Peru Mission Trip 2010

Dear Mission Trip Participants:

It is hard to believe, but there are now less than five (5) weeks to go before Peru Mission Trip 2010!

I had hoped to get the group together for a conference call to discuss and adopt a team covenant. Given summertime schedules, however, that is looking increasingly doubtful. Let's try to adopt a team covenant by e-mail. Include all participants with the things that you would like to see us accomplish during our trip and how you would like for us to accomplish these things.

I submit the following suggestions:

• That our team travel to Peru with open minds, arms and hearts, always striving to let the grace, love and mercy of God shine through each of us through our words and deeds.
• That we look after and support each other.
• That we listen to and respect each other as we try to discern God's plan for us in Peru.
• That we take time during our trip to build bridges between our diverse cultures.
• That we be especially mindful of the youth participants and ensure that they are respected and heard.

Thanks to those of you that have already returned your trip forms. I will be arranging for trip insurance the week of July 5th, so please get the trip forms back to me by the July 1, 2010 deadline.

We are blessed that we have received many donations of clothing and shoes for the children of the Presbytery of Huanta. If your packing permits you to take additional donations in your checked or carryon bags, please let me know.

Blessings to each of you!

Randy

Click on the picture for a better view. The white lines in the picture are our flight paths from Orlando & Charlotte to Atlanta. From Atlanta to Lima and then on to Ayacucho.

Western North Carolina Mission Trips

As witnessed by our visitor counter, we have been very blessed by the overwhelming support of our missions blog.
We feel that we should share information about our mission trips to the North Carolina mountains too. Every group member has enjoyed the feeling of fellowship and cherished the memories of helping someone in need.

Sharon Presbyterian have joined the Step By Step Ministries in Clyde, NC. Step By Step is a United Methodist Disaster Response program providing home repairs for people that are economically and/or physically disadvantaged with services such as hanging sheetrock, painting, building ramps and patching roofs. .

A link to an album of pictures from previous North Carolina trips has been added below. For any information or questions, contact Phyllis Acton at pacton@sharontowers.org or J.D. Pearce at mailto:jpearce@carolina.rr.com

Peru Trip Meeting

Dear Mission Trip Participants:

Please mark your calendars for the late afternoon/early evening of Sunday, June 6, 2010. Let’s plan to get together in the Sharon Church Annex Basement at 4:00 p.m. We will go over the trip schedule and other trip logistics and pack some of the donations we will be taking to Peru.After our meeting and packing donations, let’s have dinner at Genaro’s Peruvian Rotisserie Grill. Genaro’s is located at 10405 Park Road , just past the Kangaroo convenience store heading south on Park Road towards Pineville.

I have received a couple of e-mails from Samuel Montes which I wanted to share with you. Samuel is the past President and the current mission trip liaison for the Presbytery of Huanta.

The leaders of the Presbytery of Huanta have asked that we assemble, sand and paint one hundred fifty (150) benches (to be used as pews) during our week in Huanta. The recipients of these benches will be four (4) presbyteries neighboring the Presbytery of Huanta in the District of Tambo.

I am excited that we will again be able to be with members of the Presbytery of Huanta and students attending the August session of Huanta’s Biblical Institute yet join with the Presbytery of Huanta in their outreach to neighboring presbyteries. There are thirty-one churches and groups with over one thousand members in these four presbyteries.

The detailed 2010 Project Proposal. I thank Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson for their translation of the proposal.
In an e-mail I received last week, Samuel made the following comment:

“It is hard for me to explain what it means for my brothers and sisters in the United States to travel so far to love us and be with us. It is a lesson of what true love is all about.”

I think Samuel’s words speak volumes to what personal relationships and what “just being there” means to our brothers and sisters in Peru.

Project funds were sent to the Presbytery of Huanta on Monday, May 24, 2010. This will enable Samuel to purchase the wood, have it cut and mortised and along with the other materials necessary to assemble, sand and paint the benches, delivered to the Christo Rey Church prior to our arrival in Huanta.

Sarah and I had the opportunity and pleasure to visit and worship with the congregation of Port Orange Presbyterian Church (“POPC”) on Sunday, May 2, 2010. After worship, we met with Sarah Dolatowski, Kaitlin Lyons, Kerry Lyons, Kendall Ward and Theresa Wolf, POPC members who will be participating in the trip to Peru . POPC has committed to expanding its outreach beyond its local community and is sending mission teams to Cuba, Nicaragua and Peru this year. Sarah and I are looking forward to our journey of faith and service with Sarah, Kaitlin, Kerry, Kendall and Theresa in Peru!
Thank you for participating in this year’s trip. If you have questions, concerns or comments, please let me know.

