Bushmead Team Week 3

Week 3 was again a real blessing, which was also really packed. The final week of the team had several highlights, and lowlights. The highlights were the arrival of Charley on Monday night, Charley outside Walter and Judy's house.

more painting over graffiti, birthdays of Artu and Jose Manuel ,(children in our church and children of single mum Llida (pronounced Gilda) who works with us) Colin and Peck with Llida, her son Artu (10), daughter Joana (6), and son Jose Manuel (1)

and the on the Tuesday the birthday of my beautiful wife Anna, and building and virtually finishing Judy’s juice bar at Judy and Walter’s house. The lowlights were the departures of Dan and Jude on Friday (come back soon) and the team leaving on the Sunday and going on holiday.

Jude with Shirley 13, and her nephew Julio Cesar.

The painting was amazing time as we saw a shift in how the neighbourhood looked upon us. The people were asking who I was, the one had organised such an event, and was in charge. I noticed from this point how the neighbours have greeted me so much since this time. Also these walls have still remained clean as well.

Before and after!

Anna’s birthday was celebrated with over 22 mums, all the team, Dan and Jude, Charley, and all the children as well. Getting all the toys from the pinata a Peruvian tradition. Much more aggresive than the first day of sales!

It was a really fun event and everyone seemed to really enjoy the time together.

Singing A pea bird day toooo youuuuuuu to Anna. (read it phonetically)

Wednesday to Friday involved us getting into the Burgess van (which continues to run when it is not in the workshop)and driving the 25 minutes to Villa Salvador, a 25 year old shanty town, to the house of Walter and Judy. Floor built, but everything else to be done.

Peck had to rebuild the wall, as it had been damaged. With the help of Giancarlo they managed to build the English style wall, using Peruvian materials. Peck really grew as a leader as he did something relatively simple (for him) as building a wall, but was growing as he led Giancarlo who struggled with building a wall in a different way from he had always done before.

Peck building the toilet wall.

While Peck was building inside the rest of us were building the juice bar

outside. Daniel making sure no-one steals the sand.

This meant many of the guys learning to do carpentry, Dangerous Colin with his new toy!

more painting, and my highlight putting up a metal calamine roof. The team all raised to the challenge and we managed get so much done, and the juice bar was opened on the Sunday the week after the team had gone. It was great to see a completed job. Mission accomplished. We look forward to our next short term team, presumably next year. All offers welcome!

Bushmead Team Week 2: Jungle Part 2

The guys outside Luz Divina church.

Wednesday was a very similar day to Tuesday as we went to another Shipibo community called San Francisco. Arriving there was done by very beaten up taxis which could crash at any point, as I have witnessed. We shared the same messages in covenant and kingdom, identity and obedience to our Father, and the authority and power of the King. The Shipibo ladies singing and dancing for us.

To an untrained eye the Shipibos didn’t seem to be connecting with the message as they were not reacting in any way, and appeared to be unemotional. However we were again showered with gifts, their livelihood, as a way of thanking us. Another message I am learning about different cultures, and their reactions. Lili with one of the Shipibo girls in their stall of Shipibo crafts.

Again we seemed to offer so little to them but we were received with an amazing welcome and thanked for being there.

Daniel and the Shipibo children in San Fransisco

Thursday was more of the same but in the wonderful church where we had been sleeping and eating, Luz Divina, and again we had the chance of sharing and then ministered, which was wonderful as we saw God showing his people how he loved them, and wants to heal them.

Anna translating for Dan on covenant, and Peck, Dale and Stuart making a human 'triangle'.

We finished our time in Pucallpa on Friday which involved a trip to the Lagoon Yarinacoha and the Jungla Zoo, which was a wonderful time to relax and meditate on our jungle trip. The two highlights for me were firstly were the big cat who decided Peck was on his territory and took matters into his own hands and let him know who was boss by marking his territory in the feline way!! Peck's best friend!!

The second highlight was taking a walk with Dan and Daniel in the jungle and seeing the trees, the butterflies, experiencing the smells and the sounds that you see on David Attenborough’s films.

