Brenda’s Bulletin

Archive for January, 2010

January 30, 2010 Arequipa, Peru

January 30, 2010 - 6:00 pm - Posted by Brenda Matthews

Greetings from Arequipa, Peru!

Since I last wrote, I have been in Venezuela, returned to Lima and flown to Arequipa, Peru.  I am really looking forward to when I’ll be settled in Piura!

December 18th I flew to Caracas with the hope of starting the shipping process before the companies took their vacations, but they were busy and told me to contact them January 11th or 12th.  That left me a little nervous, but I enjoyed the time visiting with friends in Caracas, Guatire, Barquisimeto, and at the beach.  Since it may be the last time to enjoy the colourful corals and tropical fish, I was thrilled to be able to skin dive and see all my favorite fish and to be able to share the underwater beauty with my friends (and some strangers as well).

Back in Caracas, I gathered the suitcases I left in storage and cleaned off the accumulated dust.  Unfortunately, one of them was missing – the one with all my photo albums from birth to a few years ago, among other things.  Hopefully it will show up some time.  Monday began the shipping process and Friday morning, January 15th, we did the revision where the National Guard remove EVERYTHING from EVERY suitcase to inspect and then toss it all back in the suitcases.  They couldn’t force all of them closed again, but they didn’t worry about it because they banded them and wrapped them in plastic.  They were shipped Friday evening and I flew to Lima Monday night.  Tuesday and Wednesday were dedicated to getting the shipment out of customs in Lima.  Fortunately they only superficially looked at two suitcases and all were cleared with no additional charges.  It will be a miracle if the contents are intact when I unpack in Piura!

brenda-on-two-way-street-arequipa.JPGThursday I flew to Arequipa, in southern Peru.  At 2,335 m and bordered by three volcanoes, it’s home to the other TEAM missionaries.  I came to learn about the culture and their adaptations, and I also participated in their VBS this week.   arequipa-vbs-group-discussion-arequipa.JPG

I’ve been enjoying the temperate weather here.  For comparison, it was 22 C (felt like 24 C) in Arequipa, 31 C (37 C) in Lima, and 37 C (44 C!) in Piura while it was -13 C back home.

January 31 I return to Lima.  I’ll be spending the month of February learning from the pastoral staff of the mother church, Miraflores Alliance.  Just before arriving in Peru, the strategy for the church plant in Piura was changed radically.  I’ll write more about that in February, but my role changed to working with youth.  Please pray for me as I prepare for this new ministry focus and continue to adapt to the new culture here.

God bless,

Brenda

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