Pilgrims on Purpose-Travel Adventures Launches TODAY!

Greetings family, friends, interested others and thank you for following my posts in recent years....today marks the beginning of a new journey and a new small business venture!

Announcing Pilgrims on Purpose!

Pilgrims on Purpose, led by myself, Pastora Fran Schmidt, former missionary to Peru, offers faith-based, life-changing, missional travel experiences offering a variety of Mission Exposure Trips to locations around the world. This is a new and exciting way to travel!

You will:

• meet local people and share in their joys and sorrows
• work alongside community/congregational members on a mission project in their community of their choosing
• learn about the host country, its culture, people, history
• discuss issues of social justice, poverty, and wrestle with appropriate responses to globalization
• grow in your own  spiritual journey by interaction and sharing with group members and those of our host country

We invite you to join us on amazing adventures!

Please follow my new blog: pilgrimsonpurpose.wordpress.com 

AND...like and follow us on facebook: Pilgrims on Purpose 

Defining "home"

Greetings family, friends, supporters, and those who somehow find their way to this blog!

As many know already, I've returned not once but now a second time in the last four months (what a blessing & gift!) to my beloved second home, Peru. It has been a time to reconnect with old friends, dear parishioners, lively children, accompany a visiting group, as well as time to reflect on many things, including how I define "home".

It began with a Garrison Keillor article we were to read as part of our online writing course, from National Geographic's February 2014 issue "There's No Place Like Home". Then, a couple of days ago, Tracy, a member of the visiting companion congregation asked, "Pastora Fran, where is home for you?" The question is more profound than she could have imagined. How could she know that I have thought of this question, and struggled with it for the better part of the last two years? How could she know that even within myself, I still did not have that answer, the answer I have longed for, searched for, and prayed for!

Where is home for me?

Saskatoon, in the western part of Canada, has been a temporary home for the last couple of years. I've lived there three times in my life and the accumulation of those years adds up to almost as long as the years growing up in my home town. The home town I left when I was 23. In Saskatoon, I have a few long-time friends and colleagues. It is the home of my alma mater. I love Saskatoon. A windy river stretches through the treed Meewasin Valley Trail that hugs the river and goes on for miles. Several bridges hundreds of years old cross that river and are the subject of many a visitor and local artist's canvas or photo. On the University campus, the stone buildings are a beige color of limestone (originally) and Tyndall Stone, even new buildings are mandated to use it, according to university by-laws. In the summers it is picturesque. Areas like Broadway offer quaint cafes and restaurants. There is a wonderful live music scene, art galleries, Farmer's Market, local artisan shops and live theater to enjoy there. The downtown as well as the city itself is enjoying a time of revitalization. Though the winter is my least favorite season, in a certain part of the city, even winter sparkles here. It is the city that keeps calling me to return. This time, living in a quiet corner of the university campus, we are a unique mix of International and Canadian students at every level of University and Seminary studies. We form a close-knit community. And in these short two years, through new friendships with immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries, all that I love about Peru: the people, the culture, the language, food, and even the music and dance are all alive in this place I call home...

Yet, this is only my temporary home. I have known it all along. A one year contract was renewed, allowing the opportunity to extend my temporary stay. But this time has always been transitional. It is much like sitting in the belly of the whale. Only unlike Jonah who resisted being sent to Nineveh, the place to which I am being sent is, as yet, unknown. I hope it is not like Nineveh. But I am still in the whale's belly and the where is not entirely mine to know right now. It is God's call after all.

But, where is home for me?

During this transitional time, that some in my life have found incredibly long, this question has hovered, it has lingered, it has challenged, followed, pursued and pushed me in a thousand directions. Some look to geography to determine "home". I used to think this way, too. They are rooted profoundly, deeply, right where they were born, or right where they have chosen to settle for a good portion of their lives, the place that holds memories and story. But as a wise, dear, global friend pointed out one summer day: for some of us, "home" is not determined by our geography. Rather, our roots grow above the ground to surround the earth and include the global village in which we find our home. Our roots grow far and wide, stretching above and around, instead of growing vertically, underground. It is a different sense of rootedness, a different sense of "home". One definition is not of more value than another, it is simply how we are created and how we exist in this world. 

A wonderful, liberating image for me, this is the story I shared with Tracy. 

Home, then, is everywhere.

With blessings, love, peace, and joy wherever you are rooted, wherever home this day is for you!

Pastora Fran

A return.......

In February, I returned to Peru for the first time in about a year and a half with a group of 20 members and their pastor, from Zion Lutheran in Saskatoon. It was a returning to my heart, to something of myself that had been left behind and of which I try to bring back to Canada each time.

San Juan and Zion members

 In the survival mentality of those I served in the barrio of San Juan de Lurigancho, each day is a blessing of God and each day is work and grit. It is work to find a job with a steady income, work each day to stretch financial resources far enough to feed the family, work to wash clothes often by hand, ironing them for days after they dry to kill bugs that might have found their way onto damp clothes. It is work to just get around and accomplish the most simplest of tasks, that which we find mundane and easy: getting a few groceries. There is a ride in a bus, not many have their own vehicles in this barrio, it is congested and weaves in and out of the millions of vehicles on the road, not stopping at designated stops but perhaps at each corner if there is someone waiting to get on. Competition among several bus lines is great, so the bus is packed fuller than it could ever be. Without regulation for catalytic converters and with many vehicles using diesel, buses that we sent there in the 50's and 60's are still utilized, spewing out fumes as they take off for the next stop. The ride to the market might take ten minutes by car, but it is more than a half an hour by bus. This is the prefered market, as prices are cheaper than the larger commercial markets that keep getting built around the barrio. Peruvians in this area of the city are smart, though, they know that the local market supports the local people so they rarely shop at the larger, foreign-owned stores.

