Just like any other day, I was walking to class when I noticed that there was a large group of people standing outside the school. It was obvious that something was wrong but I couldn´t tell quite what was going on. I finally got closer to the school and looked inside to see two dead bodies. One was a man and the other was his child. That was the first time I had seen a dead body but unfortunately it would not be the last.
Just like any other day, I was with my family walking back to our house. All of a sudden, we heard what sounded like fireworks going off. Here in Perú it is common to have festivals where fireworks go off and so I thought there was a party going on. I asked my dad if we could go but he acted kind of strangely and made us hurry to the house and stay there for the night. In the morning, I went with my sister to go find where the party was and see if there was any candy on the ground from throwing it out the night before. We went to the center because it sounded like it was coming from that direction and that was a common place for celebrations to happen. When we got there we saw an image that will forever be ingrained in my mind. There were what seemed to be dozens of dead bodies strewn around everywhere. Many of the bodies were so bloody and torn apart that you could barely even tell that they were human bodies. We also smelt what I later learned was acid that the terrorists had used as a weapon but also to clean some of the blood and bodies from the streets.
Just like any other day, I went to get a hair cut at my friends salon in the center. I was sitting with my head in the dryer when all of the sudden there was a loud explosion and much of the building caved in. The salon was across from a police station that had been destroyed with a car bomb. We were all wandering around the salon trying to find each other which was hard through the haze and our ears were still ringing from the explosion. Then, four armed military personnel came running in and asked us who we were and what we were doing there. It should have seemed pretty obvious from the state of my hair but I calmly answered their questions because I knew that one wrong answer could lead to my death. They brought us all to a dark cold room and kept us there for almost 3 days. Meanwhile my family was at home thinking the worse. After I didn´t show up that night they were worried but when I didn´t show up for two more days they thought for sure that I was dead. I was fortunate that day that the soldiers did let me go. Many in my same circumstance were not so lucky.
Sorry if I scared any of you but these stories are obviously not stories that happened to me. They are, however, true stories that I have heard from friends and other people here in Ayacucho. Beginning in 1980 there was a communist party called Sendero Luminoso or "Shining Path" that failed to get recognition or into positions of power and so they resorted to terrorism. The government then sent troops to the area of Ayacucho to fight against the terrorists but they often resorted to blindly killing people in an effort to wipe out all the terrorists. One person was even quoted as saying "about 1 in 100 people we imprison or execute are most likely linked to Sendero Luminoso". Between the years 1980-2000 there were a reported 69,280 people dead or missing, of those, about 50% was attributed to Sendero Luminoso, 35% to the armed forces and the remaining deaths from smaller guerrilla groups, local militia and people fighting back against Sendero Luminoso or the Military.
I could not even begin to imagine what these people went through. I have pulled out two well known verses to show both what a response from the people may have been and one of the hardest verses to read with events like this in mind.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
“He trusts in the Lord;
let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
But you, O Lord, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.
(Psalm 22)
“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.(Luke 6: 27-36)
Peace,
Brandon
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
¿Cómo fue el sermón?
Many of you have been asking how my sermon went so I figured I´d do an entry on it. The church has been following the lectionary which means the last four weeks have been the last part of Luke 9 and then entire chapter of Luke 10. For Sunday night, I preached on the story of Martha and Mary. I began with a quick run through of what each was doing and what were the implications. Martha,like many women in her time, felt it was her responsibility to feed her guest and make him feel like home. She was not doing anything out of the ordinary and actually seemed to be doing what Jesus described as a necesary measure when guests visit when he sent out the 72. Mary, in contrast, chose to rebel against the norm and not only did she not get to work, she even went as far as sitting at Christ´s feet which was a place reserved for the disciples alone. She was also listining to Christ´s teaching which was thought to only be for men. I then asked the retorical question of who was right. If you notice Jesus never says Martha was wrong, just that Mary chose the better. We are actually called to be Mary and Martha in one. We are called to do works all while realizing that there is only one thing that is actually necesary and that is to be with and to listen to Christ. In Luke, we have Christ telling us to go out and share his word and also to be hospitable when he sent out the 72, then he tells us to love our neighbor as our self and explains who are neighbor is in the story of the good Semaritan, but then Jesus tells us not to worry about all the work that the only thing important is to be with him. This is why it´s important to look at it in full context, Jesus is not saying "don´t do works" but rather do works all while knowing that he always comes first.
I then hesitated for a while to do this but felt an obligation to do so... I then told the church that I hope that they can learn to become Mary and Martha because unfortunately during my time I had seen neither, but rather I had heard many exuses such as " I don´t have enough money", "I have to work", or even "I need to do my laundry". In combat to these excuses I read Luke 9: 57-62 which reads:
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
This was the lesson 3 weeks ago so they were already familiar with it. I said how Jesus wouldn´t even accept a logical excuse for waiting such as let me bury my father or say goodbye to my family. If Jesus didn´t accept these excuses then he certaintly wouldn´t have accepted "let me do my laundry". We´re not called to wait, we´re called to action, to be Martha who did many things, but with the mindset of Mary who first sat at Jesus´ feet in order to learn from him.
That´s my sermon in a nutshell. The ideas were there but I didn´t feel like I got them across al eliquently as I could have. It was in part because I had little time for preperation and also the fact that it was in Spanish, but I´m not going to use those as excuses, I hope and pray that my sermon still was able to reach atleast one person in the small congregation of 12 people.
Paz,
Brandon
I then hesitated for a while to do this but felt an obligation to do so... I then told the church that I hope that they can learn to become Mary and Martha because unfortunately during my time I had seen neither, but rather I had heard many exuses such as " I don´t have enough money", "I have to work", or even "I need to do my laundry". In combat to these excuses I read Luke 9: 57-62 which reads:
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
This was the lesson 3 weeks ago so they were already familiar with it. I said how Jesus wouldn´t even accept a logical excuse for waiting such as let me bury my father or say goodbye to my family. If Jesus didn´t accept these excuses then he certaintly wouldn´t have accepted "let me do my laundry". We´re not called to wait, we´re called to action, to be Martha who did many things, but with the mindset of Mary who first sat at Jesus´ feet in order to learn from him.
That´s my sermon in a nutshell. The ideas were there but I didn´t feel like I got them across al eliquently as I could have. It was in part because I had little time for preperation and also the fact that it was in Spanish, but I´m not going to use those as excuses, I hope and pray that my sermon still was able to reach atleast one person in the small congregation of 12 people.
Paz,
Brandon
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Maybe I should have said no
Yesterday I had the bible study and this time one lady was there at te beginning of the meeting and another member walked in 30 minutes late. Before everyone got there I was talking to the pastor about some things in the church and the lack of faith and hope that I had seen. We continued talking and then he asked me if I wanted to preach today. Without hesitation I said yes (I haven´t preached in over 2 months now so I really wanted to) but then I realized that I usually have atleast a week to prepare my sermons along with a Library full of commentaries...oh yeah, and they whole Spanish thing. I didn´t wake up until 9:00 this morning and I have a meeting at 12:00 which means I now have about an hour to write a sermon in Spanish. Needless to say, I´m going to need alot of prayers tonight around 7:00.
This is my text for tonight:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)
Peace,
Brandon
This is my text for tonight:
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)
Peace,
Brandon
Friday, July 16, 2010
Feast of the Virgin
Today I´m not going to be writing about a touching event or something that provoked deep though but rather just something that I got to be a part of last night. Yesterday I went to the market, as I often do, with Lorna and on the way back we took a collectivo which means we took a cab with 6 other people (yes there were 8 of us in one cab) and as we passed one of the churches we noticed that they were building some kind of structure outside. We asked the others in the cab what it was for and they said that yesterday was the feast of the virgin recognizing the death of Mary. We got back to the house and decided to go see what the festival was all about. We got there about 8:30 and there were a lot of people there as well as a couple of live bands and then those large wooden structures. We got a good spot and as we did a lady walked up and offered us a drink. The drink was some kind of spiced hot chocolate and it was really good. The next part was one of the more interesting parts of the event.
