Peru Report #10: Sabbath, June 30, 2012 at 5:30 a.m. from Tacna, Peru
Dear Family and Friends:
I don’t plan to send this until we are home, but will write a little now to capture the memories while fresh, and complete this later.
Last night at the meeting we had a larger group than usual with many there for the first time. The subject was on the Unpardonable Sin. So many feel that they may have committed it because of their past lives. We bring them the good news that they have not, as evidenced by their current interest in the Bible and their desire for something better. Their response to the appeal was very strong. I learned from a chance meeting with the pastor in the morning that there are 8 planning to be baptized today and at the meeting last night learned from an elder that two more are also planning on it. We trust them with the clearing for baptism of those asking for it. After the meeting we talked at their request with two more who have serious questions to settle before they are baptized. It is so refreshing to see the Holy Spirit at work in their lives as they deal with strong conviction and desire to be right with God.
Another miracle was that my voice last night was better than I can remember it in recent years in spite of dealing with an advancing cold and cough. Once again I witnessed the importance of a good strong voice in sharing His Word.
Thursday night was a special challenge at the meeting. Our translator was not able to come because she lost her voice. So the church quickly tried to find a substitute. They ended up with two including the husband of Ricci, our regular translator, but neither of them could communicate well. Our prayers were answered at the last moment when Claudia arrived and translated for Mary Alice as well as me. She is the usual translator for Jackie Tucker at the large Miller Church. Someone told her of our need and she responded without having time to inform Jackie who wondered if she had been “raptured.” It was secret, but she came to us by normal transportation. It was such a blessing because of her proficiency and my particular voice problem that night because of the tickle in my throat. We lost a lot of time in starting the meeting because of the translator problem. It is a good thing that I had chosen to not use visual computer slides that night for the sermon because I could adapt much easier with just the open Bible. The meeting ended well and there were even more decisions to prepare for baptism.
Sometimes people get the impression that in these Mission trips the people are just rushing forward in mass to be baptized but it is not so. Each one has a personal struggle of some kind that must be dealt with by a helper whether it is the pastor, a Bible worker (volunteers), an elder or me as the visiting speaker.
Yesterday (Friday), the Mission provided a bus to take 15 of us to see some of the historic places around Tacna. The bus was two stories (as in the London buses) and Mary Alice and I were on the top. We started out cold, but moved into real heat as we got out of Tacna and on to more arid and remote villages where we were to get out and see the Petroglyphs from the earliest inhabitants here. On one we saw something that could have been an allusion to the Garden of Eden story of how sin began. It showed a tree and a serpent nearby. We will never know just what the unknown carver had in mind.
One stop was at a little store in a small village where they were selling fresh hot cornbread with raisons in it. Since it was “piping hot” we bought two slices and ate one of them at lunch time back at the hotel. Those who are experienced living here thought it should be ok. So far it has been so. We plan to eat the other slice as part of breakfast today at the hotel before heading for Sabbath School.
Part of the trip included a walk across the dry riverbed on a suspension bridge made of boards and heavy ropes. It was plenty solid but swayed as you walked because of the various movements of many feet. A few ran across and were the only ones on the bridge. It worked well if they kept up the pace evenly, but one who tried it ended up with a severe rope burn on his arm. We heard that some of the local Peruvians were concerned if Mary Alice and I could do that walking over barren ground, but it was mild in comparison to what we have experienced in India. When they know our age they expect much less from us than we are capable of. We read recently that in USA today there are 72,000 people age 100 or more. So we may have some good years ahead yet in spite of the challenges that come with advancing years.
We read in our email Decatur Church Bulletin that Bill Tucker from Quiet Hour will be one of the speakers at Oklahoma camp meeting this year. Maybe those who can go there will get his perspective on this trip along with his other messages. {Monday}
Yesterday’s excursion was supposed to end with a visit to the Indian Market and we thought it would be a large area with all the local handicrafts under one roof. What it turned out to be was a stop near our hotel to see the shops run by Indians that we had already visited previously on our extended walks. But it was interesting to see some of them again and pick up a few things for the family that could serve a useful purpose. On our walks we have sometimes been able to give out the Spanish condensation of a part of the Great Controversy. Most have accepted it with great joy that we would do that for them. Later we heard that some had been blessed by reading it. We hope it can make a difference for them by getting a new perspective on life.
We saw a printed proposal that Pastor Daniel of the Getsemani #1 church put together for the Mission detailing the need for a solid building. They have good plans. The anticipated cost is $300,000 and they have $18,000 on hand. We wish we could give serious help with it, but cannot at this time because of upcoming challenges in India and Tanzania. The Lord knows the need and has His ways of meeting it.
