Thank you so much for sharing in the Peru
ministry last month. It was a good and fruitful time, though at times difficult.
The original plan was to celebrate Bishop Bill’s retirement and the consecration of two more Peruvian bishops. Neither happened as the plan to become a Province of the Anglican Communion was derailed. Bishop Bill has been asked to stay until the end of April and no bishops are scheduled to be consecrated. Quite how the future will unfold is unclear. My hunch is that there will be a bishop elected to become diocesan and then, after Bishop Bill returns to England, the development of Peru will continue.
There was much disappointment, indeed some fears for the future. I joined John and Susan Park – veteran SAMS missionaries and a team of three from the Diocese of Worcester, England, – including the Rt. Rev. Graham Usher, Bishop of Dudley. We met and planned how we could help after the transition. While there, we all sought to exercise a ministry of encouragement and hope. Susan Park went to Arequipa, I went to Huancayo and Bishop Usher met with the new bishops.
I also spent time in San Mateo, Lima, where we sought solutions to their water problems – intermittent delivery and hugely polluted. Thanks be to God there are some solutions in sight thanks to a companion parish and “Living Waters for the World.” The school has huge needs – does anyone have a 16 camera security system the state is now mandating?
In Huancayo there are four clergy –all tent making so as to serve as priests and missionaries. There is one new candidate for ordination. They are under the leadership of Vicario Carlos Quispe. There are four missions and all are in rented property. The clergy there were despondent having just had two of their community depart for another denomination. They are dedicated and know how to reach into the communities across the valley from Jauja to Huancayo.
I am returning in March with a small team. Louie Midura is coming from my own parish and three or four will come from Grace Anglican in Florida. The goal is to introduce them to what God is doing at San Mateo in Lima and to give them a first look at Huancayo. Grace Anglican is sending a team in late July. This trip will give them a vision for Huancayo.
I want to give thanks for the success of the January trip. I had no altitude problems, my Spanish became fluent if imperfect and all travel was easy. Please pray for the same in March.
In late February I head to Florida to be with Grace Anglican and then on to a SOMA board meeting. In April I shall be at the New Wineskins conference in North Carolina, preceded by the SAMS missionary retreat where I am to lead worship.
Thanks for your continued support. As ever, we need financial support as well as lots of prayers. We are a team – senders and sent. Bless you all,
Ian+
The pass over the mountains is over 13,500 feet.
These water tanks need to be placed up on the fifth floor so as to feed the bathrooms. San Mateo needs a pump and plumbing to raise the water to that level.
The tanks seen from above –the area with the three small toilets will possibly be where we can house the purification equipment.
The new tiled floor in the chapel of San Mateo – the altar area is now roofed.
The new bathrooms – thanks be to Grace Anglican Church, Fleming Island, Florida.
Fr. Dimas is the parish priest and Rusty Edmunson is a Presbyterian missionary and works with Living Waters for the World. Behind is the square in San Juan de Lurigancho.
This woman is carving gourds
In one of the outlying farming communities – where Fr. Ricardo has family– we found an ongoing New Year set of festivities.
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These masks represent the old men and young men of the Inca era. They dance and shuffle accordingly, snap their whips and entrance the crowd.
One of Fr. Ricardo’s uncles
A village view from a shrine – they are a very traditional Roman Catholic area.
This view is from a huge statue of the Virgin Mary at the village of Concepción
One of our store front missions – this one is in Huancayo and led by Fr. Pancho and his wife Elida.
Fr. Ricardo introduced me to his Tia Abuela – grand uncle. He was dancing though not in costume.
The BVM is about 75 feet tall and dominates the valley.
I loved this bridge as we headed up into the mountains.
Fr. James and his wife and children – he is at Justo Juez in Jauja at the other end of the long valley leading to Huancay. Jauja has the local airport.
From the main road – there were snow capped mountains to the north. This is mid summer!