All of a sudden we heard a firework go off and look to see a guy holding a paper and wood bull with sparks flying from it and an occasional firework shot from it. He then proceeded to run through the crowd as everyone ran away or huddled to avoid the sparks. They did this about 5 times and I guess it was there version of running with the bulls. After the last bull was done the music an dancing started and went on for about 20 minutes. Next, we figured out what the structures were, they were big towers with fireworks and they were pretty fun to watch. They structures had different parts and each one would go off separately like spinning wheels, globes, and boxes of sparks and the final was a part on the top that shot into the air spinning and shooting sparks and then when it peaked it blew up into a firework.
I just thought I´d share this experience with the rest of you and I´ll try to get on later today or tomorrow to update my blog on a more serious note, there are a couple of things I´ve been meaning to write about but just haven´t quite found the time.
Peace,
Brandon
All of a sudden we heard a firework go off and look to see a guy holding a paper and wood bull with sparks flying from it and an occasional firework shot from it. He then proceeded to run through the crowd as everyone ran away or huddled to avoid the sparks. They did this about 5 times and I guess it was there version of running with the bulls. After the last bull was done the music an dancing started and went on for about 20 minutes. Next, we figured out what the structures were, they were big towers with fireworks and they were pretty fun to watch. They structures had different parts and each one would go off separately like spinning wheels, globes, and boxes of sparks and the final was a part on the top that shot into the air spinning and shooting sparks and then when it peaked it blew up into a firework.
I just thought I´d share this experience with the rest of you and I´ll try to get on later today or tomorrow to update my blog on a more serious note, there are a couple of things I´ve been meaning to write about but just haven´t quite found the time.
Peace,
Brandon
Monday, July 12, 2010
Accountability
Last Sunday I was asked to lead a bible study for this Saturday and I quickly accepted the opportunity. I spent the week finding verses on what it means to be a church and what it means to be a Christian and I planned to use the verses to guide a discussion with the members. The bible study started at 6:00 so I made sure to get the a little early and arrived at 5:50. Unfortunately no one was there yet so I waited...and waited...and waited. At 6:15 a lady in the house next door came out and she invited me in so that I could knock on the Pastor´s door...he wasn´t there. I then waited until 6:31 because the bible study was supposed to last til 7:00 so I figured I would wait until one minute past the half way point.
Different emotions ran through my head: anger, sadness, confusion, discouragement, disappointment, as well as others. I went to the service yesterday and, as usual, everyone showed up late. The pastor, a girl who is from Cuzco, and I started promptly at 6:30 and then another lady came in around 6:35, another man at 6:45 and then finally the president of the church strolled in a little after 7:00. It also so happened that she was given the sermon last night and she spoke on the good Samaritan.
After the service, I approached her and asked her what happened Saturday night. She said that she got caught at work until 9:00 and was not able to make it. I know for a fact that she works for a shop and there are rarely any shops that stay open past sundown which is about 6:00 here. I asked her if there was any way she either could have known that beforehand, taken off for a minute to run tell me she couldn´t make it, or have found someone to cover for her since she knew there was bible study and it was in fact her idea. I don´t remember exactly what she said, but basically just made up excuses, apologised, and said it would never happen again.
I then asked her why she was late tonight, and if everything was ok. She then continued to tell a story about how her week was busy and her house was a disaster and so she had to get it in order. She didn´t work yesterday so I´m not so sure that she was getting her house in order until 7:00 and that she couldn´t stop working to make it to church on time. I then asked her if she got her house in order every Sunday about that time because she has been late every single Sunday that I´ve been here. I also brought to her attention that she is the president and representative of the church and since she wants new members to come, what would they think if the president shows up half way through service. She then continued to make excuses and saying that she´s trying to change but frankly I didn´t believe her. I hope that she was genuine in what she said but I´d have to see it to believe it. If I show up again on Saturday and no one shows up I´m so sure I´ll be there the following week or try to find a church in the US to sponsor them.
It may seem like I´m being harsh, and that I shouldn´t judge her. I used to think that way and used this to justify my thinking:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.(Matthew 7:1-5)
I then realized that I was not passing judgement on her, I never said she was a bad person but rather there are somethings in which she should change her ways. She has done the same thing every week without even an apology or shown a shred of regret, I am honestly not sure she saw anything wrong with what she was doing. I would hope that if I was doing something wrong without remorse that someone would approach me and let me know that I should change. Again, I searched in the bible to see what it says and I ran across this:
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.(Matthew 18:15-18)
You see, it is true that we shouldn´t judge a person, but we are called to be accountable to one another and say when someone has stepped out of line and sinned. Also notice that it says to first approach them in private. I was tempted to stand up in front of everyone and confront her but I realized that she would have been even more offended and defensive, I also then found this verse in which Jesus us tells us flat out to approach them individually first, then bring others, and finally, as a last effort, tell it to the church. I approached her in private, but then noticed the pastor went up to her after to tell her the same thing. I hope and pray that she makes an afford to change but frankly she is a representative of the church as a whole. They all seem to not care what´s going on and fail to make actions towards change.
Peace,
Brandon
Different emotions ran through my head: anger, sadness, confusion, discouragement, disappointment, as well as others. I went to the service yesterday and, as usual, everyone showed up late. The pastor, a girl who is from Cuzco, and I started promptly at 6:30 and then another lady came in around 6:35, another man at 6:45 and then finally the president of the church strolled in a little after 7:00. It also so happened that she was given the sermon last night and she spoke on the good Samaritan.
After the service, I approached her and asked her what happened Saturday night. She said that she got caught at work until 9:00 and was not able to make it. I know for a fact that she works for a shop and there are rarely any shops that stay open past sundown which is about 6:00 here. I asked her if there was any way she either could have known that beforehand, taken off for a minute to run tell me she couldn´t make it, or have found someone to cover for her since she knew there was bible study and it was in fact her idea. I don´t remember exactly what she said, but basically just made up excuses, apologised, and said it would never happen again.
I then asked her why she was late tonight, and if everything was ok. She then continued to tell a story about how her week was busy and her house was a disaster and so she had to get it in order. She didn´t work yesterday so I´m not so sure that she was getting her house in order until 7:00 and that she couldn´t stop working to make it to church on time. I then asked her if she got her house in order every Sunday about that time because she has been late every single Sunday that I´ve been here. I also brought to her attention that she is the president and representative of the church and since she wants new members to come, what would they think if the president shows up half way through service. She then continued to make excuses and saying that she´s trying to change but frankly I didn´t believe her. I hope that she was genuine in what she said but I´d have to see it to believe it. If I show up again on Saturday and no one shows up I´m so sure I´ll be there the following week or try to find a church in the US to sponsor them.
It may seem like I´m being harsh, and that I shouldn´t judge her. I used to think that way and used this to justify my thinking:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.(Matthew 7:1-5)
I then realized that I was not passing judgement on her, I never said she was a bad person but rather there are somethings in which she should change her ways. She has done the same thing every week without even an apology or shown a shred of regret, I am honestly not sure she saw anything wrong with what she was doing. I would hope that if I was doing something wrong without remorse that someone would approach me and let me know that I should change. Again, I searched in the bible to see what it says and I ran across this:
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.(Matthew 18:15-18)
You see, it is true that we shouldn´t judge a person, but we are called to be accountable to one another and say when someone has stepped out of line and sinned. Also notice that it says to first approach them in private. I was tempted to stand up in front of everyone and confront her but I realized that she would have been even more offended and defensive, I also then found this verse in which Jesus us tells us flat out to approach them individually first, then bring others, and finally, as a last effort, tell it to the church. I approached her in private, but then noticed the pastor went up to her after to tell her the same thing. I hope and pray that she makes an afford to change but frankly she is a representative of the church as a whole. They all seem to not care what´s going on and fail to make actions towards change.