At a local market
in San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima-Peru

One arrives at the local market, filled with people. Each little shop spills out onto the street in this neighbourhood and is built back up into the hillside, taking in about ten square city blocks. Each merchant sells one thing, be it shoes, purses, fish, vegetables, or fruit. There is produce, that is where it is purchased, but it all looks bruised and several days old, no doubt rejected from the larger commercial stores. Pushing the way through the crowds, there are smells of fish, poultry, and images of ducks and chickens, of sides of beef even, hanging above the displays of other pre-cut meat. Packs of dogs follow the scent, some even eating the blood or other pieces of meat that have fallen onto the gravel below.

Incredible image: meat, intestines, legs and thighs
just hanging open at the local market

It will take a couple of hours to shop for food that will likely only last in the household for a few days. This rhythm is repeated a couple of times throughout the week. Arms full of products, there is the return bus trip home. Heat, crowds, screaming babies, one waits at the stop for however long it takes for a bus to come along. Then the task of preparing food begins.

Life is gritty here. You have to be a survivor. You have to push your way through crowds and not be concerned about personal space or boundaries. Yet something else beautiful has emerged from the dusty, gritty, daily survival of life in the barrio: a deep trust and faith in the risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

And as we returned in February, we encountered it once again. We saw it in the faces of the children and parents, grandparents. We heard it in their prayers, in their stories of daily life. We experienced it as they asked us to dance and sing along with them.The trust and reliance on God is something that is not only deeply felt in the people, but it is a lived and daily reality. It is what we felt when we were there. And it is one of the missing pieces I feel upon returning to my own culture.

In Canada, we take so many things for granted: clean water; consistent electricity; basic services provided by the local and provincial governments; jobs that contribute to the running of the society; basic human rights that allow us earn a minimum wage; good health care services; an established, good education; opportunities for sports, music and arts. Yet, we often feel entitled and even deserving. We take these rights for granted and in doing so, can forget that they are gifts of God, that which God has provided for us. In our sense of entitlement, we forget that all we have has come from God and lose this sense of humility.

Yet in countries like Peru, in the barrio where San Juan Camino de Esperanza (St. John Way of Hope) is located, there is a deep sense of trust, of humility, of gratitude. There is an acknowledgement that people cannot survive daily realities of poverty, disease, poor education and health-care without God's intervention And what we have seen is God's glory, breaking into the darkness of greed and inequality which causes such disparity. We have seen God's glory, in a glimpse, in these ten days in Peru. It is here, too. God is here, in Canada. Yet it is seen with such clarity in a place like this barrio in Lima. Daily struggles, daily humility, daily walks to survive each day and make a better world for the children.

So, we continue in our mission and service to God and our neighbour, as we seek to deepen our understanding and bridge the gaps of culture that lead to strengthened faith and a deeper trust in God. May we come to acknowledge our need of God in our struggles, not the same as those of San Juan members, yet loss, change, transition. And in these times, we pray that with Christ at the centre, the church can be the safe, strengthening place for all.

With thanks to all of the participants of this Mission Exposure Trip, members of Zion Lutheran Church and Pastor Randy, for the opportunity to return to Peru and be a bridge of language and cultural understanding, to see and experience God on other soil....and become aware of how God is at work in all times and places in the world! 

Pictured with Pastor Randy and Pastora Ofelia

Grace and peace to all who pilgrim in these experiences of self-awareness and challenge. May God bless your journey and discovery, strengthening your sense of faith, humility and gratitude.

Pastora Fran.

 

Joy & Peace!

Greetings all, peace and joy to each of you!

The 10 days' return to Peru was marvelous, with a chance to reconnect with former parishioners, walk alongside friends and pastors, and to accompany a wonderful inter-generational group of Canadian Lutherans as they discovered, learned, and journeyed together!

Stay tuned...more stories  and pics to come from all of our adventures in the return to Peru!

Returning...to my heart!

Dear friends and simpatizantes,

Peace and greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, the source and centre of all life, peace, goodness, well-being and every blessing!

It has taken some time, but yes, it is true: I am a hybrid. There are the Canadian parts of me that I value and treasure,  along with some things that I reject quite strongly now! There are also the Latina parts of me that beg to be heard as well, along with some frustrations in the years living in Bolivia and Peru, things I rejected there (like showing up an hour late for a meeting and it is somehow ok?!). All in all, there is agreement of the "hybrid-ness" and the piecing together of identity, holding both parts with equal value and enthusiasm. And, as other missionary friends have re-affirmed, fully re-adapting is not the goal, but rather integrating all parts of life and experience. It has been happening, as God turns the mourning into dancing!

