Daddy's visit!

About 3 weeks before Christmas, I invited Daddy to come out to Peru... amazingly at such short notice, he did - and we had a wonderful time!

Showing him round Abancay.

We walked down to the colonial bridge at Pachachaca and had a picnic further down the gorge

Again we walked... this time up the hill to the viewpoint where there are also condors and alpacas

I introduced Daddy to perhaps the most famous food in Peru - guinea pig!  His response "well I probably won't have that again".

We also visited AIDIA where Daddy enjoyed playing swingball with the director - they were fairly evenly matched!

 Christmas Eve - hot chocolate and paneton at church

 ... and traditional dancing in the main square.

We had Christmas dinner together with the other missionaries

And on Boxing Day, we drove with 3 others to Pampallacta, to give out hot chocolate and paneton and Christmas presents - it was such a lovely visit, Dina and I have really missed our trips here over the past couple of years.  The children were particularly intrigued by Daddy's penknife and its usefulness in opening tins!

Visiting Inca ruins on the way to Cusco

And climbing a hill to look down the vast Apurímac gorge - deeper than the Grand Canyon!

The loooong bus journey to Arequipa (12 hours)

Daddy managed to scrape together enough Spanish to buy fried cheese at one of the bus stops.

 And in Arequipa, just before he caught the plane home, we went rafting

It was so lovely to have a family visit.  And his most memorable remark - "it's very different from the photos".  Sorry, there's not much I can do about that!

Christmas at the hospital

Christmas Day isn't such a big deal in Peru as in the UK - the main celebration and family meal happens the night before.  So members of my Bible study group decided to spend Christmas morning in the city hospital, taking presents to children - many of whom might not receive anything otherwise, - and speaking of the Good News we are celebrating.

Wrapping the presents - nappies for newborns, toys and t-shirts for children.  Peruvian gift-wrapping is a whole new technique!

Waiting outside the hospital to be let in

The natvity scene - complete with snow-topped mountains!

We spoke about Isaiah 9 verse 6: For to us a child is born,to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Reminding the parents that God knows and plans for each child that is to be born - and that his cousel is available for us.

 
  We gave out the presents and food boxes we'd brought.

Singing about Zacchaeus on the children's ward.

One of the teenagers we visited was very sad - he had both hands bandaged so couldn't open the gift we'd brought - Lourdes opened it for him - and hadn't seen any of his family yet.  We prayed with him and with the others we visited.

Visiting the hospital was a new challenge for all of us - but we were so glad we'd done it.  We thought of Jesus saying that when we visit those who are sick, he counts it as a visit to him.

Christmas visits

It's that time again... Christmas presents... hot chocolate... paneton... and lots of visits to the villages.

In Mariscal Gamarra - I know these guys in Raccaraccay pretty well now and it's always fun to visit.

We also gave some training about the role of deacons in the church - it was good to put some of my CHE techniques into practice.  And I might be starting to teach the guitar!

From 1 Timothy and Titus - what are the requirements for deacons?

This time I also got to get up at 4am, walk 2 hours up the mountain (with occasional lifts from a horse) to the village of Cruzpata.

In Anchicha - a new village for me.  I think I was mostly invited because I have a car - it's good that it's giving me new opportunities!

And in Ayahuay - this is just up the hill from Piscoya.  And certainly the most full the car has been so far!  We took all the food, boxes of dried foods for families in need, the presents, and some of the props for the kids' activities.  And this village wins the prize for the stand-up/sit-down version of "Alelu alelu alelu aleluia, Praise ye the Lord"!