Today will be very full with Sabbath School and Church at the sites, a meal with them after the service (Our Getsemani #1 people are aware of our dietary preferences and are making provision we are told), and then at 2 p.m. we are all to be at the Stadium for a final service and baptism. We hear it could last until 6 p.m. Each of us presenters is to give a two-minute summary of things at our site or a message we want to leave with all the people. Then, we will hurry back to the hotel to pack for the trip home that begins at 5 a.m. Sunday. We have a twelve-hour stopover in Lima and have arranged with a friend from Ecuador days, Pastor Pena, to take our five from Arkansas to see some of the historic things in Lima and have lunch at our SDA University there. Perhaps there will be some time at the airport for me to finish this chronicle of our journey so we can get it on its way when we get home before we plunge into the catch-up consequence of being away. (There wasn’t any time at the airport to do it)
FINAL WORDS: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 from “Home Sweet Home” in Gentry, 12:45 p.m.
We got home yesterday about 4 p.m. via the good graces of Don and Irene Gilbert who met us at the XNA airport and brought us here. Don did extra service by helping jump- start our car. In our haste to leave early for the airport on June 13, I neglected to disconnect the battery so it would not drain out while we were gone. The car almost started, but almost is not good enough. So Don jumped it from his battery to ours. It didn’t take much but that extra meant a lot. It is often like that in life. We can give just a little extra lift that helps another to make it through a hard experience of some kind.
Before sharing more of our homecoming experiences, I’ll begin with where we left off at Tacna. The day went about as I mentioned it would earlier. The food at our church was safe enough even though I did the “unthinkable” and ate the salad of fresh vegetables. Some compromise on the last day and pay for it with breaking their record of good health during the previous part of the trip. But we did not have to face the homeward flights with that handicap of sickness. Even my mild cold did not give head congestion that would have been painful on landing and takeoff due to the air compression.
We had been admonished to be on time at the stadium by 2:30 p.m. on Sabbath. But after the service at our Getsemani #1 church so many wanted photos with us and the meal preparation and delivery took time, so we thought we would be late. Fortunately, we were within walking distance from the church to the stadium and were much earlier than most of the others. By the time everyone got there from all the churches the stadium was packed full. There were many speeches and acknowledgements with thanksgiving for the work we had done and the hospitality and acceptance they had shown locally (including the Mayor’s speech and granting “free marriage” papers for those who had attended our meetings.) You see, about 70% of the families living together there are not married because of paperwork problems and cost for some.
The day ended well at the stadium with many gifts from the Mission to us all. There were 1,024 baptized from the whole group including those before we got there that came out of the preparation for our meetings. It is a good thing we put off our packing until Sabbath night so we would know exactly what we had to pack. The problem was that some came also to the hotel and wanted to talk much more which put off the packing. We finally got started on it at about 9 p.m. and got to bed at 11. I awoke before our alarm summons at 3:30 a.m., so we both had good hot showers before 4 when we made two “wake up calls” to friends who didn’t trust their alarms or promises from the desk in the hotel lobby to wake them up. Sometimes we have to wake up the hotel people on duty from their early morning “siesta.”
Our hand-held scales for weighing suitcases was much in demand by others who needed to confirm that they were still within the weight limits at the airport and didn’t have to pay large extra sums now charged for even slight overweight differences. We left our big box of felts (2 sets) and so didn’t even have 4 check-ins on the way back. That is always an improvement-when we come home with less than we took.
The Mission provided 2 vans for transportation to the airport. The luggage had to go on top and was of some concern for its safety until we saw them cover it all with nets to keep it from bouncing off on the way. Our group arrived early and so were at the head of the lines for check-in and security check. Since the security people go over your body with their hands as well as the “talking sticks” that detect hidden metal, some of us felt like we had received a massage in the process. I told one of the security men that if they would press a little harder we would have the benefit of massage, but don’t know if it got through in my poor Spanish.
Our baggage was checked through to Dallas rather than XNA airport. Fortunately, we had a 12 hour layover in Lima before our flight to Miami where we corrected the problem. Some boarding passes were written in such a way that we would have had to retrieve again in Dallas. We had a very brief time there and would have missed the connecting fight to XNA. With much effort and patience building we got it all straight. The original ticketing for the trip had some missing parts that we had to straighten out as we went, but it came out ok in the end.
