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

A Ritual Beginning

Greetings in this New Year of 2012 to all those supporters, friends, family, and interested persons!!

As the New Year began here with several hours of crashes and bangs, despite the illegalization of home fireworks, it is a telling sign that something is happening or that something has happened. The loud crashing of fireworks brings in the New Year and enlivens the senses, and perhaps this is really what ritual is all about.

Fireworks in a local park on New Year's Eve

In baptismal waters, with Water and the Word, we mark the beginning of something new. We celebrate in grand style as we are reborn as children of God, inheritors of eternal life and the ritual and symbol are tactile, memorable. It is a celebration that continues all throughout our lives!

The "hora loca" or crazy hour at Emaus,
 celebrating the New Year with a fiesta on Jan. 1, 2012

Over holidays two weeks ago, we had a similar experience to that of celebrating, being re-born, re-experiencing God's grace in creation as we traveled to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and I climbed Machu Picchu once again, only this time in the pouring rain!

Machu Picchu

It was more or less consistent throughout our day. The consistent precipitation is what makes the mountains, fauna, grasses, trees,  etc so incredibly green. It is the consistent precipitation of the rain forest that makes it so lush and so delicious to the senses of sight and smell. And it was this consistent precipitation that made the rocky steps slippery and dangerous, and which soaked my jeans! Yet, the consistent precipitation is also what enlivened my heart and senses to the entire experience. It rained on and off, fog would roll in and in second disappear. And it happened time and again, like a reminder: something is happening here. The steep edges and drop-offs had this effect for me to because of my fear of heights. I had to breathe deeper, ask others to walk in front of me, and I even had to close the curtain of the bus on the hair-pin drive up the mountain. But this also heightened all of my senses to the entire experience: something unique is happening here, something unexpected, something new, something that you will always remember.

And it is true, like the ritual of Water and Word, like the ritual midnight fireworks throughout the city of Lima, this was a ritual of senses, sight, sound, and touch culminating together like a ritual of beginning and remembering.


We need these rituals, we need the senses to be awakened and enlivened to remind us of God's love and grace breaking into the world every day. Sometimes we are tired and weary, sometimes we are stressed, sometimes we are complacent and the routines of life take something of the spark of faith away from us. We need these rituals to remind us of God's continuing love and grace: we need these rituals to break us out of our complacency; we need these rituals to be reminded that we are God's beloved children, freed, loved, graced and transformed TO transform our world. We often forget and this is why the ritual is so incredibly important..the ritual of worship for example, so we can be brought to these amazing experiences of the senses: water and word, of bread and wine. In this ritual, we are reminded whose we are and what we are called and claimed to be and do in this world: to risk, love, be on the edge, embody the Gospel....

Be the blessing God has called to you, be enlivened into the richness God has planted in you, be God's grace in the world...

With love & gratitude,

Pastora Fran

To Peru with love...

Dear Friends, Family, & Supporters!

This is a little bit different of a blog-post and perhaps appropriate to be posting it, finally, on the US Thanksgiving holiday. There are times when we can all recall with gratitude the experiences, good & bad, that have formed and shaped us. The following post was my journal entry several weeks ago, recalling all that has happened, personally and professionally, in these years serving in Peru as missionary. It has been life-changing and wonderful, not always easy or joyous, as other ex-pats can attest, but this is my little letter of gratitude...

To Peru with love,

Wow! What a journey these last three and a half years have been...such a roller-coaster, such extremes, nothing could have prepared me for Peru, for Lima, for the challenges and struggles of life overseas, as well as those of our church here. I felt prepared and was as ready as one could have been, but there is no way I could have been fully prepared for all that was to happen.

Lima is hard, tough, grey, dirty, sprawling, rude, demanding. Peru with such intense competition...huge cultural differences, despite appearances.

Amazing.

I am grateful for all of it.

I am grateful for the extremes because of those I am in touch with my feelings.

I am grateful for the severities of conflicts and disagreements, because of those I know myself much better and have learned how and when to respond and approach certain issues and situations.

I am grateful for my closest friends and those that continue to form and develop. They remind me who I am and why I am here and when none of it is clear, we guide each other through it all.

I am grateful for both of my parishes, they are teaching me how to be a pastor, how to speak the truth in love, when my presence is most valued and needed, what is my role in the various situations we encounter, and how to say what needs to be said even when it's the hardest, and sometimes the last, thing I want to do!

I am grateful to be able to speak Spanish, to learn guitar, to teach English, to dance salsa and learn the latin music and its rhythms, because i am creating new brain pathways, new memories, deepening my experience here and my experience of myself, in this I have learned how capable, open and adventurous I really am. I have learned that I can and do take risks.

I am grateful for the men I have dated in these singles years and even for all of the heart-break along the way because I have learned what love is and what love isn't and I have had to stand strong in the face of the manipulating and controlling ones, and this has not only made me stronger, it's helped shape and define what I want in a life partner and what I am not willing to accept.

I am grateful to live close to the ocean, beaches, and beautiful parks. They renew my soul and remind me there is still beauty in the world even in the midst of the ugliness of human sin and brokenness, corruption, and poverty.

I am grateful for my sister and my family who continue to love me even when they and we are so far apart and even though they don't always understand me or why I'm here...they show me a glimpse of unconditional love and how important good roots are even though I colour mine!

I am grateful for the supporters in the ELCIC, for the companion synods and congregational relationships and the wonderful relationships that have been formed because they affirm me and remind me why I am here, they notice and name things I'd long forgotten about in the years here. They breathe new life, hope, and love into the workings of our congregation and ILEP.