Peace,
Brandon
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Which of these did the work of the father
Yesterday, two of the ladies from the church came to visit the orphanage. When we knocked on the door we were met by Gil, the father of the house, and at first he was very defensive and did not want them to come in because he though they were going to attempt to evangelize the kids, all of whom are Catholic. After I calmed him down and convinced him they were simply there to see the house and then maybe figure out a way to help them out, he let them in and told them a little bit about the house.
He explained that the house consisted of what most would consider "the rejects" most of the kids had been turned away by other orphanages (unfortunately many of which were run by the Catholic Church) because the kids had disabilities or were ill-mannered. He explained that it was one of the main reasons he has stopped going to mass on Sunday mornings. He said that what he follows is the way Jesus lived. Jesus visited with prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, and the like. This is why Gil has adopted a policy of not turning any child away for any reason except that there is no longer any space for more children (which he is trying to fix by opening up another 30 child orphanage down the road from the current one but there is not enough money to even start the building). He said that many people in the church claim that they are Christians yet they fail to do the work of Christ . There are drug dealers and prostitutes in Ayacucho that have turned to such professions because they make more money and so they are able to use the earnings to help out their family and friends that are in need. (I´m not approving of either, but bringing up something that may not be known).
Gil is a prime example of a person who has turned away from "the church" because they have become hypocritical. They preach about helping those in need on Sunday mornings and then on Monday mornings they wake up to ignore the problems of the world and live their own lives. Being a Christian, for some, just means that you go to church on Sunday. Gil, and many like him, have decided they would rather live their life like Christ did, and stay away from "church people". He unfortunately is missing much of what it means to be a Christian such as corporate prayer and worship, music, accountability, and the like but what he has done that many haven´t is lived out the Gospel . He literally sold everything he owned and moved to a third world country to start an orphanage. I´m not saying that everyone needs to do the same, but what would it look like of people actually start living the Gospel rather than simply worshiping it.
Many of my blogs have become mini sermons and so I am going to try and share some verses that go along with my blog entries.
Matthew 21:28-32
"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went."Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go."Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
He explained that the house consisted of what most would consider "the rejects" most of the kids had been turned away by other orphanages (unfortunately many of which were run by the Catholic Church) because the kids had disabilities or were ill-mannered. He explained that it was one of the main reasons he has stopped going to mass on Sunday mornings. He said that what he follows is the way Jesus lived. Jesus visited with prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, and the like. This is why Gil has adopted a policy of not turning any child away for any reason except that there is no longer any space for more children (which he is trying to fix by opening up another 30 child orphanage down the road from the current one but there is not enough money to even start the building). He said that many people in the church claim that they are Christians yet they fail to do the work of Christ . There are drug dealers and prostitutes in Ayacucho that have turned to such professions because they make more money and so they are able to use the earnings to help out their family and friends that are in need. (I´m not approving of either, but bringing up something that may not be known).
Gil is a prime example of a person who has turned away from "the church" because they have become hypocritical. They preach about helping those in need on Sunday mornings and then on Monday mornings they wake up to ignore the problems of the world and live their own lives. Being a Christian, for some, just means that you go to church on Sunday. Gil, and many like him, have decided they would rather live their life like Christ did, and stay away from "church people". He unfortunately is missing much of what it means to be a Christian such as corporate prayer and worship, music, accountability, and the like but what he has done that many haven´t is lived out the Gospel . He literally sold everything he owned and moved to a third world country to start an orphanage. I´m not saying that everyone needs to do the same, but what would it look like of people actually start living the Gospel rather than simply worshiping it.
Many of my blogs have become mini sermons and so I am going to try and share some verses that go along with my blog entries.
Matthew 21:28-32
"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went."Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go."Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Family Visit Day
As I´ve mentioned before, some of the children still have their parents but their parents brought them to the house for various reasons, mainly because they couldn´t afford to take care of them.
Yesterday many of the parents came to visit their kids. I have often seen parents come but usually only one or two sets of parent. Yesterday, however, five of the children´s parents came to visit. They spent time just sitting with the kids while the rest of us took care of the other kids in the house. It was rather a strange experience seeing the families of these kids come in see them after some of them haven´t visited in as long as a few months and then just leaving and going back to their life while the kids are still in the orphanage.
I´ve never been one to pass judgement but this has been something that I really go back and forth on. In many of my previous posts I have made stands, asked questions, and proposed challenges but, in this case, I´m just simply sharing my experience. There are many things that run through my head when I see these parents. Most people´s first response would be how can you leave your children here. Another response that comes to my mind is how hard it must have been for them to realize that they couldn´t care for their own children and then to know that the children could have a better life in the orphanage. This brings up another question of what is a "better" life, to live with your family or to have plenty of food, education, and medication if need be. All these things and more run through my head when I think about the children and their families. I have no idea what I would do in their position because I have no idea what it´s like for them and what they´ve been through. Instead, I am simply a volunteer at the house. I will be in the children´s lives for about another month and then I too will be leaving them and don´t know when, if ever, I will return.
Peace,
Brandon
Yesterday many of the parents came to visit their kids. I have often seen parents come but usually only one or two sets of parent. Yesterday, however, five of the children´s parents came to visit. They spent time just sitting with the kids while the rest of us took care of the other kids in the house. It was rather a strange experience seeing the families of these kids come in see them after some of them haven´t visited in as long as a few months and then just leaving and going back to their life while the kids are still in the orphanage.
I´ve never been one to pass judgement but this has been something that I really go back and forth on. In many of my previous posts I have made stands, asked questions, and proposed challenges but, in this case, I´m just simply sharing my experience. There are many things that run through my head when I see these parents. Most people´s first response would be how can you leave your children here. Another response that comes to my mind is how hard it must have been for them to realize that they couldn´t care for their own children and then to know that the children could have a better life in the orphanage. This brings up another question of what is a "better" life, to live with your family or to have plenty of food, education, and medication if need be. All these things and more run through my head when I think about the children and their families. I have no idea what I would do in their position because I have no idea what it´s like for them and what they´ve been through. Instead, I am simply a volunteer at the house. I will be in the children´s lives for about another month and then I too will be leaving them and don´t know when, if ever, I will return.
Peace,
Brandon
Friday, July 2, 2010
If at first you don´t succeed...
Not much has changed in the casa but there are a few differences that I have noticed. One negative change is that Cristofer, the youngest at the casa at 4 years old, now cries even more than he did last year. He will cry pretty much any time he does not get his way, which is often. He´s 4yrs old but when he was born he was dropped on his side and so he has difficult using the right side of his body, mainly his hand. He also has taken longer to develop mentally which could be in part because of the injuries to the right side of his body, but it also could be because he´s been babied since he is the youngest in the casa. Regardless, I have figured out that there are most likely two reasons that he cries. First of all, he is upset because he did not get his way and so he cries as a result of being upset. The second reason is that most likely this has worked before and so he continues this method in hopes of getting his way.
I was thinking how luckily we are that adults do not react in the same way because they have most likely grown out of this stage, although in thinking further I´ve noticed that people do still respond the same way, minus the crying.
Lets take the first reason Cristofer cries. He cries out of remorse for not getting his way and resorts to crying which has no positive affect and basically wastes time that he could be spending playing if he would just listen to what the Señoritas and I say. Likewise, there are many people in the world that try to get there way or try something new and fail. Instead of moving on with their lives many people choose to just sit and sulk. They just think "what did I do wrong" and dwell on the past and the fact that they did not succeed.