And there are many reasons for dancing now, as there is rejoicing and thanksgiving for the years in missionary service. And there is dancing and rejoicing as now, a year and a half later, there is a returning to Peru, a return to the children who captured my heart, a return to a church whose mission is clear, a return to the Latina who struggles to come out in this cold, frigid, hostile winter environment, and a return to a great big part of my heart that was left behind....

Our adventures in the return to Peru begin on Friday....and we pray for the Lutheran church in Peru, for the youth, children, and adults who support them, we pray for guidance and humility, for safe travels and joyous celebrating of the mission in which we are privileged to participate as children of God!

With peace, joy, and hopefulness,

Pastora Fran.

Some more reflections....

There was a shock that caught me by surprise one day, when a parishioner in my little congregation in Peru prayed (during the prayers of the people) for those who have nothing, those who live several miles from "us". He prayed that we remember the "humble, poor". It was remarkable to this young, naive, new pastor, new to this mission, new to Peru. I believed I was already serving among the humble poor, and he thought those who lived further up the main street were the poor ones.

It was a shock, yet that realization has formed and transformed me deeply. There are those who, quite literally, are orphaned, homeless, suffering with addiction, subjected to violence, suffering with illness, who cannot provide for their children or even themselves, and with next to no government support and limited medical care, these ones are, essentially abandoned by society, living with next to no hope. Those who Carlos named as the humble poor, those abandoned by their families because of their disease or illness, because of conflict or addiction, those left with no support, limited resources and often with challenges to find stable work, beaten down by the many layers of systemic injustice. These are the humble poor, and it is for these that the congregation of San Juan exists: to welcome all with the love and grace of Jesus, to provide tutoring, nutrition, health, and spiritual support and accompaniment as we witness the transformative power of Jesus Christ in our midst.

Those I served called themselves "los humildes", the humble ones. And although many struggled to provide the basics for their families, they did not consider themselves the humble poor. They were able-bodied, they had a home, a humble home but still, a home, shelter. They had some work, they had support of their families and everyone contributed to the household. It is this way because oftentimes several generations live in one household. Providing enough, that which is sufficient, meant focusing on the basics: power; potable water; food like rice, potatoes, chicken, beans, cooked vegetables. Generally for "los humildes" providing that which is sufficient means no frills, not all the cutlery or plates will match. Napkins are 1/4 of what we would consider "normal". Sometimes there are serving dishes, more often than not, food is dished up in the kitchen then served in the large dining/family area. And care and attention are given to ensure that nothing is ever wasted. Even the peel from the pineapple used in making juice for dinner.

These are the humble ones, because work can still be found, most of the time. Not a living wage, mind you, but it is something.  The humble poor may not have family or friends from which to borrow, but the humble have other resources, others willing to help, either family or friends. And sometimes, it meant they could sell a toy, a tv, cut off the power for a few days just to survive. And as was experience, most everyone in Peru and many developing countries, know how to make a dollar stretch, they re-purposed and recycled long before it was popular. How wonderful their trust in the Lord to provide, they are humble in every wonderful sense of the word. 

Ministry among the humble taught me that we can reuse and re-purpose almost anything. In our parish, we would keep and store everything, as there would be a time that it would be of use to us again, and indeed, it happened time and again. That which I would have thrown out in at attempt to clean things out, was seen as wasteful and at first, Haydee would have to stop me. What did they think of this strange, wasteful Canadian pastor? If there was any possibility of fixing that which was broken, certainly Carlos could fix it, if not his brother or cousin, or the other handyman down the street. Old plastic chairs were somehow molded together again, a new wood leg added to the old wood table to make it more sturdy. Every rusted nail kept. Even in our ministry with the children and youth, pencils, crayons and pencil-crayons were used until they could no longer be sharpened. I'd never seen such a short pencil before! Yet the necessity is there to use each item to its fullest purpose. Precious money is not invested in anything "new" until it is necessary. This is perhaps why I still use my 7+ year old lap-top with one key missing and letters hardly visible!

These years, the impact of what my Peruvian parishioners taught me is all still being reflected upon, debriefed, and integrated into my life in Canada. I hope to share these memories and value the learnings from those much more wise than me. And I also hope, as a good friend suggested, to never fully re-integrate into "northern" living but instead to be a hybrid and value both parts of my life and experience...

So...some more reflections as I pray God to keep me humble, to help us all become more humble so that we may trust in God more fully, more deeply and know a richness and depth of faith that "los humildes" experience and live each day.

With peace and grace,

Pastora Fran

Different kinds of re-entry

Dear family and friends,

The last sixteen months have resembled a roller-coaster ride; a bumpy, twisting, uncomfortable, exhilarating, emotional, and gut-wrenching ride. And I've never much appreciated amusement rides. There have been many ups and downs, unexpected turns, loud screams, fearful moments, joyous moments, and challenging, strange feelings about all of it. I still tremendously miss those in Peru who I left behind about a year and five months ago. I still pray the Lord's Prayer in Spanish as a feeble attempt to still feel connected to all that those four years meant to me and to acknowledge how transformative they were. I hold those memories, those experiences, those I served so dear in memory and in heart.