Peace,
Randy

Has Sharon Been Blessed?

Do you think Sharon Presbyterian has been blessed by adult mission trips?
A short list of support from our church members:

• making prayer shawls
• making pew seat cushions
• making infant caps and toboggans
• shopping for deals at Goodwill, Salvation Army, Michael's and yard sales
• buying and donating old suitcases
• donating clothes and shoes
• buying and donating crafts and games
• making and tie dying tee shirts
• donating children's books
• buying and donating candy and treats
• making crosses
• buying and reprogramming used computers
• acquiring Presbyterian literature
• purchasing Spanish Bibles

As you can see, there is more to a mission trip than "just going". The once a year trip has become a year 'round plan. Everyone has been blessed by the sharing of time and talents of the wonderful people that have provided something from the above list.
Check this blog for "Mission Participants Past And Present" to view everyone that has been on any of Sharon's adult mission trips and ask any of them if they were moved, informed, changed or blessed.

Thank you and bless you all!

Help Needed

Participants in the 2010 Mission Trip to Peru are seeking donations of children’s clothing and shoes to present to the leaders of the Presbytery of Huanta. The donations will be distributed to children in the Presbytery.

Sixteen (16) people, nine (9) from Sharon Presbyterian Church, five (5) from Port Orange Presbyterian Church and two (2) from Bryson City Presbyterian Church have committed to participate in this year’s trip.

In 2009, clothing and shoes to fill twenty-four (24) suitcases, each weighing fifty (50) pounds, was donated by members of Sharon Church.

Due to the variations in climate in the Andes Mountains, clothing for all seasons can be used. Shoes are especially needed. Luggage to transport the donations to Peru is also needed. Due to weight restrictions on the Peruvian airline that participants will fly from Lima to Huanta, the donations will be shipped from Lima to Huanta via overnight bus.

A collection bin has been placed in the Narthex closet. Tax receipts for donations are located in an envelope attached to the front of the collection bin. Or if you prefer, a participant on the trip would be happy to schedule a pick up.

If you have any questions, need additional information or would like to schedule a pick up of donated items, please contact Randy Ross via telephone at 704-552-5573 or via e-mail at mrandallross@aol.com.

Thank you for your participation in Sharon Church’s outreach to our brothers and sisters in the Presbytery of Huanta, Peru!

May Update

Just a few pieces of information to keep everyone updated on the mission trip progression:

• Donations of clothing are coming in. We are in serious need of large suitcases! The checked bags will be packed with clothes and donations. The total weight for each bag can not exceed 50 lb. So, hard sided cases are good, but not preferred.
• Randy Ross has purchased a few refurbished laptops for the Presbytery in Huanta and the keyboards have been replaced to accommodate the Spanish language.
• Randy has also secured our reservations for airlines, buses and hotels.
• Our mission shirts have been designed by Phyllis Acton and Brenda Paredes of the Sharon mission group. The order for our shirts was placed on May 2. If time permits, Kathryn and Sarah Ross have offered to tie dye the shirts for a special touch.
• Connie Dale is in the process of making more glass crosses for the Presbytery of Huanta churches that we will be visiting.
• Gifts of prayer shawls and pew cushions are being made by ladies of Sharon Presbyterian.

Thank you.

The Packing Has Begun!

The planning, schedules, airline tickets and accommodations are being finalized for our 2010 mission trip to Peru. We have 10 bags filled with donations so far. The bags are filled with your donations of clothes and weighed for our maximum allowable weight of 50 lbs each!

Each of our 16 participants are allowed to check 2 bags for international travel. Those 2 bags can weigh up to 50 lbs each. If each participant can pack all of their own belongings into 1 bag... that means we can take 16 bags of donations! That's 800 lbs!

Sharon Presbyterian Youth (SPY) Sunday

We were fortunate to hear several short sermons on Youth Sunday at Sharon Presbyterian. A copy of Ally Butler's sermon is in a previous post below. We were also lead by Brittany Stanford. A copy of her sermon is included in this post.

We thank all of our youth for their time, talents and dedication.

~Breaking Down Love~

Good morning.

