Sunday: August 16

Most of us arrived back in Charlotte on Sunday. Beth, Kelly and Mike arrived back in Charlotte on Wednesday from their trip to Cusco.

We all had a wonderful spiritual journey. We are grateful for the planning of Randy Ross, Sara Armstrong, Rusty Edmondson and Samuel Montes. We felt safe and taken care of at every turn of our journey. It's hard to imagine the distances that we travelled, the work that we did, the people we met and the gifts that were exchanged. All in just a week.

Thank you to everyone for your donations, gifts, support and prayers.

The Peru 2009 Group

Saturday: August 15

We awoke at 5:30 am to prepare for our ride to the Ayacucho airport. Naturally, our taxis were late or nonexistent. But, in true Peruvian fashion... we found others... and we were on our way.

The early morning flight had wonderful and breathtaking scenery of the Andes mountains. As we landed in Lima, the weather was overcast and cool. We collected our bags, and had to say a goodbye to Beth, Kelly and Mike. They were flying to Cusco and then traveling on to Machu Picchu.

The remainder of the group boarded our bus for the day. We were treated to breakfast, a visit to the Musco Rafel Larco Herrera (A museum dedicated to the archaeological history of Peru), a visit to local shops and a visit to Bridge of Hope (Fair Trade Project of Peru).

Then it was time to say good bye to Brenda Paredes. We had only been with her for a few days but, we had grown to love her like one of our own family. It was sad to see her go. (She will be coming to the U.S. in December to spend 3 months in the Charlotte area). We can't wait to see her again.

A little more shopping at the Indian Market and then to a quick dinner at Larcomar (Shopping Mall). After our meal we boarded our bus for the last time and made our way to the airport for our flight back to the U.S. As we arrived at the airport, we realized it would be another sad good bye. This time it was so long to Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson. They had become more than friends in the few days we were with them. We depended on them at every turn of our journey and they did not in any way disappoint us. We all are indebted to them for a wonderful trip.

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Friday: August 14

The morning devotion was provided by Rose Boelke. "Panic Prayer Is Self-Centered". As a believer in Christ, you must have the faith to tell him "God I'm Your's".

As we completed our morning devotions and breakfast, we were visited by Samuel, Pastor Gaspar and Pastor Adrian. After a their short meeting with Sara and Randy, we had to say our sad good byes to Pastor Gaspar and Pastor Adrian. Samuel stayed with us a little longer. He traveled with us to Ayacucho.

We had just a few minutes until we packed a bus "to the gills" with people and luggage for our hour and a half trip to Ayacucho. The mountains were as steep, rugged and beautiful as we remembered and the bus driver kept us alert with an action packed traverse across the Andes. Soon, we arrived at our destination in Ayacucho, the Hotel Santa Rosa. We had a few minutes to check in, freshen up and then out again for a tour of the city. We had lunch at El Nino, visited the overlook of the city and the Presbyterian Church of Ayacucho.

After visiting the church, we had to experience one of the most heart breaking and tearful events of the whole trip. We had to say good bye to our friend Samuel Montes. Samuel has always been instrumental in the planning, leadership and decision making of the Presbytery of Huanta and our trips. To many of us... he is one of the reasons that we return to Huanta. We miss him terribly.

We returned to the hotel to prepare for dinner, evening devotions, reflections and then a early bedtime. We had a early flight to Lima the next morning.

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Thursday: August 13

The morning devotion lead was by Pam & David Beers. "Whom Shall I Send..." (God knows us and loves us. We travel here with a mask... God helps us remove the mask and reveals us to the people of Huanta). David issued a challenge to us. How can we as travelers express our emotions so the people at Sharon Presbyterian can feel the same as we do?

We all realized that our journey to Hunata was coming to an end. We had finished our main project of assembling, sanding and painting the benches. Since we did have a little free time though, we started sanding and painting the sanctuary of the Cristo Rey Church. We knew we would not have time to complete the whole project but, we could get a good start on it. All of the donations of clothing, shoes and books were sorted and repacked. We took lots of pictures of the sorting to show that your gifts, generosity and love made it to Huanta.

A couple of outings were planned for us. First, was a visit to the Maynay Church, where we left one of the glass crosses made by Connie. This was the church where we attended the wedding last year. Second, was a visit to Cristo Blanco on the mountain above Huanta, with the hair raising return ride back down (without guardrail). (The Stanfords and Youngs missed the return ride... they decided to walk back to town).

As we returned to the Cristo Rey Church the evening festivities were ready to begin. The freshly painted benches were lined up (thanks to David Stanford). Most of the churches of the Presbytery were represented to receive their donations and benches. Books, gifts, pictures, hugs, a computer, promises of our return to Huanta, well wishes and few tears were exchanged.

