Peru: Last Day

Greetings Friends and Family,
So today is our last day here in Peru. We started our day with Morning Prayer, or Matutinas, at the Cathedral and then were taken to the Inca Market, a kind of outdoor shopping mall, to do some shopping. We had a lot of fun haggling for the best prices on pottery, alpaca clothes, hats and other colorful stuff (the colors here in the textiles are incredible!).

After the market all of the clergy and seminarians in the Diocese of Peru had farewell luncheon at a Chifa buffet (Chifa is Peruvian slang for Chinese food which is extremely popular here).

(This photo shows about 1/4 of our group.)

We had a wonderful time of fellowship together. The Diocese of Peru presented us all with gifts which was extremely kind of them. Then both the Peruvians and Nashotah-ites gave speeches back and forth sharing with each other how much we felt blessed and encouraged by one another and thanking God for the ways He has brought us together. It truly is amazing how big the Kingdom of God is and yet how our common Faith unites us across cultures and languages.

(Sven translating Micah's speech.)

After lunch we had our much anticipated soccer match. To our surprise a couple days ago we were presented with uniforms with the Nashotah logo embroidered on them! So we had a very serious soccer match at the stadium with uniforms, a ref and everything.

(The Peruvian Seminaristas: ?, Raul {from Cristo Redentor}, ? and Marco {from Jesus es Salvador & Oasis}.)

(Friends: Orlando, Jasper {who was helping us out, hence the Nashotah Jersey} and me.)

(Los Futbolistos de los seminarios de Ss. Augustin y Nashotah.)

They take soccer very, very seriously here. Of course the Peruvians annihilated us and the star player was the Vicario, Fr. Julio who scored the winning goal.

(The Vicario, in red, giving his "A game".)

We then had a much more evenly matched game of volleyball.

(Sven, Isabel, Claudia and Raul trying to get under the ball.)

Afterwards it was time to say goodbye to the wonderful friends we've made. It's difficult to put into words what an incredible trip this has been. We have seen such incredible faith and sacrificial service to Our Lord Jesus here and we have seen the Church exploding throughout Peru from downtown to shanty-towns to the vineyards & cottonfields in Ica. We also are incredibly excited for what the future holds for the relationship between the Anglican Diocese of Peru and Nashotah House Seminary. We all hope this is merely the beginning of a long and meaningful relationship. Glory to God for providing this incredible opportunity and for the wonderful works He's doing here!

(Our last few moments together.)

So we leave for the airport at 7:00p.m. (CST) and our flight leaves at midnight. Our ETA for Nashotah is about 2:00p.m. tomorrow. Please pray for us as we travel, for safety and health (for those of us who've had a stomach bug).

Muchas gracias Senor Jesuscristo por este visita, y muchas gracias nuestros hermanos en la Diocesis Anglicana del Peru for su amor y hospitalidad. Gloria Dios!