Most of our community of San Juan Camino de Esperanza,
Saint John Way of Hope

As Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, returned to earth after several months on the International Space Station, there was an image on the evening news of him being helped from a helicopter, taking his first steps on earth. There was something in the image, in his stumbling walk, how he was held by others at his side to which I could relate. His adjustment involved the return to gravity with weakened muscles. And although my "re-entry" last year from life in Peru has its own unique story and was not a literal return to gravity, perhaps it was a return to a gravity of a different sort, instead to the North American "bubble".  The "bubble" of consumerism, materialism, secularism, and individualism to name a few.

It has been a vulnerable time. For several weeks and months I was just very sad and depressed, lonely for those I came to deeply love and care about. Sad for what was left behind and those whom I left behind to struggle with realities most of us North Americans can never imagine, trying to carry on the ministry with the children and youth from the surrounding barrio without a pastor or support (thankfully they now have a pastor!). For several months, I felt as if I had abandoned those I served, wanting to hop a plane at a moment's notice to go back.

Prior to church one Sunday, the girls play a game (I never could quite figure out the rules!),
in the little yard of the church compound....

At the outset, each place I returned to in Canada had its share of four years' worth of changes to adjust to, each area, each place I visited was different in some way and subconsciously, the brain makes the comparison. It was exhausting. There are other shocks or surprises along the way, too; not everyone is really interested in what happened to me in my experiences in Peru; priorities are different now; friendships have changed; we return from this time and are not the same. This is a good thing, by the way. But it means that we have stories to tell, experiences, challenges, and much to share. We have witnessed extremes of poverty, hunger, injustices, corruption, crime, pollution, overpopulation, to name a few. And so, we are not who we were and it takes time to figure out who one is now, in the re-entry, in this new reality.

All of this has left me feeling, at times, as though I had been on another planet or least in outer space, maybe on the International Space Station even. Maybe I should just be grateful to have made it safely back to Canada? No. It is so much more than that, it HAS to be about more than just feeling grateful for the opportunities and wealth, the health-care, clean water, education, etc, that we enjoy. No. This experience is much more. It changed me in every way a person can change.

But, this all leaves one feeling off-balance at times and looking like Mr. Hadfield walking on land for the first time in several months. One might feel as though one does not fit in anymore. Societal values and certainly many previously held cultural values are put into question. All things are new. The frame of reference is from a time in the past. Those of us who have lived in a developing country may have adapted more than we knew to our temporary home. We somehow accepted new cultural norms and ways of being in the world. And now, we return, to question our own cultural norms and values. Re-entry. It means so much, it challenges so much of who we are, of who we were and we continue to rediscover the depth of growth and change that has happened. What we can note is how our priorities have changed, our values, thoughts, opinions and perspectives are more clearly defined.

With our youth group of San Juan on our visit to the Museo de la Nación (National Museum),
a first elevator ride for many...a first look at the colonial history of their country...yes Machu Picchu is
not just a tourist destination, it is of historical and cultural significance to all Peruvians.

As a result of the sorrow, change, and challenge, among many other issues, it seems that I have spent time with those who understand the process of re-entry: international students; immigrants; refugees; returned missionaries; expats; those with a strong sense of global awareness; those who have experienced crises of their own, the types of challenge that these last four years brought into my life. I have spent more time with those whose cultural and societal values are in line with mine, who know that ones' value does not come from a new car or a new pair of shoes, but which rather comes from the love, grace, and acceptance of our gracious God. I have surrounded myself with those who have experienced or who are currently living cross-cultural, hybrid lives of their own, because they are immigrants, because they work in culturally diverse settings, because they work on the "other" side of the river, or have chosen to live sustainable lives.

There are still many challenges, more growth opportunities as I discover who I am now and who it is that God is calling me to be with all of those experiences of cross-cultural living. And on this new journey, one discovers the depth and wealth of God's grace and richness, and new life springs forth out of gratitude for what has been and then is able to accept and embrace those years so that they are incorporated into one's identity. Gravity, the reality, takes hold once again and it is with gratitude one continues.

Final worship service with Emaus congregation in Lima, Peru

It is with gratitude for all that has been that one can carry on. Thanks be to God for the hard, challenging years, the joyful, celebratory moments, and the many blessings that this now hybrid Canadian has experienced. May God continue to use, guide, inspire and enrich us all so that we may be faithful to God's calling in this Advent season, that our waiting may be active, and our listening, attentive to God's voice so that we may be strengthened to follow where God leads...Amen.

With hope, peace and joy...con mucha esperanza, paz y alegría continuamos en este camino de la fe!

Pastora Fran

Deep well of sorrow

It has welled up in me again. This very deep well of sorrow It is a grief beyond any known before. I have loved and lost before: two cousins to suicide, grandmothers, my only grandfather, a great aunt,  a mother's cousin, serious loved relationships that failed.  I have moved from towns, cities, communities in what number 33 moves now. There has been change, loss, and even grief for shifting relationships and jobs. And while one is strong and resilient, none of that has really prepared me for the tremendous sorrow that has been experienced over this past year and a bit of re-entry into Canada.

