Albany Short Term Mission July 23

Dear Friends in Christ,
Peace be with you.

It was another very good day for the mission team today in Lima, Peru.
But until this morning, we did not realize that last night was a 40 year low temperature for Lima, Peru, at 8 degrees C or about 46 degrees F. The days are considerably warmer.

Again, today, we were at Christ the King Diocesan Center in the District of Surco, the same building where the Mission of the Ascension is and where the seminary is.

Accomplishments and noted events:
We finished the wall mural for the nursery at the Mission of the Ascension began. A photo of the finished mural is attached.

The mural represents coastal, sierra, and jungle areas of Peru. From the seminarian graduate, the mission team painters learned quite a lot about painting, and about praying a picture while painting it.

The NGO office room painting project was completed at the Diocesan Center. Bishop Bill and Karen were awesome in this endeavor.

A printed banner for the Mission of the Ascension (a banner which included service times) was hung outside the building for the public to see.

Two interior wall hangings (used in the former building for the Mission of the Ascension) were put up today. One depicted the resurrection of Jesus, and the other depicted the Ascension of Jesus.

Some of the team helped sort clothes to be sold at the upcoming Diocese of Peru youth fundraiser.

A rather aging and somewhat oxidized playground was dismantled and removed from the back area of the Diocesan Center. That may sound easier to do than it was to do. An awesome effort by the team.

Most of the team joined with members of the Mission of the Ascension to go out into the neighborhood to invite people in the neighborhood to the Sunday healing service this coming Sunday morning. Our Peruvian neighborhood hosts really liked our team and would like to do this again if possible. As a matter of fact, they liked our team so much, they would like to do anything with our team.

Yesterday, we were in more of a middle middle class neighborhood near the Mission of Ascension, and this evening we were in a lower middle class neighborhood in the Surco District of Lima. By far, the greater reception to our healing service invitation was in the lower middle class neighborhood in Surco, and our time there was awesome, for everyone.

Meanwhile, 5 members of the team attended a Holy Eucharist in a home connected in the Brena District of Lima (instead of walking through the neighborhood in Surco with the rest of us). This Holy Eucharist, too, was a moving experience, and the team benefitted from Peruvian hospitality which included Peruvian hot chocolate. The Holy Eucharist had 25 people fitting into a very small living room. This mission (associated with the Bible study) is a church plant of the Mission of the Ascension in Surco. A Mission creating another Mission.

Julie mentions that prayer would be appreciated for the people on the trip who are a bit sore from their efforts in the work being done.

On to the next mission, tomorrow.

Thank you for keeping us in prayer. We sense your prayers in all that we are doing.

God bless you.
In Christ,
Shaw, and on behalf of Julie and Lydia