Mission Perú

2013 Perú Mission Team

Sara Armstrong {Lima, Perú}

Rusty Edmondson {Lima, Perú}

Rose Boelke {West Jefferson, North Carolina}

Connie Dale {Charlotte, North Carolina}

Brenda Paredes {Lima, Perú}

Diana Pardue {New York, New York}

Bev Vickrey {Charlotte, North Carolina}

Gary Geisel {Edgewater, Maryland}

Jim Hogan {Baltimore, Maryland}

Randy Ross {Charlotte, North Carolina}

Tom Skinner {Charlotte, North Carolina}

Van Dale {Charlotte, North Carolina}

• Saturday, July 6:
• Connie and Van travel to Lima.  They will visit the Paredes family and explore Lima.
• Friday, July 12:
• The majority of the team (Bev, Diana, Rose, Gary, Jim, Randy, & Tom) arrive in Lima.  Sara, Brenda, Connie, Rusty and Van meet arrivals at the Lima airport.
• Everyone spends the night in Lima.
• Saturday, July 13:
• Everyone departs Lima for Ayacucho in the afternoon.  In Ayacucho, we connect with the mission group from Port Orange Presbyterian Church, Port Orange, Florida.
• Sunday, July 14:
• The Lircay Team (Rusty, Diana, Gary, Jim, & Randy) departs Ayacucho for Lircay. The Huanta Team (Sara, Bev, Brenda, Connie, Rose, Tom & Van) depart Ayacucho for Huanta.
• The Presbytery of Huanta has asked that part of our team travel to the town of Lircay to help assemble benches to be used as pews in the churches of the Synod of Huancavelica. The other part of our team will travel to Huanta to help paint four (4) local churches.
• Gary and Jim have also graciously offered to share their many years of banking experience and are developing a curriculum on church and personal financial management to be presented to church leadership and members in both Lircay and Huanta.
• Wednesday, July 17:
• The Lircay team departs and travels to Huanta.
• Saturday, July 20:
• Everyone departs Hunata.
• Visit the artisan village of Quinua.
• Arrival in Ayacucho.
• Sunday, July 21:
• Everyone departs Ayacucho for an early morning flight to Lima.
• We will travel to Amen Church for morning worship and fellowship. In the afternoon, everyone will visit the Inca Market in Miraflores before having dinner and heading to the airport for our flights home.  
• Gary & Jim will remain in Lima and travel to Cusco after the mission trip to visit the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.

This will be Sharon Church’s sixth consecutive trip to Huanta. Each year I travel there becomes more special than the year before, in part, because I am in awe of the blessing of yet another opportunity to worship and work next to my Andean brothers and sisters.

I am looking forward to the time together with each of you and each of them, a time of faith, fellowship and service to Jesus Christ.

I wanted to share a recent note from Samuel Montes, current Secretary (and past President) of the Presbytery:
"I am filled with excitement and encouragement in organizing the work we will do together in Ayacucho, Lircay and Huanta. I treasure many aspects of the partnership that Sharon Church enjoys with the Presbytery. The most endearing aspect is how our partnership has enabled and empowered the Presbytery to reach out and minister to its neighbors. “…the mission is not ours, the real promoter is Jesus and God himself, the One who moves mountains and changes lives… and nothing will stop Him.”

Amen Samuel, Amen

A special thanks to each of you for joining this year’s trip to help bolster, deepen and move this partnership forward.

Grace and peace to each of you.
Randy

Coca Is Good For What Ails You - In Perú

Resource:  Vancourier

By Joanne Sasvari

Yes, coca leaves are the raw material for cocaine, but chewing the leaves or drinking coca tea when you’re in Cusco (altitude 3,400 metres) clears your throbbing head and lets you breath again. And it’s legal.

Things, as they say here in Cusco, go better with coca.

That’s because the Peruvian city and UNESCO World Heritage Site is perched vertiginously at 3,400 metres in elevation, and nothing combats the effects of altitude sickness quite as effectively as this leafy member of the plant family Erythroxylaceae.