Love is scary. I didn’t think love was scary before I took the time to sit down and write this sermon. But it is. Being that I’m only 17, I though that I would look pretty dumb trying to stand up here and preach to you all about love. So instead I decided to take a part first Corinthians and tell you little stories about how I’ve seen love expressed according to Paul’s writings.

First, love is patient. Patience is a characteristic that is so well known yet probably the least expressed. Growing up in such a fast passed society has really made me respect those who are patient because it happens so scarcely. When I really think about it, the only time throughout my life (granted that it’s only 17 years) that I really witness patience being acted out of love is when I watch my grandparents interact. For those of you all that are unfamiliar with my grandparents, my grandma or “Now Now”, as I call her, is 85 years old and suffers from macular degeneration. How I describe it, she can’t hear unless you talk very loudly into her ear and she can’t see unless you’re directly in her face. As sad as this is, it’s twice as frustrating, when all you really want to do is have a conversation with her. Although I love her with all my heart, and I always will, I can’t deny the fact that I grow impatient sometimes having to walk at an almost not moving pace just to stay by her side as we progress to one point to the other. However, my grandpa does this everyday, all day, without raising his voice, encouraging her to walk faster or growing the least bit impatient. When I recently interviewed him for a school project, I asked him what the happiest moment of his life was. And he told me, that it was every single morning that he woke up to the one person he loves unconditionally and will continue to love unconditionally until he dies. Even if it means slowing his life down just to stay by her side. Love is patient.

Love is kind. This passed Christmas season, my mom and I were going through the Chick fil-A drive through to save time on our usual hectic holiday season. We ordered like we were supposed to and drove around. However, when we pulled up to the window, the girl handed us our sandwiches and said the gentleman in front of you paid for your lunch. He wanted me to tell you all to have a merry Christmas. I was in complete shock. Being the person I am, I freaked out. Oh my gosh mom! He’s going to try to trick us! He’s going to take us! Drive away! As soon as that came out of my mouth, the look on my mom’s face confirmed the second guessing and my assumption that didn’t cross my mind until after I made that comment. Brittany, she said smiling, he’s just trying to spread Jesus’ love. Don’t you remember the reason for all this chaos? That moment, sitting in the car eating my chicken sandwich, was the first time I witnessed God’s love at work through the kindness of others. Love is kind.

Love is not envious. My best friend Liska and I have known each other for a while now. However, it all started with the one thing we’ve spent our whole lives doing… playing soccer. Liska and I first met on our middle school soccer team, where we played the same position. As you may guess, it started out with a lot of competition because we were both underclassmen on the team fighting for that same spot. After the season ended, our friendship carried off the field and everyday after that. Including today where she sits right over there to watch me. Every season after that, it was the same scenario, my best friend and I in that one forward position. What I left out of this story so far is the fact that she’s twice as fast as me, twice as athletic as me and twice as driven as I am when it comes to soccer. These past few years she’s continued to excel as always. And I continue to be the best friend and the girl who goes in for a minute when Liska needs some water. The funny thing is, looking back as I tell this I can’t remember one practice, scrimmage or game when I was envious of my best friend. Games after games of cheering, screaming and running to hug her after she scored that winning goal. Recently, Liska signed with Clemson to continue her soccer career in college. I know we’re going to have to forgive her. When I first heard the news, I was almost ……?………envy that I would have had. Love is not envious.

Love does not insist on its own ways. The past few summers I’ve had the opportunity to go t Peru with the adult mission team at our church. While we were there this past year, putting together benches to serve as pews for churches all over Peru. As easy as putting a bench together may sound, trust me it’s not. As this process is occurring, there are legs going into the wrong spot, nails bending and breaking, and hammers hitting more fingers than nails. And the best yet, my dad is watching all this, cringing. For those of you all that don’t know my dad, he’s in construction and he has to have complete control over everything. Everything has to be done a specific way. Obviously, this wasn’t happening. And I was waiting; making bets with others, on how much longer he would be able to bite his tongue before having a panic attack and start correcting everyone on what they are doing wrong. As funny as this is, at the time, my dad was honestly in complete misery. As we got towards the end of the week and my dad hadn’t completely freaked out, at least not in front of everyone, I started to become confused. Is this really happening? There is no way we’re going to leave this place before he yells at everyone. I know this is hard to believe, but it never happened. When I asked him about it after we got home, he explained to me that we were there to spread God’s love half way across the world. And God’s love does not insist on its own ways.