The square in San Jeronimo, where we have our newest parish and mission center for the Huancayo area.
At San Jeronimo we renewed our Baptismal vows – Fr. Ricardo is passing out the candles.
Celebrating the baptism of Jesus
Vicario Carlos and the music leader at Justo Juez
With Carlos at San Jeronimo
The whole valley was one huge lake eons ago. This remains.
On Monday, we will hit the road for a month long trip on which we will spend Sunday’s in five churches in NY, MD, and VA, with a stop for debriefing at the SAMS office in Ambridge, PA.
Here’s an updated schedule of visits as of January 15:
Jan 8 – Christ Church, Ithaca, NY.
Jan 10 – St. Stephens REC, Sykesville, MD
Jan 12-13 – at SAMS office in Ambridge, PA
Jan 17 – Bp. Cummins, Catonsville, MD
Jan 24 – Holy Trinity, Fairfax, VA
Jan 31 – St. Jude’s, Richmond, VA
Feb 7-14 – Ash Wednesday in New Jersey: Covenant Chapel and St. Luke’s REC
Feb 25-26 – Synod of REC Diocese of Mid-America
Feb 28 – Holy Trinity, Houston
March 6 – Christ Our Hope in Dayton, OH
March 13 – St. Paul’s REC (Indiana, Fr. Daniel Sparks)
March 27 – Easter (at TREC)
April 3 – All Saints REC in Raleigh, NC
April 7-10 – New Wineskins Conference in Asheville, NC
April 12 – RE Seminary
April 17 – St. Paul’s, Oreland with Dean of Indonesia, Timothy Chong.
May 1 – St. Nicholas Church in Owensboro, KY (Dcn. Rob Sexton).
May 8 – Grace Church, Circleville, OH (ACNA, Melanie Shuter)
May 15 – Christ the King in Dayton, OH
May 22 – St. Barnabas Anglican (ACNA) in Covington, KY.
This has been another year of fruit-bearing ministry, both at home and overseas. Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support.
This last year had a very busy beginning. I was in Peru twice working with a team from Grace Anglican Church, Fleming Island, FL. Over the last three years we have been developing relationships with Peruvian Anglicans and have built a new chapel adjacent to San Mateo Anglican school in Lima.
In September, Polly and I went to Madagascar on mission with SOMA. I led a small team of five in the dioceses of Fianarantsoa and Toliara. I taught and Polly was the intercessor. The first clergy conference went well. The second, a men’s conference, ended after a day and a half with the death of a young participant. He was thirty and had a heart attack on the soccer field. This trip was hit with “attack.” The national airline canceled lots of flights, and we had significant illness among the team. We came home very much the worse for wear, however, we saw some effective ministry and the positive effect of your prayers.
2016 begins with a January trip to Peru. Our goals are: first to visit a new missionary area – Huancayo up in the Andes (altitude nearly 11,000 feet) – and second, to work with the new Peruvian bishops and clergy as they transition to Bishop Godfrey’s retirement later this year.
In late February, I have a SOMA board meeting in Jacksonville, FL, followed by a March trip to Peru with leaders from Grace Anglican who will survey ministry opportunities for their ongoing relationships in Lima and Huancayo.
In April, we have the triennial SAMS missionary retreat followed by the New Wineskins Missionary conference in North Carolina.
I shall be in Peru during late June setting up for the July team visit by Grace Anglican to Lima and Hunacayo.
In addition to all of this, I am functioning as the main supply priest at St. Luke’s, Cambridge, NY. This is a fulfilling ministry, but I ask you to pray that they may find a long term priest soon.
My passion continues to be clergy development and encouragement. This call of God on my life is an amazing gift in retirement.
Before leaving STT St. Paul’s in Bandung, Indonesia, I left the students some essay questions, which were then translated into Bahasa Indonesia by the Rev. Yopie B. I reproduce them here for our readers’ enjoyment.
