Home

We had a great trip home and Taca Airlines gets high marks. Ms. Moreau and Mr. and Mrs. Funk met us at LAX with smiles and hugs.  Afer a small medical procedure to remove an errant earbud we were on our way. First stop for the Funk mobile- In and Out for a burger!  We look forward to sharing next Sunday with some photos and stories of our amazing journey.

Last Tango in Peru

Last entry before we fly home!
We have had a great time here and made a real difference in the lives of fellow Anglicans. But we are ready to be home! Our Ica trip was quick but we packed a lot in as you read from my earlier post from the hotel computer. I will let the photos tell the story:

The kids have decided that both the work and the visible changes at Jesus el Salvador as well as the dune buggy rides were real highlights. Spending time with Peruvian kids from the church and school left real marks on all of us. Touching their lives was the real blessing from the trip! But as much as we gave, we recieved both from the church congregation and school kids as well as others like Willy our bus driver, Grasiella and Katy from the convent and of course Susan from the local Anglican cathedral who was instrumental in our trip's success. Don Pedro, the sexton at Jesus el Salvador and Jess's long lost brother, wins the kids award as least understood but most effective.
It is better to give than recieve and on this trip we did lots of both! Thank you to all parents and congregation members who supported and followed us. Stay tuned for an announcement on a program from the mission team to share their experiences with Christ Church.

Chillin in Ica

We had an easy 4 hr bus trip down to Ica and checked in at our hotel, then headed out to teh sand dunes for some dune buggys adn sand surfing.  We all had fun- photos later.  Today we went to Paracas to take boat to Islas Ballestas but all the boats were cancelled when teh wind and waves were deemed too rough for travel.  We bussed out to the National Park and saw several kinds of birds, a few penguins and sea lions.  We are now headed to a winery and then will catch our bus back to Lima.  Our flight home departs at 7:15 Am tomorrow. One more post with photos when we get back to Lima. Happy Father´s Day to all you dads <See you all soon.

Work Complete

Its Friday, Friday......
We have reached the end of our work project time at Jesus el Salvador and the kids cna be very proud of their work. Today we touched up the paint, cleaned the church (we had made quite a mess with our supplies and such) and built a fence. The varnish and concrete was still drying as we had a final lunch at the church. The food was prepared as a gift to us for our work and we enjoyed it. There were more thank yous, hugs and kisses than I could count. There was even some tears as we drove away for the last time. We scurried back to the chalet for a quick spruce-up and gave the kids a liberty card for several hours in downtown Mira Flores. There is a fantastic mall cut into the side of a cliff that you have to see to believe. WIth shops and restraunts galore. There were even paragliders fliying off the cliff. It was a spectacular day with bule sky for a change. Beth and I popped onto an outdoor patio for a plate of cibeche, (yes, they spell it with a "b" here) and it was muy rico. We later found the kids as a group waiting for our bus and they were as giddy as they have been so far on the trip.

We got back to base camp and went to "vista del mar" our favorite patio overlook spot for reflection. Meg led prayers and Terry led us in eucharist which was pretty cool and well recieved by the group. Later at dinner, Father Marco arrived to say his last good byes and thank the kids for all their hard work. Terry presented him with a custom Tom Morelli cross while the kids signed a soccer ball for the church. The kids also signed a photo for Don Pedro, our project guru and hermano nuevo. I am unable to convey the leadership team's admiration for the kids on this trip. They have been simply amazing. We pack tonight for Ica and I am not taking my laptop so this should be my last post until Sunday night.
Chow.

Thursday in Peru

Beth summed up a little something about each of our team:
　
Will Funk is a SUPERSTAR! He has won over grumpy old Pedro, the Sexton with his expert concrete mixing skills and kept us all in good spirits. Collin, I would follow into battle. Focused and tireless. The same can be said for Luke, those boys were on the tippy top of four levels of scaffolding; painting machines. Will Burroughs and Nate enjoy the children and the attention they receive from the children. They start hard but around 2 PM are drawn to the calls of the kids who absolutely adore them. The children enjoy the time they spend reading and playing with them.
The girls are all rock stars!! Annie, our interpreter, and Katie have been up and down the ladders a thousand times, each time with a smile on their face. Meg is a trooper. She was hit hard by "the bug´". She napped in the pews and never complained for a moment. Today, she was a 100%. Her good nature is contagious and a benefit to the group as a whole. Molly and Chrissy are our entertainers. What a blessing to have their amazing voices serenade us as we painted the school. Molly is a jack of all trades, she can and will do any task thrown her way. As for Chrisy, opera is not her only talent. She assisted in preparing and serving meals for over 150 children for the last three days and loved every minute of it. She bonded with the ladies of the Compassion Project and they will miss her.
All the children are WONDERFUL!! Each one brings his or her own gifts to our group and together they make a dynamic team.
Confusius say "Last step of journey often longest":

Actually I don't know if he really said that but.....  We bid farewell this morning to Father Edward and Theresa who are, even as I blog, winging their way back to the good old US of A. We were all very sad to see them go and they were very careful to instruct us all in the fine points of planting so that we don't mess up the gardening with out them! Joe and Terry made quick work of fitting in -Chrissy let Terry join the kitchen crew and Joe (aka Jose) worked on the last concrete project, a sidewalk from the street to the front entrance of the church. Will Funk gets an honorable mention for mastering the art of cement mixing in the street. I will let him fill in the details when we return.  The last of the major painting and varnishing was finished today and we are all set to tackle the front garden and fence manana, our last work day. The kids have promised to be especially efficient so that we can be done at mid day and go to Roky's, a Peruvian Chicken chain. They have worked very hard, how can we say no!  We are also getting ready for our trip to Ica- more on that tomorrow.

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El Chalet

Our home away from home.

We are staying at a convent, also know at "El Chalet". It consists of dorm and meeting rooms as well as a large Catholic church and a girls school. THe grounds are beautiful and the location on a cliff above the ocean is amazing. In the Chorillos district of Lima, the convent hosts lots of religious retreats and gathering and is regular pick by our host diosese for accomodations. The food is very good and prepared by the nuns. Each room is 25.00 per night and includes three meals. For lunch, they pack us a to-go box when we are not eating with the kids at the Jesus el Salvador school. THe staff is great and both the adults and kids are very comfortable here.
Each of us has a private room that has a closet, dresser, desk and twin bed. Though not large, they are just right for our rest and recouperation. There is also a library where we have spent a lot of time playing cards, checking in with family and friends on email and Facebook as well as held several of our evening reflections. Just down the street is a store for sodas and snacks as well as a small bakery with great empanadas. We have short walk to the beach and we are not far from Barranco, an older part of town that has lots of cool restraunts and shopping and unique architecture.