First Sunday

First Sunday:

Today was Pentecost and as such there was much celebration at Jesus el Salvador in addition to the excitement of having visitors from the United States. We arrived for mass and sang several songs with Father Marco leading with his voice and guitar. We were evenly matched by Peruvians as mass began but were very much outnumbered by the beginning of the prayers. Though said in Spanish it was easy to recognize the Nicean Cread, prayers of the people and other liturgical landmarks. A highlight was the Peace which took about 10 minutes while every person greated eachother in the whole church.  Chrissy and Molly, our COSA ringers, added an angelic version of Amazing Grace to the post-communion meditation that was very well recieved. Each of our team introduced themselves to the congregation and said a little something about being in Peru. Following service, the entire congregation moved to the parish hall for a yummy meal prepared by several parish women. It was very festive and there were many animated discussions between new friends. In facy, both the Christ Church and Jesus el Salvador youth were very engaged in conversations that are by know becoming much easier as our kids generate a better understanding of Spanish.
After some outside play our team was joned by Father Marco and two parish volunteers for a supplies run to Sodimac, a Peruvian Home Depot. On our road trips across the city we have been treated to several processions which have featured music and religious symbols. These have been very interesting as well as the various street scenes of Lima. After dropping half the youth team back at the connvent, at the same time learning that Father Edward's errant suitcase had finally arrived (with nothing missing!) we worked with our planning lists to get paint, tools, wood and other necessities for our work projects. All these were dropped back in Villa Salvador ready to be put to use manana. We were met back at the convent by Bishop Bill Godfrey from the Anglican Church of Peru. He spoke very warmly to our group and outlined some of the church history including the near death and subsequent reserection of the Episcopal Church here following the years of terrorist threats posed by the polital movement Shining Path. He expressed his hopes for a successful mission trip and thanked us all for being here before leaving with Father Edward and Theresa for a semi-official dinner and discussion.

I shared with Theresa this morning how lucky we are to have the Good Padre along for the evening reflection time and how his easy nature and insiteful questions lead the youth into meaningful discussions. That will teach me not to jinx things because no sooner had I said this than Edward's dinner engagement necessitated Beth and I to lead reflection. We focused upon the mass from this morning which we all enjoyed. There was much more music with a Christian service feel. Chrissy was reminded of the music during our Faith Alive services. The sermon, focused on the timing of our arrival during Pentecost and how the service in dual languages fit so well with the theme of the day which we all found very fitting. We are all ready to break ground on the garden improvements, begin the painting process and work on pouring finished concrete from the street to the church doors.