Rob Dubois Is Going To Pamparomas, Peru

No, I didn’t have an epiphany, vision or sudden calling. This is something I’ve been considering for quite some time.  God has been calling me to serve since my days in Vancouver, BC. Those who remember when I arrived at St. Joseph’s church know I was inquiring about the Priesthood then.

As a part of my discerning the priesthood, in 2001, I started visiting with a spiritual adviser in Salmon Arm, Catherine Kroetch. Father Jay Walsh was pastor at the time and advised me to consider Lay Enrichment training. From 2001 to 2003, I attended Lay Enrichment sessions at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine and Centre in Cache Creek, BC.

Since 2003, I’ve been serving in church as Eucharist Minister, Lector, Rosary Prayer leader and Liturgy Hours participant. Many people know how I’ve served my parents over the years and some people know I volunteer at the Second Harvest Food Bank regularly. I also help as many people as I can with their computers and chores.

When I saw the DVD video that Father David presented September 19, 2010, which I was privileged to help organize, my heart was set ablaze and I started wondering! Then, at a chance meeting with Father David, the following Tuesday at the home of Lucie Schaff, I asked Farther David if he could use a computer technician in Pamparomas and is there Internet there.

Father David’s face seemed to light up. He told me there are computers which need repairs and he doesn’t have enough time to update the Facebook web site. He mentioned that it would be hard work in high elevations and I should talk to my doctor before setting out. So, I did.

I see the doctor Monday at 1:30 PM. More to come.

Rob Dubois,
Pax et Bonum

NOTICE: The rest of this Blog is ordered from newest post to oldest. That means you have to scroll way, way down to read the posts from the beginning of my Missionary journey to Peru.

Finishing Easter & Volunteers Arrive From Hermiston

Of course, our Easter celebrations have rapped up here, since I’m so late with this update, but we finished it up with a beautiful floral arrangement on the floor of the church. Before I get to that, we had a special mass Thursday night with the washing of the feet. While most of you are familiar with this typical Catholic ceremony, ours was a little different.

Rather than 12 men from the parish representing the apostles, we had a mix of men and boys come up – one was only 3 years old or so. To make the ceremony even more special, Father David washed the first person’s foot while others from the community also washed feet. I washed the foot of one young boy.

Then on Saturday we celebrated mass in a traditional way for Pamparomas. One of the visiting catechists from Chimbote, named Marcos created a floral pedal display on the floor at the entrance our church. I got up on a ladder to take this photo.I also took another photo showing how the floral arrangement looked with the altar in the background.Marcos’ work looks much better live and in person and you can tell Marcos was proud of his creation.As is customary on Holy Saturday Night: The Easter Vigil, the mass started outside with the lighting of a fire and bible readings. Then everyone lights candles and enters the darkened church. In our celebration, people lit candles surrounding the floral display as Father David recited further readings. While I took several photos of the candlelit floral arrangement, my camera doesn’t like low light situations and this was the best photo of the bunch.Once Father David finished the readings, I got this photo.After mass, Father David wished everyone a Happy Easter and I got this glorious picture.I really love this photo. Father David embodies the spirit of the Easter season as if Jesus Himself was inviting us to rejoice at His defeat over death while reminding us – we too shall be resurrected!

The next morning was our mass for Easter Sunday (Solemnity). I was surprised that the church wasn’t packed full. That’s what I used to back in Salmon Arm and in Vancouver. But people here celebrate Easter with lots more ceremonies before Easter Sunday, including an all night processional ceremony Friday into Saturday morning, plus singing, dancing and partying most of the day Saturday in the Plaza de Armas. But we had a nice celebration anyway.

Father David was asked to attend an event at the school in Pamparomas on Monday, but he had to go to Lima, so he asked me to fill in for him. In this next photo you can see the school director speaking on the landing where the classrooms are located. He’s looking down towards the soccer court/parade square where you see all the students in formation.Here’s a look from down on the parade square.This was the first annual event where, along with other ceremonies, the children got their hair cut – not your normal haircut like at a barber shop or salon, but a symbolic cutting of a small lock of hair. I don’t yet know the significance of the event, but I cut three youths hair and presented them with presents. One of the youth was Elvis’ sister, Esmeralda.