The next part is even more common today. People find a way of doing something that was successful and so they continue doing the same thing over and over expecting the same results. This may be in someone´s work where they manage to sell something to someone and so they use the same technique on everyone that walks in the door and expect to make the sale. Or maybe it appears in a parent who tries the same technique in raising their second child only to notice that their second child is not the same person as the first. This also happens on large scale in the government. Social Security was working just fine the same way for the longest time but now we´re noticing something is going to have to change. Slavery continued for as long as it did because for some people it was working just fine, they didn´t bother stopping to look at the big picture and seeing what they were doing to humanity.
Some of this may come as a stretch, and maybe I pulled this conclusion out of nowhere, but regardless of if my transition was a smooth one or not, the point still stands. Too often in our lives we get comfortable because something was working in the beginning. We fail to reassess the events that go on to see that, in fact, our way of doing things is no longer working or maybe it´s hurting someone else.
So my challenge for myself and my readers is to constantly assess what your doing. Is your way of doing things still working or is it not quite as successful as you though on second assessment, or is it possibly even hurting someone else?
Peace,
Brandon
I was thinking how luckily we are that adults do not react in the same way because they have most likely grown out of this stage, although in thinking further I´ve noticed that people do still respond the same way, minus the crying.
Lets take the first reason Cristofer cries. He cries out of remorse for not getting his way and resorts to crying which has no positive affect and basically wastes time that he could be spending playing if he would just listen to what the Señoritas and I say. Likewise, there are many people in the world that try to get there way or try something new and fail. Instead of moving on with their lives many people choose to just sit and sulk. They just think "what did I do wrong" and dwell on the past and the fact that they did not succeed.
The next part is even more common today. People find a way of doing something that was successful and so they continue doing the same thing over and over expecting the same results. This may be in someone´s work where they manage to sell something to someone and so they use the same technique on everyone that walks in the door and expect to make the sale. Or maybe it appears in a parent who tries the same technique in raising their second child only to notice that their second child is not the same person as the first. This also happens on large scale in the government. Social Security was working just fine the same way for the longest time but now we´re noticing something is going to have to change. Slavery continued for as long as it did because for some people it was working just fine, they didn´t bother stopping to look at the big picture and seeing what they were doing to humanity.
Some of this may come as a stretch, and maybe I pulled this conclusion out of nowhere, but regardless of if my transition was a smooth one or not, the point still stands. Too often in our lives we get comfortable because something was working in the beginning. We fail to reassess the events that go on to see that, in fact, our way of doing things is no longer working or maybe it´s hurting someone else.
So my challenge for myself and my readers is to constantly assess what your doing. Is your way of doing things still working or is it not quite as successful as you though on second assessment, or is it possibly even hurting someone else?
Peace,
Brandon
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Walk a mile...or a hundred...in their shoes
For those of you who know my dad, you know he really likes to find good sales. The last one he found before I left was for some hiking sandals at bass pro shop. He got me a pair to take with me to Perú and so they are the only pair I brought. They were doing fine for about the first two weeks until they started to crack and now they are really falling apart. I went into town to look for shoes (in Peru the average male is 5ft 4in so as you can imagine it´s a little hard to start with) and a good pair of hiking shoes was nearly $60. In case you don´t know, the average income in Ayacucho is $2 a day. This means that it would be a full months wages for the average Ayacuhano to buy a pair of shoes like this.The average household income in the US is $50,000 so as a percentage of income it would be like these shoes costing about $4,000. If you saved up a months income in the US you would most likely be saving up for a really nice TV with entertainment system, a boat, a car, or maybe remodeling your house. Here in Ayacucho, however, it would only be enough to buy a pair of shoes. After thinking about this to myself I starting looking around at the children's shoes in the orphanage, and the shoes of people on the bus as I went to town. After doing the math in my head, and looking at the shoes of the people I´m living in community with, I realized that walking in these shoes for another month might not be all that bad. It may also play a part in living in community with the people in Ayacucho.
While speaking about shoes, I want to share a story I heard from Shane Claiborne (if you don´t know who he is you should look him up. pick up a book or two of his, and listen to a sermon of his). He was talking about when he lived in Calcutta and worked with mother Teresa. He noticed one day that her feet were grossly deformed and he asked some of the people he worked with how they got to be like that. They said that they periodically got shipments of shoes and Mother Teresa would make sure that everyone who needed a pair got one. She was always the last person to pick out her shoes and the shoes were often old, falling apart, too big, or too small. As a result, her feet became deformed. This was just a small sign of how she lived out and suffered for the gospel.
Hopefully the next time you put on your shoes, or buy a pair of shoes you can think back to these two stories, not to feel guilty, that´s never my point, but just think of how blessed you are. Also, hopefully, you can live a little more intentionally and maybe feel convicted to help out those who may not have means to buy something as simple as a new pair of shoes.
Peace,
Brandon
While speaking about shoes, I want to share a story I heard from Shane Claiborne (if you don´t know who he is you should look him up. pick up a book or two of his, and listen to a sermon of his). He was talking about when he lived in Calcutta and worked with mother Teresa. He noticed one day that her feet were grossly deformed and he asked some of the people he worked with how they got to be like that. They said that they periodically got shipments of shoes and Mother Teresa would make sure that everyone who needed a pair got one. She was always the last person to pick out her shoes and the shoes were often old, falling apart, too big, or too small. As a result, her feet became deformed. This was just a small sign of how she lived out and suffered for the gospel.
Hopefully the next time you put on your shoes, or buy a pair of shoes you can think back to these two stories, not to feel guilty, that´s never my point, but just think of how blessed you are. Also, hopefully, you can live a little more intentionally and maybe feel convicted to help out those who may not have means to buy something as simple as a new pair of shoes.
Peace,
Brandon
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The blind leading the blind
This past Sunday I went with Faron, the volunteer from Scotland, to teach English to some kids. This was his third week doing it but he leaves today so I went with him to see how he taught so that I could take over next week. The classes are done in a lady´s house who does artisan work and then sells in here and in America (a lady in the US buys tapestries form her for $200 and sells them for well over $500 but that´s an entry for another day). She has a nice house and she uses her dining room as the class room for now as they are waiting for money an support to build a tutoring center not far from her house.
Faron and I got there and another professor came in who taught math. He went before us because he had somewhere else to be so we got to watch as he taught the children. He started with equations and seemed to be doing a good job until he got to one part where he had the equation to something like 12 + x - 4 = 3x + 8 he then broke it down to 12 - 4 - 8 = 2x. He was doing just fine until he told the kids that a +*+=+, -*-=+ and +*-=- which is right for multiplication but he used it for addition and so he said the equations was 24 = 2x. Now if you followed my explanation then you realize that x actually was supposed to 0 but this man did not know how to work out a simple equation. I thought maybe he just accidentally did that one wrong but he continued with the same reasoning and continued getting wrong answers. I didn´t want to crush the man´s pride because the rest of the day he was right but it still bugged me that this man is teaching the children incorrectly and at such a young age it is very important to teach them correctly since they don´t know any different.
It is a shame that, first of all, this man who is teaching students does not have proper education himself and, secondly, he is one of the few people willing and able to help the children. This is a common cycle in impoverished areas. They do not have access to proper education and so a cycle is started that is very difficult to stop. They same is true for violence, drugs, poverty, etc. People have to be willing to come from a better position and be willing to help those or are less fortunate than themselves. People who have proper education have to be willing to go into areas that don´t have proper education and speak up to get them proper education or, if possible, educate them themselves. People who do not suffer oppression have to be willing to stand side by side with the oppressed and say, "this isn´t right". People who know that violence isn´t the answer have to be willing to go to violent areas and help educate the people and give them a better option than drugs and violence. Sure this may be one isolated incident of one man who got his math wrong but it is a small picture of what truly is going on in a larger scale here and around the world.
