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2017-Aug-Nov 2nd trip of year to Peru Mission (part 2 of 4)

1 Sept, Friday – More construction to move forward.  Back to Maestro (our local Home Depot equivilent) to get more electrical wire

and drywall materials.  Also, looks like Lily will be running back up to Lima (having just returned after taking the Hearts & Hands team north).  She is exploring some indication that was told to her that there is an alternative to having the missionaries keep going to Chile for getting their Visa’s extended 3 months.   So, bus tickets for Lily and Irma.  And if this works, she will do likewise with the Sanchez family.

2 Sept, Sat –  Off to Lima on an early bus for Lily and Irma.   Having just changed internet service providers, we were having some problems and discovered that Romario and a friend got their kite tangled on our new internet antenna.  Julio made the climb up to the ‘fifth floor’ (what we lovingly refer to for the top of the water tower).  Got it untangled.  However we need the service provider to put some clamps on that antenna in case it happens again.

Dental Hygeine day at the mission.   We have a shoe-string cousin/niece relative who is in the dental orthodonics field who wanted to use the mission for an educational / orientation on dental health.  Absolutely.

Late afternoon teaching and fun in San Juan Bautista with the youth bible study.  Some new kids, some regulars.  All very special.   Drywall continues.

Lily got engaged with our window and door man, to get the order going for the new rear building.  She gave him a significant deposit so he could get underway.

3 Sept, Sun – Trip to Lima was a day earlier than Lily’s appointment.  She will try to change appointment tomorrow Mission church worship and services for youth and adults.

Marilu shows us some new knitting crafts, making fruits and vegetables.  Go figure.  I am not sure if these are new stitches she learned from Hearts and Hands or is volunteering to teach next year!  Way to go,Marilu!Since we brought a new batch of Beautiful Feet sandals down with us on this trip, we spent time giving out a large number of them to the youth that are active at the mission. Youth at play in rear of mission.  Sunday services held as usually scheduled.

4 Sept, Mon – .. No luck in trying to move up Lima appointment for Lily and Irma, needs to spend a 2nd night in Lima.  day of rest at the mission.  Youth helpers in rear of mission entertaining the children with fun and games.   I had Jean and Fabio doing some paver work and they were pretty dirty at end of day so I let them take showers at the mission.   thankk goodness Lily was in Lima!! 

5 Sept, Tues – Turns out that the trip to Lima was a bust.  Whatever government worker told Lily there was an alternative path to visa extension, was mistaken.   Lily and Irma on their way back tomorrow morning and looks like the Sanchez’s AND Irma will be taking a trip to the border for Visa extension.    Drywall work continues.  Workers were ‘truckless’ today so all 3 of them on a motorcycle headed home for a 10 kilometer ride.  Life in Peru.

6 Sept, Wed –  Lily & Irma got to mission about noon or so, but Sanchez’s got bus tickets for Chile yesterday for all four of them to do the ‘Visa run’ and get back before services on Sunday.    Construction continues.

7 Sept, Thurs – New kitchen placement gets underway. Drywall projection wall in children’s center gets finalized.  Beautiful Feet sandals for the workers.

8 Sept, Fri – Construction starts on new kitchen in mission quarters.  Contract for new exterior door welding for residence floor made.  Miguel, our regular welder contractor who did most of the doors and iron windows, will also make up a barrier in the back of the property to keep the children from going too far.

9 Sept, Sat – SJB youth group, Lily on roof inspecting water line placement.   We have cold water in the first floor of the new building sourced from the front building.  We have the entire new building plumbed for hot and cold water though.  To get any water to the 2nd floor (and future floors) we will run a pipe from the water tank on the roof of the first building to the rear building.  This line will source all water to the 2nd (and future) floor(s) as well as feed a yet to buy gas water heater we will install on the roof (eventually in some future 3rd floor).  This will supply hot water to the entire new building.  No more electric showers in the new building!! 