Love is not irritable or resentful. Also in Peru this past year, we had a well… bad experience getting to Huanta, the city we were staying in. When we arrived in Lima, we loaded on to a bus that was supposed to be an 8 hour drive to Huanta. A man named Samuel who was the head of the presbytery in Huanta, had taken the earlier bus to Lima and had met us at the airport just to make sure that we were as happy and as excited as he was about seeing us and working with us in God’s name this week. Well, that was all well and good, until about 10 hours later, when we were informed that we were still 6 hours from our destination. Apparently, this 10 hour bus ride was actually a 16 hour bus ride. Yea… seriously. To describe it nicely, I was not happy. You mean I just got off the plane for 8 hours to get on a bus for 16? No thank you. Please take me home. After we finally got there, and also well about an hour or so to complain about it, it hit me that Samuel went there to get us and then rode back. Why wasn’t he complaining? After getting to know him a little better throughout the week, I came to understand the amount of gratitude he had for the work we were doing for our Lord and for the people of Peru. The 32 hours he spent on the bus that day was nothing compared to the love he had for God for bringing us to him to help the churches of Peru. Thanks Samuel, for proving to me that true love is not irritable or resentful.

Love is not arrogant, boastful or rude. As much as I despise his team, I can’t help but give credit where credit is due and none of us can deny the fact that Tim Tebow has every reason in the world, well… except a second national championship, to be arrogant and boastful about his talent and accomplishments. Being the first sophomore to win the Heisman is not something most all American players can say they’ve done. No matter how good they think they are. However, game after game, win after win and title after title, Tebow continued to run out on the field with the scripture written on the black marks under his eyes. No matter how important the game may be, his number one priority was to share with the world God’s word. Tebow, like many of us youth, attends yearly mission trips and church every Sunday. As a younger athlete I truly admire Tebow and how he presents himself to the world. Out of all the arrogant collegiate and professional athletes calling themselves role models well… it’s nice to have someone to look up to someone to prove that no matter how great you think you are you don’t even compare to Jesus Christ. Tebow’s love for his savior helped him and me realize that real love is not arrogant or boastful no matter how great our accomplishments may be.

Finally, love bears all things, believes all things and endures all things. This one was hard. I stared blankly at my paper when I got to this point in the scripture. Because no matter how hard I thought about my encounters with my friends or at school I couldn’t think of one example where I saw God’s love through someone expressing all of these attributes. That’s when I finally got it. The only person that I know that’s truly bared many things, believed with all his heart and endured unimaginable amount pain, all out of love was Jesus Christ. Jesus bared every single sin committed by us when he was hung on the cross. He truly believed with all his heart in what he was doing. He believed that his father would forgive us and accept us into heaven to live with him eternally. And he endured every last bit of pain and anguish out of this belief and love for us. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 16 or 60; you’re not going to be able to find a greater example of love than that.

Audio link to this sermon

Sharon Presbyterian Youth Programs

Why International Missions?

We at Sharon Presbyterian Church are honored to have a group from Port Orange Presbyterian Church in Port Orange, Florida joining us on our upcoming mission trip to Peru. The statements below were taken from the March 2010 edition of The Grapevine (POPC’s monthly newsletter) available on their website. We thank Kaitlin and Donna for sharing their views of the importance of long-term international missions.

What’s the point of a long term international mission partnership, anyway?
“Long-term international mission partnerships are important because Port Orange Presbyterian, and all of its members (including myself), cannot be the church in the world if it only connects with churches in the Volusia County Area, Florida, and the rest of the USA. Building relationships with churches all over the world is crucial to really doing God’s work.”

Kaitlin Lyons, age 16
“Mission trips can change the way you think. You come back with a renewed sense of purpose, excited about what God is doing in your life, your church, and in the world….. It’s one thing to travel to another country and repair a damaged church, or do a VBS program for example, and another to really build a long term partnership… We don’t want to go into another country with an arrogant attitude that we are there to fix all of the problems. There are many different ways to live life honorably, as children of God. My eyes have been opened from my past experiences with international mission travel. We have a lot to learn from spending time with people with very different backgrounds from our own. Loving and serving God should be our priority in life.”

Donna Ketchledge, adult

Sharon Presbyterian Youth (SPY) Sunday

Youth Sunday at Sharon Presbyterian was several weeks ago and we have been blessed again by the faith shown by our future leaders. We as a church are very proud of how our young adults have progressed. It is a testament of the love and caring of the our church, our community, loved ones and most of all, parents. We celebrate with them.

