HGBC Peru Mission Trip: Last Day: Ministry, Fun, Travel

Our flight home would start Friday evening at 9 pm. We had a lot of time on Friday. We started by going to a school to do one more program for children. Before we entered the school Pastor Pablo told us how this school started. He said that a few years ago a gift of $1,000 came from Hickory Grove Baptist Church. As the Peruvian Baptists discussed how to use the money Pastor Ulysses suggested a location where there wasn't a church. He thought they could open a soup kitchen and help students with homework after school. The plan was approved and Pastor Ulysses was put in charge. After a time the pastor decided to have a celebration for the recipients, 150 people showed up. When he reported this Pastor Ulysses suggested they could start a church in that location.When other church leaders agreed, he asked who should be pastor, and they looked at him. The church did well and soon Pastor Ulysses said, "We could start a school here." And they did. We visited a school with an enrollment of sixty students. Our entrance meant an instant assembly. All of the teachers and students gathered in chairs in the courtyard. By the way Ginger was feeling well enough to be involved on this day.

We had a shortened program. The kids sang and Elva shared the doll presentation and each girl received a doll. After another song, Catherine shared the wordless frisbee and each boy got a frisbee. Her way of presenting included lots of questions about the colors and what they meant. We were amazed a how well these children already understood the message of salvation, Pastor Ulysses and his staff were doing an excellent job with this school. This was also the most thankful group. Judy said she got so many hugs that it brought tears to her eyes.

Now that our ministry activities were done we were looking forward to being tourists for a little while. We heard about souvenir shopping, but we still had a lot of daylight. So Pastor Pablo directed Jesus on a lengthy drive to another part of the city. We ended up in a rural part of the edge of town. Street construction caused us to drive down a road between agricultural fields and through a stream. We parked at an historic site. A flour mill that had originally been built in 1621, had fallen into disrepair for many years. In fact, the buildings were completely broken down. A banker commissioned an architect to study and restore the site. We walked into the second floor milling room and saw a large stone turning. Water flowing over a water wheel down stairs was providing the power. The grounds were beautiful so we spent some time taking pictures.

After the mill we drove back into the city and ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Pastor Pablo, his wife, Dolly, and his daughter, Dolly 2, joined us for lunch. Finally, we went to the Artisans craft sales area. We compared products and prices in shops that offered Alpaca wool made into many things, nativity scenes, paintings and other souvenirs.

Finally, we went back to the orphanage to repack our suitcases and head for the airport. Pastor Pablo, Dolly, Gaby, Andrea, Adrian, Elva, and Catherine saw us off. Oh, by the way, the departure building does have a roof, but part of it was under construction.

We made our connections in Lima and Miami, and were glad to get home. But we're ready to go back and do most of it again. Maybe next time we can leave off the illnesses.