You could also say that the combination of elevation and coca make this one of the highest cities in the world.

You feel the effects of the altitude within minutes of disembarking from your plane on the dusty tarmac of Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport: shortness of breath, headache, dizziness and nausea. Then there are the hallucinations, which aren’t nearly as much fun as you might think. And, in extreme cases, altitude sickness can lead to death.

It makes you wonder what the Incas were thinking to establish the capital of their empire here back in the 13th century. Luckily, they knew all about the powers of coca.

So do the vendors who greet your flight. Most of them are descendants of the Quechua peoples who've long called this land home, and they come bearing plastic baggies of dried coca leaves, coca tea and coca candies.

Visitors greet their wares with both curiosity and trepidation. After all, coca is illegal everywhere on Earth except Peru, Bolivia and parts of Argentina. That’s because coca is generally best known for containing a psychoactive alkaloid called cocaine, the raw material for the drug snorted in nightclub bathrooms the world over.

However, the amount of cocaine in coca is minuscule, and the effects are quite different. Coca is a mild stimulant that combats thirst, hunger, pain and fatigue, without the euphoria and psychoactive effects of cocaine.

(And yes, coca is an ingredient in Coca Cola, but the version the soft drink giant uses today has been de-cocainized since the original recipe.)

Locals usually chew the dried leaves, adding more leaves throughout the day to a wad tucked in their cheeks. It’s the way they’ve done it here for 5,000 years; indeed, if you look closely at the paintings in Cusco’s cathedral, you’ll notice that all the saints have a suspicious bulge in one cheek.

Coca consumption also has a religious and cultural aspect. It was long a part of spiritual life among the Inca and, even today, locals bow to the mountain gods and offer a little incantation thanking them for this miraculous herb.

Visitors, too, might find themselves thanking the native gods when they finally break down and indulge after a day of panting and gasping as they explore Cusco’s historic streets with their pre-Columbian ruins, bustling markets, magnificent cathedrals and elegant shopping arcades.

Most hotels have urns in their lobbies dispensing coca tea. One sip and you’ll note that coca has a pleasant, delicately herbal flavour similar to green tea. A few more sips and your head clears, the throbbing subsides and you can breathe again.

It really is a miracle drug, you think. Just don’t be tempted to tuck a baggie of it in your luggage.

Ecuadorean Amazon Oil Slick Moving Closer To Perú

Oil In The Napo River

Resource:  The Guardian

By Jonathan Watts

Crude discharged after pipeline was ruptured by landslide has entered Napo river which flows across border.

An oil spill in the Ecuadorean Amazon is flowing downstream towards Peru and Brazil, heightening concerns about the impact of drilling in one of the world's last remaining wildernesses.

About 1.6m litres of crude was discharged into a tributary of the Amazon from the Trans-Ecuador pipeline, which was ruptured by a landslide on 31 May.

The slick contaminated the drinking supplies of Coca, a gateway city into the Amazon forest. Local media reported that 60,000 people had to rely on water brought in by 65 tankers.

Petroecuador, the pipeline operator, has hired the US clearup company Clean Caribbean & Americas, which was involved in the operation after the Gulf of Mexico spill.

Although the company and local authorities tried to contain the slick with a boom, some of the oil entered the Napo river, which flows across the border.

Last week Peru reported traces of the oil in its Amazon region of Loreto, prompting an apology from the Ecuadorean president, Rafael Correa.

The Peruvian environment minister, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, described the slick as a "very serious problem" and said Peru could seek compensation if the damage proved extensive.

Brazil, which is located many hundreds of miles downstream, has put its navy on alert and offered technical assistance.

Read more...

Pacha Soap Makers Plan Perú Trip

Hastings based Pacha Soap is heading to Peru in early June to hand-deliver soap, put on hand washing clinics for children and make a photo essay. Here, Nathan Mueller, Abi Burrows, Andrew Vrbas and Joe Ritzdorf pose on May 25 in Lincoln while selling soap at the Haymarket Farmers' Market

Resource:  Omaha.com

By Emily Nohr

The Pacha Soap crew is going to Peru.