One of the young adults that lead us on Youth Sunday was Ally Butler. We thank Ally for her service and her dedication. A copy of her sermon is below:

~ God Is Love ~

Good morning and happy Valentines Day.

• Jimmy Hendrix once said that “when the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.”
• Paul McCartney wrote “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."
• An anonymous writer wrote “if love is the answer then can you please repeat the question?”

My Dad says he learned a lot about love at a youth group retreat one April at Camp Grier. He said there were about 150 kids standing around a huge bonfire that the camp counselors had been stoking for about two hours. Red embers from the fire were rising up into the black sky. Even though it was April, it had started to snow; so the white snow falling provided a contrast to the rising red embers. It was almost as though the songs of praise to the Lord sung around that campfire were raised to the heavens within the embers; only to be returned as blessings by God in the form of the snow flakes. My Dad remembers looking around at the 10 or 15 kids from Sharon that had become such good friends and feeling a type of Christian love that transcends all other types of love. John Alexander used to stand in this pulpit and preach about “agape” love, which is the “top of the mountain” type of love that we all strive for. My Dad says he found it for about 30 minutes at Camp Grier, and that he’s only experienced it a few times since.

We all think we know what love is. Most kids have experienced the love they have for their parents; a love that is engrained naturally for those that nurture and provide for us. We usually find out about puppy love in Middle School. Anybody can find out about lust; just spend about 10 minutes on the internet. After that, however, love gets a little more complicated. If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend for more than a few months when you’re in high school or college, love starts to involve things like commitment and communication; and it gets pretty hard. And if things go South with this kind of relationship, it can really hurt. If we’re lucky, one day we find our “true love”, or our soul mate, and we make a lifelong commitment. Obviously, I don’t totally understand marriage, but there is definitely love involved; but it’s just mixed in with a lot of other emotions and things that some couples figure out and some don’t. But that’s another topic for another day. Finally, you parents out there have experienced the unconditional love you have for your children. I hope to experience that kind of love someday, the kind of love where your children become a part of your very being; where their joys are your joys and their pain is your pain.

But what about God? Where does he fit in to this discussion of love?

I think we would all agree that the love God has for us is stronger than any love we will ever experience. But what about our love for God? Can we safely say we love God more than we love our family? Or money? Or what about our cell phones? Is god really more important to us in our day to day lives than our cell phones?

I mentioned Agape love earlier. Agape love is the most common form of love in the Bible. It might be likened to the sacrificial love a parent has for their child regardless of whether such love is reciprocated. But it may be even more than that. Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself. The first letter of John in the New Testament, chapter 4 verse 8, says “whoever does not love does not know God because God is love.”

To me, that means that true love has to involve God. I discussed some of the different types of love earlier, but those types of love are like watching a good movie on TV. But when that love is in the name of God, it gets amped up several notches; like watching that same movie on a 42” high definition TV with surround sound. Aren’t marriages better when God is in the picture? Doesn’t the love a family has for each other hold up better when Church and God are part of its foundation?

Thanks to the members of this congregation, our high school youth group goes on a Mission trip every Summer. We work hard and sleep on the floor in hot classrooms, but we also have two Christ-centered programs and two devotions every day. Not coincidentally, at the end of this week the love we have for each other is greater than at any other time during the year. We also come to love the crew members we work with that week. The crews start the week as complete strangers and by Friday night we have six new loving relationships built on Christ. If you asked any of the participants of the adult Mission trips to Peru, I’m sure they would tell you the same thing. The trips are centered around God and the work is done in God’s name. So at the end of these trips, the Christian love we feel for each other and for those we are serving is greater than any of the “Imposter” types of love the media says we should be seeking.

So the next time you see a magazine ad telling you that flatter abs will improve your love life, or the next time a night of watching TV makes you believe you are the only person in America without a steamy love life, or the next time you’re about to just give up on love entirely, don’t believe any of it. Instead, work on the love you have for God. After all, God’s first Commandment is to love him with your whole body, soul and mind. Romans Chapter 5, verse 5 says: “God has poured out his love into our hearts”. Perhaps it is time for us to pour some of that love back towards God. Amen

Audio link to this sermon

Sharon Presbyterian Youth Programs

2010 Mission Trip to Peru

Hola Mission Trip Participants!In just a little over 4 months, we are scheduled to arrive in Lima, Peru for a week of work and fellowship alongside members of the Presbytery of Huanta. It is my hope that in taking us so far away from our familiar surroundings, God will bring us closer to Him, to each other and to our precious brothers and sisters in Peru. I am so looking forward to the spiritual journey that awaits us.

