Reoppening the Reading Room

We finished preparations on Friday for the grand reopening of the Porvenir reading room (the newest and largest of the four). Kyle, Greg, my co-intern David and I spent a couple of days sanding paint off two donated desks which we then stained, as we did a book display Greg made. After dusting the donated Spanish signet classics, fairy tales, and surplus schoolbooks, we children’s and adults’ sides with small tables and chairs on one side, and the erudite desks on the other. Saturday morning we hosted our grand reopening to an audience of fourteen children and five ladies from the community. Abram, who’s English is better than mine from attending the Sunset School of Preaching, helped us canvass the neighborhood with a megaphone calling the children to our wondrous venue for fun and learning.

The children trickled in at first and then came in large groups. People here always show up 15-30 minutes late, which is well enough on time in Peru. I was delighted by their wonder at participating in a story about zoo animals, enthusiasm towards drawing creatures, and youthful vigor in a both a game of charades and in a word-search activity. We will continue to have such events every Saturday, alternating between activity days and days dedicated to reading and story telling. This coming Saturday we will have open reading followed by story-time where I hope we may read one of the many “Heroes of the Faith” children’s stories to them. There may not be much in way of “Sunday School” here, but perhaps we can have Saturday story-time where they learn about God, and of great men and women who know and love their Lord. Rachel also teaches English in these times, which will be of use to them in this ever-more international world.

According to Megan, there are many women in Arequipa who do not work, and so have an interest in participating in the library events. Some even take on the responsibility of opening the libraries for at least three hours each day, so the community members can come in and read. I am excited about their involvement in the reading rooms, and perhaps soon in the Bible Studies and other areas of ministry going on here. The libraries are also used in the evenings for Bible studies and in a few weeks, for a conference with Bill Richardson of Harding University.

Things are going well here and I am super-excited to continue learning about the Peruvian culture and about missions amongst these people, proudly descended from Incan tribes and living in the shadows of ancient volcanoes.

I think my mind exploded this morning. We had a team meeting this morning where we discussed everything going on, adjustments, etc. If you’ve ever been in a leadership meeting where much is in constant flux, imagine that compounded with not knowing who you’re talking about, the schedule, who does what, and discussing the schedule in non-chronological order (which may just be confusing for me... I’m fairly linear in my organization). Following the meeting, Megan and I went over bus routes, taxi fares, locations of markets, groceries, plazas, etc, and all of this without a map. I can visualize fairly well, but I think I reached maximum cognitive load about halfway through. I love mission work, but it can be tiring sometimes!

I will write again soon about a new community near here where the team has been involved in a few development projects and with on-going Bible studies. Stay tuned; this community is the group I have been most passionate about since my arrival. It’s amazing, so check for an update this weekend or shortly after!

Grace, Peace, and loads of Love to you, my partners in the Gospel and my support in life and ministry.