Our 2018 has started out busy but really great. It is summer time so things usually slow down as far as planning things go because a lot of people travel or go to the beach (it is only about 2 hours away). Thank you to all of you for your continued support and prayers. Please continue to pray for our neighbors that we are studying the bible with that God will be opening their hearts to him so that they can be a part of the Kingdom here in Arequipa.
These are small things that add up to be a huge blessing to us and to the work that we are doing through CUDA. Thank you for supporting us in this way. In this issue Katie writes about forced Sabbath, Jaclyn writes about a cookout we did with the orphanages, Jeremy shares his neighbor Alfredo's story, and Jake gives the recommendation for this month.
August is always a big month of celebration here in Arequipa as the 15th is Arequipa's founding day. This past August 15th Arequipa celebrated 477 years! It is always celebrated throughout the month of August with parades, music festivals, beauty pageants, and food and art festivals. We have also had a big celebration this month for August Blair's first birthday! As you can see in the picture above, she loved her cake!
There are a variety of reason that the idea of mis- sion is currently undergoing renegotiation and revision in the church’s imagination. One of the most important is the fact that the nature of the world has changed. Although even a standard definition of globalization is difficult to come by, the complex processes that word refers to have undeniably produced tremendous change in the global landscape. Missions used to be about whom was sent to where from where. In order to engage in “world missions,” “global missions,” or “foreign missions,” sending a missionary was necessary, and that fact shaped the definition of missions (the church’s “mission work”) and, in turn, of mission (God’s purposes in all of creation).
There has been no little discussion of the after life, Hell, and the end of the world in recent Christian discourse. Our eschatology—our understanding of the “last things”—must and should shape our lives in Christ. We are a people of hope and promise, followers of a Savior who interrupted history with an unexpected glimpse of the future. Moreover, God’s mission is oriented toward a particular end, which frames all that we would do and say in his name.
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.
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.
