Speaking of Peru =)

Ah, Peru. That was my most recent travel adventure, this time with 12 teenagers, only one of whom was related to me. It was an amazing experience...one I wrote about for the February issue of the Gleaner. The article appears below, along with some pictures from the trip.

Mission Trip accomplishes its Missions
By Rondi Aastrup

“Let’s build a church!” With those words, 11 of the 12 seniors at Greater Boston Academy (GBA), along with 12 adults from three Southern New England Adventist churches, embarked on a six-day adventure to build a church in Cabanillas, Peru, as part of Maranatha International’s “1,000 Churches in 1,000 Days” project. For three and a half years, these young people had been raising money for this trip. By the time their plane took off from Boston on November 30th, they had raised the $15,900 needed for the trip (helped considerably by the generous gift of $125 each from the Stoneham Memorial Church (SMC)), and they were more than ready to make their mission-dream a reality.

After a journey of nearly 24 hours, door to door, the group’s first challenge was to get acclimated to the altitude of 12,552 feet above sea level. This was accomplished through the help of medication, self-pacing, and shopping in Puno, the major city on the shores of Lake Titicaca. They also had the thrill of worshipping in the Adventist Church on one of the floating Uros Islands in the middle of the lake. There, they were invited to participate in the service, with the seniors singing, project coordinator Paul Maxwell preaching, and project assistant Nelson Colòn translating.

Work began in earnest on Sunday. With the exception of a few of the adults, none in the group had ever done “real” construction before, so expectations were not high for completion of the project. Maxwell told the group he’d be happy if the Maranatha workers didn’t have to redo what they did. But the seniors went willingly to work—sifting sand for mortar and cement, laying brick, cutting rebar, welding window grates in place, hauling stone, and marking, placing and screwing the roof in position. By the second day, the Maranatha workers knew they had a good, if inexperienced, team. By the fourth day, there was optimism that the project could be completed. And by the sixth day, the church was done.

Afternoons, several women and girls conducted Vacation Bible School for the children of the town. They started with 8 on the first day and ended with more than 70 on the last day. Evenings, Paul Maxwell presented Bible lessons in the church and a girls’ trio provided music. By week’s end, 7 were requesting baptismal studies.

On Sabbath, the group worshipped in the church they had built, top to bottom. The dedication service had a profound effect on the entire group, but especially the teenagers. And later in the afternoon, when the president of the Peruvian Union presented them to a group of 2,000 lay-workers from the Puno District, they were overwhelmed by the gratitude expressed by thunderous applause.

“We went there to help out the people and …we were able to see [them] worship in their new church that we built for them,” commented Julie Rittenhouse. “It really made me feel like I made a difference in their lives and I really enjoyed that.” Rachel Pamphile agreed. “It was one of the most wonderful experiences that I have ever had in my life. . . . It’s one thing to help build a church, but to worship in it with the people that you built it for is something so amazing….It was a life-changing experience.”

That is, of course, the two-fold purpose of mission trips: to make a difference in the lives of others, but also to experience your own life-change. This trip definitely fulfilled its mission.


[Yes, that's me petting a baby llama...]