"Okay, now when I say 'earthquake', all the 'houses' fall apart and everybody has to run and make new 'houses'." 10 teenagers from Christ Church, Coronado and 12 teens from Jesus el Salvador ran laughing and encircled each other in a Peruvian version of "Squirrel in a tree". And so began a week-long adventure in a shanty-town in Lima. The first-time team of teenagers and their chaperones from California spent Saturday playing ice-breaker games, visiting one of the pre-Inca ruins, and having a picnic and soccer game together with teens and leaders of the local church where they would be working all week.During the week, the kids learned how to put up scaffolding, painted the church outside and the parish hall inside where a Compassion project meets, sanded and varnished doors and wooden windows, poured 3 cement walkways so the woman in the wheelchair could get into church (handicapped accessibility is not well known here), and planted a garden by the church and built a fence around it. Some of the kids got to read and play with the children of the Compassion project or peeled potatoes to feed everyone lunch and others washed and dried literally hundreds of dishes for the main meal of the day as over 100 people each use 3 dishes-salad, main dish, and a cup for each meal.At the end of the week, we took a 5 hour bus ride down to Ica for a bit of fun. As this was the first time we had used Ica for the "end of mission trip" recreation, I went with them to make sure that everything went smoothly. New places, new people means I have to teach them that I have to have receipts for everything to turn in to the offices! We spent the afternoon "snowboarding" down the huge sand dunes of the Huacachina. The next day, we went out to a nature reserve and saw sea lions and penguins as well as pre-Inca designs in the sand of the hillsides and visited a winery. One of the adult leaders, Bill Sandke, is a professional photographer and took LOTS of pictures. Click here for their blog and some of the photos of their time in Peru. MORE TEAMS!A week later, we had a small team from Dallas, Texas area give a week-long workshop in Christian Formation with the clergy, seminarians, and lay ministers of the diocese. As we were putting together the almost 300 page book they were using, I noticed that the page numbers for the prayer book corresponded to the English version of the prayer book, not the Spanish version. So we spent many extra hours updating the page numbers and catching other errors that had been missed in the earlier editing.Every evening the almost 50 participants gathered at the diocesan office for the course. As we had 11 people who came from our "southern" churches of Arequipa, Juliaca, and Cabanaconde, they camped out at the diocesan office, using sleeping bags and foam mattresses to sleep in the seminary classroom. John translated every evening for them while I prepared the snack in the kitchen and made sure the supper was ready for those who were staying.While the "southerners" were all there, I took advantage to teach them a bit about what is involved in handling teams and all the work that the people in the visiting churches have to do as well as myself to prepare for a visit here. It was an eye-opener for them to learn that I handle inquiries and answer questions from about 20-30 churches and 40-50 individuals every year from all over the northern hemisphere. You, your prayers and contributions make it possible for us to be here in Peru and to handle all these teams and for them to share God's love and work here in Peru.ACENJohn spent lots of time planning for the Anglican Communion Environmental Network Conference the first week in August. The representatives came from all over the world and met here in outside of Lima at a retreat center. He already had to do the "I know someone whose son works in the Peruvian embassy in India and might be able to get the visa for the representative who is coming from there." In Latin America, it's not what you know as much as it is who you know.JOANThe continuing saga of Joan--The elderly lady with Alzheimer's who is virtually blind and toddles up to my house each morning has slowed down. She arrives later each day as she doesn't walk as quickly now. We now have a new set of problems with her. We recently found out that the visiting doctors association has dropped her from the list because her "carné de extranjería" (foreigner's identification card) has expired. The problems are multiple in renewing it. As a foreigner, when the card is very expired, as hers is, you must reapply and then leave the country as well as show a source of income. To leave the country, you need a passport. Joan can't leave as her already expired passports (British and Argentinean) were stolen a few years back and were not replaced. I'm not even sure they were reported as being stolen. We have no birth certificates or registration documents to be able to reapply for a new passport. Her only source of income is a pension of about $100 a month and a monthly gift to cover the cost of the retirement home she lives in which is sent from the son-in-law of a man she took care of. These will not satisfy the laws which would mean they would not renew her carné and she could be deported back to England where she has not lived since she was a child. She has no family, only the church. Please pray for wisdom to know what to do about her situation.THE GOSPEL AND PENTECOSTEach year for Pentecost, the Gospel is read in as many languages as we have people who can read it in a language they know. The cathedral currently has people from 13 different countries worshipping in our English congregations and the Gospel was read in 13 different languages, including Kazak, Quechua, Afrikaans, as well as the usual standard languages. The challenge of ministering to so many different people and the joy of knowing that the Gospel is for all people of all cultures for all times makes our work here so incredibly rich and rewarding.Just this week in Sunday School after telling the story of Jesus walking on the water and calling Peter to him, one 6 year-old girl, said wistfully, "I wish there was a Jesus for now." What a privilege to explain to her that Jesus is still "for now" even though he lived then and told her that Jesus still lives now and can work in our lives and do things through us if we ask him to. What a spiritual longing she already has! Oh that we would all have that hunger for Jesus.FUNDSAs usual it seems, our funds have dropped very low in the summer. Please if you have made a pledge or can make a donation, it would be very much appreciated. (see below for details) We have received only one full salary in these past four months. The Lord makes all things possible and we have made ends meet. Thank you for walking alongside of us in this incredible adventure of being missionaries. Know that we pray for you regularly and give thanks for your partnership in sharing the gospel.WEBSITEOur (and the Cathedral's) website sponsor, Pittsburgh Tech Ministries (PTM), is on the local Pittsburgh Christian radio station, WORD FM's BizBurg show. The show will be available on their website (and PTM's) until the end of September. Tell everyone you know who might be interested in a church or non-profit website or technical consulting. We give thanks for all the work they do for us.Blessings,Susan (for both of us)GIVE THANKS -for the many teams who come to work in Perufor John's work with the ACEN conferencefor the 9 new missionaries and volunteers that Susan "shepherds"for the many prayer and financial supportersPLEASE PRAY -for a solution to Joan's residency and medical carefor our fundsall the people suffering from earthquakes, fires, and floods DONATE IN U.S.Tax-deductible contributions to our ministry in Peru may be made online HERE or by sending a check payable to SAMS (with Park in the memo line) toSAMSPO Box 399Ambridge PA 15003You can also arrange for automatic deductions from your bank account or for automatic charges to your credit card. If you wish to do so, please call SAMS at 724-266-0669.DONATE IN CANADAIn Canada, tax deductible contributions may be made online HEREOr you may send cheques to:SAMS-CanadaPO Box 21082Barrie, ON L4M 6J1
