Updated Flickr Page

I've updated our flickr page with a bunch of photos from the past few days. Yesterday we visited the Santa Catalina Monastery here in Arequipa which was a fascinating (albeit a little strange in parts - some of the icons were a little spooky for the kids) experience. The architecture was amazing and I was able to take some beautiful shots (see below for two examples).

Today we actually had sun for the first time in 10 days, so we went with the Styrons to a park in Yamina on the outskirts of town. This is where we had two baptisms when we were here in June. There's a nice hill next to the park that we climbed with the kids and got some great views of the city and countryside (the Bourques will remember this climb from last year).

Here's the photos:

Yamina and other Week 4 Photos

Santa Catalina Monastery

Mustard Seed Happenings

Yesterday was perhaps the most enjoyable day of the trip so far. We not only had some good time as a family, but were able to see God at work among the people here - both the Williams' and the Styron's and those the Father has gathered around them.

Recently, they have befriended a pastor named Josephine and his wife Julie. Josephine was recently booted from his denomination and has been struggling to re-imagine his vocation. Before the conference, I was able to spend some time with him and Lee talking about work, the kingdom, and how he might be able to find a new path that would certainly lead him in a counter-cultural direction here in Peru. He was struggling because he had made the decision to open a small Locutorio (a shop where people can make long-distance phone calls) with an old friend. This would help provide for his family at this time of need, but what about ministry?

Ooh boy. Don't get me started.

Anyway, yesterday Mike and I and the Williams' visited him at his shop for their Grand Opening (see photos starting here). It's a small store with about 8 booths for domestic and international phone service. He told us the rent was pretty high, but they would be pulling in some good daily profit. A steady stream of people came through to make calls for the hour we were there. We prayed over his business, for safety and prosperity, but also that his shop would be a place of peace and reconciliation. His family showed up a few minutes later and we broke open a bottle of orange Fresca to celebrate.

Later in the day after the shop closed down, everyone migrated over to our house for a late lunch. We ate huge sandwiches and the kids played spanish Flash games on the computer (Jackson and Josephine's son Daniel have really hit it off). Later we sat on the couch with some coffee and Bibles and had some impromptu conversation about how rest and dying to our aspirations is such an important part of this transition. That concept is so foreign to this culture, where following Jesus means asking "What can I do for God?" After a while (and thanks to Chenoah's translating, Amber and I caught about 3/4 of the conversation) we moved down to the park for some football and general laziness on the grass. Ahhhh.

Damn conferences, this is what Amber and I are made for. I love to see the small interactions during casual conversation, the movement of God's Spirit over the water of normal life. This is where our ministry lies, calling forth the kingdom in the midst of what people normally think of as "downtime". Not exactly the most glamorous thing in the world...but it's a heck of a lot of fun to me.

A Night in Arequipa

Dinner at our favorite restaurant (wonderful steak - beef, alpaca and ostrich, a glass of wine, cheese fondue, and salad for a family of five)...$34

Two lattes, a piece of chocolate cake, and a water (no gas) at a coffee shop right off the main downtown plaza...$9

Cab ride to and from our house...$2.50

Having a night out with my family in a beautiful, ancient, South American city...Priceless

My Life

The conference here in Arequipa started yesterday and goes through Saturday. My session starts in an hour.

How many church conference speakers do you know are running AutoCAD and sizing ductwork less than an hour before they are teaching?

Just thought I'd say that.

Checking In...

There is a lot going on and I'm afraid I'm not doing a very good job blogging about our trip so far. We've been here for 10 days (it seems a lot longer), and our bodies are still adjusting. My stomach's a little off, the kids are constantly tired, and we miss all our friends. It has been a good time though...certainly the adventure we bargained for.

Amber is giving more of the play-by-play on her blog, so I'll stick to photos and the color commentating. The rest of the gringos are here for the conference, which starts tonight. Last night we headed over to Zig-Zag, our favorite restaurant here. Great time getting to know everyone new and re-connecting with some old friends. The Worship Circle folks are here and they are a fun bunch. Should be a good week.

I've updated our flickr page again as well.

Photos

I've updated our flickr page with trip photos tonight, which I will be doing on a regular basis...

Bienvenido al Perú

It's day three in Arequipa and the Bishops are adjusting to a new home for the next five weeks. The flight here was relatively easy for taking the redeye with three small kids. They all slept most of the way to Lima, although Chloe and Jackson were enthraled for a while with the personal entertainment systems (new 767...pretty sweet plane). When we got to Arequipa, the Styrons and the Williams' took us over to our house, which was a nice score on their part. We have a great view of the city out the back windows. The place kind of looks like a swingin' pad from the 70's, but hey, we're party people.

The one sucky thing is that the internet service still is not hooked up. Yesterday I felt like one of my arms was chopped off, needing to do some stuff for work and no way to contact anyone. I'm working this morning in a little cafe down the street from our house that has wifi (and good espresso as well). Hopefully we'll get service today, but I'm not holding my breath.

The kids seem to be making the transition pretty smoothly. I think all of us are detoxing from how busy the last month has been. Amber took the older two to the grocery store yesterday with Chenoah and they seemed to like that. Hudson seems satisfied at the moment to play bazooka with the vacuum cleaner hose. We're all a little tired and a little grouchy, but that should change soon.

Well...I have to get some work done now. Greetings to all our friends who read this blog. I'll post some more photos soon and maybe a video or two.