In April, we wrote about the Hastings-based handmade soap company that is trying to “raise the bar” for business by using a buy-one, give-one model. And because Pacha Soap was inspired by a trip “Head Jaboñero” Andrew Vrbas took to Peru, their goal was to travel to the South American country to hand deliver soap, put on hand washing clinics for children and make a photo essay.

The company’s online crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the trip surpassed their expectations, earning nearly a thousand dollars more than their $4,500 goal. Pacha Soap is heading to Peru in early June.

Peruvian Food, From Guinea Pigs To Pisco Sours

Resource:  Eatocracy

World-renowned chef, author and Emmy winning television personality Anthony Bourdain visits Peru in the next episode of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," airing Sunday, June 2, at 9 p.m. ET. Follow the show on Twitter and Facebook.

Peru's bounty of fresh fish, roasted chicken, fiery chiles and sumptuous cacao packs so much flavor, it would be cruel not to share. Anthony Bourdain invited his best friend, world-renowned chef Eric Ripert to join in his culinary journey across this vast, varied and distinctive land.

Here's where they feasted:

• Mercado Modelo - Chiclayo Market
• Chez Wong - Lima (San Isidro)
• Anticuchería Doña Pochita - Lima
• Amaz  - Lima (Miraflores)
• Canta Rana - Lima (Barranco)

Catch up on Eatocracy's previous adventures in Peruvian food:

Peruvian food is having a moment

More and more Americans are flocking to Peruvian food and discovering a world of flavor beyond pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken). This diverse cuisine, with influences from Andean to Spanish, Japanese and Chinese to African and Italian, is quickly finding its rightful place in the national food scene.

Credit is due in part to Gastón Acurio, the country’s most recognized chef, who acts as the unofficial ambassador of Peruvian cuisine with 34 restaurants in 14 cities worldwide, including the recently-opened La Mar Cebicheria in New York City. In 2008, Acurio, together with Apega, the Peruvian Society for Gastronomy founded Mistura. This 10-day food festival brings together street vendors, herbal stands and high-end chefs showcasing their most popular dishes and attracts over 300,000 every year.

Now, scaled-down versions of this event – complete with quinoa desserts, fresh bread, and traditional herbal drinks – are popping up outside of Peru.

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Mission Medicine

Katherine White With Children From The Village Of Calleria, Peru

Resource: Blue Ridge Now
By Amy B. McCraw

Before she went on a medical mission trip to Peru earlier this year, Katherine White never had an answer when people asked why she wanted to leave the country to help others.

The answer, she said, became clear once she reached the Amazon and met the patients who needed the care she could help provide.

“They have no sense of entitlement,” she said. “They come seeking help. They didn't expect anything other than our best effort.”

White, who is a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina works as a surgical technician at Mission Hospital in Asheville and is a certified athletic trainer.

She will discuss what she learned in Peru and her experiences in the country at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Stull Hall at the church. White was part of a 17-member team from all over the United States who offered their time and gifts to provide medical and surgical treatment to Peruvians and resident missionaries who have limited access to needed orthopedic treatment.

White, 35, said she became interested in participating in the mission trip through the Scalpel at the Cross ministry after a doctor she works with mentioned he was going to Peru with the organization.

“He mentioned it at work,” she said. “I expressed some interest. I've just always been interested in that.”

Scalpel at the Cross is the realization of a long-standing dream of a Christian orthopedic surgeon and his family. It has developed through many experiences and friendships in the lives of those who want to reach out to people.

White said she thought it would be interesting to travel with doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to offer treatment to people who might not otherwise receive the medical care they need.

As much as she wanted to go, White thought her work schedule and a lack of money needed to travel to Peru would probably prevent her from making the trip.

But to her surprise, White said her supervisor had no problem giving her the time she needed away from work, and her mother stepped in to help with her expenses.

“I mentioned it to her. I never asked,” White said. “A few days later, she came to me and said, ‘This is something you need to do.' The next thing I knew, I was on a plane to Peru.”

Read more...