Part of the ceremony included the awarding of ranks to various children in their school police squad. Their not training to become police, they’re taking on responsibilities for policing the students and making sure rules are followed. All the students wear issued uniforms and learn the rules of proper conduct. Here you see them just before reviving badges, batons, pins and chords to distinguish their various ranks in the squad. Once all the assignments of rank are announced, parents and other adults bring them their adornments.I was surprised to learn that my friend Melanie – the daughter of Santa – was designated a brigadier (their highest rank) along with another male youth. Here she is just after receiving her baton, pin and chords, plus a gift, all presented to her by Major Milla, seen next to her.Here’s the entire squad just before marching off the parade square.And, here’s the proud recipients marching off as the crowd applauds them.Melanie and the male brigadier posed for this nice photo.Then, some other high ranking officers posed for this shot.Now for the cutting of locks. While I could have got photos in front, as the children had their hair cut, I became distracted and only got a couple of pictures before it ended – but I took this photo from behind.Sorry folks. I realize it’s better to have faces in the photos rather than butts – it was the better than the rest. But, I did get some better photos as the teachers were getting their locks cut.That ended the days event and people were provided with juice and crackers as they mingled and congratulated the children.

Tuesday, I headed to Chimbote to buy more bike parts, pick up wood that was sanded and ready, get paint and a paint sprayer for the wood toys and have some photos printed as gifts for various friends. This time I took quite a bit of video of the valley as we drove on the bus. I’ll show that video in one of my presentations once I return to Salmon Arm.

Thursday, Father David arrived in Chimbote with two young ladies from Hermiston, Oregon – Martha & Kristel. They are young missionary volunteers helping Father David organize youth group meetings throughout the villages around Pamparomas. I showed you a couple of pictures in a recent email, but here are some more photos as we visited a port village called Samanco which is located where the valley ends and the waters of the Pacific ocean begins – we took a small boat ride.Here, Father David purchased some fresh calamari (squid). I have photos of us preparing the calamari in Paradones below. As we left the docks, I took this photo of the fishing vessels.Then, we traveled to another village called Nepeña, where Kristel and Martha will be working with the youth. Here’s a photo of the ladies with one of the youth.Yeah, it’s the same photo you saw in the email sent earlier, but it’s such a nice picture of Martha & Kristel, I didn’t think you would mind. It’s wonderful when two beautiful young ladies visit Pamparomas to brighten our days.

There’s a school in Nepeña which teaches emergency medical care, computer courses and agricultural studies specific to local farming needs.After visiting some catechists and a Sister in Nepeña, we all headed to Moro where we met up with Haviar, one of Rosemary’s relatives. So, we drove to Rosemary’s parents home in Paradones – the same place Father David & I spent Christmas – to cook up some squid with the family. Here’s a photo of Haviar as he’s defrosting the calamari.In this next photo, I guess Martha & Kristel are wondering what to think of this local delicacy.So, Father David, Kristel, Martha and two neighbors begin preparing the calamari for breading and roasting.You might have noticed Father David’s pants are wet. It’s not what you’re thinking – there’s a canal which runs alongside the property and they were using the running water to clean the calamari.The water is really nice for a quick dip to cool off in the summer heat.Before too long we were all enjoying the best calamari I’ve ever tasted.So, shortly after our wonderful lunch, we headed back to Pamparomas. On our way back we thought, oh why not a picture of lovely ladies next to some giant cactus.As we drove towards Pamparomas, we came across a river which was bursting at it’s banks. Father David explained to us that this is the water that flows from the mountains surrounding Pamparomas and travels down the valleys into the ocean. It’s water that could be captured  in reservoirs and diverted to irrigate farmers fields around Pamparomas using PVC tubing as you’ve seen in previous blog updates. As you may know, Father David is working hard to educate the local farmland owners how to reservoir the water and irrigate their fields with technified irrigation systems.

As we were getting back into the truck after the river stop, I noticed how clear the view was towards Pamparomas. This next photo shows the Cordillera Negra (Black Mountain range). Pamparomas is almost directly above the road, just above the cloud cover.The road here is slightly above sea level and we need to climb nearly 3,000 meters to get to Pamparomas. It’s a pretty amazing drive!

We arrived in Pamparomas with just enough time to get ready for mass at 8:00 PM.

Friday I got back to work. I fixed bikes for most of the day and helped Elvis for a short while in the peach orchards. Saturday morning I helped Elvis – along with Kristel & Martha – to pick off all the dead and diseased leaves in one of the orchards. Then in the afternoon, I got back to work on the wood games – assembling bases. My first job was to create a template which allowed me to quickly center the small pieces of the bases on top of the larger pieces. Then I made about 120 bases before the end of my work day. Sunday I got a few more bases made, but had to help fix one of the quads. It took priority because Juvito needed the next day.

Sunday was a rough day for me as I was starting to feel ill with a touch of diarrhea. For the next four days it progressively got worse. It peaked Tuesday night and I barley slept at all that night, so I spent Wednesday recuperating and resting. Now I’m feeling way better. I worked all day today with Martha & Kristel and together we finished assembling bases and drilling them. Tomorrow I begin painting.

Our Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday is from John 20 where Jesus, now risen, appears to the disciples saying to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

In this same Gospel, Thomas, the doubter, was told by Jesus, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

I don’t think Thomas was the only one who wasn’t sure what to believe. I presume it’s something we all feel from time to time. Do we believe all that Jesus teaches us, all the time? Whenever we have doubts about our Lord and Savior we only need to remember, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”, Mathew 4-4. Jesus is God – it’s OK to believe – Blessed are those who believe!

Rob

Preparing For Easter

Here in Pamparomas, during Holy Week (Semana Santa), there are a few events to prepare for Easter which is known as la Pascua de Resurrección. The week begins with Palm Sunday (el Domingo de Ramos), includes Good Friday (el Viernes Santo), and ends with la Pascua de Resurrección. But, even before Palm Sunday there are events leading up to Holy Week.

Friday, March 30, some villages created floral arches made with fresh flowers grown throughout the area. This year saw 6 floral arches submitted from four villages, Puquio, 2 from Queropuquio, 2 from Ulta-Carash and Pamparomas. Here are six photos of the floral arches as they arrived at the church.These arches were fastened to wooden carts in preparation for a procession through Pamparomas later in the evening.In the photo above you can see the cart on the bottom with one of the wooden carry posts sticking out. That’s right, they carry this cart & floral arches (all six of them) in procession. Four men hoist the cart as they walk slowly through the streets while singing hymns in Quechua. It must weigh around 250 Kg (550 lbs). It’s adorned with candles and they stop often to recite prayers and sing more hymns.

In the center of the cart you can also see a statue of the Virgin Mary. This time of year the parishioners totally clean and redress the statue and then it is mounted on the cart. Here’s a photo of the ladies as they finished redressing the statue.Here’s some photos as they begin the procession from the church.That procession went until about 3:00 AM, but I went home about 11:30 or so.

Saturday, I spent most of the day cleaning up the church and the plaza out front of the church. Sunday’s church service was scheduled for 8:00 PM, just after the procession down the mountain with the statue of Jesus riding on a mule. More on that below.

There was a meeting of the parishioners just outside St. James church on the plaza. They meet every year at this time to decide who will be preforming various church related duties throughout the year. They also were preparing for the procession with Jesus on the donkey.While they were meeting the donkey arrived for the procession.Of course, before we can have a procession down the hill from the cemetery, they need to get the statue of Jesus up the hill. Here’s a couple of photos of the parishioners just after they finished cleaning and redressing Jesus and as they start their journey to the cemetery.Then, after all the preparations were completed and everyone was ready, we gathered candles, flowers, holy water for blessing the candles and flowers and a cross & flag. A large crowd started walking up to the cemetery. I forgot my camera and had to run back & get it. Once I returned I got these pictures.In this next photo you see Father David walking with the choir.This a slow procession where three cantors sing the hymns and the choir sing the chorus. They stop when the hymns are sung and march as the chorus is sung. Here’s a photo of the 3 male cantors and the choir.When Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, I imagine the town looked similar to what Pamparomas looks like today – earthen homes, dirt roads, wooden ladders and no cars. After 2,000 years, just the clothing has changed. Oh yeah, and there’s electricity.Then, the whole procession arrives at the church.Jesus is taken from the donkey and placed on His thrown in front of the altar.The choir sings a few hymns and Father David offers communion.After communion the people sat down to watch a movie. We set up the church as a theater and used the newly donated projector and a laptop computer to show the film, “The Passion Of The Christ”. I couldn’t take any pictures while the audience was watching the film, but I took this photo of the seating, just before the show. Usually, on Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion lectors read the entire passion of our Lord, but this year, in Pamparomas we watched the two hour long Passion Of The Christ.

There’s more to report about our Holy Week here in Pamparomas, so I will have more updates for you after Easter.

“… because of our sins He was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received.” Isaiah 53:5

Rob

Sorry My Update Is Late

I have to apologize to all my readers. I’ve been experiencing troubles posting an update this week. It’s partly because I’ve been working lots and I’m exhausted by the time I get home. It’s also partially because of a problem I’m having with my Internet access.

For no reason my Internet connection simply disconnects. (it already happened once as I’m writing this). My Internet also seems to be getting slower each week. I would like to complain to my service provider, but there are two problems with that. Firstly – if I tell them about the troubles I’m experiencing they will respond in Spanish and I won’t understand them. Secondly – the contract is another person’s name and they may not appreciate the fact that some gringo is calling to complain about problems with the account.

So, I’m going to have to wait till tomorrow to write a proper update – hoping I’ll have time and my Internet access is working. There’s a few things to report which are worth waiting for, so please be patient with me and I will have an update soon.

Thank you all for your continued support and understanding.

Rob

Pastoral Plan For Catechists

I’m still focusing on getting the children’s games done and we’re making progress, but I made a mistake with my counting. When we had the 150 dowelings (poles) cut in Chimbote, I should have realized the problem then. Father David wants 150 games which includes 3 poles & bases per game – that’s 450 poles not 150. I made the same mistake when it came to cutting the bases, so I thought I was done when I finished the 150th base pieces. Then I realized, I need another 300 basses and another 300 poles too. Ooops!

So, I needed to switch to high gear to get bases made in time for Father David to take them to Chimbote for sanding. I contacted Ciriaco to see if I could work in his wood workshop. Fortunately, he was there and was able to help with the cutting. It’s so much faster and easier using a good table saw rather than measuring and cutting by hand with a power saw. We we’re able to cut over 250 large pieces and more than 350 smaller pieces in about 5 hours.

Here I am working away in Ciriaco’s shop.It’s very easy, fast and precise to cut the wood base pieces. The table saw is set at the exact size I need and I use a guide made by Ciriaco.I cut the large bases while Ciriaco cut the smaller ones.

Then, around 11:30 AM or so, Elvis came by to tell me, Father David says I need to take pictures of the children as they are marching in the Día Mundial del Agua (World Water Day) parade.

So, I took a bunch of photos like these. Here the teachers and children line up, ready to get underway.The students also played live music with their school band.Father David was watching and had a variety of gifts to give out to those students who made the most creative signs. These gifts are some of the donations received from Our Lady of Angels church in Hermiston, Oregon and from Brother Regis and the Salvatorian Mission Warehouse in Wisconsin.I took over 260 pictures of the parade, but I can only show you some of the best for now. I’ll be able to show more once I return to Salmon Arm. Here’s several of my favorite photos.That was our World Water Day in Pamparomas, Peru.

This past weekend Father David hosted nearly 40 catechists as they met to realize results of their work for the past couple of years. They’ve been working on pastoral plans for youth and for families. They also gathered to learn more about the blessings and sacraments of baptism, first communion, confirmations, marriage and more.

This get together was a culmination of pastoral plans by youth & families as outlined by Father David since 2010, where the youth had a chance to tell of the problems they face in their community, their school, their church, their family and with their friends. The same process was presented to families and they were able to discuss problems as well. The pastoral plans help to look for solutions to the problems and discuss ways that the parish and the diocese can help them over the next several years.

While I didn’t get any pictures of the catechists as they met, I did get some photos of the children as they played in Father David’s courtyard. We provided them with games, puzzles, balls and coloring pictures to keep them entertained – all donations from Our Lady of Angels church and The Salvatorians.It was easy to see, they were having fun.Whenever this many guests visit the parish of Santiago in Pamparomas, Father David makes sure everyone is fed and has a place to sleep. The catechists slept in the church on foam mattresses with warm blankets which were also donated. They were served three meals a day and enjoyed refreshments & snacks during breaks. The cooking and serving was done by Santa, Melanie and Ignatia, with help from Rosemary, Elvis & I. Here’s Santa cooking up supper.Here the catechists take a break with apple drink mix and cookies.I really love seeing the ladies in their traditional dresses and hats – so colorful.

Later, the catechists got together for lunch in Father David’s courtyard.Sunday morning we celebrated the fifth week of Lent with all the catechists and our regular Sunday parishioners too. With our new choir leading the hymns, it was a fine mass. There’s usually a flag raising ceremony each Sunday after the church service ends and this week they dedicated the flag raising to all the catechists who were in attendance.Following the flag raising and the playing of the national & Pamparomas anthems, Father David gave a speech to the crowd as he thanked & congratulated the catechists.The catechists showed their appreciation with a thunderous round of applause.As this was Sunday, we heard again the Gospel from John, this time from John 12. This is one of Jesus’ most profound revelations.

Some Greeks came to the apostle Philip and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

If you love your life in this world as a human then you love being human. If you hate your life in this world it may be because you know you don’t belong here. If you are a child of God you know you belong in heaven with Him. It’s your real home and Earth is a temporary exile. Imagine being forced to live where you know you don’t belong and you can imagine hating your life there.

Then, in the same Gospel, Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”

Jesus will draw all people to Himself, but not everyone will feel drawn, because they don’t know Him! Get to know Jesus. He is the way to eternal life in heaven with God, our Father.

Rob

Donations Help Cut Wood and Grass

I apologize for being late with my blog again this week. It’s sometimes hard to settle down long enough to write something without it reading like a quick note as I’m rushing out the door..

Anyway, enough excuses – here we go with this weeks update.

It’s been a fairly busy week with a little time out for recovery. I’ve been working to finish the wood cubes for the children’s games while 1,200 cubes were sent to Chimbote for sanding. All the wood  cubes, but 400 are sanded and ready for paint. Now I’m working on cutting out the bases while the last cubes are getting sanded.

To cut out the bases, I’m using another handy tool that was donated earlier this year – a rotary power saw. It’s really powerful at 1,400 watts and does a fine job. I took photos of me working in Father David’s garage.You might notice, I ‘m working on a wood pallet. It makes things easier, by allowing me to clamp down the wood in several different positions. The saw sits flat when I put it down as the blade fits well between the slots. The pallet is at just the right height for me and it’s easy to clean, as the sawdust just falls through.

The wood I’m using is just as beautiful as the wood for the cubes. It’s a good size for me to cut out four large pieces and 9 smaller pieces of the base. Have a look at the wood I’m using – you can just make out my cut marks. As of this update, I have all the small pieces cut and ready for sanding and I only need about 40 more larger pieces cut. They’ll get a sanding before I assemble them and drill the hole for the doweling (poles). Then we still need to paint them and stick the photos of food on them. It will be a while yet before were done.

Wood isn’t the only thing I’ve been cutting. The grass has gotten pretty long and thick in my yard, so it was time to do something about it. We don’t have lawn mowers here (and the grass is too thick for one anyway), so I use another tool that was donated from Hermiston, Oregon. It’s a hand held grass cutter which I swing, like a golf club. It’s very efficient, especially with thick grass & weeds. Here’s what it looks like.It’s simply a a double edged, serrated blade with an arch and a handle. It’s well made and easy to use. With it and a rake (also donated), I was able to clean up the yard on about 40 minutes.

We still have plenty of donations which haven’t been sorted through yet, so Elvis took some time to go through all the plastic containers of tools and supplies for the garden & garage.I didn’t help Elvis with this work, so I was surprised when I got to the garage the next morning – there were four large and one small storage bin of new tools and supplies for the garage – yipppeeee!

I had another surprise one morning as I was going to the garage. I saw that the white quad was parked in front of the church with a flat tire. That’s when I remembered yet another handy donation – a portable, 12 volt tire inflating device with a light, so I got that out and started filling the tire with air. This little unit comes with a cigarette lighter plug-in, but quads don’t have cigarette lighters, so I had to splice a cable with two battery clamps onto it.Works pretty good!

Remember I worked on the bikes? Well Father David has been finding just the right people who need bikes and this week he made sure some his acolytes got some of them. These are the faithful, young children who serve regularly on the altar each Sunday.There’s still a few bikes left, so when they find new owners I’ll get more photos of them too.

This week, Elvis had to mix a batch of ingredients for spraying the peach trees and soil next week. I’m not sure what the mixture is called in English, but in Spanish it’s called biel. It’s a blend of last years fertilizing liquid, which smells like strong, sour vinegar, a variety of fresh picked plants, lots of sugar, cow manure, fish meal and fresh ground ginger, garlic & hot peppers and lots of water. I managed to get a few photos.To prepare the hot peppers, garlic and ginger, Elvis stomps on them while Antonio chops the fresh plants with an axe.This mixture will sit in a plastic drum with the lid sealed tight and a vent to let air out, but not in. Next week, when it’s ready, they’ll filter the liquid and spray it on the peach trees and the soil beneath them. I can’t wait to find out how it smells.

Otherwise, it’s been a bit of a rough week for me. Last Thursday, around noon, I was feeling rather burned out, so I took some time off to relax and recuperate. That did the trick. By Saturday I was feeling like my self again. I got back to work and have been doing well since. It’s times like that when I listen to my body. It often knows what I need before I do.

This is the fourth Sunday of Lent. It’s a time when I often forget that I made Lenten plans to fast, give alms and pray more. Our Gospel, from John 3 helps reminds me that God has done much for us to be grateful for. Verse 16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Can you imagine how great His love for the world must be? God knows how His only Son will need to suffer and die. But, it is more important that those who believe in Him should not perish. So, “God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.“ This is what is meant by Amazing Grace! “I once was lost, but now I’m found – I was blind and now I see”. We see by light and, “this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.”

If you truly believe in Him, your light will shine, you will be found, you will enter into His grace, you will be saved, you will have eternal life!

Rob

Donations Put To Good Use

I told you, in my last blog update, that I was going to Chimbote to buy parts for the bicycles we received in our most recent truckload of donations. Well, I got back Tuesday with the parts and got underway repairing the bikes. Elvis helped me as he learned about bicycle mechanics. I’ve been fixing bikes since my teens.

I managed to get 16 bikes ready with the parts I got in Chimbote – 9 children’s bikes, 6 adult bikes and one for a toddler. Two more bikes still need other parts that I wasn’t aware we needed and one bike needs so many parts, it would be less money to buy a whole new bike, so we’re using that one for spare parts. I’ll have to go to Chimbote again to get the parts for the final two bikes needing repairs. Here’s a photo of all the bikes that are ready to go. As I worked on the bikes in Father David’s garage, lots of people stopped to see what I was doing. Every single one of them wanted to buy a bike from me. Unfortunately, I had to let them know I can’t sell them and that they need to talk to Father David. Seems like everyone here wants a bike, except me.

