Dear Family and Friends,   It's Sunday evening, July 1, in Arequipa, Peru.  Bonnie and I have had a very full month of ministry:  my classes at the seminary, Bonnie teaching at St Luke's School, the wonderful visit of the mission team from St John's Anglican, Petaluma, Los PetaluMAINyos.  This morning I preached at Christ the Redeemer Church.  After the service they served recoto relleno, stuffed peppers, one of my favorite local specialties.  I spent the afternoon reading and grading papers.  Tomorrow morning, Monday, I will record the grades. 

Bonnie and I will go for brunch to Escalante, a wonderful bakery owned by the family of Victoria Ayala, the wife of Padre Juan Marcos Ayala, the priest at St Luke's, Zamacola and St James' Apostle, Villa Ecologia.  I don't know what Bonnie will have but I will order a flakey pastry filled with spinach and a boiled egg.  Then we will walk back to Ovalo Vallecito,  and I will buy a copy of La Republica from Irma Ojeda Mamani, my last copy until our next visit.

  I will also give Irma a photo of her son Howard with Bonnie and me having lunch at Cafe Sarten Loca, Crazy Skillet Cafe (see below).  Then we will pack our bags and get ready for our flight:  Arequipa to Lima to Miami to San Francisco, and then the Airport Express to Sonoma County Airport where our daughter Maddy will pick us up and bring us home to 202 Tucker St., Healdsburg.

There are two attached photos.  One is of Bonnie and me and 12 year old Howard Ojeda Mamani.  Last Friday, June 29, was the Feast of St Peter and St Paul.  In Peru it is a school holiday so Bonnie was out of school and so was Howard.  When I went to buy La Republica  there he was with his mother.  Bonnie and I were on our way up to the Plaza and to do some shopping for our grandchildren,  and we asked if Howard could go with us.  Howard has taken some English.  While Bonnie was looking for some books in a book store that carries used paper backs, Howard and I read and translated the comics in La Republic, including Charlie Brown.   Then we went to lunch.

The other photo was taken a week ago Saturday evening at a restaurant near the Plaza where the team from Petaluma hosted a farewell dinner for the local clergy and wives.  We were seated in an upstairs dining room.  Seated in the same dining room was a Rotary Club dinner meeting for the installation of a new president.  I went over and introduced myself and asked if I might have a photo taken to share with my sister Mary Ann Kirk who is a Rotarian in Placerville and has served as president.  Rotary is very active in Peru and in Arequipa has a special commitment to working with the city to provide clean water and sanitation to the poorer parts of the city.

So there we have it.  Theology, ESL, Howard and me reading Charlie Brown, Crazy Skillet, PetaluMAINyos, and Rotary.  God is full of surprises and blessing.

For those of you who are friends and neighbors in H'burg, see you soon,

   Marvin