tip as he was creative, a bottle of water as she was pure (amidst lots of giggles) and a toy tiara as she was a daughter of the king. We then talked about how God has made each of us unique, shown in Psalm 139. Afterwards, we created paintings from our finger prints, incorporating a verse from Psalm 139 to remember how God has made us individuals. For me, it was an encouragement to lead a group with my hit and miss Spanish, but also wonderful to see the young people participating and sharing. In a couple of weeks, we are hopefully going on a youth camp in the Sacred Valley, near Cusco. I am praying that this will be a great opportunity to draw closer to each other and God.

Running - a snapshot of life in Cusco

For the last year or two, I have started running. I love it, partly as it provides vaulable thinking and praying space. In Enfield, I loved running in the nearby woods, but in Cusco the scenery near the house is somewhat different. Here is a taster of what I see on an average run:

As I leave the house, I turn the corner and run past the shrine of the Virgin Mary, one of many in the area. It is opposite the ramshackle hut that is also a bakery, producing typical Andean flat bread - smells good. Then, I run past the sports court, where often a group of men are playing football. I don't know whether it is the rare sight of a Gringa running, or the machisimo culture, but often the men are not subtle as they stare - or shout comments. I don't stop to investigate why they do this so blatantly, and I run on.

There is a slight incline, which after 6 months of being in still takes away my breath - running at 3,300 metres is a challenge! Of course, the view of the surrounding mountains takes my breath as well. And then I take a welcome break, walking past the pack of stray dogs that hang around here, not wanting to antagonise them. Unfortunately, this coincides with 2 men that are very publicly and unashamedly urinating against the tyres of a car. Averting my eyes, I run on.

I run on past countless construction and de-construction projects, on rocky ground and decent pavement, past 2 more sports courts, past Daniel's school, past the Watch Men chatting on the corner and not seeming to be watching much. I run on past various corner shops and cafes, past the shop where you can actually buy fresh milk, past the restaurant offering a decent 3 course meal for £2.50.

And then I am home - desperate for a shower and hoping the gas bottle powering the hot water doesn't run out.

March for Jesus

June was a crazy month of parties and celebrations, with events and dancing happening nearly every day in the main square. Saturday was our turn, as it was the March for Jesus, involving most of the evangelical churches in Cusco. There were a lot of people there, and we were especially encouraged that people weren't allowed to have banners displaying their church's name, so we walked together as one church!

The March started in the main road, and wound its way to the main square. It was exciting to be part of a procession, rather than looking on. After the march, we joined together for a big celebration, which involved Anjanette playing the flute and Scott praying in English for the tourists. It was great to be worshipping God with so many other people. In a culture where marches and processions are integral, it was wonderful to present Christianity in this way.

Daniel and Sophia had a great time, and Daniel did some great dancing and air guitar.

Perhaps our favourite part of the day was afterwards, when our group from the church went out for burgers and chips. It was great to spend time together.

God bless the NHS!

We discuss many things in our language lessons, and all of our teachers are amazed at the concept of the NHS. We explain that free health care is availabe for all, and it just seems incredible. Someone asked if it included really poor people, and another person wanted to know if that included treatment for cancer. The concept of the NHS is so alien to many people here in Peru. Once a week, Neil and I visit the local public hospital. In Enfield, our local hospital didn't have the best reputation, but a visit to the hospital here puts things into perspective.

For people without much money, health care is a real problem and costs too much, even in the public hospital. Here, families wait outside the operating theatre in case they need to go and buy blood during an operation. The families need to pay for the medicines as well. It was very sad to see the sign over a baby's bed, showing that the family owed 300 soles, or 2 units of blood. The amount would be hard to pay and there is a lot of fear surrounding the giving of blood. For some children with medical conditions, it seems easier to abandon the child than pay for the various costs. It is hard not to compare their situations with what would probably happen in the UK.

I know the NHS isn't perfect - I know there are long waiting lists and people have had bad experiences. But every time I visit the hospital, I just think about how wonderful the system is in comparison and how great it is to know that in the UK so many people can access health care without crippling themsleves financially.