I really do think I could hold those kids... forever.

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Wednesday: August 12

Morning devotions were lead by Brittany & David Stanford. "Pack Lightly" (Ask for a friendship and put all of your faith in God). Don Presson's request for a personal prayer from the Andes was granted multiple times!

By lunch time the benches were completed!

After lunch... the Soccer game. Oh, yes... THE Soccer Game! It was asked of our hosts if they would provide a team that is closer to the age of the Gringos. So the locals fielded a team with an average age of about 70.

The Gringos brought a All Star team this year. Your Galloping Gringos team consisted of Tom "Twinkle Toes" Skinner, Mike "The Ace" Young, Randy "The Athlete" Ross, Chris "Hatchet Man" Buchanan, Rusty "Quick as a Cat" Edmondson, David "Steel Curtain" Spivey and Sarah "The Secret Weapon" Ross. To the amazement (and amusement) of the record setting crowd the score was 1 all at the end of regulation! After free kicks and multiple saves by "Steel Curtain" Spivey the Galloping Gringos bring home the Huanta Cup with a 4-3 nail biter!!

That evening, a pot luck dinner was provided by the members of the Cristo Rey Church with singing, games and gifts. It was a heartwarming end to a memorable day.

We all were asked... "Will you please come back?"

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Tuesday: August 11

A picturesque cool and cloudless morning. Just what we needed for our sunburn and bug bites.

The morning devotion was lead by Stephanie & David Spivey "Everyone Is Part Of A Team, One Body In Christ".

Everyone was still doing pretty well. Rose's recommendation for us to take Probiotics daily for weeks ahead of the trip seem to be a great idea. One complaint was from Phyllis... she said "her tongue was numb last night". So sorry... but, that sounded like a personal problem to me. A few of the group were experiencing a upset stomach.

As we walked through the street market to and from the Bible Institute from the hotel we often witnessed the differences in cultures. There are not many outside visitors to this area of Peru.

Brittany and Sarah got to play a little soccer with some of the local children. Randy began printing pictures for the Bible Institute students.

Tuesday was our second full day of work. As the day finished, we had assembled all but 16 benches. (We were told to sand and paint the pieces of 16 benches so they would be easier to ship to the outlying churches). We had a third day of afternoon rain.

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Monday: August 10

Our first full day of work. Everyone was doing well (health wise). The only complaint we had were those pesky bug bites. MAN they would bite and itch (for days).

The morning devotion was lead by Phyllis Action "Just Let It Go". Words that we should all live by. Also, Randy showed that he thought of everything as he pulled a McDonalds bag out and proceeded to give everyone ½ & ½ for their Peruvian coffee and he even brought Texas Pete for my eggs. (What a guy)

Samuel Montes took control of the bench construction and gave us directions on how to proceed. We had a wonderful, clear sunny day for us to begin work on our 100 benches. We made good progress and by the end of the day we had about 50 benches assembled and 20 of the 50 sanded and painted. We had rain again in the afternoon so we had to carry all of the painted benches inside the sanctuary for the night.

It was wonderful to be back. I didn't realize how much I missed everyone in Huanta.

wvd

Sunday: August 9

Our first day in Huanta. The morning devotion was lead by Tom Skinner:
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.  George Burns

We were excited about once again seeing our friends at the Cristo Rey Church. It was just as uplifting as we remembered. Cristo Rey has a new charismatic and dynamic pastor, Vlado Massõn. Those of us that visited last year noticed a significant and wonderful change in the church. Now the church has a purpose and a leader.

We visited the market for the first time and took a short walking tour of the town. We had a little time between the morning service with lunch at the Cristo Rey Church and the evening service at the Light & Life Church.

I must apologize, I was under the impression that it hardly ever rained in Huanta. Little did I know that it rained... and hard. Sunday was the first evening of 4 evenings in a row... Ugh!

Oh, yea... Sunday morning was the first major problem encountered on the trip. As I was beginning to shave for church I dropped my one and only disposable razor in the toilet. Well... do I not shave... or go in after it? (the water was clean) I had a slick face for morning worship but, I was @#$%& when I found out later that the front desk had throw away razors for 2 Solés. (about 65 cents).

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Saturday: August 8

We woke early Saturday morning at a community called Nuevo Ayachucho. Much to my disappointment, it was only 4 hours after we left Lima! After staggering off the bus (with my trusty Ambien still working) I tried to act accordingly to our hosts. Within the haze of being up for 24 hours, 4 hours of sleep, a hefty dose of Ambien and several thousand miles of travel, I felt that I was not exactly in my usual "tip top shape".

