Wedding Bells

While Vicki has been assisting vocally and with ocassional opportunities for professional input, she finally has been able to be more involved playing music at the church on the flute. A couple was married in Cristo Redentor this weekend and Vicki enjoyed playing Pachebel's Canon in D and Schubert's Ave Maria along with the "regular" music. Lately she has been writing out the sheet music for the songs used on Sunday- a time consuming, but rewarding endeavor for her and a blessing for the congregation.

Cornelia

Cornelia is a real help to us. She cooked for the Hills and stayed on to help us. With all the visitors we have, it is great to have her preparing our meals three days a week. Our average number is 5 or 6 for lunch- the main meal of the day. Vicki coordinates the menus and carefully plans for the meals for the visiting teams. Usually we have the visiting teams for one meal at the house. Fresh bread, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables top the menu. Cornelia even manages to overcome the challenges of our stove to produce scrumptous cakes. Ron won't even attempt it! Thanks to Cornelia's cooking and Naty's cleaning, we are free to concentrate on ministry issues!

Santa María Magdalena

If you´d like to see more about this mission close to Lake Titicaca, visit http://juliacaperu.blogspot.com/

Juliaca

Just a week ago Padre Juan Carlos, Padre Ron, and our visiting seminarian, David were off to Juliaca's mission Santa María Magdalena for their patronal festival. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and not nearly as cool as it could have been in Juliaca. Attendance was about 25 adults and 20 kids or so. This little mission has been slowly growing while the complex is upgraded. David and Ron were peddled about town in a "three-wheeler" while Padre JC was right behind us in his transport. Ron represented the bishop as he was not able to make it this time.

Homilies

We have the Daily Office (Morning or Evening Prayer) 4 days a week. Seminarians are in charge of presenting a 5 minute homily or reflection on the lessons of the day. When our seminarians also oficiate the office, they wear cassocks. David, our intern, took a few offices to help out. I think we're going to need some bigger cassocks! A good sport, David will be missed when he leaves next week. He has done GREAT work here. Many thanks to David for his tireless work here this summer.

Days OFF

Today is the second day of our 2 day "PARO" or strike. This is a general strike. Most shops closed, marches, no transportation. There seems to be a good bit of movement in pre-dawn hours, but then vehicle movement grinds to a halt until just after dusk. A few private vehicles pass by. The price of fuel has gone up three times under this new president and the price of food is continuing to rise. This makes it very hard for the poorer elements of the community. Marches and demonstrations are occurring, but so far here in Arequipa we haven't heard of any serious violence. Mobs can block traffic and beat up drivers and passengers so it is best just to stay home. In a walk around the neighborhood yesterday, I saw lots of people out, some visiting neighbors, some just walking the dog. The most needy are walking from home to try and find some kind of work as a day without pay is disastrous. Pray for lower costs for food and fuel and new employment opportunities for the people. The Robertsons worked at home.

Three Key Ladies to the Work Here

These three gals are important to the growth of the churches here in Arquipa.

Vicki is advancing the music ministry and hosting teams-whether teams to work here or connecting them with Cabanaconde or Juliaca. María Andia is the administrator for the south and Ron's secretary. She keeps us in funds and organized with correct class handouts. Then there is Fiorella. Fiorella is a graduating student at the university in tourism and works as an assistant at the San Lucas school. She is also a fine seminarian with an outstanding faith. I'm sure the Lord has ministry plans for her! Thank you, ladies, for all you do.

Santiago Apóstol

Another site we showed our visitors was Santiago Apóstol. It was a sunny day as usual and Ron visited with a new neighbor from the Puno area. Her first language was Quechua and she apologized for her rudimentary Spanish, but we made out just fine. The two girls just enjoyed the entertainment of seeing funny gringos out in their neighborhood. We continue to pray for the funds to come in to build a basic multipurpose building and "posta" or medical clinic.

Duet

Vicki was thrilled to have an opportunity to play a duet with Gloria at church. The first time in 3 years! Gloria used the keyboard given in Sean's memory and Sandy did a vocal piece with Gloria, too. The congregation was delighted with the special music. Maybe we inspired some of the seminarians to take up an instrument. A good plan for someone interested in ministry!

Relaxing

Fortunately there was time for a little relaxing and sightseeing. Zingaro's is one of our favorite spots.

Intense Math Conference

Sandy's (Alejandro's) Spanish came in handy with this intense, spur of the moment conference. Although I'm not sure they were discussing the pro's and con's of graphing calculators, communication was happening!

San Lucas School

An area of interest for Sandy were the math programs at San Lucas and the Academia program. The Academia is in recess, but Principal Manuel and secretary Gloria were glad to discuss our Anglican School and show the plans for the future.

San Lucas Mission

We wanted Sandy and Gloria to get a clear picture of what goes on here in ministry so we took them to visit the San Lucas congregation. While there they got to meet Deacon Justo and Cornelia, his wife. Sandy knows Spanish from having lived in Venezuela as a kid so he heard about plans for evangelism in this congregation and the connection with the school.

Visitor to the White City

Sandy and Gloria were just here to visit with us. They are scoping out possible places to serve as SAMS missionaries. Sandy is a math teacher and Gloria is a pianist. We were glad to host them as they checked out placements in Peru and Bolivia. Welcome, friends to the White City, Arequipa!

Intern David

David is a SAMS-USA intern here for about 6 weeks. David is proving to be a dynamo for Padre Juan Carlos. David worked in Trujillo for 13 months last year at an orphanage before returning to the States to start seminary in California. A Spanish speaker, he has been helping to get parish visiting initiated at Cristo Redentor and San Lucas."And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"(Rom.10) His understanding of some of the challenges in ministry in Peru has allowed him to "roll with the punches."...such as a transportation strike just two days after he arrived without any luggage!! Thanks, David

Joan Visits

We were delighted to have Joan visit with us for two weekends. Here to help on a Medical Missions International team that did medical clinics for 2 weeks, Joan was an extra blessing to us on the weekends. She and Vicki reminiced about previous retreats and times together. Joan's willingness to drive Vicki's Mom to cancer treatments a year ago makes her especially dear. Our God is awesome in how He provides in times of need! Praise Him!

Faith

We make a conscious effort to build up faith in our kids at both homes. We want the kids to know we love them and we are concerned about the kind of people they become. Ron prays that they grow into faithful, caring, and productive members of their community who have a strong relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. We could use your prayers for that, too. While our Casas kids have many wonderful qualities, they have a lot of darkness in their backgrounds to overcome.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Cor.9:8)