Sixteen (16) members of Bryson City Presbyterian Church ("BCPC"), Port Orange Presbyterian Church ("POPC") and Sharon Presbyterian Church ("SPC") have committed to the trip. We are blessed to have several youth joining us this year. I hope that our team covenant will include a statement that our youth will be heard on this trip.

We are also blessed that Brenda Paredes, a member of Amen Presbyterian Church in Carabayllo, Peru, will also be joining us.

The trip will be lead by Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson, the PC(USA) delegations coordinators in Lima. Sara and Rusty are serving at the invitation of the Evangelical Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Peru (the "IEPRP").

As I write this, Sara and Rusty are on their way (via an overnight bus) from Lima to Huanta for a series of meetings with the Junta Directiva (the governing council) of the IEPRP. They will also be working on our behalf during this trip to finalize some of the many details (transportation, meals, accommodations, project work, etc.) associated with our mission trip. As details start to emerge and our itinerary begins to come together I will share the details with you.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or need additional information about the trip, please let me know.

Peace,
Randy

Mission El Savador

Dear Friends,

On Friday, March 26th, I will be leaving Charlotte along with a team from Myers Park Presbyterian Church to go to Ahuachapan , El Salvador on a mission trip. We will be spending Holy Week with our brothers and sisters in Christ working in the Getsemani neighborhood. We will also deepen relationships with the Getsemani neighborhood that have been developed by previous groups from Myers Park Presbyterian. You can find more information about the Myers Park Presbyterian endeavor in Getsemani at the following web site: http://www.myersparkpres.org/www/docs/10930.3424 .

As part of the project in the Getsemani neighborhood, a total of 90 new homes will be built, in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity El Salvador, over a four year period. Habitat for Humanity El Salvador has developed a blog site for this project at the following web site: http://Habitatelsalvador.wordpress.com/

You can follow our team activities through our blog site which we will attempt to update daily:
http://mppcelsalvador.blogspot.com/

I would appreciate your keeping our team in your prayers as we go forth to serve in God’s name.

Peace,
Dennis Grills

A Note For The Month of March

Very soon we all will be planning and packing for our July trip to Peru. We hope this blog will be a good way to spread the information that will be coming. The calendar at the bottom of this page has a tentative itinerary for our July trip. Check back often for changes and updates!

Alissa King, one YAV (Young Adult Volunteer) is now serving in Huanta and in the Cristo Rey church that we will be visiting in late July and early August. Sadly, we will arrive a week or two after Alissa has left Huanta after completing her year long tenure. We do recommend that you take time to read the insights of Alissa and other YAVs that are serving in Peru. You will be blessed by their dedication. Link to Alissa's Peruvian Adventure.

Thank You, Brenda

Brenda Paredes returned home to Lima, Peru, March 20, 2010. During her three months with us, Brenda has served as a junior advisor for Sharon Presbyterian Youth, participating in the Sharon Presbyterian Youth Ski Trip and other Sharon Presbyterian Youth activities, spoken at a Men’s Breakfast and Sunday School classes, assisted with the children after Children’s Worship, assisted in the Sharon Church Office, served as an usher and attended Worship and Sunday School regularly. Brenda has also participated in the preliminary planning for the 2010 Mission Trip to Huanta, Peru. She has also served as a substitute teacher at the Sharon Weekday School and tutored students at Carmel Middle School and South Mecklenburg High School whose second language is English.

Brenda also traveled to New York City to visit a high school friend and to Sacramento, California, to visit her great aunt and other family members who immigrated to the United States over ten years ago.

We thank God for the time that Brenda has spent sharing her faith and culture with us. We wish her safe travels and hope that she will visit us again.

Randy

Brenda's three month visit to the U.S. went by way too fast! Brenda's love, patience and courage have proven that she is a perfect representative for the wonderful Peruvian people. Those that have met Brenda either last year in Peru or on her recent trip to the U.S. have been very fortunate. Those that will meet Brenda in Lima for the first time in July, will quickly understand and agree that we are the ones that have been blessed for knowing her.

wvd