Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea - the LORD on high is mighty. Psalm 93:4

Puerto Supe – Malecón Restoration

Objectives:

• To create an opportunity for foreigners (regardless of language ability) to participate in the work of the Comunidad Cristiana in Puerto Supe.
• To restore the historic Malecón and create an attractive area for to gather.
• To improve the existing infrastructure for tourism.

Method: This project is designed for short terms teams of 20-40 people but can easily accommodate larger or smaller teams. Due to the simplicity of the work (mostly painting) the teams can consist of many age groups. Local participants will also be involved. We will run a local campaign for a month prior to the team’s arrival to encourage local participation. We will attempt to receive as much funding as possible from the city and push them to be as involved as we are; however it is likely that the majority of the funding will come from the short term teams themselves. This project has the opportunity for ongoing growth, as multiple teams could extend the work to additional houses/buildings in Puerto Central.

Work Details:
1. Patch and repair the lower wall, stairs and railing of the Malecón.
2. Repaint the Malecón.
3. Retile and repair the fountain.
4. Plant trees along the railing of the Malecón.

Puerto Supe Art Foundation

Objectives:

• To provide opportunities for emerging contemporary artists, particularly university students, to create and display their work.
• To increase interest and enthusiasm in the arts in Puerto Supe.
• To raise awareness of Puerto Supe on a national level as a means to grow its tourism industry.

Method: We will hold multiple contests for university students to design, build and install contemporary public sculptures. Each contest will be open to students from universities across Peru at both the graduate and undergraduate level, with some open to all artists interested in participating. Participants will submit a proposal, resume, design, model and if possible the completed piece to be judged. A monetary prize will be given to the artist whose work is chosen to be manufactured and installed in Puerto Supe. The judging panel for each contest will include individuals within the local community and government, as well as professional artists and art educators.

In addition to public sculptures, we hope to provide a gallery space for paintings, small sculptures and other forms of emerging artwork. The process for choosing an artist’s work will involve a small panel, but the selection process will be less formal. Funding may be available to help the artist prepare and ship his or her work.

Dec 27 10 am- board bus for 4 hr ride to Lima
Dec 27 2 pm- arrive in Lima and take taxi to Guest House
Dec 27 10 pm- board combi for 10 min ride to Lima airport
Dec 28 1:15 am- board airplane to Santiago
Dec 28 7 am- change planes in Santiago
Dec 28 9 am- arrive in Buenos Aires airport
Dec 28 10 am- take taxi (1 hr) to other Buenos Aires airport
Dec 28 12:30 pm- board airplane to Iguazu
Dec 28 2 pm- arrive in Iguazu and take taxi (30 min) to hotel

It was hard work getting here, but we made it! In the process, we almost got robbed on the street (not an exaggeration), I left my wallet and cell phone in a taxi (and don't anticipate seeing either again), Tim took Ambien and was running into the walls meandering around the Santiago airport, Tim's luggage got lost (hoping to recover it today), and the chauffer sent by the Iguazu hotel to pick us up at the airport never showed up.

Some people call this bad luck. I am more likely to call it spiritual warfare. Tim in particularly really needs this vacation as an antidote to the culture shock he is experiencing. It is important to his state of mind and to our ministry that we have an opportunity to rest and "get away." John 10:10 says that the devil came to steal, kill, and destroy, but we have made a pact with God and each other that we will not let him steal our joy or our peace during this vacation.

We had a great time at the potluck talking to friends and watching all the precious children run around. There are only a few men involved in the Comunidad Cristiana right now, so when Tim got a chance today to chat with a 27-yr-old married guy (dad of the two angels to the right), we were both very encouraged. We said our goodbyes and are eager to learn our Spanish and get back.

Merry Christmas from Puerto Supe! On the 23rd we had the children’s pageant with the most authentic scenery I’ve seen yet for such an occasion- normal stuff around here that happens to fit just right for a Bethlehem scene. My favorites were the angels and the shepherds. Like all pageant angels and shepherds, they were mostly terrified I think. Afterward the angels flooded the manger to play with the Baby Jesus. I wish I had it on video. It was priceless.


In keeping with Peruvian tradition, we ate Christmas Eve dinner at midnight last night and didn’t make it back to our beds until 2 am. We spent all day preparing the meal. Tim and I contributed guacamole, salsa, a very lumpy cheese fondue, a Tollhouse pie, and a strawberry mango pie. I think I will go over the Cubas’s house soon to sneak some more pie for breakfast. The main dish was a massive hunk of roasted pork slaughtered Saturday by their housekeeper. It was amazing.


We had quite a crowd for dinner- from the left clockwise: Meche (Cesar’s sister visiting from Lima), Grace, Mama Rosa (Cubas mom), Cesar, Sierra, Amy (Sierra’s friend visiting from California), me, Tim, and Kyle. Kyle’s friend Melissa who is visiting from Argentina took the photo. I think Mama Rosa was the star of the show. She is just about as precious as our Areqiupan Abuelita, who is giving every grandmother in the world a run for her money.



Today is the Comunidad Cristiana’s Christmas potluck. We are bringing leftovers (shhhh). Tomorrow we leave for Lima to begin our Buenos Aires vacation. We have had a fabulous time here, learned a lot, and enjoyed getting to know our teammates better.
We also decided on a home (the same one we posted a slideshow about a while ago). It looks better in real life than in photos and has great potential. Tim has already created a detailed and accurate drawing on the computer complete with furniture (who’s surprised?). You will notice that it is something like a bowling alley. This is pretty standard. People build on their entire lot here, so all the houses are connected somewhat like townhomes. So far the only problem is a flea infestation. Let’s hope we can get that taken care of before March/April.