There is grief for severed connections and relationships, wondering how former parishioners are doing after journeying for years with them in their times of deep sorrows, fears, and worries. There is grief and loss over not walking any longer with those who struggle daily with difficult issues and tremendous challenges each day. When we in North America have so many financial resources (or access to those resources), we are still busy, working to make ends meet but seldom live without. One grieves not being there to listen, to support, to pray, and to journey with those precious Peruvian children of God. the play and laughter of children is missed, also. The children whose play and joy gives not a hint of the vulnerable and precarious realities of their world. One might not grieve for the conflict that erupts as a dormant volcano from time to time.Yet now, it is a missed opportunity for bringing peace, reconciliation and understanding, preaching and living the Gospel of life and salvation. This lived Gospel transforms mistrust and we can see the ways that God is working even through misunderstanding and conflict. To not be in ministry at this profound level marks a huge change of life and purpose. It creates and identity crisis of sorts.

One wonders the value of sending missionaries...the value of receiving missionaries, returned from such extreme circumstances, from being witnesses and sojourners with those suffering daily. One wonders the care that is given, now, to one's former congregation who had to wait 8 months, yes that's right, 8 months to receive the sacrament of holy communion. Such a pastoral shortage that one feels the children of God have been abandoned and ignored. Who are we as church if we are denying God's people the sacraments, the real means of grace as we proclaim them to be as Lutherans.

There is grief ....there is a deep well of sorrow and it rises to meet me from the depths of my gut, and at times it is difficult to breathe, to sleep. There are hopes and dreams for the ministry that have not, nor will ever, be realized now. There were trusted connections that have been severed. There were seeds planted, and I do not know the outcome of which have taken root, which will grow and sprout. The seeding had just begun amid the harshest of conditions. And all that was, is not the same.

The refiner's fire is more in the return than in the sending. This is a surprise! Canada four years later is a far cry from the one that was left. There is grief for the Canadian identity, being overshadowed in the name of development and under the guise of economic stability. Governmental dehumanizing decision-making affects not only our First Nations. Yet they are only ones speaking the truth. The rest are mesmerized by the almighty dollar, by bright, shiny new things. And it all sounds familiar. It sounds like a place one just left. And after years of waving the Canadian flag of it's better in my country, it is all rather disillusioning. The realities in my church and a sense of our loss of identity that parallels that of the Canadian identity is also deeply grieved.

The deep well of sorrow is mired with many complicating factors. Questions beg answers and there are none. It is a difficult struggle to accept what is and move forward. The Gospel and even Jesus, himself, calls us to not look back, to not be held back but to let go, name the truth, and move forward to "go and proclaim" the kingdom of God. It is a one day at a time journey. The grief will lessen. So I am told!

Few have understood. Few will ever understand the depth of sorrow, of loss, of loneliness that this journey has entailed. I grieve a people, a culture, a depth of faith and trust in God. Life is different here.

Let there be peace and grace abounding to help with the acceptance of what is a new reality and a new life here in this place. May the experiences, the loss, the grief, along with the joys of the last few years be a part of each cell, of each day. May God's love and grace reveal new life and possibility even as I struggle in the acceptance of what is, so that Gospel may also be lived and proclaimed here. God grant patience, understanding, and wisdom to replace the sorrow.

The day the boxes from Peru arrived!

With grace, peace and the love of God,

Pastora Fran

Skunk Documentaries

My father has long been a NatGeo fan. When we were children, he subscribed to the magazine, that was back in the 70's. He collected piles of them, often referring to them, and even re-reading them. When we had school projects, they were his first source of information. Even better when they came out with television, documentaries of every sort then they came out with their own network! He watched documentaries from all around the world. And when I was in India in 2005, in great awe and appreciation for all we saw and experienced, I thought of my father and the years of documentaries. They had been enlightening, inspiring, perspective broadening, and educational...a wonderful part of my growing-up years.

When I returned from India, I wanted to motivate my dad, showing him picture after picture, story after story of all we had seen. He enjoyed it thoroughly, adding more historical and geographical input. Then I asked him, "You have to go to India and see it for yourself, when can we go together." His simply reply, "No thanks, I enjoy seeing these places from the comfort of the sofa."

And so it is, and so it continues, some people just do not want to travel too far from home or from what is comfortable. Yet it happened again one night, as I found myself sitting with my parents during Christmas break and two weeks home with them. Sitting with my parents for the first time in four years, and what did we do you ask? We watched a documentary of course! Having traveled to many countries, and been introduced to various cultures and languages, having had life-changing experiences, an expanded world-view and perspective, been challenged in every way, seen things that they cannot even imagine. And, this is re-entry. We sat, together, and it was ok. We watched a documentary, this time about skunks. Yes skunks!

I did not understand why watching an hour worth of information about skunks was important and not talking to me about my travels, adventures, and experiences. One might have felt hurt except that my life was, and perhaps even still is, so far removed from that of my parents. The years in Peru cannot be summed up in one hour, even though I have tried in my re-entry with various presentations. The depth of change, growth, questioning and vulnerability cannot be summed up in a one hour documentary. Or perhaps it could but it just has not been done yet!

At that point, it had been six months. Parents are just happy that their daughter has returned to them, safe and sound. The daughter, instead, grieving, missing people, friends, parishioners and places. Mixed feelings of being happy to be with ones family sometimes gives way to sadness for the unknown period of time before one sees others loved as deeply in a far-off land.