The stop was unforgettable. Our hosts were overjoyed that we had taken the time to stop and visit. They fed us breakfast and gave us a view of Peru that many do not see. The people of Nuevo Ayacucho were proud, hard working and dedicated to their God. We left one of Connie's crosses and 2 bags of donated clothing for the church. Little did we realize, that this stop, this church and these people would be some of the most powerful, moving and uplifting memories of the trip.

After breakfast, our travel continued to San Clemente, where we turned onto 24A. The road wound it's way (did I say wound... how about curved...) it's way into the Andes. Let's see... (top heavy bus+driving too fast+road too curvy+diesel fumes+4 hrs sleep= ?).

We crested the Andes mountains at about 15,000 ft. and began our decent to Ayacucho and then to Huanta. When we finally arrived in Huanta, the total bus trip took 15 ½ hours.

At devotions that evening, we were grateful for the trip and our safe travel. All of the donations made it including the Presbyterian Women books purchased by Jeannie Satterfield. We were given good news and bad news... the good news was that we were still assembling benches... the bad news... instead of 80 benches... it was 100!

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Friday: August 7

We left with the anticipation and excitement of revisiting our friends in Huanta.

We had a short flight to Atlanta and a 4 hour layover until our flight to Lima... sorry no Mexican Dominoes this time... We decided to use the weight instead for children's clothing.

We arrived in Lima at about 10:30 p.m. Everyone made it through most of the security areas without much fanfare. A couple of us we're stopped in the Lima airport for a search of our luggage but, after a few questions, we were allowed to continue.

As we exit the airport we realize that our bus has not arrived. So we wait. Within 30 minutes we are greeted by Brenda Paredes and her father. Brenda is a PC(USA) young adult volunteer that travelled with us. She calls Sara Armstrong PC(USA) and Brenda advises us that Sara, her husband Rusty and Samuel Montes are on their way. Soon, the bus arrived and we were on our way south, down the Pan American Highway toward the small town of San Clemente.

With the anticipation of a 10 hour bus ride, I decided to take advantage of the open road and get a few hours of "shut eye". So, I take my trusty Ambien and within a few minutes... I'M OUT!

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Congregation Giving

The breadth and depth of our Congregation's involvement in this year's trip is one I have never experienced. Some examples:

• The Prayer Shawl Ministry is knitting (19) prayer shawls for us to take on the trip.
• The Presbyterian Women made a donation towards the trip. They have also ordered and are paying for Bible Studies in Spanish for the women of the Presbytery. Incidentally, we are using the Presbyterian Women's donation and the savings of taking the bus to Huanta versus flying to Ayacucho to donate to the Presbytery so that their women can organize their own Presbyterian Women Groups. Sara Armstrong has agreed to assist them with their efforts. The Presbytery's first ever Presbyterian Women Conference is scheduled for mid-September in Huanta.
• Iris Kimble has knitted approximately 50 caps.
• The Men of the Church donated the proceeds of one of their breakfasts to the trip which was used to purchase office supplies for the Presbytery.
• The Faith Group knitted approximately 50 infant caps.
• Connie Dale has made four stained glass crosses for the Presbytery.
• And then there are the numerous donations of clothing and shoes.

All this, in light of the current economic conditions, is quite overwhelming!

Trip commissioning is scheduled for Sunday, August 2, 2009, during Worship.

Thanks all!

Randy

"With" Our Hosts

This month's post is from Rosalind Walker who participated on the trips to Peru in 2004, 2006 and 2008. She was also a welcome addition to the trips to Costa Rica in 2005 and Guatemala in 2007.

WITH is the word that immediately comes to mind when I think back on our mission trip to Huanta, Peru last August. The people of Huanta worked WITH us, they shared WITH us, they worshipped WITH us and they celebrated WITH us.

On prior trips, we have done things FOR the people that we visited. In Huanta we did things WITH the church members who opened their hearts to us. The joy I think we all experienced with them is difficult to describe. They put four days of their lives on hold for us so we could be together and work, laugh, worship and be beaten in soccer with them!

As always, the times shared with everyone who goes on our trips are so special! We are all brought together by our wish to share our faith and help others and we learn so much about each other through that journey!

Sincerely,

Roz

Cultural Narrative

We at Sharon Presbyterian are blessed with youth. No... we're not all young but, we are blessed with young people that will become our leaders. Below, Brittany Stanford has given us an example of the impact that foreign missions can have on anyone. Brittany is one of many young members that will be the future of Sharon Presbyterian Church.

