Thursday / Huanta

Theresa and I had another early morning walk that was culminated with coffee and pastries with Sara Armstrong. All of us had been lax in keeping our journals and wanted desperately to catch them up. The early mornings were a great time to sit, be quiet, think, and be thankful. Down time for reminiscing and reflection was at a premium this year.

Thursday was our final day of work and we were prepared to complete our task of assembling, sanding and painting. We only had 41 benches to left to paint and we completed them before lunch.

I must say that this day was one of the most spiritual days in recent memory. Connie had been suffering back pain since before we left Charlotte. The pain seemed to be getting worse with the walking, standing and working on the benches. This day, in fact, she was hardly able to walk and was transported by MotoKar to the church by our very good friend Gamaliel Berrocal. She didn't want to stay away from the "action" at the church. Once there, she was able to just lie on her back and watch the work going on. Many in the group were concerned of her pain and a few from the church actually wanted her to go to the hospital. I and a few others were fortunate to be asked to join the group that would pray for Connie. I couldn't understand the language from Pastor Vlado Massón but, I could feel the love, passion and spirit that was transmitted on that glorious day.

The emotional dedication and presentation of the benches to the Presbytery of Tampo was done in the late afternoon. Each church in the presbytery had a representative present. Some churches received as many as 10 benches for their church and some as few as only one. The number of benches awarded was based on the number of members. It was during this time that the members of the mission team had the honor to present to the Presbytery a number of prayer shawls on behalf of the Prayer Shawl Ministry of Sharon Presbyterian Church. The Prayer Shawl Ministry has provided shawls for warmth to those that need a special prayer. The shawls reinforce the feeling of compassion and love. They also remind the wearer that someone, somewhere is praying for them in their time of need.

We had a light early dinner at Pastor Orlando's home before returning to our hotel to get ready to visit more churches within the Presbytery of Huanta.