And much like the beginning of my months at language school in Bolivia, I have stumbled over my words, often not understood certain phrases or expressions, not understood some of the new technology that greeted me back in Canada. There have been moments of not contributing to some conversations because I am simply not as interested as I used to be with a certain level of small-talk or superficial conversation or because those engaged in the conversation were using language, colloquialisms, or expressions from daily cultural norms, norms I had not yet integrated.

My father said that I didn't have to stay and watch the skunk documentary with them. But even in the midst of what I did not understand, I wanted to be with them, to just sit with them, to be grateful for them and their support in my life. I told him, "Dad, skunks don't interest me but you do." And so goes the adjusting and re-adapting to new realities and the figuring out who I am in the turbulence of it all.

Can I be grateful for skunk documentaries...sure! (once every four years or so)

With grace & peace...and blessings and more grace to those in their re-entries!

Fran

Saying Good-bye...

Dear family, friends, supporters and interested others!!

Greetings to you and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I write to you from sunny, beautiful Saskatoon, a million miles away from Lima, Peru. And that is not just the distance, it feels like a million miles away in terms of culture, technology, language, and so much more. In these days of re-entry and re-adjustment I feel, once again, like Alice in Wonderland. I am exploring my own country through different eyes, reconnecting with family and friends, familiar yet not-so-familiar places. As with my first trip down the rabbit hole, I feel like a foreigner all over again. There is much that has changed in my beloved Canada, there are new things to integrate into vocabulary and into memory. The mind is racing making comparison's to Lima and Peru: from places, sounds, sights, smells, cities...the list of difference continues!

A local market

The view from Martirez, where many of San Juan Camino de
Esperanza children and youth live...

With Carlos, from San Juan Camino de Esperanza,
at my last ILEP National Convention

With the children at my Farewell Service at Emaus

Saying good-bye with the youth at San Juan Camino de Esperanza

After a little more than three months in Canada, there is now time for reflection on the good-byes to friends, colleagues, brothers and sisters of ILEP and parishioners of Emaus and San Juan Camino de Esperanza. Along with the Farewell Services, were fiestas to celebrate our years of ministry together, mixed in with the packing, details of an international move, good-bye lunches and coffees...and many, many tears of thankfulness!! As we know, good-byes are sad and I miss so many people, they are held close in thought and prayer and will for a long time to come!

Details of good-bye included packing up and
getting everything shipped back to Canada

With some of the members of Emaus at my
Farewell Service and Celebration of the ministry

In these years of missionary service, the ELCIC and ILEP in partnership were able to provide pastoral ministry to the congregation of San Juan Camino de Esperanza (St. John Way of Hope), an interim ministry for the last year at the congregation of Emaus, as well as participation in the conference of ILEP pastors, the formation and directing of an ILEP choir, music and liturgy classes with all but three ILEP congregations as well as through the UBL (Universidad Biblica Latinoamericana), and hosting many choirs, music groups, short-term mission groups, and welcoming of many visitors from Germany, Canada and the United States. What an honour it has been, and what blessing and challenge these years have presented. But I left with such gratitude and a heart filled with joy and love for all those with whom I had the pleasure to serve and walk alongside. God truly was present in these sacred places and spaces, on the roadways, in people's homes, in the sharing of meals, in the hillsides, valleys, walkways along the ocean, in joys and sorrow, and most especially in the breaking of bread and outpouring of wine as we gathered to worship, to sing, and in praise of our God from whom all blessings come!

With Pastora Uta, Missionary Pastor from Germany,
who preached at the San Juan Farewell and Celebration of Ministry

Sharing the peace with Brigitte and Angela who didn't want
to let me go....

The Eucharistic Prayer and Blessing

And as I leave behind a wonderfully complex and unique culture, people, land, children, congregations, youth, brothers and sisters in Christ, places, sights, smells, food, music and dances, I will continue to pray that those seeds that we planted here will continue to grow and flourish with God's love and grace.

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord..." Jeremiah 29: 7-14 

With blessings, peace, love, and joy in the Lord,

Pastora Fran.

Summer 2012

Greetings to family, friends & supporters!

The weather in Lima had finally changed to fall by the time I was preparing to leave. That meant cool days, misty, grey skies and cooler fall-like temperatures by Canadian standards. But even with the cold, thoughts turned to this last summer in Lima and some of the events over these last few months.....

Emaus fundraisers....

Playing Bingo after worship to raise money for our rent...tonight's
prize: a HUGE chocolate bar...yummy!!

President, Carmen Valladares runs the BINGO...

Beautiful quilt received as gift and symbol of our companion relationship with Grace Lutheran Church in Victoria, British Colombia...

With a few members from San Juan Camino de Esperanza

Reading in English class, after Worship services on Sunday mornings,
with Angela, Miguel and Christian

Other Summer Events at San Juan Camino de Esperanza:

Vacation Bible School: Escuela del Verano

The children listen attentively...mostly!

Learning about "Cleaning our bodies and our soul"... practical and spiritual practices for how to wash our hands and hair, how to brush our teeth, then how God through Christ clean our hearts and spirits by forgiving us of our sin...

 With the youth at San Juan...