Peace,
Brandon
Faron and I got there and another professor came in who taught math. He went before us because he had somewhere else to be so we got to watch as he taught the children. He started with equations and seemed to be doing a good job until he got to one part where he had the equation to something like 12 + x - 4 = 3x + 8 he then broke it down to 12 - 4 - 8 = 2x. He was doing just fine until he told the kids that a +*+=+, -*-=+ and +*-=- which is right for multiplication but he used it for addition and so he said the equations was 24 = 2x. Now if you followed my explanation then you realize that x actually was supposed to 0 but this man did not know how to work out a simple equation. I thought maybe he just accidentally did that one wrong but he continued with the same reasoning and continued getting wrong answers. I didn´t want to crush the man´s pride because the rest of the day he was right but it still bugged me that this man is teaching the children incorrectly and at such a young age it is very important to teach them correctly since they don´t know any different.
It is a shame that, first of all, this man who is teaching students does not have proper education himself and, secondly, he is one of the few people willing and able to help the children. This is a common cycle in impoverished areas. They do not have access to proper education and so a cycle is started that is very difficult to stop. They same is true for violence, drugs, poverty, etc. People have to be willing to come from a better position and be willing to help those or are less fortunate than themselves. People who have proper education have to be willing to go into areas that don´t have proper education and speak up to get them proper education or, if possible, educate them themselves. People who do not suffer oppression have to be willing to stand side by side with the oppressed and say, "this isn´t right". People who know that violence isn´t the answer have to be willing to go to violent areas and help educate the people and give them a better option than drugs and violence. Sure this may be one isolated incident of one man who got his math wrong but it is a small picture of what truly is going on in a larger scale here and around the world.
Peace,
Brandon
Friday, June 25, 2010
Father´s Day
It´s been a few days since I posted so since not much has gone on I want to take some time and go back to father´s day. As some of you may know I am not a big fan of secular holidays and thin that it´s sort of a ploy to run sales or make more money off cards. People are often guilted into doing something rather than genuinely wanting to. I have been blessed with a loving and supportive father and I hope that he knows how much I love and appreciate him without me having to give him a call on a specific day.
Regardless, since this past Sunday was father´s day, I want to talk a little bit on the subject of fathers. On Sunday the kids put on a production for Gil, the father and founder of the casa where I work. The did various dances, sang songs, and recited poems. It was really awesome to experience but the best part was hidden deep within the purpose of the casa. The children come from many different backgrounds. Some children were brought here because their parents simply could afford the time or money to take care of them, some had been found by the government and placed here, some had mentally, physically, and even sexually abusive fathers, and others are children of prostitutes and they never even knew their father. Despite their varied histories, they all are currently in the same place with the same caring and loving father, Gil. Although he isn´t perfect and sometimes he can get agree with them and have to be the person to discipline them, he still loves and cares for each and every one of them. It all started about 10 years ago when he and his wife decided to give up everything, sell everything, and leave their comfortable life to care for the children in Perú.
This somewhat mirrors our relationship with God. God is in three forms of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The form of Father is what has turned man people away from the idea of God. Like the children in the orphanage, some people have not had a loving father like I have, and so the thought of God being a father makes them sick and scared. If their earthly father has hurt them so badly, how badly can a heavenly father hurt them? This is where the picture of the orphanage somewhat depicts God the Father. Much like Gil, our heavenly Father will take us in regardless of our past and regardless of the hardships that we have gone through. Our heavenly Father, however, goes far and beyond even what Gil has done. God has more love for us than we can possibly fathom, and not only that, but God can also empathize with us because God also came to us in the form of Jesus who was blameless on all accounts yet underwent abuse and death for the sake of our sins. So rather than waiting for the 3rd Sunday in June to thank our father we should thank our Father each and every day, and if we are fortunate enough to have a loving father as well, then we should be thankful for him each and every day as well.
Peace,
Brandon
Regardless, since this past Sunday was father´s day, I want to talk a little bit on the subject of fathers. On Sunday the kids put on a production for Gil, the father and founder of the casa where I work. The did various dances, sang songs, and recited poems. It was really awesome to experience but the best part was hidden deep within the purpose of the casa. The children come from many different backgrounds. Some children were brought here because their parents simply could afford the time or money to take care of them, some had been found by the government and placed here, some had mentally, physically, and even sexually abusive fathers, and others are children of prostitutes and they never even knew their father. Despite their varied histories, they all are currently in the same place with the same caring and loving father, Gil. Although he isn´t perfect and sometimes he can get agree with them and have to be the person to discipline them, he still loves and cares for each and every one of them. It all started about 10 years ago when he and his wife decided to give up everything, sell everything, and leave their comfortable life to care for the children in Perú.
This somewhat mirrors our relationship with God. God is in three forms of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The form of Father is what has turned man people away from the idea of God. Like the children in the orphanage, some people have not had a loving father like I have, and so the thought of God being a father makes them sick and scared. If their earthly father has hurt them so badly, how badly can a heavenly father hurt them? This is where the picture of the orphanage somewhat depicts God the Father. Much like Gil, our heavenly Father will take us in regardless of our past and regardless of the hardships that we have gone through. Our heavenly Father, however, goes far and beyond even what Gil has done. God has more love for us than we can possibly fathom, and not only that, but God can also empathize with us because God also came to us in the form of Jesus who was blameless on all accounts yet underwent abuse and death for the sake of our sins. So rather than waiting for the 3rd Sunday in June to thank our father we should thank our Father each and every day, and if we are fortunate enough to have a loving father as well, then we should be thankful for him each and every day as well.
Peace,
Brandon
Monday, June 21, 2010
A test of patience
Yesterday was Sunday so I once again returned to the Methodist Church which only has about 10 members from 3 families (that´s membership not attendance). I showed up at 5:00 because I was going to meet with two of the teenage members to talk about some things and then the pastor wanted us to go out and invite people to church. When I showed up the pastor was there but the 2 guys were nowhere to be seen. We then decided to go to their houses to see if anything was wrong. We walked up to Arturo´s house and he came to the door to tell us that his aunt had passed out and so they had to rush her to the hospital. We´re not exactly sure what happened but she has been added to my prayer list and I hope you will do the same. We then went across the street to Alex´s house but no one answered the door and we later found out that someone in his family was getting married.
So...we returned to the church and waited for the people to come for service. Service is supposed to start at 6:30 but no one showed up until 7:15. Waiting for the teenagers and then for the rest of the members gave me a lot of time to talk to the pastor about some things. First of all, he has only been there since March and the pastor who was there is now the District Superintendent (I guess it doesn´t take quite as much to be a DS here). He came from a church in Lima where the average attendance was around 50 and the most they had was about 80, which is a pretty big Methodist Church for here in Perú. One of the main topics we talked about was the building of a church building. He seems to think that a building and a sports field would help bring people in, and although he is probably partially correct, I believe that the time and money could be better spent in a city where the average income is $2 a day.
We also talked a little bit about the ministry here. There are two main families that the members come from and then there is one other family from which one or two people will come. This is different from the Sunday School in the morning where sometimes as many as 15 children will come. Since there are so few members, I asked him if there was ever an occasion where no one showed up. He told me that there has only been one Sunday in which that happened and he stayed at the church from 6:00 until 8:00 simply praying for the members of the church and the church as a whole. Another problem that comes with a small church and occasional events where no one shows up, is that there is very little offering each week, maybe 8-10 dollars. This is not enough to cover the expenses of around $100 a month simply to pay the bills. The way the church makes it month to month is that there is one member who covers half the rent, or about $20, and then the pastor has another job Monday-Friday and he give half of his income to the church...again...he gives HALF of his income, not just 10% which a dwindling few still give.