10 Sept, Sun – We haven’t gone to Ica to El Shaddai services very often since being here, mostly because either Lily is ill or I have been ill on every Sunday till now.  Today, we are not ill and off we go.  We went to town first or was it after?  To get a few items.  Anyway, took a picture of the downtown traffic.  I seem to recall Lily on a hunt for some particular items that we ended up not finding.

Later in evening we had Mission church worship and services for youth and adults.  The mission served ‘Saichi-Popas’ for 3 soles, or ‘Polla-Popas’  for 5 soles – basically it’s the same dish, chicken and fries, just a small or larger piece of chicken!  The mission is raising money for drum set!  Have to get behind that !!  Two orders please!!

11 Sept, Mon – day of rest at the mission.  However construction continued.  Paid off the window and door man, complete job.   Did a trip to Maestro in Ica for supplies.  Wanted to get a wiring solution for all the microphone cables on the floor so we purchased some cable tracks to raise all the wiring off the floor.  Small but needed project.  Those cables are real dust collectors.

12 Sept, Tues – youth bible study at the mission.  Construction continues.

13 Sept, Wed – choir practice.  Construction continues.

14-15 Sept, Thurs-Fri –  construction continues,  On the 15th, our missionaries were celebrating Mexican Independence day and cooking up a nice fiest for us to consume of Mexican cooking!   Mmmm ,  great day at the mission!

16 Sept, Sat – SJB youth group.  Visit by Amanda McKinney, 18 year American missionary from Pulculpa  who was visiting her friend Liri nearby in Ica and came to visit #LAMAministry mission at the request of pastor Victor in Pucalpa.  Pucalpa is in the jungle, a good ways away from us, we have a missionary relationship through David Eschenbach, another missionary in Peru. Us missionaries need to stick together!

 

17 Sept, Sun – Mission church worship and services for youth and adults.  Excellent youth and adult services, with special treats available from the kitchen afterwards.  Was this saichi-papa night or taco’s?  The food coming from the kitchen after services is always good though.

18 Sept, Mon – day of rest at the mission.  We did go and spend time with Alejandra, a little girl that is suffering medically.   Getting much diagnosis on a blood clot on her brain that doctors don’t want to operate on. We pray a miracle.Many trips back and forth to Lima for specialists, expenses the family can’t cover. Worse thing is that her mother is not able to work so as to care for her daughter. Her grandmother is going to work in her place with the employer’s permission so she keeps what meager benefits she has. Please raise Fernanda up in your prayers.

19 Sept, Tues – visited Fernada’s family again and had a bible study.  Also led her uncle, Luis, to the Lord.     Continue to pray for Fernanda and her family.   Lily writes “We brought some groceries for the family and had prayer and bible study. We found out that the 74 yr. grand mother is taking her daughter’s place working in the farm so the daughter will not loose the medical insurance. She has not been working for more than a month taking care of Fernanda. We are praying for a miracle for this family.”

 

20 Sept, Wed –  Youth bible study at the mission.

Construction moves forward with a lot of painting as well as cabinet work being done for the new kitchen.

Met again with Alejandra’s family, taking them more donated groceries.   In the evening we celebrated neighbor Pia’s 5th birthday party.

21 Sept, Thurs – Construction on cabinetry progresses as painting of 2nd floor does as well.  New cabinet doors are being made for the new cabinets.  Crafty craftsmen.

22 Sept, Fri – Went to Altura with Irma, Angeles & Mariana for a small group cell bible study with Nellie and her daughter-in-law.

Interesting dialogue that Irma told me on way back, when I asked, from the daughter-in-law, who was struggling in her giving witness and people mock her.  Wish I had a better grasp of the spanish language to be able to engage on such a question but maybe next year.   I will discuss with Lily so she can encourage her.  Also Irma and I dialogued about her communication back home, which I have not seen a copy of yet.  She said she would share.  Went to bed early, didn’t feel real well but just a little stomach upset, nothing too big.

23 Sept, Sat – Woke up very early so decided to go down and catch up on this blog.

23 Sept, Sat – Today was the day of the March for Jesus in Ica and everyone was going.  However, we did have the contractors here today and, although they leave early on Saturday, Lily and I would have to catch up to the rest of the group which numbered about 8 people.  

