missionaryMAC

In October 2019, I hosted the "J Team" (St. J ohn's Lutheran Church in J amaica); last week, I hosted the "H" Team: the H oyt family of 4 + Mark, whose last name begins with the same letter.  Three of the Hoyts served in Peru in February 2020 and had been looking for just the right opportunity to come back ever since. A work project was just up their alley, and when we settled on October, they took kindly to my suggestion that the FORO account for a portion of their time on the ground. They arrived the day before  FORO arrival day, but instead of getting our hands too dirty, we eased in with a morning of sightseeing (I sat at a nearby café; the millennia-old ruins haven't changed since I was there in September ) and then made the hardware store into a cultural experience.  Team members took advantage of Sunday worship in Los Olivos with the FORO group to scope out the project specs for one of our chief tasks: installing window panes and protecting them w...

Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm a Control Freak. Attending last weekend's Peru FORO without planning it, then, was both trying and refreshing. Trying, because my first inclination is often to commandeer any situation that involves logistics, and refreshing, because I got to sit back, defer to the local team for three days, and enjoy the ride...literally, as we set out for the Museo Larco Friday morning (Plan B when it was too damp and drizzly for a boat tour of La Punta).  Out of town guests included regional team colleagues, a team of five volunteers from Immanuel Lutheran Church in East Dundee, IL, that would stay on to serve the following week, the Rev. Dwayne Lueck (North Wisconsin District, far left), and the Rev. Bob Pase (Grace Lutheran Church, Midland, TX, far right).  Side note: Pastor Lueck brought 14 lbs. of cheese curds! I'd been to the Museo Larco before but failed to notice that this teeny, 398 thread count Chincha-Inca tapestry from the Imperial Epoch (1300 d...

I learned about the Nasca lines, sweeping geoglyphs created by the Nasca people (or, better said, "pre-Inca" as the name Nasca was given them by  the Inca, and the "s" later changed to a "z" by the Spaniards), in college. So, when I found myself with an awkward weekend between teams in Panama and Peru (arriving tonight), I planned a quick, 450 km. trip south.  Means of transportation: double decker coach bus, departing from Lima Sunday morning.  If only the WiFi had worked, I would have been living the high life.  Approaching Nasca, we passed one way to see the lines - a viewing tower. I didn't come all that way to climb no stinkin' tower, though! I checked into my Airbnb, run by elderly couple David & Jesús, then set out on foot in search of dinner, with a stop in the Plaza de Armas.  Thanks to my hosts for recommending a place where it seemed more locals eat than tourists. I was too hungry to take a picture before  I devoured my plate of pol...