(Recommended sources: R. Hays, Reading Backward; N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God; R. Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel.)
Essays:
In 10 pages or less, answer ONE of these questions:
1. Explain how the NT epistles and the book of Revelation identify Jesus as divine while still holding to monotheism.
2. Explain how Jesus Himself and the authors of the four canonical gospels use the Old Testament to make the claim that Jesus is identified with the God of Israel.
3. List and explain five main ways that the OT asserts monotheism and show how the NT used those ways to say that Jesus is included in the identity of Israel’s God.
Thanks to my friendship with Pastor Vic Bernales, I was introduced this afternoon to Rev. Michael Hong, the owner and proprietor of Mango Radio, which broadcasts evangelical radio programs in Zamboanga and here in Davao City. Pastor Hong has a heart for bringing the gospel to Muslims here on the island of Mindanao by using radio.
It was a fruitful discussion, and the result was that I will be starting a live one-hour radio show on June 1st. There will then be a four week break while our family is in Indonesia and Cambodia in June, and I will resume broadcasting after June 28. We hope to air the show at rush hour, but Mango is currently still trying to obtain a frequency for broadcasting in Davao. It will also be broadcast via the Internet.
The show will be devoted to explaining Scripture, using history and the original languages and the Jewish background. I’ll be trying to make these things clear and accessible — something I have striven to do for many years in my high school classes.
I need a name for the show. Any suggestions?
Above: Matt and Pr. Michael Hong in the Mango Radio studio.
Pray that the show will be a success and a blessing both to Filipino Christians and to those who do not yet own Christ as the world’s Lord.
I’m feeling a bit remiss about blogging. We keep to our deadline for publishing our monthly newsletter, but it’s easy to forget to write on this blog, and that for two reasons, both of which are good for missionary work, but not for missionary communication: first, life in the Philippines feels more “normal” for us than it did during our first two years; we encounter less that seems remarkable and needing to be photographed or shared. Second, we are both crazy busy with our respective ministries and have a hard time carving out time to blog.
Here are some photos from March and April, which may be taken as fairly representative of what we’ve been up to:
On the way home from dropping the kids at school one morning, the words of the Psalmist came to mind: “Many bulls have surrounded me; strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.” OK, maybe just cows, and a calf that decided the middle of the road looked like a good place to enjoy sunbathing.
Sora continues to do outreach with other midwives from the birth clinic to bring prenatal care to the women of Isla Verde. Here, laundry hangs on a line and bicycle taxis (pedicabs) ply the streets beneath the coconut palms, while the ubiquitous Coca-Cola ad serves as a silent missionary of Western consumerism even in this very poor neighborhood.
Of course, the birth clinic continues to welcome Filipino babies into the world, and Sora continues to supervise shifts and take care that they arrive safely. Here are three from the past few months:
Sora continues to teach, too. Most recently, she’s been teaching statistics for this enthusiastic bunch of student midwives. Here, the students are lined up in a “living histogram” by height:
Water lillies from Sora’s visit to Thailand in March:
Matt’s ministry continues apace. Introductory Greek is finished now, so we have moved on to Hebrew, while continuing to read the Greek New Testament so that students don’t lose their skills. Here, Carl, one of Matt’s friends who has been with him from the beginning of his classes here in Davao, puts up answers to the second Hebrew homework assignment on the whiteboard.
I also spent time in San Mateo, Lima, where we sought solutions to their water problems – intermittent delivery and hugely polluted. Thanks be to God there are some solutions in sight thanks to a companion parish and “Living Waters for the World.” The school has huge needs – does anyone have a 16 camera security system the state is now mandating?
all tent making so as to serve as priests and missionaries. There is one new candidate for ordination. They are under the leadership of Vicario Carlos Quispe. There are four missions and all are in rented property. The clergy there were despondent having just had two of their community depart for another denomination. They are dedicated and know how to reach into the communities across the valley from Jauja to Huancayo.
