"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.."
John 15:16 (NIV)

Celebrating Love

Yesterday at the Eucharist we celebrated St. Mark's day( April 25). We gave thanks that God blessed us with our son Sean on that day in 1968. Sean is Gaelic for John and, of course, the scriptural citation is "John Mark". So the name "Sean Gregory" made connection with the proclamation of the Gospel and the beautiful form of adoration developed by Gregory the Great called "Gregorian Chant." We particularly love this picture of "Uncle Seanie" and Sadie taken the day before we moved to Peru.

The red roses reminded us that Sean worked for SouthWest Airlines, the crotons reminded us of fun times with him in the Dominican Republic, and the white chrysanthemums of the celebration that awaits us at the reunion in God's Presence....

Seminarians Take Exams

Before we went out to move rocks Ron's seminarians took a final exam on Leading Small Groups. Two other classes took exams recently: Pentateuch and Reformation Theology. The last final for this round is next Saturday: Survey of the Old Testament.

Marking Santiago Apóstol boundaries in Villa Ecológica

Today we started marking the boundaries for our property in Via Ecologica. It was hard work in the sun. But, we are really excited about it! I'll try to put bright markers in the picture around the property so you can see how large it is. The well has been started and should be done in a week. I'm not sure when we will start the wall.

A House for Hazel

Hazel Crossley has arrived from England to spend 6 or 8 months here teaching at English at San Lucas. She came in Tuesday and this afternoon we were able to find a suitable one bedroom house for her to rent. We have looked at LOTS of places, but this one is the best deal we've seen. On Tuesday she should be able to finalize the deal! Grima, the principal of San Lucas is thrilled she's got a visiting English teacher.

A Big Smile!

Yes, Padre Juan Carlos is so excited to have started the well at Santiago Apóstol I thought he´d split! We have electricity on site and may be able to talk a neighbor into letting us fill her water tank and use some to make the cement for the holding tank for water. We´ll investigate getting a pump to pump the water to an above ground holding tank next. More pics Saturday as we´ll take the parish up to carry stones for the temporary land markers. Progress in God´s Service!

Today's Events

Today was a busy day. First, Ron had a meeting with the two directors of the Casas Hogares. There are now 26 baby chicks at Sagrada Familia. We talked about heath issues of various kids, legal issues related to the establishment of the new home, and how the new psychologist was getting along withthe kids.

Next, Padre Juan Carlos picked Ron up to take our first supplies up to Santiago Apostol. You can see us "slaving away" with the materials for the caretaker´s hut. Tomorrow they will start on the water holding tank. Maria is standing at the near corner and our property parallels the road as far as the stone wall across from it. 4500 square meters.

Then, in the afternoon Vicki went to the airport to collect Hazel, the retired teacher from England who is going to be teaching English at San Lucas. We arranged the rooftop room to accomodate her temporarily. Tomorrow we´ll start looking for an apartment for her.

We just finished dinner with Juan Carlos, Maria, Hazel. Chicken soup, hard rolls, cheese and avocados. We discussed the plans for the team from the Dallas Cathedral. A full day, but a good one!

Introduction

Hi! We thought this might be a way to let everyone know how our ministries are progressing here in Arequipa, Peru. We are SAMS-US missionaries and arrived here in Arequipa in September of 2004. We work with the Anglican seminary, music ministry, Cristo Redentor Parish, hosting short-term mission teams, two orphanages, English acquisition, , mentoring, and women's ministry.