I deeply admire this man´s patience and faith. I would like to say that I would respond similarly, but frankly I´m not sure if I would. He may not be doing everything right, and there may be ways to grow the church that he has not looked into, but he works Monday-Friday and so he is not able to do many things that church planters in the US could do. He´s also very limited in his funding seeing that he is funding much of the ministry himself. I will continue my discussions with the pastor and see if there is something I can do to help since he is limited in what he can do. For now I just simply ask for prayers for the church, the pastor, and myself as we search to see where this ministry is called.
Peace,
Brandon
So...we returned to the church and waited for the people to come for service. Service is supposed to start at 6:30 but no one showed up until 7:15. Waiting for the teenagers and then for the rest of the members gave me a lot of time to talk to the pastor about some things. First of all, he has only been there since March and the pastor who was there is now the District Superintendent (I guess it doesn´t take quite as much to be a DS here). He came from a church in Lima where the average attendance was around 50 and the most they had was about 80, which is a pretty big Methodist Church for here in Perú. One of the main topics we talked about was the building of a church building. He seems to think that a building and a sports field would help bring people in, and although he is probably partially correct, I believe that the time and money could be better spent in a city where the average income is $2 a day.
We also talked a little bit about the ministry here. There are two main families that the members come from and then there is one other family from which one or two people will come. This is different from the Sunday School in the morning where sometimes as many as 15 children will come. Since there are so few members, I asked him if there was ever an occasion where no one showed up. He told me that there has only been one Sunday in which that happened and he stayed at the church from 6:00 until 8:00 simply praying for the members of the church and the church as a whole. Another problem that comes with a small church and occasional events where no one shows up, is that there is very little offering each week, maybe 8-10 dollars. This is not enough to cover the expenses of around $100 a month simply to pay the bills. The way the church makes it month to month is that there is one member who covers half the rent, or about $20, and then the pastor has another job Monday-Friday and he give half of his income to the church...again...he gives HALF of his income, not just 10% which a dwindling few still give.
I deeply admire this man´s patience and faith. I would like to say that I would respond similarly, but frankly I´m not sure if I would. He may not be doing everything right, and there may be ways to grow the church that he has not looked into, but he works Monday-Friday and so he is not able to do many things that church planters in the US could do. He´s also very limited in his funding seeing that he is funding much of the ministry himself. I will continue my discussions with the pastor and see if there is something I can do to help since he is limited in what he can do. For now I just simply ask for prayers for the church, the pastor, and myself as we search to see where this ministry is called.
Peace,
Brandon
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Invincible
The other day I went to a bar with a few of the other volunteers and, while there, we met some people who live here in Ayacucho. One of the guys, Román, sat down next to me and began talking about different things about Ayacucho. He talked a little bit about Sendero Luminoso or "the Shining Path" which was a terrorist organization that ran rampant in Ayacucho during the 80´s and early 90´s. His discussion then transferred to the more pertinent problem in Ayacucho which is drugs, only for him, he didn´t view it as a problem but was rather why he loved Ayacucho so much.
Coca leaves, which are the main ingredient needed for cocaine, are not illegal in Peru and I am told that if you fly over Ayacucho in a helicopter you will see fields and fields of coca plants. The leaf is often used to make a tea or to simply chew on which is good for energy and to counteract altitude sickness since Ayacucho is over 9,000 ft above sea level.
The downside, however, is that it makes the production of cocaine that much easier and Ayacucho has become one of the worst cities in Peru for production and sale of cocaine. Many people think of the country of Colombia when it comes to cocaine but I recently read an article where production of cocaine has greatly decreased in Colombia but is slowly increasing in Peru. According to the article, in the not too far future Peru will surpass Columbia in cocaine production and sale.
Now getting back to "my friend" in the bar. His name is Román Trisolini and he said his grandfather fled Italy in order to avoid the police and so he came to Peru and eventually found himself in Ayacucho. He then acquired much land including the land where the orphanage sits and began drug production as well as partaking in other illegal activity. One thing lead to another and now Román tells me that he is basically invincible and when he walks into a place all he needs to do is simply say his name and people will let him in with no problem and, if he asks, give him food and drink for free. He also says that if there is anyone that seems to be a threat to him he can "have them taken care of". The Trisolini family has built an empire here in Ayacucho and so they thrive off the weak and poor. They use them to harvest and make there drugs and then they turn around and sell it to them feeding there addiction and taking away from the little income they have to start with.
Now whether all of what he told me about himself is true or not, I don´t know. But what I do know if that the things he talked about are happening here in Ayacucho and in Peru whether it´s actually his family or not.
I´ve been thinking about all of this and I realized that as horrible as it is, a similar thing is happening in the US LEGALLY!!!! There are countless companies that build big empires based on addictive substances and then they use cheap labor to harvest it and produce it. There are also big banks who thrive on those who don´t have much money yet they take what little money they have and then become so large that they are seemingly invincible or "too big to fail". This is before even going in to detail about the countless companies who choose to outsource and pay wages as low as $0.10 an hour and then pay their US employees minimum wage, which by the way is still a long way from a living wage. Meanwhile, we continue to feed their greed without even knowing it.
So what can we do? For starters, we have to educate ourselves.We have to find what companies are unethical and stop buying from them. We then find companies who are ethical and give our business to them instead. And what about the problems of no paying minimum wages? Ask your representatives in the government what they´re doing to fix it and when it comes time to vote, vote for the people who will fight for the oppressed. I used to think that government and religion shouldn´t mix but when it comes to problems such as minimum wage there is no better outlet to fix it than to get involved with the government.
This has been a long post and I could continue on but I´ve probably already said enough for now. I just ask and pray that you continue to educate yourself on the matters, as I have been. And I would be more than happy to talk more about problems in Ayacucho and Peru as well as things I have noticed in the US. You can simply post a comment here, facebook me, or email me at brandonclazarus@gmail.com.
Peace,
Brandon
Coca leaves, which are the main ingredient needed for cocaine, are not illegal in Peru and I am told that if you fly over Ayacucho in a helicopter you will see fields and fields of coca plants. The leaf is often used to make a tea or to simply chew on which is good for energy and to counteract altitude sickness since Ayacucho is over 9,000 ft above sea level.
The downside, however, is that it makes the production of cocaine that much easier and Ayacucho has become one of the worst cities in Peru for production and sale of cocaine. Many people think of the country of Colombia when it comes to cocaine but I recently read an article where production of cocaine has greatly decreased in Colombia but is slowly increasing in Peru. According to the article, in the not too far future Peru will surpass Columbia in cocaine production and sale.
Now getting back to "my friend" in the bar. His name is Román Trisolini and he said his grandfather fled Italy in order to avoid the police and so he came to Peru and eventually found himself in Ayacucho. He then acquired much land including the land where the orphanage sits and began drug production as well as partaking in other illegal activity. One thing lead to another and now Román tells me that he is basically invincible and when he walks into a place all he needs to do is simply say his name and people will let him in with no problem and, if he asks, give him food and drink for free. He also says that if there is anyone that seems to be a threat to him he can "have them taken care of". The Trisolini family has built an empire here in Ayacucho and so they thrive off the weak and poor. They use them to harvest and make there drugs and then they turn around and sell it to them feeding there addiction and taking away from the little income they have to start with.
Now whether all of what he told me about himself is true or not, I don´t know. But what I do know if that the things he talked about are happening here in Ayacucho and in Peru whether it´s actually his family or not.
I´ve been thinking about all of this and I realized that as horrible as it is, a similar thing is happening in the US LEGALLY!!!! There are countless companies that build big empires based on addictive substances and then they use cheap labor to harvest it and produce it. There are also big banks who thrive on those who don´t have much money yet they take what little money they have and then become so large that they are seemingly invincible or "too big to fail". This is before even going in to detail about the countless companies who choose to outsource and pay wages as low as $0.10 an hour and then pay their US employees minimum wage, which by the way is still a long way from a living wage. Meanwhile, we continue to feed their greed without even knowing it.