We collected rocks from around the church and carried them around, they were really heavy! They are like the sins that we carry with us every day. What does Jesus do with our sin? He washes us in the waters of Holy Baptism and cleanses us of our sin so that we can be transformed and made new. What good news that is for us!!

Cleaning our rocks and getting them ready to paint into something NEW!

Painting our rocks transforms them, just like what Christ does with our sin...

Lizette, Giselle and Percy busy transforming their rocks...


HANDING out special school packages and towels and toiletries from Grace Lutheran Church
and from Lutheran World Relief...THANK YOU to everyone who gave donations!!!

Gina receives her gift with a great big smile!

Our Annual Beach trip was a blast too....here the kids are anxiously looking at the beach as we turn to drive down the entry to Playa San Pedro, about an hour from San Juan de Lurigancho...

Enjoying the sun & surf!

Buried in the sand...

What a blessing this past Peruvian summer was, because of the Vacation Bible School, fundraising efforts, the trip to the beach, and the many donations received! Although this blog is LONG overdue and we are into our Canadian summer now, we remember and I remember the wonderful visits and conversations at the beach and during VBS and am grateful for how God has directed us in this ministry together over the years!


NEXT blog...a recounting of all the farewells and good-byes....as well as a video overview of the shared ministry between ILEP and ELCIC just in these past four years that I was able to serve as Long-Term Missionary to Peru.

With peace, love & blessings for a safe and enjoyable summer!

Pastora Fran.

Funny (and embarrassing!) learning curves...

Greetings dearest family, friends and supporters!


On the lighter side of life, cultural adaptation, ministry in a cross-cultural setting AND learning a new language, I thought it might be humorous to share some of my funny and embarrassing language blunders. A friend recently inspired me by sharing very openly about some his more embarrassing moments. That got me reflecting on some of my own humorous (and slightly embarrassing!) learning curves during the last four years since leaving Canada in August of 2008.

Here are just a few of the highlights from my personal blunder journal...what I SHOULD have said and what I actually said..enjoy!


Should have said: Tengo hambre (I'm hungry)...and what I said instead: Tengo hombre...which ACTUALLY means I have a man...um...that makes no sense at all but sure made my host mom laugh!

What I wanted to say: I have to buy soap for the shower (Tengo que comprar el jabon para ducharme)....& what I did say: Tengo que comprar JAMON para ducharme, which is: I need to buy ham for the shower. It wasn't just that I said it which made it funny but that it was accompanied by the washing gesture!!! That made it more funny. My host mom questioned me several times, you are going to shower with ham, are you sure? Of course, I repeatedly said yes, of course!...LOL...oh dear!

MANY times over the first few years, I referred to veca's (scholarships for theology students) as VACA, which is a cow. So we'd be talking about the vecas that were to be granted to our Seminary students and I kept saying vacas....I can see it now:  NEW Seminary policy, all students are to be given a COW to help with their studies....haha!

Perhaps the funniest and most embarrasing of said blunders happened a few months ago while enjoying lunch with the pastors after our monthly meeting. The papas, or potatoes, in Peru are delicious and I wanted to say was that the potatoes are more delicious here because the farmer's don't use pesticides or preservatives. But INSTEAD I Said: Las papas peruanas son las mas ricas porque los campesinos no usan preservativos. Sounds the same right? WRONG!! What I said was: Peruvian potatoes are so much better because the farmers don't use pesticides or condoms....YEP, preservativos are condoms in Spanish ...and preservantes are preservatives...CARAMBA! The two pastors at my table turned and looked me and I immediately realized my mistake and turned BEET RED! They asked, "Pastora Fran, do you know what you just said?"  Um, yes, that's not what I wanted to say at all, but it was all in good humor.

In reflecting on the years here in Peru, I can recount many more examples of experiences learning the Peruvian culture and traditions and the differences that made me feel uncomfortable and alien at times. Those of us who have lived cross-culturally understand as few others can how awkward these moments can be, but at least I can console myself by feeling that these learning curves and blunders have been more humorous than offensive. And my life is certainly richer for the blunders and learning curves, for all of the cultural difference and foreign experiences that have humbled me and which permit me, now, to admit my errors, to ask for help when it is needed, and to admit what I do not know or understand. It is a humility that is necessary to enter into any new experience or place whether we live in a foreign country or stay in our home town for all of our lives. God gifts us with this humility so that we can work together in God's kingdom and proclaim the Gospel to all nations and cultures, using all of our God-given talents and abilities with an openness and acceptance that can embrace the difference and the uncomfortable moments along the way, knowing that in Christ we are reconciled, no matter how BIG the blunder!

What a grace to be able to laugh at our errors, language or otherwise. This humility allows us to embrace the good, bad and ugly parts of our human experience. I remain humbly grateful for the wealth of experiences in this beautiful country that have taught me so much about myself, about my culture, about humility, about grace, about forgiveness, and about God's boundless love for each of us!

Wishing you all good laughter, joy and humility in the journey!


Pastora Fran.

Healthy Development?

Greetings and peace to all of you: family, friends, supporters and other interested persons!! 

From a somewhat foggy, rainy day at Machu Picchu,
pictured with Grace Iverson, Jannaya and Graham Jensen.

