A Gift From The Montes Family

Above is a picture of the special gift from the Samuel Montes family that is temporarily displayed in the Sharon Presbyterian narthex.  It is a tapestry of the history of Sharon's bond with the Montes family, the Presbytery of Huanta and Puriyninchik.  Our relationship is exquisitely and loving displayed with the addition of their own pictures.  The frame was donated by John Thompson and his Frame Warehouse.

Pictures & Birthdays

Pictures from our 2018 mission trip to Perú are being posted in the picture album that can be accessed from the Picture Albums link list below.

Also, a lucky few of you will notice on our calendar that you share a birthday with one of our Peruvian hosts.  My apologies with the spelling of some of the names, but the dates are correct.

More mission pictures will be added soon.

Incredible Perú & Chile

Incredible Peru & Chile from Cosmo Calisse on Vimeo.

Perú In Motion

Highest Base Jump In South America

Sky Lodge Adventure Suites

The Q’eswachaka Rope Bridge

Perú's National Ceviche Day

A Dream In The Peruvian Amazon

The Bridge At Q'eswachaka

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Six Things To Do In Ayacucho

Resource:  Peru This Week

By Sophia Guida

Known for its churches, Andean scenery and Semana Santa celebrations, laid-back Ayacucho is the perfect choice for a short getaway from Lima.

Located in the south-central Andes about 500 km from Lima, Ayacucho is just high enough in the mountains to give you incredible scenery, but won’t slay you with soroche, being at 2,700 meters.

Aside from taking your pick of the no less than 33 churches to visit, here are a few other things to see in this beautiful region.

1.  See a physical reminder of brutish colonialism at Vilcashuaman

In the village of Vicashuaman, meaning “sacred falcon” in Quechua, you can see a Catholic church built on top of Inca ruins. The temple, dedicated to the sun, is situated next to a five-tier pyramid, called an usnu, which you can climb up in order to get a nice, bird’s eye view of the town.

2. Visit the National Sanctuary of Titankayuq

The National Sanctuary of Titankayuq is home to the largest number of puya raimondii, a species of shrub that is the world’s tallest flowering plant. Their tall green spikes can hold upwards of 1000 tiny flowers at one time. It is found exclusively in Peru and Bolivia, at elevations above 3000 meters. Called “Seussical” by my traveling companion, these bizarre plants make for an interesting accent to the mountain landscape. It is about an hour’s walk from the village of Vishongo.

3. Explore the Huari / Wari Ruins

Located on the way to the village of Quinua, the Huari Ruins are still under excavation. You can see stunning views of the tangled maze of stone walls with the mountains in the background. There is also a small museum on the grounds.

Read more...

August 9 - International Day Of The World's Indigenous Peoples

Resource:  United Nations

"On this International Day, I pledge the full support of the UN system to cooperate with indigenous peoples, including their media, to promote the full implementation of the Declaration."  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

2013 Theme:

"Indigenous peoples building alliances:  Honouring treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements"

The International Day of the World's Indigenous People (9 August) was first proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 1994, to be celebrated every year during the first International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995 – 2004).

In 2004, the Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade, from 2005 – 2014, with the theme of "A Decade for Action and Dignity." The focus of this year's International Day is "Indigenous peoples building alliances: Honouring treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements."

The theme aims to highlight the importance of honouring arrangements between States, their citizens and indigenous peoples that were designed to recognize indigenous peoples' rights to their lands and establish a framework for living in proximity and entering into economic relationships. Agreements also outline a political vision of different sovereign peoples living together on the same land, according to the principles of friendship, cooperation and peace.

A special event at UN Headquarters in New York will be held on Friday, 9 August, starting at 3pm, featuring the UN Secretary-General, the Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a delegate of Panama, a representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, and an indigenous representative. The event will be webcast live at webtv.un.org.

Also on 9 August, hundreds of indigenous and non-indigenous rowers are scheduled to arrive at Pier 96 at 57th Street in Manhattan at 10am, after having collectively travelled thousands of miles on rivers and horsebacks to honour the first treaty -– the Two Row Wampum -– concluded between Dutch immigrants and the Haudenosaunee (a confederacy of six nations, with capital in the Onondaga nation, in NY State) 400 years ago, in 1613. They will gather with members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 1:30pm.

Liberty Island Reopens - Ellis Island Remains Closed

Debris Left From The Storm Surge On Ellis Island

The article below is posted to honor the hard work of the National Park Service and this year's mission participant Diana Pardue.

Resource:  Yahoo News

By Holly Bailey

For more than 100 years, Ellis Island has been an important symbol of the nation’s immigration system, a place where more than 12 million people passed through between 1892 and 1924 seeking a better life in America. And since 1990, when Ellis Island reopened as a museum, millions more have walked through its doors, seeking to understand its role in creating the nation’s “melting pot” of culture and their own family roots.

But for the past eight months, Ellis Island has been eerily quiet, another victim of the rage of Superstorm Sandy. The Oct. 29 storm flooded the island with what National Park Service officials say was at least an 8-foot wall of water, destroying its electrical system and damaging many of its historic buildings—including the immigration museum.

“We went back through the historical records, and Ellis Island has never seen a storm like this. … We thought the buildings were on high enough ground, but nobody imagined water coming over the walls like it did,” Diana Pardue, head of museum services for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, said. “It was a very damaging storm.”

Neighboring Liberty Island, home to the Statue of Liberty, also sustained major damage from Sandy—adding up to a combined $59 million in damage to both islands, according to the NPS. But after months of renovations—including the rebuilding of its electrical system, walkways and boat docks--Liberty Island will reopen Thursday in time for the Independence Day holiday.

Yet Ellis Island will remain dark, closed until at least next year. Park officials, who had put all their focus on getting Liberty Island back open, say they will soon turn their attention to Ellis Island, where they will undertake a massive renovation aimed not only at repairing Sandy damage but protecting the island from future storms.

“The decision was made early on that we didn't just want to put everything back where it was so that if there is another storm like this” the island is better prepared, Pardue said.

While park officials say they are only now beginning to plot the exact details of the rebuilding process at Ellis Island, their early decisions mirror those made by building owners in Lower Manhattan who are being forced to bring their structures, many of which are more than 100 years old, into the modern age.

Read more...

A Few Weeks In Perú

a few weeks in Peru. from Cole Graham on Vimeo.

Lima Above!

The Champion Of The Wari

Resource:  The Wall Street Journal
By Judith H. Dobrzynski

As Susan E. Bergh walked through the special exhibition galleries of the Cleveland Museum of Art one day last week, she was surrounded by wooden crates—some empty, some opened, some still locked. Inside were many of the objects with which she will reveal an ancient culture that is all but unknown to most Americans but is now recognized as the first great empire of the Andes.

Long before the Incas walked the peaks and valleys of Peru in the 15th and 16th centuries, Ms. Bergh's subject—the Wari—reigned over land stretching from the highlands of central Peru, centered near the present-day city of Ayacucho, to the Pacific coastal zones below. Her exhibit, "Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes," is the first North American exhibition devoted to this people, who thrived from about 600 to 1000. "I want people to understand that civilization in the Andes way predates the Inca and that the Wari was a very complicated, sophisticated civilization," she says. "And I want people to see how beautiful and enchanting it is."

Read more...