So what can we do? For starters, we have to educate ourselves.We have to find what companies are unethical and stop buying from them. We then find companies who are ethical and give our business to them instead. And what about the problems of no paying minimum wages? Ask your representatives in the government what they´re doing to fix it and when it comes time to vote, vote for the people who will fight for the oppressed. I used to think that government and religion shouldn´t mix but when it comes to problems such as minimum wage there is no better outlet to fix it than to get involved with the government.
This has been a long post and I could continue on but I´ve probably already said enough for now. I just ask and pray that you continue to educate yourself on the matters, as I have been. And I would be more than happy to talk more about problems in Ayacucho and Peru as well as things I have noticed in the US. You can simply post a comment here, facebook me, or email me at brandonclazarus@gmail.com.
Peace,
Brandon
Monday, June 14, 2010
Where 2 or more are gathered...
I went to the church service which the pastor told me started at 6:30 but when I looked at the flyer he gave me it said 6:00. Nonetheless, I was stuck at the orphange for a little longer than expected do I made it to the church a little after 6:30 and they were all there waiting for me. Now when I say they were ¨all¨ there waiting for me I mean that the church only has 5 members all of whom were there as well as 5 or 6 kids and 2 teenagers. When I got there we talked for a while about why I was there and then about the fact that I will be studying to be a pastor in the Methodist Church which they were very happy about. I also asked them about the history of their church and they said they have been around for 9 years but only became an official Methodist church about 3 years ago. Also, the pastor only just arrived in March. Although they are small in number the fact that they have stayed for 9 years even though they have not grown says something about their faith. The service started and the Pastor played the guitar and sang to lead the group...two things he can not do...Craig if you are reading this, I miss you. Regardless, it was a good service and the pastor preached from the lectionary and stuck to the scripture, I was pleasantly surprised since often in Latin American countries the pastors lack theological education and so their sermons often to stay true to the scripture. That was not the case here. Overall it was a very good experience and I look forward to seeing how I can help them out during my short time here but more importantly I look forward to learning from them.
Peace,
Brandon
Peace,
Brandon
Sunday, June 13, 2010
And we have contact
This morning I woke up and headed to the center where the Methodist Church is supposed to be. I found the address on the website but that was the same website that gave me the email that no one has responded to. I rode down there on the bus which was free because apparently it´s the 16th anniversary of that particular bus route, and when I made it to the location of the church there were only kids in there and one adult. I thought that was maybe the children's church so I looked in the next building over but it was locked. I then walked in to the children´s Sunday school and asked the man when the regular service was. He introduced himself as Rev. Samuel Aguilar Curi and told me of their schedule. They have Sunday school at 10am and then their service is at 6:00 tonight.
I´m going to go to the service tonight and then see if I can talk to the pastor about how I can help out around the church while I´m here.
Chau,
Brandon
I´m going to go to the service tonight and then see if I can talk to the pastor about how I can help out around the church while I´m here.
Chau,
Brandon
Friday, June 11, 2010
Just a quick update
So as my last blog mentioned, I made it to Ayacucho, went to go see a few of the kids, and then I took a nice long nap. After my nap I went back over since the kids were out of school. When I walked in a couple of the kids came running up and said ¨I´ve seen you before haven´t I¨ haha, I didn´t really expect them to remember my name but it was nice to know that they remembered me nonetheless. A little bit later some of the older kids came out and the majority of them remembered me by name. All in all it was rewarding to know that they remembered me since that was one of the main reasons I chose to return to Ayacucho rather than go somewhere else.
All 27 kids from last year are here and now they have one more, Jonathan, who has down syndrome and even though he didn´t know me he came running up and jumed on me and gave me a big hug. I guess he got caught up in the excitement of the other kids and thought he should do the same. Also, I big change from last year, about half the volunteers speak English. one is from Switzerland and she prefers nto speak engish, another from Germany, another from England, another from Scotland, and then yet another from the US. Needless to say, if I want the opportunity to just relax and speak english, I can. It also is forcing more people to speak Spanish since it is the only common language we all have.
Well that´s my update for today, I´m going to look for the Methodist Church today so I´ll let you know how that goes, no deep insights for today, just thought I´d fill you all in a little more since yesterday´s post was a little skimpy.
Peace,
Brandon
All 27 kids from last year are here and now they have one more, Jonathan, who has down syndrome and even though he didn´t know me he came running up and jumed on me and gave me a big hug. I guess he got caught up in the excitement of the other kids and thought he should do the same. Also, I big change from last year, about half the volunteers speak English. one is from Switzerland and she prefers nto speak engish, another from Germany, another from England, another from Scotland, and then yet another from the US. Needless to say, if I want the opportunity to just relax and speak english, I can. It also is forcing more people to speak Spanish since it is the only common language we all have.
Well that´s my update for today, I´m going to look for the Methodist Church today so I´ll let you know how that goes, no deep insights for today, just thought I´d fill you all in a little more since yesterday´s post was a little skimpy.
Peace,
Brandon
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Back in Ayacucho
I just got back to Ayacucho a few hours ago and I am very tired so this post will be short. Also, I haven´t posted in a couple of days because I ate some pork and it upset my stomach so I have been out of commission for a while.
Well back to me being in Ayacucho. All the kids are at school now so the only ones that were there were the Lupes which are the kids with disabilities. Eberson, who is blind recognized my voice and remembered my name which was pretty awesome. Also he can now stand up on his own which was really cool to watch. Last year he could only barely walk if you held him by both hands. Maria Jesus and Maria Antonieta also recognized my right away, as did the dogs haha. I´m excited to see the rest of the kids but for now I think I´m going to take a nap.
Peace,
Brandon
Well back to me being in Ayacucho. All the kids are at school now so the only ones that were there were the Lupes which are the kids with disabilities. Eberson, who is blind recognized my voice and remembered my name which was pretty awesome. Also he can now stand up on his own which was really cool to watch. Last year he could only barely walk if you held him by both hands. Maria Jesus and Maria Antonieta also recognized my right away, as did the dogs haha. I´m excited to see the rest of the kids but for now I think I´m going to take a nap.
Peace,
Brandon
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Something's Changed...
While walking down the streets of
Last year, I saw these things but did not think too much of it. Sure it made me a little sad, but I was in
As I stand frozen in time, looking at these children and women, different words and images run through my head.
The first place I go is scripture. (These are paraphrases of a few that came to mind)
-What you do unto the least of these you do unto me
-I was hungry and you fed me, naked and you clothed me...I was hungry and you did not feed me, naked and you gave me no clothing.
-Who is my neighbor
-The first shall be last and the last shall be first
-The church is one body but many parts
-The greatest of these is love
-You show me faith without works and I will show you my faith through my works
-Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head
-Who is my mother, who are my brothers
Next, I think of various quotes, and prayers
-Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours
-We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy
-Lord make me a channel of your peace
-Lord help my disbelief
-Be the change you want to see in the world
-Each of them is Jesus in disguise
-We can do no great things, only small things with great love
Lastly, I thought of my experiences that I've had and people I've come in contact with
-The orphans in Ayacucho, Huaraz, and Iquitos
-The people of Brazil
-The church in Guatemala
-San Carlos Island in Venezuela
-The homeless community in Columbia, SC
-Various immigrants to the US both documented and undocumented
All of this ran through my head at once and I was almost brought to tears. My heart was aching because I no longer saw children begging, a homeless woman, and prostitutes. Instead, what I saw were my children, brothers, sisters, and mothers in need. I thought of the various verses and from my experiences and realized that each and every one of these people is part of the body of Christ whether they know it or not. One slight change and I could have been just like them. One second more on the streets, and any of the orphans I have worked with could have been in that same spot, and some of them were, and others still may be.
