So I suppose it is about time to show you what Lima looks like! I haven’t been nearly as good about posting fun stuff for you all to enjoy since I’ve gotten to Peru. Hopefully I’ll improve in the coming weeks. My team and I spent the weekend in Tarma again, and this video is of Lima as we are re-entering the city on the bus that took us home from Tarma. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVu37WFY6MU
As for the last week, like I said we made another trip to Tarma, this time without Bethany Leach but with Julio, our fourth teammate. Also along on our journey was another ReachGlobal missionary from Venezuela, Carol. She came to Peru this week in order to assist us as we continue to prepare for our ministry in Tarma. The trip had its ups and its downs but overall I felt it was worthwhile. Since we went over a weekend, and holiday weekend at that, many of the people we wanted to talk to were unavailable.
May is the month of Señor de Muruhuay the patron saint of Tarma and surrounding areas. He is actually a Christ-like figure that occupies Tarmeñian devotion. The legend of Señor de Muruhuay is the miraculous appearance of a crucified Christ on a rock outside the city, painted on by the sword of a scared and hurt Spanish solder named Muruhuay in 1824. Apparently each night the soldier cried out to God in desperation for deliverance from the Peruvians. Then one night a humble farmer noticed two candles burning up on the hill, and when he approached he noticed the striking image. Immediately the man when to the priests to come and see the phenomenon, and when the priest arrived, he verified it to be true. Now, 185 years later the people of the area continue to visit the site of this painting now surrounded by a memorial church, to touch the image and pray for healing and deliverance from their sufferings. Some believe that this figure of the crucified Christ is Señor Muruhuay, and other’s believe the figure is indeed Christ himself granting healing to the natives.
As you can guess this month-long celebration of the Christ-like saint is a confusing and erroneous tradition of the area. Many are confused as to if this image is Christ or not, and many actually worship the image. It was very fascinating to observe this small-town community spend an entire year’s wages on a party to celebrate this Saint. Needless to say, many of our contacts that we hoped to hook up with were unavailable due to their celebration plans.
But beyond this cultural exhibition, we did end up getting quite a bit accomplished in proceeding with our demographic surveys of a various group of laypeople, officials, and professionals. We had team time in our hotel room with Carol discussing the opportunities in Tarma, and the best way to go about accomplishing our goal. This actually turned out to be a little difficult since we are still working together what our end goal should be. The last thing that Tarma needs is another traditional church with a building, a pastor, and a staff. This town is scattered with Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Mormon, Pentecostal, Catholic and even its share of Evangelical Free Churches (not associated with ReachGlobal or the EFCA). So our crux then is, how do we go about planting “Christ’s church” in a way that Tarma really needs, in a way that will bring about the transformation that these present churches are not bringing about? So begins our process of casting vision . . .
I will keep you informed :)
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