We eventually did catch up and they were all waiting for the march to begin, with hundreds of others.   I put together what pictures and short video clips we had into a 2 and a half minute video. A very impressive display of unity by all the Christian evangelical and protestant churches throughout Ica area.  Was very powerful.  Cristo Viva!

24 Sep, Sun – Sunday services.  Again, this time I am a bit under the weather fighting a cough so going into Ica for early services at El Shaddai did not feel comfortable.  Thought I would stay at home and mend.  The march yesterday probably made it worse.  Would be nice to hear Pastor Martin’s views on yesterday’s march though since he was a primary organizer.  Oh well.

We had youth and adult services later, well attended.  Within the adult services we did call up Fernanda’s family who were attending and we all prayed over her for health.  She and her mom return to Lima on Tuesday to see the specialists again.  May they find a miracle of healing withing her body.

Irma was going to Ica for a good part of tomorrow.  I wanted to work out some questions with her before she was going so Lily had a long talk in spanish as there were many items.  It was all good and very relieving.  Irma is such a blessing here, her spirit is contagious, her love of the children is so evident, and her spiritual love of Christ is also evident.

She delivered the sermon today and I sadly did not take pictures since I was still fighting a cough and not up to my best.  But I told her that even with my not understanding the language, she seemed very prepared, organized, articulate, engaged with the material, was not reading her notes but maintained eye contact with the audience and was very expressive, at one point the topic took her to tears.  I told her for what this guy could tell, she had a gift.  Now if I can only understand spanish more next year!

25 Sep, Mon – day of rest at the mission.

Lily and I had some visitors at the mission, a flock of ninas came by after school and knocked on the door.  Since I opened it and stuck my head out, they all came running back to engage with me.  They were babbling a mile a minute so I went and got Lily to find out what it was all about.  One of them, little Angela, had gotten a new lunch bag and a small toy from the mission when she attended services yesterday.  Well they all were wondering …..  So, we stressed that they need to come to church services, and we don’t know what and when we have something to give out but it is only for our church kids.  Many of them plan to be at services this next week!!

26 Sep, Tues – Construction moved forward, since they didn’t show up all yesterday because they had to finish up a lot of work on their family farm.  They go up to their farm and harvest garbanzo beans and I guess they are near the end of the harvest or something.  Anyway, will have to ask them about it.  Lily has expressed an interest in going to their farm with them one of these Sundays.   Work continued on the interior painting, mostly baseboards.  Also the building of cabinet doors for the new kitchen.

As I have earlier noted, we had gotten a new door for the 2nd floor created by our welder, who had also completed a security fence in the back to keep the children from going beyond a certain point.  We had all this excess material around from before we broke ground, when all we had was a casita to sleep in and a security wall put up to contain the property.  Now we are reusing some of that original material.

27 Sep, Wednesday – Construction continues.  The Sanchez’s started a new ‘Discipleship training’ class on Wednesday night, which was pretty well attended.

28-29 Sep, Thurs-Fri – Construction continues.  A lot being completed, more tile in the kitchen area, constructing and painting the kitchen cabinets, painting the doors and door frames, and more.  Trying to get ahead of the curve on the construction so Lily and I can escape to Lima on Monday for a week meeting our daughter and grandson.  We will all come back in time for next week’s Sunday services though.

30 Sep, Sat – A busy day as our last day for construction for awhile as we leave the mission for a week.  So we did a lot of winding down, finishing up.  Got all the bugs worked out of the electrical in the new building, a couple of cheap Chinese manufactured switches or light fixtures were causing a challenge but one we got to the problem, it got quickly resolved by either fixing or replacing.

San Juan Bautista had a big ministry day with the children and adults.  Marilu, a regular volunteer here at the mission, orchestrated an adult crochet and knitting session, thank you very much.  The children also enjoyed getting many #Beautifulfeet sandals as well as cake and soda treat besides their regular exercise and bible study session.  Estrella, Mariana and a few other volunteers helped out our resident missionaries do this event.

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