You see, sometime over the past year, I've learned what it means to live the Gospel. Sure I don't do it every second of every day, but somehow, for that moment, I understood. When I saw those people my heart broke. I wanted to help them; I wanted to find a way to give them all they needed. But what did I do? I prayed, because at that moment I simply didn't know what to do. I often think that I should give them money and I convince myself that is what Jesus would do. But frankly, I don't know what to do. Sometimes Jesus would stop and give the people what they asked for, like when he fed the thousands, but then at other times Jesus simply passed through on his way to the next town.
I'm not Jesus; I don't know what to do. So, what I did was prayed. Only this time, it wasn't the typical prayer I would say when passing by someone who was homeless. As usual I prayed for them and that they may find what they need and that God would protect them, but I didn't stop there. Instead, I continued praying for all who were in the same situation, for everyone around the world who didn't have food, or clean water, or shelter, for those who have turned to prostitution because they feel there is no other option, that they have been abused in their past and feel that is all they are worth. I pray that they may see and feel the love of God. But then, lastly, I pray for myself. I pray that God may help my disbelief. That somehow I may begin to see exactly what it is I need to do. When Jesus said "I was hungry and you fed me...I was in prison and you visited me" was he saying that he was embodied in each and every person and we are called to meet the needs of everyone? Or maybe he was saying we are called to do what we can to help the hungry as the whole population. Maybe Christ is like a secret shopper and we never know when that homeless person is actually Christ in disguise. Frankly, I don't know...that's why I'm putting this out there and hopefully we can help each other sort this out.
What I do know is that my heart broke for them, that although in the past I would have just kept walking, instead, for a brief moment, I felt their pain. I don't mean to sound like a masochist, but I liked it, I liked being able to be one with them at that moment, that I wasn't praying for them, I wasn't praying for myself, I was praying for US as a body of Christ. I'm somewhere different now, I'm not the same person I was last year, or even the same person I was yesterday. I've been intentional with my dailt life and, like a good Methodist, I've been using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience in order to reflect on my life and the world around me to see where God is in all of this, or better yet, reflect on God and see where I and the world fit in. It's my prayer that I continue to be aware of what's going on around me and to see that we are all in this together.
Updates:
-I went to church the other day and it was evangelical free and the pastor kept talking about "God's Plan" but didn't seem to say were we fit in.
-I went to some of the other ISA students' house because it was their house mom's birthday and we at cake an had some discussion. It turns out that she is a public attorney and she and a coworker discussed how they are fighting for young people's rights and that much like the
-I went to the offices of the Methodist Church in Peru and, like in the US, there are formalities so the lady told me to send her and email and I am now waiting for the response
-I have my ticket to Ayacucho and I leave tomorrow at 10:15pm which puts my in Ayacucho around 8:00am. I'm going straight to the orphanage and then I'll figure out all the church stuff once I get there.
Peace,
Monday, June 7, 2010
Yo Soy Peruano
As I mentioned in my previous blog, I'm staying with my homestay family from last year and there are two girls staying here from the same program that I was with last year. On Saturday I went with them to an exchange event where the International Studies Abroad (ISA) students can interact with Peruvian students and learn their way around the city as well as learn a little bit about the culture. When I got to the center the organizer of the event thought that I was Peruvian and so she had me sign in with the Peruvians and then I was put in charge of 3 of the girls to show them around and get them on the bus to go to the center.
I did so successfully and then helped bring them to the Plaza de armas, or city square. Once I got there I started talking to some of the other students and one of the guys turned to me and said "Your English is very good, you don't have an accent at all" hahaha, to which I responded "That might be because I'm American" I have to say that this has been my proudest moment in Peru, everyone back home jokingly says that I'm Peruvian but now I have been mistaken for a Peruvian by Peruvians as well as visiting Americans.
I did so successfully and then helped bring them to the Plaza de armas, or city square. Once I got there I started talking to some of the other students and one of the guys turned to me and said "Your English is very good, you don't have an accent at all" hahaha, to which I responded "That might be because I'm American" I have to say that this has been my proudest moment in Peru, everyone back home jokingly says that I'm Peruvian but now I have been mistaken for a Peruvian by Peruvians as well as visiting Americans.
Friday, June 4, 2010
And the Journey Begins
I made it to Lima last night around 11:00 where Willy and Amalia (my homestay brother and sister from last year) came to pick me up. We got back to the house where I went up stairs and mami (the homestay mother/grandmother) looked at me with quite a surprised look on her face and then just started giggling as she always does. No one had told her that I was coming so it was a surprise for her. I stayed up for a few hours talking, and eating of course. There are also two girls staying here from the same study abroad program that I came with last year. I'll spend a few more days here in Lima just relaxing and visiting with the friends and family here.
I also would like to talk a little bit about my trip and why I came back to Peru. Originally I was going to go with my family to Brazil and then afterwards I was going to travel to Bolivia to do missions there. I chose Bolivia because I wanted to see somewhere new ad it seemed like a good choice since it is so close to Brazil and has a similar culture to that of Peru.
We then decided that we would not be going to Brazil which again opened up the opportunity to pick what I did this Summer. For a long time I thought that I would just still go to Bolivia and spend more time than originally planned. I also, however, wanted to return to Peru to visit the orphanage again and touch basis with the friends and family I made here. After a lot of prayer and getting insight from others, I decided to return to Peru. I then started looking at other possibilities in Peru since the orphanage I worked at last year did not seem to be in as much need as some of the other places in Peru and Ayacucho (the city where the orphanage) and I found that there is a Methodist Church in Ayacucho.
I sent an email to them about 4 months ago and they responded and sounded like they were excited, but when I sent them another email 2 weeks ago and then a third week ago...there was no response. So...I have decided to go to Ayacucho and knock on the door of the church, if no one is there then I will go to the orphanage where I worked last Summer and then continue visiting the church until I can find someone to talk to.
I haven't really had too much happen yet to talk about so I'll sign off for now and I'll be sure to update you guy if anything exciting happens.
Thank You so much for all the prayers and support,
Brandon
P.S. You may have noticed that the website for the blog is Luke 10:29 look it up and it should be self explanatory why I chose it.
I also would like to talk a little bit about my trip and why I came back to Peru. Originally I was going to go with my family to Brazil and then afterwards I was going to travel to Bolivia to do missions there. I chose Bolivia because I wanted to see somewhere new ad it seemed like a good choice since it is so close to Brazil and has a similar culture to that of Peru.
We then decided that we would not be going to Brazil which again opened up the opportunity to pick what I did this Summer. For a long time I thought that I would just still go to Bolivia and spend more time than originally planned. I also, however, wanted to return to Peru to visit the orphanage again and touch basis with the friends and family I made here. After a lot of prayer and getting insight from others, I decided to return to Peru. I then started looking at other possibilities in Peru since the orphanage I worked at last year did not seem to be in as much need as some of the other places in Peru and Ayacucho (the city where the orphanage) and I found that there is a Methodist Church in Ayacucho.
I sent an email to them about 4 months ago and they responded and sounded like they were excited, but when I sent them another email 2 weeks ago and then a third week ago...there was no response. So...I have decided to go to Ayacucho and knock on the door of the church, if no one is there then I will go to the orphanage where I worked last Summer and then continue visiting the church until I can find someone to talk to.
I haven't really had too much happen yet to talk about so I'll sign off for now and I'll be sure to update you guy if anything exciting happens.
Thank You so much for all the prayers and support,
Brandon
P.S. You may have noticed that the website for the blog is Luke 10:29 look it up and it should be self explanatory why I chose it.
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