Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Dancing in the street





It is not unusual in Cusco to be in the town centre and then quite unexpectedly to be surrounded by cultural dancing and festivities. This is exactly what happened to us in the plaza de armas today , it was a special treat for our visitors and as always a feast of colour of sound!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Peru politics

Yesterday was the first round of Peru's presidential elections. No candidate won by 50% hence on June 5th there will be a run off between the 2 candidates with the most votes. Many folk are very disappointed with the results, on June 5th the choices will be

Keiko Fujimori, age 35,she supports existing free-market policies, but is shunned by many Peruvians because her father, former president Alberto Fujimori, is in prison for corruption and human rights crimes stemming from his crackdown on guerrillas in the 1990s.

Ollanta Humala, a former army officer who led a short-lived military revolt in 2000,he has softened his anti-capitalist tone since narrowly losing the 2006 election.

please join us in praying for the country of Peru , thankyou.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Yucay

Ian, one of our visitors from Bristol wrote this poem about his trip to Yucay.

There’s a twisted concrete doorway in the village of Yucay
beneath majestic mountains and a clear blue blazing sky.
It stands a forlorn monument that testifies the day
when the river flooded over and washed the house away.

Nature hides the story of the horror that was there
now flowers and the fruit trees shade the terror and despair.
Imagine everything you have, your house, its memories
collapsed into a pile of mud, nothing but debris.

But the house is only part of it, it’s your livelihood as well
the crops and your whole future have been swallowed up in hell.
Left impoverished and desolate, the numbness and defeat
as the hopes and dreams are lost its seems in the mud beneath your feet.

So why now the smiling faces and the hospitality?
The welcome of bright flowers where the kitchen used to be.
Could it be that hope has come to this corner of the earth
and the message of the gospel has been a catalyst of birth?
That an understanding of true love, faith and community
that the pearl of greatest price is here, that the Kingdom now they see?

We, partakers in this kingdom work, give God thanks today
and as bearers of the gospel we give our Saviour praise
Greed and hate and selfishness, we want all this to die
and the cross brings restoration to the doorways of Yucay.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Kids event in the local sports court









Today Amanda and Neil organised a kids games event at the local concrete community sports area. We hired the sports court then had to pay more money for the man across the road to let us run a cable across road (cars literally drove over it!) so we could use our speakers and play music for the event! The children enjoyed facepainting, played football, did parachute games, made juggling balls out of rice and balloons, ran relay races, played with hoops, diablos and spinning tops. It was great to reconnect with some of the children in the community that we have got to know over the years, the kids had great fun and we invited them to church and explained that soon we will be starting up some kids clubs there. However for us the most exciting part of the day was the great conversations we had with people. The fact that we ran this event and had loud music playing meant people were stopping and asking questions, Anjanette had a long conversation with a lady from the campo who was selling flowers, she told her how hard it is for her to survive and provide for her family selling a few things since she is a single mother to 4 children.
Anjanette bought a bunch of flowers from her ( 6 gladioli for 25 pence!)and then was able to pray with her asking God to help her provide for all her needs. We also had some great conversations with people in the community who showed interest in coming to El Puente. It was great to have so many helpers from the Bristol team to make today such a fun event and to cause so many people to stop and chat with us, here are a few photos.....

Friday, April 8, 2011

Bristol team at La Fuente





Today the Bristol team had a practical day,they worked really hard at La Fuente clinic, they did battle with the overgrown back garden, varnished the chairs in the patients' waiting area, painted a stunning mural and put loads of vitamins that they donated to the clinic into dispensing bags.

La Fuente is a really special place to us and it was wonderful to have our friends join us firstly for our weekly prayer meeting and then to serve the community there today. While all this busy activity was going on Anjanette had her busiest morning ever seeing patients. Jess and Sam even joined in after school and helped to paint the mural which was a special treat for them.


We have been blessed to host many different visitors these last few years we have lived in Peru , however hosting theological students is an exciting new experience for us!

Every night we have been priveleged to join in their reflection time at the end of the day when they share about what God has been teaching them that day, things that have particularly struck them and then bible verses which further explore those themes.

We love living in Cusco and it is fascinating to hear other peoples' reflections about our great city of Cusco!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Bristol team have arrived

The team has arrived with all their luggage and they have survived their first day in Cusco they received a warm welcome from our church this afternoon.

They are writing their own blog about their experiences in Cusco these next few weeks
click here if you would like to follow their blog

Friday, April 1, 2011

Timetable for the Bristol team

Well we are getting ready to host a team of ministers in training from Bristol Baptist college ( 12 visitors in total) . Scott has been really busy with the logistics of their timetable arranging hotels, meals, visits, trips, translators and special events, Anjanette will be taking groups of 2 visitors at a time to the clinic/home visits . For those prayer warriors among you do pray for the time that they spend in Cusco that it will be a life changing experience for them and also that they will be a great blessing to the Peruvians that they meet.Please pray for strength and energy for the Cusco missionaries during their visit.

Sun April 3 arrive in Cusco , El Puente church service

Mon April 4
basic spanish lesson ,orientation and overview of the trip

Tues April 5 basic spanish lesson , visit central Cusco

Weds April 6 Cusco Pastors meeting / La Fuente clinic, pm sightseeing

Thur April 7 home visits at La Fuente clinic

Fri April 8 ladies manual work at La Fuente clinic, men manual work in Yucay

Sat April 9 young peoples' games/football game

Sun April 10
Sunday worship in Williamsons' home, day of Peruvian presidential elections no public meetings allowed

Mon April 11
visit Machu Pichu

Tues April 12
La Fuente ,childrens' burns unit,evening visit to seminary

Weds April 13 pastors meeting/La fuente, burns unit,evening seminary

Thurs April 14
La fuente/english classes in school in Huambutio, pm burns unit

Fri April 15
La fuente/Huambutio,pm burns unit evening outreach event El Puente

Sat April 16 all day trip sightseeing sacred valley

Sun April 17 am preaching in different churches, pm El puente

Mon April 18
free day in Cusco

Tues April 19
leave Cusco