Local Students At Work In Perú

Resource: The Charlotte Observer

By Jennifer Baxter

Students from SouthLake Christian Academy in Huntersville, North Carolina are working in the mountains of Peru on the school’s annual senior trip May 19-29. Seniors have been embarking on this journey since its inception in 2004.

Susan Smith, lower school principal at SouthLake, said the idea for the trip came after she and two other SouthLake staff members worked as part of a missions team in Peru, in collaboration with Scripture Union, a group working to renew Peru through the power of the Gospel. Their team was assigned the task of constructing a home for orphans known as “street boys” in the Andes Mountains, near the town of Yungay.

“The three of us thought that this project would be an excellent connection and long-term project for our seniors and our school,” said Smith.

The trip is open only to seniors and typically has an attendance of more than half of each graduating class. This year, they have the largest group to date, with 38 of their 62 seniors going. Nine parents and three school personnel also went.

The original home has now expanded into several buildings and a school. For the first five days, students were to participate in construction work that includes making adobe bricks for building. The process begins with the students mixing mud, water and straw using their feet and then pouring the mixture into molds. The bricks are left to dry in the sun for several days and will later be used to construct more buildings in the village.

The students will also dig foundations, clear land, construct rock walls and apply stucco to the front of completed buildings. Female students also develop and teach Bible lessons in the local school, while the male students organize a field day for the boys at the home.

After five days in the Andes, the students were to travel south to the desert city of Ica to visit a shantytown with no electricity or running water. The group purchases several trucks of drinking water and walks throughout the community giving water to residents who would otherwise have to wait on the city for days or possibly even weeks.

Although the trip includes a lot of hard work, the students will also take a day trip to a glacial park high up in the Andes, as well as a boat trip to the Paracas Islands, south of Lima. The islands, known as the “mini Galapagos Islands,” are abundant in sea life and rare birds.

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Lesotho Visit

In March, the director of Torch of Faith, Krin Van Tatenhove visited Lesotho to establish a formal partnership with Ministry of Hope Lesotho (MoHL), which cares for children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected. Many of them are also HIV positive, victims of the sub-Saharan AIDS crisis.

If you don't know about Lesotho, the "mountain kingdom" of Africa, read this article at Wikipedia. Then take a moment to see Krin's photos of his Lesotho odyssey on our Facebook page.

Girls On A Mission To Provide Safe Drinking Water

From left, Julie Evans, Christina Lee & Katie Thornburgh

Resource:  The Marietta Daily Journal

By Lindsay Field

A Cobb County teenager is helping save lives around the world one clean glass of water at a time.

In 2010, Kennesaw Mountain High School sophomore Christina Lee and her older brother, Joshua Lee, were in South America on a mission trip to Peru with First United Methodist Church when they discovered that lack of clean water was a major issue in the developing country.

“We realized that water was just a huge problem,” said 16-year-old Christina Lee. “People like to think that they get used to it and get immune to the bacteria and viruses that are in it, but they don’t, so they are sick all the time.”

Being sick all the time leads to residents missing work, not being able to take better care of their families and many deaths.

The brother and sister returned home from their trip, began researching how they could help, and eventually started the nonprofit Leave a Trace Foundation.

“We have a broad focus of trying to bring clean water to areas all over the world,” Lee said. “Essentially these people are drinking dirty water and the vast majority know it’s dirty and they know it’s making them sick, but there’s no alternative.”

And while Joshua and Christina both started the project, she has become the driving force behind Leave a Trace. Joshua studies aeronautical engineering at Georgia Tech.

“It’s just a great indication that if you turn kids loose, they can do anything,” said the children’s father, Gary Lee. “They are bright, and if you give them a problem to solve, they will take the initiative and run with it. That’s been neat to watch.”

Making a difference

That foundation has grown into an internationally recognized organization, and on Saturday, Lee and two of her classmates in Kennesaw Mountain ‘s magnet program, Julie Evans and Katie Thornburgh, will head to Chimbote, Peru, to install a water purification system at an elementary school.

“These children are walking on average an hour every single day to get to school and when they get there, they don’t have clean water to drink,” Christina Lee said.

