A Word - July 2010

The last month has flown by. We’ve inaugurated the latrine project at Naranjal and Villa de Socabaya (see web links below) and made another micro-loan (thanks to the lenders!). The interns have been figuring out how to integrate and learn amid the oddness of our “regular” schedule, and now the bulk of their time has passed. We’ve had some regular visitors for Sunday communion the last few weeks, though the committed core group remains small. 

A Word of Hope

By now most readers will have heard about Alfredo’s baptism. Our joy is still overflowing. It is wonderful to think about what God will do with him, especially as we ponder the cultivation of indigenous church leader- ship. So much of what we want to see in the future is only signified in God’s saving work in the present. This is where hope comes in, the trust in what we do not yet possess. Our Wednesday night study of Genesis has brought to mind once again how long and winding is the journey to receive the promise and how hard is the call to trust that God is faithful. Walking with Jose Luis and now Alfredo, the struggle to live new life in them becomes a struggle to trust God in us. We proclaim in Arequipa the promise for those who were far off, to be received in part already though not yet fulfilled. Our hope, then, is that God will bring to completion what he has begun in these men and, through them, in this city. 

A Word of Prayer

We often pray too generally. Sometimes I think it’s because we respect the “not my will but thine” posture of prayer--why ask for particulars if we’re content with letting him decide what will be? Sometimes I think it’s because we fear the disorientation of not receiving--avoid the whole mess of asking for the wrong thing or wondering if my lack of faith it at fault. Prayer is a complex and untamed subject. My present feeling is one of pragmatic surrender. I don’t know what else to do but ask for what we need. If it turns out otherwise, well, I had to ask. So, let’s get specific.