Classes, Coast Lines and Chicharrón

Yes, yes, the blog post is a day late—but to make up for it, I’ll blog about our beach adventures yesterday. Deal? Deal.

Breakfast: Complete with blood sausage! 

So—last week can best be summarized in one word: MEADS. Again, MEADS stands for Ministerial Education and Discipleship Studies is a fancy was of saying we had temple school classes. And temple school classes is a fancy way to say we  studied church theology, scripture and general ministry techniques. MEADS is generally held in the Community of Christ Temple in Missouri, however for a lot of people in South America, that just isn’t an option: thus they bring the party to us.

And by “the party” I mean some interesting classes and Carlos Mejia and Steve Hatch. This was my first time meeting Carlos. He hails from Honduras, a country where the Community of Christ is thriving at the moment. He’s also a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles (and if you’re not a Community of Christ member, just know that means he’s kind of a big deal.) Steve visited us in January and he’s the apostolic assistant for Central and South America. The two of them, as well as Wilfredo, arrived in Peru on Wednesday, fresh from giving their MEADS presentations in Colombia.

Gathered around for a prayer during Steve's class. 

The week was a nice mix of business and pleasure. Wednesday we started things off with a casual meeting in Consuelo’s house to chat and preview the rest of the week. Thursday we had our first official class in Marlene’s house, talking about Christian Ethics. Thursday was also the day Jimmy and Cristian from Huanuco arrived. While the weekend didn’t leave a ton of time for banter, it was wonderful to have a little piece of Huanuco in town.

Friday was when things really took off. We started the morning with “breakfast” at a place famous for its chicarron (fried pork) called Don Luchos. Breakfast entailed sweet potatoes, ham, blood sausage (yes, it’s made with blood) and, of course, chicarron. It was fantastic, and a breakfast that made lunch completely obsolete. After that we headed to Monte Sion for a church service to kick things off. Katrina and I tag teamed presiding, Wilfredo preached and things rolled along fairly smoothly. 

Can you believe it? Steve gave us HOMEWORK! 

Saturday was our first full day of classes. An hour later than planned (in true Peruvian fashion) we climbed in a combi and trekked off to Monte Sion. Carlos taught a class on “Cuidado Pastoral” (Pastoral Care) and we had a surprising turnout from the Monte Sion congregation. People were impressively engaged in the lesson—because, let’s face it, a five hour class on anything can get a little dry after a while. We ended the night with another quick service, a beautiful sermon by Steve and a fantastic dinner served up by one of the Monte Sion members, Maria.

Sunday was our last day of MEADS. Once again, we climbed on the combi an hour later than planned, and this time five of us had to get out and walk so the combi could make it up the hill to Monte Sion (this hill is no joke, people.) After that toasty walk, we jumped into Steve’s class, which focused on the book of Mark. We compared different books of the bible and different interpretations and it was my favorite class of the weekend. Once again, we finished the affair with a church service, this one a little more extensive, and with a sermon by Carlos.

Our last day of MEADS with the freshly painted church!

Before we knew it, our time had run out and Wilfredo had to scamper off to the airport so Carlos and Steve could catch their flight to Chile. They have the pleasure of teaching their MEADS classes three weeks in a row.

To celebrate the successful weekend, the Filidelfia congregation headed out to the movie theater immediately afterwards to see “Non-Stop.” (I have to note here that the Spanish movie title literally translates to “Without Layovers” which is a much less dynamic title.) Something I love about Peru is that everyone here LOVES doing things with their family. Everyone begged and pleaded for Graciela and Consuelo (the two mothers in the group) to come to the movie with us, and eventually wrangled them into it (Consuelo promptly slept through the entire movie.)

By the end of the day, everyone had wet ocean pants. 

And that brings us to yesterday. For Jimmy and Cristian’s last day in Lima, Wilfredo took us all out to the beach to soak our feet. Graciela and I promptly trekked a little too close to the surf and got soaked from head to toe in seawater; however, it was a toasty day and we spent the rest of the afternoon drying out in the sun, unsuccessfully trying to skip rocks and watching surfers. Something about the quiet afternoon together was a simply beautiful experience and it stands as one of my favorite days I’ve had thus far in Peru.

As for this week, I’m presiding in Monte Sion and teaching a class in Filidelfia.  We leave in ONE WEEK for Arequipa and Lake Titicaca--and I can't wait for that new adventure. Big things are happening and our time is slowly slipping by—but we’re trying to hold on and love every moment of it. Until next time!