They also plan to install water filters at the homes of their translator, coordinator and driver.

Rotary Club members in Chimbote are helping them.

“As a part of helping the people get back on their feet, we think it’s important to bring the Rotary Club into the entire process so they have a stake in it,” Christina Lee said.

The home filters cost about $100 each and the school filter, which can produce about 55 gallons of clean water per minute, costs about $1,000. All funds are raised through the foundation.

The byproduct of the machine is sodium chloride, so residents can also use the water to clean their dishes and cups.

The batteries are donated by Kennesaw-based Interstate Batteries. They use a wheelchair battery and a solar cell so that it is constantly charging. It takes one day to install the machine and a second full day to train others on how to use it.

Evans and Thornburgh have never been out of the country before, but decided to go on this particular trip after hearing about the foundation’s mission and how it can save lives.

“It’s a great opportunity to do something good, and Christina always talks about how ‘Leave a Trace’ is based off the Boy Scout saying, ‘Take only memories, leave only footsteps,’ but their idea is to leave something to help others, and I like that, and I’d like to leave a trace,” Thornburgh said.

She raised money for the week-long trip by asking family members for help.

Evans said her parents were encouraged by their daughter wanting to go on a trip like this, so they helped foot the bill.

“I feel that there are things in this world that we can easily change, and we’re not really trying too hard,” she said. “We are trying but we can try a little bit harder, so I want to do something good.”

The three girls, along with Gary Lee, will head to Peru two days after their finals next week. Travel includes an all-day flight and an all-day bus ride from Lima to Chimbote. The two cities are about 265 miles apart.

Read more...

World Mission Partner Conference

From Ellen Smith

Presbyterians can have greater impact in God’s mission. Come to Big Tent to find out how!

The Power of “We”: Collective Impact in God’s Mission
It’s not too early to make your plans to attend the World Mission Partner Conference at Big Tent 2013, August 1-3, in Louisville, Kentucky.

To make sure you get your spot at Big Tent, sign up today. You can do that here:  Link

Don’t miss the World Mission pre-conference featuring key note speaker Dr. Robert Lupton, author of Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It). Lupton’s presentation will challenge how you think about Mission and will equip you for more effective ministry.

World Mission Pre-Conference

August 1, 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

$35 including lunch

Registration available as part of Big Tent registration

We promise you’ll leave Big Tent energized and informed, and ready to bring World Mission home to your congregation.

Landing In Ayacucho, Perú (Elev 9,000 ft)

Resource:  peterdarcourt

Neale Bayly Rides Perú

Resource:  Motorcycle USA
By Bryan Harley

Our resident road warrior has earned his stripes covering the rally circuit, from riding the Black Hills of Sturgis to cruising Main Street in Daytona Beach. Whether it’s chopped, bobbed, or bored, metric to ‘Merican, he rides ‘em all.

Neal Bayly (center) Is A Man On A Mission

Neale Bayly Rides Peru to Air June 9 Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Neale Bayly is a man of many hats. Or maybe we should say helmets, because he’s a madman behind the bars of a motorcycle. But he’s also a writer, rider, photographer, moto-journalist, wise-crackin’ Brit, father, and most recently, a philanthropist. We’ve been fortunate to have him pen articles for Motorcycle USA in the past before he began heading up SPEEDTV.com’s motorcycle section where many came to know him from his TV gig called “Trippin’ on Two Wheels.”

Neale’s got a new show coming out soon and this time the light-hearted tone of “Trippin’ on Two Wheels” is replaced by an adventure with deeper meaning. You see, years ago Bayly was on an adventure-touring ride to Peru where he visited the Hogar Belen orphanage. The kids in the orphanage left an irrepressible impression upon Neale, and not long after he formed Wellspring International Outreach, a “non-profit dedicated to helping orphans around the world.”

