The First Stamp

The first stamp in my new, 50-page passport book (expiring in 2033!) was my exit from SDQ on Friday 9/15 bound for Peru. I'd soon be joined by an ESL team of three from Peace Lutheran Church in St. Louis, MO, all returners whom I'd hosted less than a year ago. 

As is my practice, though, I arrived a day ahead of the team to prep for their arrival. I spent the better part of Saturday with the Ramírez family.  

When your deaconess mom is in front of the mission's English outreach, you get conscripted to help flyer the neighborhood. Abraham was NOT shy about his task. 

His 2-year old sister took a different tack. 

The Peace team was unique in that circumstances collided for them to attend worship at all three Peru Lutheran Mission congregations. First up: Los Olivos. After spontaneously providing childcare during an administrative meeting following the service, Pastor Jeancarlos and two members invited us on a home visit to a member who lives about a 40-min. drive from church but still manages to come fairly regularly and his wife, whose eye condition makes it a challenge for her to navigate the world beyond the confines of their home. They made us a delicious pollera lunch with pumpkin mazamorra for dessert; we, in turn, prayed with them and delivered a bag of nonperishables the congregation had collected. 

The team consisted of Tami (far left), Ellyn (2nd from right), and Julia (far right).

I made a new friend! Nobody tell him guinea pigs aren't pets in Peru, OK?

Our M-F schedule didn't vary much. Every afternoon with the exception of one (keep reading), the team led age-appropriate English language learning activities for the 19 kids currently enrolled in Castillo Fuerte. 

With both kids and adults, as you'll see later, the team turned to music as a memorization aid. 

This tactile adaptation of the I Spy books was so cool!

Peel-and-stick Bible storyboards to learn some vocab from the Resurrection accounts. 

We got...cozy (with 2 borrowed dry erase boards)...in the backseat of our Uber back to San Borja on Monday because...

...every evening (6:30-9:30, which made mealtimes...interesting), the Peace ladies offered adult ESL. The Peru team has successfully relaunched "Coffee & Conversation" on Wednesday nights, but this weeklong intensive would be an approachable, low-cost chance for regulars and newbies alike to practice and learn with native speakers. 

We put in some sweat equity, too. The night before class started, I was actually wishing I had a flyer in my fanny pack when a gentleman named Luis approached us, in English, as we wandered a shopping center deliberating dinner options. Paraphernalia or not, we struck up a conversation, I invited him and explained where the church was located, and he wound up with perfect attendance. 

Registration is OPEN! I captured contact information from attendees, some of whom, like Luis, were totally unknown, for pastoral follow-up

The BEGINNER beginners far outnumbered any other level, so Ellyn and Julia joined forces. Every time I'd pop over to check on them and take pictures, they were (unintentionally and then later intentionally, I think) segregated by gender!

One floor up, Tami worked with the intermediate and advanced students. 

Every evening concluded with snacks and a large group devotion led by Deaconess Caitlin (or me, one night when she had a Zoom meeting) that gave students a chance to practice reading aloud, ask questions about challenging words/phrases, and engage with Lutheran theology. 

(Luis, whose story is found above, is 2nd from left in the front row.)

That one day we didn't go to Castillo? We went to see Peru's famous paso "horseys" at Dpaso. Our afternoon of entertainment started with a buffet lunch and traditional dancing. I thought we'd seen it all after one number each from the coast (not pictured), jungle, and highlands, until the pair came back out for an encore involving actual lit candles! We shifted outdoors for the main event. 

No class on Saturday meant plenty of time for soaking in limeña culture, beginning with the Huaca Pucllana ruins, which Tami and Julia had missed out on during Peace's last trip due to illness. You can't beat the restaurant's view. 

With an awkward block of time to kill before worship service #2 (La Victoria), we went...shopping. They'd already had a chance to pick up some souvenirs after brunch earlier in the week, but this gang was undeterred!

We were blessed to sit on "Sunday" school led by one of Peru's deaconess students as part of her practicum and then attend MK Abraham's 5th birthday party before worship began. 

Need a durable piñata? Call Yepci, a member of Los Olivos, teacher at Castillo Fuerte, and soon-to-be deaconess student. 

The team's itinerary was very much intentionally planned such that they'd be able to invite their students to worship at San Borja all week and then attend alongside them. Many, in fact, came! After the benediction, we recognized everyone who had participated and presented certificates to those with perfect attendance (5). The afternoon - and our time in Peru - ended with a celebratory meal of pollo a la brasa and cake...

...oh yeah, and the musical stylings...in two languages...of some of our students!

The four of us would leave for the airport at 9 pm that night, and in my case, leave on a jet plane around 2:15 am. My trip home was, needless to say, exhausting; it admittedly took me a couple days to recover my voice and my energy. 

I now find myself in the middle of NINE whole days in Santiago before my next trip: Panama > Peru again > Jamaica. What to do besides unpack and repack? I'm having friends over for a long overdue dinner tonight, might take myself to a movie en inglés con subtítulos tomorrow, need to make an appointment for regular maintenance on my car, and am contemplating putting my Christmas decorations up before I leave Thursday and don't come back until October 30...

Until next time, blessings in Christ!