It was a humid summer day. While sitting somewhere in between the dirty Amazon river and the muggy rainforest, I wanted nothing more than to be in my air conditioned house, laying on my couch, while watching One Tree Hill and drinking an ice cold Coke. I was sitting on the bug-infested ground trying to remember why exactly I was talked into coming here. I could taste the salt-like flavor of the sweat sliding down the side of my face making my shirt more and more wet with each drop. The task I was suppose to be doing kept running through my mind, however with each passing minute I couldn't find it within myself to get up and resume work. Just as a big black ant took his last step before being squashed beneath my fingertips I heard his voice from behind me ask, "want a water?" I rolled my eyes at the question, which I found to be ignorant. It's somewhere in the ballpark of 100 degrees, I'm sitting in a one bedroom house without air conditioning, in a country 5,000 miles from home, sweats stinging my eyes making them blood-shot red, and he wants to know whether or not I want a water. I couldn't think of one reason why I wouldn't want water, and the fact that he somehow found a way to remain in a constant good mood despite the circumstance perturbed me. I guess the look my eyes answered the question clearly enough because with one glance he returned outside fetching the cooler.

As I sat growing more and more impatient wondering exactly how long it could possibly take him to walk 10 feet out back, get water, and walk 10 feet inside again. I scanned the room that I was suppose to be painting for the first time since I got there 3 days before, and guilt started to set in as I compared it to my own back at home. Their king-sized bed with silk sheets and a Ralph Lauren comforter was a couple of ratty blankets stacked up in a corner. Their stained hard wood floors was a muddy piece of concrete, and their closet full of clothes, color TV, and flat-screen computer were no where to be found. It suddenly hit me that this was the resting place for the grandmother, mother, father, uncle, 2 daughters, 3 sons, and a cousin. All the flashbacks of my sister and I fighting because she merely took 3 steps into my room began to sit on my shoulders like a couple of heavy weights. The thought of even my family of four all trying to live in the same room made me want to scream.

I looked up to see my dad walking towards me, smiling from ear to ear, carrying a bottle of water. I took the water from his hands mumbling thanks under my breath. "You should take a break, go outside for some fresh air, you've been working hard today." I looked at him, then around the room, then back at him again. We both knew very well I hadn't done anything since I arrived this morning, still I was in no mood to turn down the offer. So, I picked myself up off the floor, wiping dirt from my shorts, and headed outside, water in hand.

Across from the muddy river I found a old wooden bench, the kind that looks like a giant splinter waiting to happen. I looked at the bench, looked at the mud puddles surrounding it, and then I, despite my fear of having wood stabbed into my skin, decided to settle for the bench. Across from me I noticed a bunch of kids stained orange from the mud of the river playing some sort of game with an old empty water bottle and a couple of rocks. As I sat watching them complaints started to once again fill my head. "God could this water get a little bit warmer, and it taste like they filled it up in that puddle over there," were the thoughts going through my head. The noise of the rocks hitting up against the water bottle startled me and I jumped looking up at the kids goofing around without a single care. Then it suddenly hit me, like I ran into a brick wall, and all at once I realized how completely selfish and inconsiderate I was being. These kids have next to nothing, yet they can be happier playing with an old water bottle and a couple of rocks than I was with everything I could possibly want. Looking at the smiles and looks in these kids eyes I began to grow envious. It wasn't fair that they could live out there without anything and still not have that feeling of emptiness inside them. I could hear my dad's voice coming from inside the house. Then the picture of him lecturing me became clear in my mind. "It's not what you have that's important in life Brittany, it's what you make of what you have that truly depicts character." This suddenly made perfect sense.

As I got up to go back inside to finish what I had started with more momentum than ever before I noticed one of the little boys starting to cry and running towards the river. A little bit further down the river was the water bottle swimming away with the current. The sadness in these kid's eyes made my heart of stone melt. I looked down at the empty water bottle in my hand and couldn't help but smile. I ran over to the riverbank where the kids were standing and reached out with the bottle in my hand. The looks on their faces at that moment are ones I will never forget for the rest of my life.

I walked back inside the house determined to finish what I had started three days earlier. Right before I reached the front door I noticed my dad standing in the window, paint brush in hand, smiling once again from ear to ear. I finally understood the reasoning behind my "water-break." I ran into the room and leaped into my dad's arms, tears streaming down my face. I knew right then exactly why I was there.

What I found to be most ironic about the whole experience is that being on a mission trip I was suppose to be doing what I could to help them. But climbing in that boat on the last day to return to the airport I realize I was the one who received all the help.

Brittany Stanford

Period 3A