The afternoon was spent treasure hunting. In treasure hunting you pray for clues about people and places and then in teams you find these clues. Well my team was myself, Jude, Peck and Colin. We had many strange clues including market, centre of town, Pocahontas, blue tree, blue door, rudder on a ship, mermaid, and many others. Well we set off for the central square, but when we arrived after passing the markets nearby, we found that the central square was closed for renovation. Well we looked around for a cafe to stop and reanalyse where we supposed to go next. The cafe we found was called centre of town, round the corner from the market. We thought ‘we’re in the right place’. Well we sat down and ordered drinks and saw the massive life-size wooden carving next to the table which was a jungle lady in tribal costume!! We then saw a picture on the wall with a house with a blue door, next to the wooden ship next to the mermaid. I then saw the man on the table next to us with is blue t-shirt with a tree on it. Who says God doesn’t speak today?

Bushmead Team Week 2: Jungle Part 1

I love my mummy!

Week 2 began with the Sunday services, Spanish, as usual, in the morning and English in the evening for the visit of the team.

Monday started with last preparations for our jungle trip. We arrived in Pucallpa with our team of 14, including Daniel and Joel, and we spent our first day in the jungle relaxing, the boys enjoying it in the pool, and we all got an early night ready for the boat trip on Tuesday.

Jude and Elizabeth at our impromptu toilet stop in the 'back garden' of an unsuspecting landowner

Tuesday was a dawn start, getting to the boat and travelling down a tributary of the Amazon, the river Ucayali (the name of the province as well) and we arrived in a small river port about three and half hours later. Hey what's happening?

We arrived to a bustling port filled with moto-taxis waiting to take us the ‘twenty Shipibo minutes’ to the church awaiting us. After a forty-five minute journey we arrived to the amazing Shipibo welcome, this again blew me away.

Nuevo (New) Ceylan was a place that will stay with me for many years as we were received as family and treated as that. Huts in Nuevo Ceylan

These people had had no white visitors in 36 years and felt very honoured for us to be there. This gave a real openness to a message of covenant and kingdom that Dan and I shared, which was illustrated by using two triangles of the Father and the King, using branches from the Amazon jungle, when in Rome!!

The beautiful Shipibo children.

Following ministry we donated the suitcase of clothes that we had gathered from various people, and this was received with the most grateful tears I have ever seen. To me it was a old battered suitcase full of used donated clothes. To them it was love from foreigners, and clothes that are so desperately needed.

Preaching in the Amazon Jungle

Following prayers of thanksgiving, they gave us lots of gifts to say how much they appreciated us being here.

They have so little but they give from their hearts. Do we do this in the West?

Bushmead Team Week 1 Part 1

Well we had 3 amazing weeks with the 5 young guys from Christchurch, Bushmead, Luton. Dale (the leader), Peck, Colin, Stuart and Vicky were all amazing, and have really left an impact here in Peru. In addition to this we had the incredible Dan and Jude who helped us so much and massively impacted our lives here in Peru.The team arrived on Friday 18^th June and left us on the 12^th July to go on holiday. Dan and Jude arrived the 11^th May and left us on the 9^th July. Please come back soon!!!Dan and Jude watching the England USA game

The team outside the Presidential Palace

The first day (Saturday) was a light day acclimatising and getting to know our neighbourhood and a brief talk on what we were doing, and what was expected of them. Sunday we introduced them to the Oikos Sunday service and also went for lunch at Pardo’s chicken, the most exclusive rotisserie chicken restaurant near us, which was a definite highlight to the junk food loving guys from Luton.

Jaime and Belen with the team, outside their shanty town house.

We finished the day by having a small service in the evening in English, after the team visiting Pacifico de Villa for the first time, and meeting the wonderful family of Belen and Jaime.

The kids lining up to sing to us in Ventanilla.

Monday was a hard day in Ventanilla where Alfredo asked us if we could move the sand that is falling down and damaging the border fence behind the school. We spent a good few hours doing this and must have moved over 30 tonnes according to Peck our resident builder.

The highlight of Tuesday must have been the visit to the chickens in the market (Peck having a strong adverse reaction to them, although he was fine with the pig’s head!) and our weekly mums and tots group, which was our last session before the retreat on the Saturday.Not quite KFC!