Remains of a building being destroyed
in the name of development, Ollantaytambo

A recent trip to the Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu recently inspired some thought around globalization and whether all development is healthy development. Take, for example, this home next to the river in Ollantaytambo. It is being demolished to make room for an expanding tourist hostel. The growth of the tourist industry in this part of the world has allowed for expansion of highways, the development of restaurants, hostels, and hotels throughout the Sacred Valley. Employment is stable in transportation and service industries as well as the local artesan markets in many of the small pueblos in the area. 

My curiosity around all of this development caused me to talk with several of our drivers, guides, waiters and tour operators during our various travels. As we sat drinking our coffee one day, our waiter told us that around 80 tourist buses visit their location, Inca ruins in Ollantaytambo, every day, driving on the old cobblestone roads. In Pisac, the number of tourists has even converted the Plaza Principal (the main centrer of town) into a market of artisan goods. We can all agree that steady employment is a good thing, however are farmers and musicians,  tradespeople and laborers people becoming slaves to the tourist industry? Is this the type of work they would like to do, what does all of this traffic and all of these tourists mean to the infrastructures of water, highways, sewage and waste, not to mention the overpopulation of heritage sites?

                                                                                                                                                                            

The Plaza Principal in Pisac, now an
artisan market

How do we as Christians respond even as we are tourists in another culture? What kind of development is healthy development, for the local people, for the economy, for the environment, etc...?

Good questions, and I hope and pray we can be faithful in our awareness of those around us, of their lives and realities, of the effects our presence has on the environment, of livelihoods, of development. I hope and pray we can continue to be aware of the "sacred" in our midst, even as we are tourist to another country and culture. Because no matter where we are, I believe God calls us to care for our environment and our planet so that we can all live with dignity, with clean water and air, with sufficient food and enough work and resources on which to live. Our God calls us to awareness, to speak for justice and equality, to protect and speak on behalf of the voiceless whose livelihood depends on land and water systems that are healthy, to speak against those empires and corrupted powers who value money over people, trade over land, economy over justice. Whether in our own communities and cities, or whether as tourists, let us be aware.

The Sacred Valley is, indeed, a sacred place yet it continues to grow and develop, catering to the growing tourist trade. May God continue to empower us to protect the sacred places such as these that exist in our countries and in our communities, as well as those whose leaders seem to pay little attention to environmental impact, be it mining development or tourist development.

Left: the Colca Valley, beautiful during its rainy season....










Prayer:

O God of Abundant life, give us the strength, courage and wisdom to speak out against development that is harmful to the environment and those who inhabit it.The challenges are great but we know that you, O Lord, are faithful. Inspire and move us to greater awareness, to increased advocacy, and to a deeper commitment for justice. May your Holy Spirit so inspire us so that all may live in the abundance and grace that you provide to all your people. Amen. 

With Epiphany grace, enlightenment, and peace,
Pastora Fran.

Temblors for Navidad?

First written December 19th....

Greetings, peace, and joy to each of you; family, friends, supporters and followers!!

For the last two weeks, preparations for Christmas have been well underway. The streets are congested with people, old and young, and traffic has been crazier than normal as Peruvians spend their double salary for Navidad celebrations. Yes, Peruvians receive a double salary twice a year to help pay for added expenses during Independence Days (July 28 &29) as well as Christmas. This means all the shopping is done in the same month, generally speaking. Peruvians are busy shopping and stocking their shelves for family meals of pavo (turkey), paneton (Christmas fruit bread) and chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) among the other myriad of wonderful foods!! In addition to family gift-giving, gifts are purchased for those who provide services throughout the year, housekeepers, hairdressers, mechanics, gardeners. These are the canastas, gift baskets, filled with everything needed to have a traditional Peruvian family Christmas. For members of the churches we serve, both congregations are busy purchasing items to provide a mini-fiesta and we are packing gifts for the children provided by Caristas, an NGO (non-governmental organization) of LWR (Lutheran World Relief, USA). It is a busy time for everyone, filled with anticipation for what will be shared and for days off of work when families can be together.

In the midst of this anticipation and busy-ness, was a 4.8 tremor last night...

Suddenly, abruptly interrupted, perhaps we were awakened to the reality of our planet, suffering its anxieties and labor pains of contamination, exploitation, and climate change. The temblor (tremor) was strong, lasting a minute long. No damages were reported, Thanks be to God!, but it did wake me up to reconsider what is important in this life and what ought to be our focus during this Advent and Christmas: the coming Christ-child who will bring peace and justice. Maybe this temblor during Navidad can remind us that Christmas is not about the gifts, perhaps its not even about being with loved ones. In a very counter-cultural perspective, perhaps during Advent and Christmas we could focus less on our celebrations and more on Christ. If we can focus less on ourselves and more on God and God's love coming into the world, in human form, the incarnation of Jesus, then perhaps this sacred time of the year can really be about Christ.

This is the temblor the world needs! This is the temblor that God's word ought to invoke within us. This is the temblor, the shock, the jolt that Christ's birth brings into the world, waking us from the routine of our lives, from the acceptance and complacence of the injustices and inequalities that happen every day in order that we can wake up to the realities and begin to change our ways, our perspectives, our lives.

Let it be a temblor this year that shakes us to the core and wakens us to action in Christ's name!

With peace and joy to you this Christmas Season!

Pastora Fran