And it is bringing awareness to the plight of these children that lies at the core of his latest adventure. “Neale Bayly Rides” takes “three average riders on the journey of a lifetime.” Starting in Lima, they embark on an eight-day journey across Peru riding BMW motorcycles on their way to Moquegua. Watching the trailer, the riders were ill-prepared for the demands of desert riding. But it’s not only about the ride. They’re on a mission - to visit the orphanage for abandoned children in Peru’s southeastern desert. We guarantee it’s going to be one of those types of shows that not only touch those involved, but reaches out to those who watch.

Best part is, the three-part series is getting set to air Sunday, June 9 at 9 p.m. (EST) on SPEEDTV with the other episodes running the following Sundays, June 16 and June 23. We’re honored to call Neale our friend so we encourage you to tune in for a motorcycle show unlike any other. For more info, check out the "Neale Bayly Rides" website. Ride on, ride strong Neale.

Asheville Physician Bikes To Peruvian Orphanage

Dr. Laura Ellis

Resource: Asheville Citizen Times

By Susan Reinhardt

Those who meet Asheville surgeon Dr. Laura Ellis know she has glamour and grace.

But she hides a part of herself from most patients, afraid if they knew her “other” side, they might hesitate before undergoing a procedure.

It’s that other side — her passion for riding motorcycles — that has landed Ellis, a renowned vein specialist and anti-aging expert, in the spotlight.

For nine days and more than 1,700 often-grueling miles, Ellis rode a BMW motorcycle throughout the countryside in Peru.

Her destination? A little-known orphanage that desperately needs attention and awareness to help some 200 kids with no families.

The results of the “life-changing” trip have been transformed into a reality-based TV program and will premiere on the Speed TV series “Neale Bayly Rides: Peru,” airing at 9 p.m. June 9.

To celebrate this accomplishment that tested her grit as she weathered some horrendous conditions on the way to her destination, she is hosting a special event with Bayly and the show’s cast 6-9 p.m. Saturday at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville. Trailers and footage from the show will be shown.

Ellis embarked upon the journey Feb. 11-20 and talked with me about this experience and the three hourlong episodes that will soon air.

“I like to race motorcycles,” she said, taking a short break between patients at her Biltmore Park office where she is medical director of medAge, a supervised and comprehensive approach to help patients achieve health through age-management science.

“I’ve kept that a secret from my patients and friends,” she said. “Some people might think it is dangerous or irresponsible.”

One day while riding on a track, the manager introduced her to Bayly, a famous writer, rider, producer and philanthropist.

“Neale wanted to do this TV show to get the word out about the needs of this orphanage,” Ellis said. “The track manager had called me one day and said he knew someone who needed my help.”

Neale, who once lived in Sylva and now resides with his two boys in Charlotte, told Ellis about his desires to bring awareness and funding to this orphanage through a reality TV show. He wanted a series that helped others, not glorified excess and extravagance like most reality programming on television today.

Read more...

Renco's Toxic Lead Fight

Resource:  Bloomberg News

By Andrew Martin

Aross the river from Belinda Elida Barja’s two-room apartment, the lead and zinc smelters of Doe Run Peru spread smoke and dust in the mountain town of La Oroya.

Her 9-year-old son Kenyi has headaches, memory loss, stomach ailments and difficulty concentrating, Barja said. The lead in his blood measured 41 micrograms per deciliter in a 2007 test -- eight times the level the U.S. government considers a cause for action. Barja blames Doe Run Peru.

“They just think about making money,” she said.

Most of La Oroya’s children suffer elevated lead levels, according to the Peruvian government. Parents say some have symptoms -- consistent with lead poisoning -- that include anemia, convulsions, stunted growth, mental retardation and the ills Barja said her son suffers.

The question of responsibility is at the center of a high-stakes clash between Peru and U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert, who owned Doe Run Peru for more than a decade through Renco Group Inc. Far from defensive, Renco is demanding $800 million from Peru because it ordered a costly pollution clean-up that the company says forced Doe Run Peru into bankruptcy in 2010. Renco has said it’s not responsible for the children’s ailments.

Its demand was made under an arcane, often secretive investor-state arbitration system that is growing rapidly in size and scope, roiling global trade and angering countries from Australia to South Africa over the perceived trampling of their sovereign rights.

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