Perú Mission 2011

Dear Participants:

I am long overdue in sending information about our upcoming trip. To say that it has been somewhat of a challenge putting it together this year within the confines of our budget, is an understatement. But despite a whopping 100% increase in airfares from last year to this year, the trip IS coming together. Well so much for the budget!

2011 trip participants include:

1. John Magee {Avondale Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina}
2. Sarah Kate Magee {Avondale Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina}
3. Rose Boelke
4. Shea Chambers {Avondale Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina}
5. Reverend Brad Clayton {Avondale Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, North Carolina}
6. Connie Dale
7. Van Dale
8. Kaye DuMond
9. Brenda Fairbrother
10. Randy Ross
11. Sarita Ross
12. Tom Skinner
13. Rob Wolf {Port Orange Presbyterian Church, Port Orange, Florida}

Rusty Edmondson will be leading our trip this year. Sara Armstrong will be in Louisville attending a PC(USA) event and finalizing the details of her and Rusty’s agreement to serve another three (3) years in Peru . Yippy Skippy! Or as Rusty would say, “Cool beans!”

Brenda Paredes has graciously agreed to accompany us again this year. Either she loves us very much or just wants to make sure we don’t totally embarrass ourselves while in her country. Or perhaps both.

I have recently caught wind of a plan to kidnap Brenda, bring her back to the United States and enroll her in the fall 2011 semester at Winthrop University, located in bea-u-ti-ful downtown Rock Hill , South Carolina , USA . Mum’s the word!

Also accompanying us on the trip are Brenda’s father and stepmother, Alfredo Paredes and Miriam Laura. Alfredo will assist with trip logistics and Miriam will assist with translating. Oh, the stories we’ll tell (in our very best Spanglish).

All trip participants, except Kaye DuMond (more about this a little later) and possibly Rob Wolf, will travel to Lima via New York and Atlanta . Can someone explain why it costs $550 less per person to fly to Lima from New York versus Charlotte?  Charlotte appears much closer to Peru than New York on all the maps I have seen. Tickets for our group reservation on Delta Airlines will be issued on Tuesday, June 21, 2011.

All trip participants, except Kaye DuMond (I promise, more about this a little later) and definitely Rob Wolf, will travel to/from Charlotte and New York on US Airways. Tickets have been issued.

Rusty has arranged for all “in-country” transportation, accommodations and entertainment. Geez, I hope Rusty’s Spanish has improved dramatically over the past year and we REALLY have room reservations for fifteen participants, not five. We are going to try new restaurants in Lima , Ayacucho and Huanta and a new hotel in Ayacucho this year. Many are local establishments so we are bound to fit right in (in our very best Spanglish).

We welcome the members of Avondale Presbyterian Church joining us this year. I guess they heard the real reason why the group from Port Orange Presbyterian Church (“POPC”) decided not to partner with us again this year. POPC is beginning the first-ever PC(USA) church relationship with the Presbytery of Ayacucho! Please keep the wonderful POPC folks in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare for their trip and during their time in Peru . The POPC trip is scheduled from July 5 - 13, 2011. Also pray that Kerry Lyons will forget to pack his white tennis shorts this year.

Here is a tentative schedule which, as all seasoned travelers to Peru know, is subject to delays, changes and revisions.

Friday, August 5, 2011: We will travel from the United States to Peru . It will be a long day of travel. Kaye DuMond is flying to Peru a few days before the main group to visit a friend in Lima. Kaye (here is the “later” part I promised) will most likely be flying to and from Peru in business class (and not through New York I might add) and will meet us upon our arrival in Lima (if she can muster the courage to do so). We will check into Casa Kolping for two nights. OK, two half nights.

Saturday, August 6, 2011: We will visit Pastor Adrian Fernandez’s church near Lima . Pastor Adrian is a leader in the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru (the “IEPRP”) and an instructor at the Biblical Institute in Huanta, of which he is a founding leader. Members of Pastor Adrian’s church are mostly refugees from Ayacucho, settling near Lima during the time of terror in Peru . Pastor Adrian will be in Huanta during our visit (teaching at the Biblical Institute, no less) but Rusty has other "connections" at this church. We will also make arrangements to ship the donations to Huanta via bus with the assistance of Alfredo, who Van Dale swears knows everyone in Lima.

Sunday, August 7, 2011: Rise and shine at 3:00 am (it will be 4:00 am in the United States ) to catch our 5:30 am (it will be 6:30 am in the United States) flight to Ayacucho. Samuel and Julia Montes will meet us in Ayacucho. After breakfast, we will travel in a spacious and comfortable motor coach to Huanta (past trip participants, shhhhh!). In 2008, the trip from Ayacucho to Huanta took one hour. In 2009, forty-five minutes. In 2010, thirty-five minutes. Perhaps the bus drivers believe the gringos and gringas are gradually getting comfortable traveling in the spacious and comfortable motor coaches from Ayacucho to Huanta. Will it be a fifteen or twenty minute trip this year?

Upon our arrival in Huanta, we will check into the Posada de Marques. Rumor has it that there will be a run on chapla and salt cheese for the six days that follow our arrival.

Monday, August 8 through Friday, August 12, 2011: We will work alongside our hosts to build lecterns and bookcase/storage units for the churches in the Presbytery of Huanta. And more importantly, laugh, pray, sing, play, worship, shed tears and just “be” with each other. Oh, and eat some great Andean food too!

May God be glorified during our time together.

Does anyone believe the Huanta Cup has a snowball’s chance of returning to Charlotte this year?

Saturday, August 13, 2011: Travel to Quinoa (famous for its Andean pottery artisans and easily crashed Quechua wedding receptions) and then on to Ayacucho. We will visit a recently opened museum, highly recommended by Rusty, centered on the time of terror in the region.

Sunday, August 14, 2011: Rise and shine at 4:00 am (it will be 5:00 am in the United States ) to catch our 6:50 am (it will be 7:50 am in the United States) flight to Lima . We will travel to Amen Presbyterian Church for worship and fellowship. Then on to lunch, shopping and dinner before heading to the Lima airport for, well, you know.

Monday, August 15, 2011: Our flight is scheduled to depart Lima bound for Atlanta at 12:40 am. It will be another long day of travel, but definitely well worth it in my humble opinion.

Trip Commissioning is scheduled for Sunday, July 31, 2011 during Worship. Rob Wolf will not be able to participate in person but in his own words “I will definitely be there in spirit though.”

We will get together in mid-July to do our final packing and head over to Genaro’s Peruvian Rotisserie for dinner.

As to the issues facing the Cristo Rey Church in Huanta. I don’t know the history of the Cristo Rey and Genesis churches in Huanta or on what basis the members of the Genesis church claim that the Cristo Rey church property belongs to them. Obviously, there is much at stake. I wouldn’t want to speculate how a ruling against the members of the Cristo Rey church would impact them.

Should we postpone or cancel our trip until the issue is finally resolved? I think not. Legal issues can take many years to be concluded, even in Peru.  And whatever the judge rules, we should be standing alongside our brothers and sisters, whether it is a time of joy or a time of uncertainty or sorrow.

God has blessed me with yet another opportunity to visit and marvel at another facet of His wonderful creation. I look forward to our time together with our brothers and sisters in Peru with more anticipation and excitement than ever before. I am humbled and thankful to be sharing the experience that awaits us with each of you, even if I am not the one who gets to fly business class.

Blessings and thanks to all. Let me know if you have any questions or need additional information regarding our trip.

Forty-five (45) days and counting!

Randy