One of the challenges was that on the way down to Peru, four of us had declared our video projectors to customs and so had to go through extra hoops with getting them registered and put down a $450 deposit for all of us. Well, on the way back, Bill Tucker’s flight had only a brief layover in Lima and he had loaned his projector to Steve Wood who would use it in Ecuador for more meetings. So Bill would not be with us and could not show his projector as proof that he had not sold it in Peru. That is what the deposit money is all about. He fully expected to lose his deposit and it could also have caused the rest of us to lose ours since we had all four together on the paperwork.
With the good help of Pastor Pena who met us at the Airport (he now teaches at our SDA University an hour from Lima) and especially the blessing of the Lord, it finally ended well after the several hours of back and forth from one official to another. We really got our exercise that day, but we also got the full deposit back in dollars.
At last we all six (including Pr. Pena) piled into his small car and went to have lunch at the University before seeing a few things in Lima. Even though he was in the middle of grading exams for his classes, he generously gave of his time to show us around. It was so good to renew friendship with him after several years since we worked together in Ecuador when he was president of our conference there.
The food was special. We had among other things some wonderful avocado with tomato slices and even enjoyed a small slice of carrot cake for dessert. The full meal only cost about $40 for all of us including a generous tip to the theology student who waited table for us.
After seeing the outside of several buildings of the university we were on our way again to Lima. The university has been there since 1984 including some years when it was a college and not a full university. They have a very good program and the buildings are in great shape for their age. That was refreshing to see and hear.
In Lima we had time to drive around the important places and also go through the Museum of the Spanish Inquisition that graphically portrayed the torture of dissenters by the ruling Church at the time. It is another illustration of how evil the human heart can be when the Spirit of the Lord does not dwell within. They thought they were doing God service when they tortured those who differed from them in belief. The gorgeous architecture of the church building belies the spirituality it was supposed to represent, but did not. Prophecy warns us that similar things will come again before Jesus returns to earth. So we have to ask ourselves if we would be willing to take that rather than recant our faith if we should face that choice in our future.
The catacombs were burial places and since space became short, many bones were gathered out and put in common pits or other “storage” as they returned to complete dust. As we viewed those dusty bones some of us thought of the Resurrection and Ezekiel 37 where it describes the joining of the bones again. We could not help but sing softly a little of the Negro Spiritual: “Dem bones, dem dry bones, now hear the Word of the Lord.” You who know the song will have a graphic description of what is to come.
At some point they outlawed burial under the church because of the odor and the flies attracted by it, but there are still a lot of old bones around.
So, in spite of the paperwork problems etc. we did manage to catch the flights and are home on time and now hard at work catching up.
One other airport experience worth mentioning came at the U.S. Customs in Miami. I had read the form saying we should declare any insects we might be bringing in. I had bought a large tarantula spider (not an insect) that was mounted inside a glass and wood case. It would not have been a threat to anyone over here, but the regulations would not let us bring it in. I bought it in a little shop in Tacna and it did not have with it the “export papers” required by the Peru government. They are trying to regulate how much of the wildlife there can leave the country. I’m not sure how many would regret a decrease in tarantulas, but rules are rules and we are expected to abide by them. I had planned to use it in a children’s story sometime to show how people often fear things that are really harmless but allow dangerous things into their lives by choices they make. Well, we had to leave the spider with Customs to be transferred to the Fish and Wildlife department to either use in their lectures or destroy to conform to Peru’s laws.
Good things came out of the experience. A whole sermon came together in my mind while going through the hoops. I was allowed to photograph the spider in the case, and gave a mini Bible study to the sympathetic Customs people who regretted the necessity to keep the spider in view of my plans to use it as a visual aid for the children.
At home I decided to change the water filter in our house and in in process could not get it to stop leaking. So we had to shut off the water in between major uses and catch the drip in a bucket that periodically waters the needy bushes in our yard along with the grasshoppers here in droves now. In the process, we are having the filter mechanism replaced along with our tank that regulates air pressure for the water. It should have been done long ago and now finally will be. So good comes out of many things that would normally just annoy.
Mary Alice will be back from Siloam Springs shortly with a restock of vegies and other groceries as we start in again with life at home. We have already dealt with the mail, bills, phone calls, and emails, and now this final Peru Report when Mary Alice gets here to look it over and approve. The suitcases still have to be emptied, clothes washed and house cleaned. The lawn did not need much work due to the heat that kept grass from thriving when we were gone. So, we are blessed indeed. It is well we did not get a garden in because of the heat, the dry and the multitude of grasshoppers. There would not have been anything left, except the weeds that are thriving in it in spite of the heat and nothing worthwhile to crowd out.
With lots of love and appreciation for your prayers that guided us through,
Glenn and Mary Alice (Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma)