The 50th Anniversary

Friends,  I am sorry about the spottiness of the blog lately.  My computer has been sort of weird and not wanting to work right but it is working this morning so alas while the sun shines we will make hay. 

Our group joined hundreds of folks from all over Peru and a Bolivian delgation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Peru Yearly Meeting.(I think that it would not be a stretch to say that there were probably 1000 or more different folks who attended at some point during the weekend).  The events were centered in Illave.  While not the exact place, this small town is near the center of where the Friends work began in 1961.  Things started on Friday night with worship singing.  They decided to have the festivities outside which meant it was very cold.  As we sang songs in Spanish and Amayra we tried to stay warm.  

The theme for the celebration was on God's Love.  So the different folks who preached throughout the weekend took on an aspect of God's love for us.  While my spanish is pretty limited I could get the gist and we had our spanish speakers spread out some to quietly interpret.

Dan Cammack preached and we heard testimonies from several folks.  By chance, Ken Comfort, myself and Robyn Mohr from FWCC got to help be a part of the cake parade walking the 50(almost) cakes they had to the special booth that displayed them until they got served that night after fireworks.   We did not know it was a parade we just were trying to help them carry all the cakes. 

Since we had not know that the services would be outside, we were not as prepared as we might have been other wise. The kind folks hosting us brought us blankets and hot cups of coffee.  That warmed our hands and legs but it was pretty cold anyway.  A group of us went back to the hotel because fireworks were not to be until after mid-night and the next day would be very early and full.  I think everyone got cold and they actually had fireworks and cake before midnight and the rest of our group was back by about 12:30.

The Spirit was very evident as we gathered.  What a witness to the grace of God and to the health and vitality of PERU YM.  There seemed to me, to be very little competition between the various sections of the country and mostly a genuine thankfulness to God.  

Shawn

Here are some pictures and a word from Alfreda Brown.

This has been a most wonderful experience, the 50^th Anniversary was great from the start to the finish. We have been treated SO well, everyone trying to make us as comfortable as we possibly could be.   It was great to be here for this great occasion,  we are seeing first hand what we have heard about for years about our Peru & Bolivian Mission field.   God IS good..  Alfreda Brown