Dear Ones,
As I sit here eagerly awaiting the arrival of our younger son James who is coming to spend Christmas with us in Peru, I am confronted by the reality of the world around us. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of 2 work teams-one from the US and one from Europe, Christmas bazaar, British theatre pantomime, Festival of Lessons and Carols, 27 baptisms; we are faced with the reality that in these last few months there has been a lot of sickness and death within our family and church; coming and going, hellos and good-byes.
These last two months have been particularly busy ones for John and me as we work within the church as well as reaching out to the wider community around us. Trying to balance what is important with what is immediate is always a balancing act, that I'm afraid we don't always juggle well.
--Pray for God's wisdom in this.
BAPTISMS AND FIRST COMMUNION
As the cathedral for the diocese, we often host events, both for the wider church as well as for the community. December 8th is a national holiday and within the Peruvian culture, it is the traditional day for children to make their First Holy Communion. Within the Anglican church here in Peru, some of our churches also have special services for this as well. We hosted the churches from the northern cone of Lima, none of whom have buildings that look like traditional churches. San Mateo meets in a vacant lot with chairs from its school, Jesus Fuente de Vida meets in the living room of a house, etc. Yet 27 people, including a mother, had been prepared for Holy Baptism and 54 people had been prepared for First Communion in their home churches. Over 350 people gathered for a 3-hour service which Bishop Godfrey came to celebrate at the cathedral. The baptisms alone took 50 minutes. Preparing Sebastian and Heyner from my Sunday School class to make their First Holy Communion was the theme of our class for four months.
--Pray for these children who have been baptized and who have received Christ in the eucharist for them to be strengthened in their faith.
FR RON ROBERTSON
We ask your prayers for our dear friends and fellow SAMS missionaries, Fr Ronald and Vicki Robertson. Fr Ron has been in Arequipa in charge of the diocesan seminary program there and administrator of our two Children's homes for 5 years, while his wife Vicki has coordinated all the visiting teams who come to work in the south of the diocese. These last few months he's been having stomach pains and they returned to Texas for further tests. Ron has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Praise God they are surrounded by their immediate family and their church family. They are an incredible witness to God's grace and peace. Reading Ron's CaringBridge website is a joy. If you would like to follow it--http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ronrobertson
--Pray for strength and peace for Ronald and Vicki.
CHURCH BAZAAR
Our annual Bazaar is always lots of preparation and work, but what fun it is for so many people to get together, see each other, and buy lovely Christmas presents. Early in November, several faithful women of the church worked for hours making almost 100 Christmas puddings--traditional English puddings with all sorts of dried fruits, flour, margarine, apples, carrots, spices, with a silver charm tucked in (wrapped up safely in parchment) and a dash of rum and pisco for flavouring! Then they get boiled for 4 hours.
The next week, the Lord blessed us with the help of Dot, Helen, and Ann from the Archdeaconery of Gibraltar. Some of our usual helpers were out of town or sick. We weren't sure how we were going to make all the 60+ jars of mincemeat which we sell as well. Lots of chopping of raisins, apples, and dried fruits all mixed together with margarine and orange rind and juice, with another dash of rum in a giant plastic wash tub. The work team had arrived only a couple of days before so the women took a break from painting one of the schools to come help us chop and mix. We couldn't have done it without them. It's wonderful how the Lord provides.
But in the midst of this joyful preparation was a sad note. Two of our women who have helped so much in the past were not there as they are suffering from hurt feelings. While John has tried to call and talk with them, they have not responded to him.
--Please pray for us all (the women, John and the church) as we struggle to understand what has led up to the problem as well as how to bring resolution. Only God can bring true peace to conflict.
BRITISH THEATER PANTOMIME
Little Red Riding Hood as you've never seen it before! Three years ago, John invited The Good Companions theatre group to return to the cathedral where they had started 60+ years ago. Each year in December they perform a traditional British pantomime (it's not like Marcel Marceau--if you're not familiar with it, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantomime ) John and I got to be villagers this year as Colonel Bogey tried to destroy Red Riding Hood's village and Sam Swindle tried to sell the land to a supermarket chain, all the while the wolf is finding his forest getting smaller and smaller. And of course the wolf gets to say, "All the better to eat you with, my dear!" to Red Riding Hood and the Prince comes to her rescue. This brings many people from the British community as well as others who enjoy English language theatre to come to the church. After the play, one of the people said, "I want to thank you and John so much for doing this for the community. It really means a lot to us."
--Praise God for this opportunity to reach out to people who don't always come to church. John and I pray especially for them before each event like this that they may have a hunger to know our Lord more deeply.
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS WITH OUR LORD
Over the past few months, John's close cousin, Wade; Susan's "other mother", Dorothy; Peggy Massey, the matriarch (and memory) of the cathedral; Fr John Heidt, father of SAMS bridger in Peru, Teresa; Chrissy, a long-time member of the British community; two of John's former pastors, Renwick and Bob; and Eliza, the young daughter of old friends; have all gone to be with our Lord. Our consolation is when these precious people know the Lord and we know we will be together at the Great Banquet.