My heart is full...I am grateful and hope-filled.

Thank you, Peru, AND all of you whose support, encouragement, understanding, and interest, continue to inspire me! Thank you also for the many recent Birthday greetings, and all the ways you have responded and shown you care not only about me, but also the Peruvian congregational members, the growing ILEP church, and all of the ministries here!

Blessings & Abrazos!!

Pastora Fran

Sembrando...Sewing seeds!

Greetings with peace, joy, love and hope in the Lord to all of our friends, family, supporters and interested persons!!! Welcome to this blog and the stories, photos and reflections of life in ministry in Peru....

Over these last two months, we officially kicked-off our new children's ministry program called "Sembrando", which means "sewing seeds". In co-operation with two ELCA companion synods, Sembrando has focused and improved upon the previous children's ministry program. We hope to plant seeds of hope and faith, to support children's futures in terms of education, health and nutrition, and spiritual nurturing. Visiting presenter's recently offered two days of workshops for the Sembrando leaders and pastors. They did a fabulous job!

..results of group work

Sembrando workshop participants & leaders

Ideas, games, stories, challenges and goals were all shared in the workshops which we are now implementing in my first parish, San Juan Camino de Esperanza...

The younger children at San Juan....making crosses 

And the older children & youth learning to work together to move a ball
around on the parachute...team-work!

Sembrando, seeds of hope, seeds that grow in soil that God has prepared and made ready...all in its season and all in its time! We give thanks for our children and youth and the ministry that we can provide with/for them thanks to our partner churches and resources (people, monetary, materials) that are so generously offered!!

With much thanks, blessings and joy for a lovely fall in the north just as its warming up and becoming spring in our part of the world....

Pastora Fran

ILEP's new web-site!!

Greetings family, friends, and supporters!

So, just last month ILEP (Lutheran Church in Peru) launched its new web-site, with a new design, more information about the pastors and congregations, as well as the various activities that are going on in and around ILEP ministries here!! It's a very exciting proposal and has taken many hours to co-ordinate, gather, and translate all of what has been included thus far. It has been a coordinated effort mostly on the part of German Missionary pastor, Ihrke Buchroth, with Pastor Dana Nelson, ELCA and myself offering the English translations.

Check it out today!!

Their address is: http://www.ilepperu.org/index.php

BLESSINGS to you all as you begin classes, fall programs in your churches, and return from what I hope has been a restful, rejuvenating and fruitful summer vacation!

Peace, love & blessings,
Pastora Fran

Random reflections

Warmest greetings friends, family, supporters and other interested persons!




Several recent visits from one of ILEP's (Lutheran Church in Peru) companion synod's recently gave me the opportunity to reflect on life, work, ministry, and mission and I thought it might be fun to share with all of you some of their questions.....and my responses, in this more personal blog entry.


"How long do missionaries stay in their placement?"
In the ELCIC (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada), long-term missionaries serve for a a term of four years.


"How often do you go home?"
Long-term missionaries return to their home country every two years for home assignment, presentations to the various sponsoring congregations, etc. They can return home for vacation, but this is at their own expense.


"Isn't it really hard being so far away?
Ya, sometimes it is, especially at holidays or birthdays. I really miss my family and friends a lot! But we talk using Skype and it's amazing to still feel connected this way but it's still not the same as being there.




"It seems like a really different ministry setting, how do you do it?"


I pray, A LOT! I pray for God to give me the words, to give me the strength. I pray for our congregations, for the leaders and all of the pastors. I pray for our children and youth. I pray fervently and more than I have ever in my life.


"What's your favorite Peruvian food?"
Papa a la Huancaina is my favorite, that's potatoes with an aji cream sauce...delicious! Also, I love palta, avocados, and anticuchos, that's cow's heart.


"Is the weather here always this cold?"
Not always, but for about 7 months of the year. This year it's been much colder than previous years. It's like 15 degrees but with 90% humidity and no heat in the buildings which are concrete for the most part and no insulation. To me, it feels like +2° C!! ...just like winter camping!


"What do you like best about the ministry?"
The children, their enthusiasm, their smiles and laughter, how quickly they learn, and being here three years now, I've watched many of them grow into lovely young people. The youth group that we just started this year has also been fun, getting into real issues and challenges in their daily lives and journeying with them.


What's the most awesome part of being a missionary in Peru?
The most awesome thing is sharing the Gospel, the Good News, and seeing how God can change and transform someone's perspective, self-believe, and daily lives. Knowing we are loved by God, that we are accepted just as we are despite our faults and shortcomings, our status in society, and negative messages we may have received growing up and all the limitations that exist (especially among those we work with here in Peru), therefore, the Gospel is really empowering. With more of a focus on "law" preaching here, generally, the Good News actually gives life and hope to us even in the most difficult of circumstances.




"Will it be hard to leave and go back to Canada?"
Yes it really will be hard to say good-bye, whenever that happens. There are so many things I've become accustomed to now, even though they might be really frustrating at times. This world is so different from Canada and North American culture, I hope I can readjust and refit into that world again! It will be really hard to go back and leave the children and the ministry behind but I think most pastor's feel this way as they move on in their ministries.




"What will you miss most?"
Super obvious...the people!




Well, thanks everyone for this little FAQ journey as you listened in on one of the conversations with visiting companion synod visitors! More pics and stories upcoming....


With the peace, joy, and love of the Lord!!


Pastora Fran