It’s 4:25 and we’re sitting in our 2nd floor room reading and working on some things. I just heard some drums and trumpets and looked out the window to see what kind of strange parade was passing by. It was a funeral procession. It started with a herst (the only car- not carrying the casket, so I’m not sure what it was for), then a handful of people carrying flowers, and 6 men hoisting the casket on their shoulders. A band of drums, trumpets, and who knows what else followed, and a few hundred people marched behind. As we stood on the balcony of our room watching, I had the distinct sense that I was in an Isabel Allende novel. For how many hundreds of years have funeral processions looked like this? I think we are slowly becoming numb to these kinds of surreal experiences, so I’m trying to make note of them for later. Someday I know I will enjoy rereading all these bizarre stories.

1. The Alpha course. I am particularly interested right now in the ways we could work together with the Catholic Church to use the Alpha course in Puerto Supe. I still feel convinced that the Alpha course has huge potential in this town, and I expect to see many lives changed by God through this vehicle.

2. Knitting. For some time I have been thinking about knitting as an activity I may want to share here. Beyond giving people something fun and productive to do, I am interested in using it as a way to help the poor here. I would love to facilitate a program to knit blankets for the poorest of the town- something practical but also a gift of love and compassion.

3. Support group for families of addicts. Since we first heard about this town, I knew that real progress would not be made until we addressed the problem of addiction that is spreading like a virus through the families of Puerto Supe. I also know that I don’t know much about ministering to addicts. In conversations this week, I am beginning to see that one of the ways that I can (maybe) make a significant difference is by facilitating a support group for families of addicts. I intend to do some research into Celebration Recovery and Al-Anon over the next few months in preparation. I am excited about finding a place to address this pervasive and debilitating disease in Puerto Supe.

Today we followed a friend to a Posada. It’s a big deal in Mexico, some kind of re-enactment of Mary and Joseph looking for room in Bethlehem. Here it was fairly different. Something like 250 children gathered on a basketball court and circled (well, squared really) around a group of young people who led them in summer camp- ish songs with accompanying dances. Afterward all the children received a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of sweet bread. 200 children also received gifts that had been donated- little balls, Barbi dolls, plastic pots and pans, toy cars. The expressions on the children’s faces were precious.

Afterward we met the Catholic priest, Jorge, who was very gracious and seemed eager to tell us about the work he is doing with the poor here. We took the leftover bread to some of the poorer families of the town- living in straw homes without water or electricity. It was exciting to see the young people that were working with Jorge—Peruvians helping Peruvians, reaching out with compassion to their own people. One of our goals is to take what is already working and multiply it, so we have our eyes open for good ideas.

We are enjoying our time in Puerto Supe and keeping good notes of the needs, the passions, and the ideas of the people. We are doing some significant scheming and will be sure to share soon.

I look like I’m 16 and feel like I’m 36. 26 is a strange age here. In Arequipa, it seems to mean you’re living with your family, maybe looking for a job, still in a role somewhat like when you were a teenager. It has some of those same elements in Puerto Supe except that I think most 26 yr olds also have at least 2 children, probably school aged. I guess one reason there aren’t “young professionals” here is that there aren’t professionals. Grace said last night that she doesn’t think there are really any middle class working people here. You are considered well off if you have a job.

So where do we land in this culture? I think the most natural role according to the nationals is that we are something like Grace and Cesar’s children. That doesn’t feel natural to me and even less to Tim. How do we adjust to the culture and still maintain some remnant of healthy personal boundaries? Will it be possible to hold on to the tail of our American value of independence? To me independence is the healthier option, but I am also convinced that letting go of “my way” and accepting the traditions of this culture will make my life a lot easier and my ministry much more effective. Independence is definitely not a cultural value in Peru.

Will we be accepted by “grown ups”? I suppose in a way this would be easier if we had children. It would establish our life stage more clearly, and we wouldn’t be such an anomaly. Ironic since one of the reasons we don’t have children at this point is that we always anticipated that this 2 year “ministry tour” would be easier and more effective without them.

Pray that I will be open to the work the Lord has for me and not so stuck on my idea of what I’m here to do. Pray that I will eagerly accept the friendships he puts in my way and not insist on ministering to a certain type of person (who doesn’t exist here). I am convinced that we are here by the specific call and will of God, and I want to walk into the purposes for which He brought us here.

I called 11 hotels (all the ones listed in Frommers and Fodors) before I found somewhere that had an available room near the Iguazu Falls Dec. 29. I was definitely getting nervous. I think the crowds have to do with New Year's Eve. All of this was in Spanish and on our Skype line that sometimes cuts off in the middle of the phone conversation, so it was doubly exciting to finally get a room.

We got our language school bill today (by Tim's request, not their initiative) and were then asked to pay it... today... in cash.... Too bad we can't get that much money out of the ATM in a day and there is no such thing as talking to the tellers about it. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Fidelity before coming to the conclusion that the only option was to tell the secretary that we couldn't pay the bill until January. Oh well.

I got a permanent retainer put on my bottom teeth this afternoon. My host dad (a dentist) called his friend Monday afternoon. Today at 4:30, the whole thing was done for $81.70. It was supposed to be $83.30, but I only had $81.70 on me and when I told the orthodontist I was waiting for Tim to show up with the difference, he gave me a discount "because we're friends." Friendship goes a long way here. Even farther than $1.60 really.

And the day isn't over yet. I'm sure we'll have more adventures in the airport. Fortunately my Spanish is getting good enough that I can handle most of them.