We almost lost Susan's uncle James as he had major heart blockage and her Aunt Pat to a heart attack. Denise, one of our SAMS staff, had to cancel her trip to Peru as her mother was suddenly taken ill.
--Pray as we reach out to people who are hurting from loss and illness, especially at the holidays.
WORK TEAMS
Susan hosted two different work teams this fall. Christ Church, Plano Texas sent a team of men to continue working on the construction of Sagrada Familia church (Holy Family) up in the shanty towns. The people of the village have chopped out and hauled away solid rock to make an area to build on. Last year, the team began the foundation. Due to rock bed and earthquakes, it takes a lot of work to make a building that will last. Most places in that area are simply shacks on top of rock. The team had a great day of community building playing soccer with two teams of women from the village who gave them a run for their money!
November brought a team from the Archdeanery of Gibraltar in Europe. People from Spain and Portugal and islands around them, most of whom did not know each other before, came to paint several different places around the diocese. Our preschool at Cristo Redentor, our Compassion project at San Juan Evangelista, the AMA (women's ministries) office and the Youth ministries office all now sport fresh coats of paint. What a blessing they have been to us here.
Coordinating teams means setting up buses (that don't always come), changing euros into soles (and hoping nobody sees it so you don't get mugged), making sure there is enough food in the lunch for all the people who are working (and telling the cook that it's too hard to cut up avocados and eggs to make sandwiches while eating on a bus), pushing everyone to drink enough water so they don't get dehydrated, setting up visits to archeological digs outside of Lima for a bit of R&R, visiting diocesan projects to see the work the church is doing, changing airline tickets that have the wrong date, and making sure that there is someone who speaks Spanish with them all the time. It's fun, exhilarating, frustrating, and joyful all at once. Teams need someone "on the ground" to be able to help make it all possible.
--Pray for the teams who come, for their preparations as well as the diocesan preparations to receive them that the work may be to God's glory.
EXTRA SON AND COMPANY
Our guest room is pretty much in constant use with missionaries from different parts of the country (and the world) coming to stay with us. We praise God for a big house that we can welcome his servants to share with us.
In the midst of all of this, Phil Bradford, a seminarian from our companion Diocese of Worcester in England, has been working with us for 3 months setting up a data base for the diocese so we know who is where and what social programs all our churches have so we can set up companion relationships with churches that want them. He's also been a great all-around fellow who has worked with the teams, participated fully in the life of the community, and helped us in developing the cathedral website as well.
--Praise God for sending the extra help right when we needed it.
NEW BISHOPS
Our diocese keeps growing, both in number of churches as well as to new areas of the country. Fr Anderson who has been at the cathedral with us for almost three years, is moving to Cristo Redentor to take over for Fr Misael who will be going to Ica to continue to work that was begun after the earthquakes two years ago. Fr Ian and Polly Montgomery, newly returned SAMS missionaries, will be associated with the cathedral for now. There is a need for suffragan bishops to assist Bp Godfrey because we are growing so much. John is chairman of the committee that is developing the profile and information to send out to all the churches and representatives. He has several meetings a week with all of his diocesan work.
--Please pray for Godly candidates and the direction of the committee as they choose and review the people submitted.
WEBSITE INFO
We continue to plug away at our website http://www.ParkPeru.org and now our cathedral website (thanks to Phil) http://www.English.GoodShepherdLima.org. Our Spanish version is still under development. A special thanks to Church Gazette which hosts all of them for us. As they are a non-profit organization, they are trying to raise money as well to help support the websites. Please visit their home page. http://www.churchgazette.org/
Mary and Joseph were in the midst of the hustle and bustle of heading to Nazareth to be counted in the census. As a woman, I have thought of what it must have been like to ride a donkey for days over dusty roads while 9 months pregnant. "Are we going to get there in time? Are these real contractions? Joseph, hold my hand, please." Mary eagerly awaited the arrival of her son too as I do mine. Life keeps going on and people are born and people die. Our joy is introducing them all to the Saviour of the World. Thank you all for making that possible. Our work as missionaries wouldn't be possible without you and your support, both prayer and financial. We recognize what a sacrifice it is for you. Thank you for being a part of our lives.
May you be blessed as you celebrate the Birth of our Lord this Christmastide. Come Lord Jesus! Maranatha!
Susan (for both of us)
John+ & Susan Park
johnpark@sams-usa.org
susanpark@sams-usa.org
www.ParkPeru.org
Tax-deductible contributions to our ministry in Peru may be made on line at http://www.sams-usa.org or by sending a check payable to SAMS (with Park in the memo line) to
SAMS
PO Box 399
Ambridge PA 15003
You can also arrange for automatic deductions from your bank account or for automatic charges to your credit card. If you wish to do so, please call SAMS at 724-266-0669.
In Canada, tax deductible contributions may be online at
http://www.samscanada.ca
Or you may send cheques to:
SAMS-Canada
PO Box 21082
Barrie, ON L4M 6J1
If you wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe to the Park Prayer Letter, please send an e-mail to johnpark@sams-usa.org
