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August 12, 2006

 

At a Glance:

 

Hard Sayings

Teams

Driving in Peru

Atlanta

 

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The Word of the Lord…

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”   Matthew 10:37-38

 

… Hard Sayings…

            Those of you who actually read these letters J might notice that this is the same Scripture that I used in my last letter in July. It is a Scripture that is sticking with me these days, and unfortunately seems to speak to me with a sort of condemnation. It is hard for me to remember these days that God is smiling at me, delighting in me, for no other reason than that of Jesus Christ his son, who lives in me. I know this in my head but it doesn’t seem to make its way down to my heart.

 

            The Scriptures are full of hard sayings. Sometimes we try to twist them to fit what we know or what we want. But they are not ours to twist; they are ours for edification, for learning, for encouraging one another, and sometimes they are ours just to accept, even when there is mystery that surrounds them.

 

…Teams…

            The last of our summer teams left a week ago on Saturday the 5th. It’s been a good summer with teams (with the exception of my personal physical illness – intestinal infection – ugh). Our teams were able to accomplish a great deal of work that helps the ministry down here – adding to the wall of the “stadium” (our covered soccer/volleyball/basketball court), painting the Auntie Jo House (our refugee house for abused and abandoned women and children, as well as other emergency family needs), and diaconal projects such as pouring cement floors in adobe houses and building beds. It has been a testimony and reminder to all of us down here that we can’t do this without our supporters in the US.

 

            Another aspect of our teams included arranging various times and activities for them to get to know some of our church members. As much as construction is a help to us, we know that the heartbeat of this ministry involves the people here. We were able to have the youth come and play/sing with us on several occasions, and had the pastor, his wife, and a young elder (remember Wilbur, whose seminary graduation I attended in Lima last Dec?) participate in a panel discussion to share their vision, ministry, and backgrounds. We also arranged a picnic with a meal called “Pachamanca” (in Quechua, “pacha” means “earth” and “manca” means “cooking pot”) with the teams and the church community. Before and during the cooking of the meal, both Peruvians and North Americans were playing soccer and volleyball nonstop.

 

The Pachamanca was a lot of work for the Peruvians who served us; it involved digging a 2 ½ foot hole, lining and covering it with rocks, building a fire inside until the rocks are white-hot, then removing the rocks quickly, removing the fire, putting food and rocks back into the hole, covering it with spices and wet clothes, and finally covering it all with dirt for one hour. But, OH! The meal is delicious: chicken, lamb, beans, different kinds of potatoes, all cooked with spices and so tender.  It was quite the feast! (We were also a big hit with the neighborhood dogs that day).

 

…Driving in Peru

Although I do not have my own car down here, there was one week that I had my team leader’s truck while he was out of town, and was able to experience first hand driving in Peru. It is not like driving in the US. Well, the actual driving of the car is the same (keys, gas, brakes, gear shift, etc), but the on-the-road experience is quite different. It reminds me of those video games where you are driving at high speeds and various objects pop up in the road before you: barrels, triangles, trees, and such. Here it involves different things running out or pulling out in front of you: people (both adults and kids), dogs, cars, random soccer balls, sheep and other livestock, potholes… the goal is to drive at a safe speed while not hacking off the other drivers and all the while looking for and dodging the various objects that suddenly appear in the road before you. You know that you are a very successful driving when you are able to do all of that and still keep one hand on the horn, honking as you go. I haven’t quite mastered that last part yet.

 

Atlanta

I will be back in Atlanta for some time this late summer and fall. I don’t have any contact details yet but I will send them when I do. I have been hearing how unbelievably hot this summer has been and I’m not sure how I will do after having been in the COLD for 4 months!

 

God bless,

 

Laura Deadwyler

Casilla 985

Cusco, Peru

South America

011-51-84-23-50-59

Cell:  011-51-84-9-92-45-59

 

Donations:                              Be sure to write

 

Mission to the World       Laura Deadwyler # 11748

P.O. Box 116284              on the memo line.

Atlanta, GA 30329