Another donation – which was very timely – is a computer projector. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Father David’s current projector – which sees a lot of use – burned out just last week. The one that was donated runs on 110 Volts and Peru supplies 220 Volts in all electrical outlets. We have a couple of power convertors here, so I plugged the projector into the convertor and connected the video cable to my computer. That was all I needed to do to get a wonderful display projecting on the wall. I’ve never used a computer projector which was so easy to set up – it’s great! Here a photo of our new projector.Also included in the previous truckload of donations, was boxes full of water sprinkler heads. Whenever we receive several boxes of supplies, the first thing we do is sort them and put them in marked containers, making it easy to find the parts we need.Next the guys make sure they know how to connect them, so they can teach those who receive them how to install them.OK, now it’s time to test it – turn on the water!Yup, it’s works.

The truckload that arrived from Hermiston, Oregon on January 19, 2012, had some donated laptop computers on board. Father David brought those to Raphael in Lima (the same man who helped get my computer fixed just after Christmas) to have them converted to Spanish. Well, those laptop computers finally arrived in Pamparomas and Father David provided two of them to Angel and Peter – two of his development group associates. Here’s Angel with his new laptop.  I’d say Peter is pretty happy with his new computer too.These donated laptop computers are just what these guys need. As you can imagine, it’s hard to run a business without good communications and nowadays that means good computers. These computers are Dell laptops, which means they should be reliable for quite some time. Thank you Our Lady of Angels church in Hermiston!

I’ve been able to use some of the donations around here as well. It’s the rainy season and I’ve needed to fix leaky roofs in a few spots. This is where the metal roof panels have come in handy. You don’t know where the leaks are until they are leaking, then it needs to be fixed in a hurry. So, I place the roof panels over the spots with leaks to quickly stop the dripping and to mark where the roofing needs fixing later on.

When I cleaned up the courtyard for Father David’s guest houses, I was able to use a few different tools that were donated. The grass was pretty long, so I fired up the weed whacker we received and clipped the edges of the cement walk and around the edges of the lawn. The grass itself was too thick for the weed whacker, so I used a manual grass cutting tool which you swing like a golf club. It’s very efficient at cutting the thicker areas and is about as quick as a powered lawn mower. Then I used a weed digging tool to remove some of the bigger weeds which took root. Very handy!

Meanwhile, in between other jobs, I’m still sanding wood cubes for the children’s games – using the professional belt sander which was also donated. When I went to Chimbote, we brought about 1,200 cubes to a carpenter to have him sand them. That’s very helpful as I’m certain I wasn’t going to be able to do all the work by myself in time. I’ve finished well over 500 cubes so far and have another 500 or so to go – which I should be able to get done in time.

Last Thursday afternoon we had a very heavy rainfall. It was incredible to watch. I was working with Elvis repairing bikes when it started. It rained so hard that the garage started filling with water as we watched. It flowed in as if there was a garden hose turned on inside the garage. We were trying to dig a trench to stop the flow, but we couldn’t keep pace.

Then, Father David called Elvis & I to say one of our storage rooms was flooding. The storage room next to my house filled with about 2-3 inches of water. That’s where we keep our large boxes of donations with jackets, shoes & boots, blankets, bags & backpacks and winter clothing. We quickly brought in a crew of 8 or 9 people to lift the heavy boxes, soak up the water and place wood down, then we turned the boxes upside down on the wood and tore off the wet cardboard. Thankfully, the thick boxes absorbed most of the water and very little of the donations got wet. It took us about 4-5 hours to rescue everything, but it all went very well. The only loss was all the towels and blankets used to soak up the rainwater. The other storage rooms fared much better – small leaks, but nothing was ruined. What a day that was!

Friday and Saturday seemed calm in comparison. Then Sunday we celebrated mass as usual. We have a new choir as of last week and they were in good form this week. They’ve been practicing on Thursdays & Saturdays and they print out different hymns for each week.

This third Sunday of Lent, our Gospel is from John chapter 2 when The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.”

Zeal is an eager desire for something. Jesus had such an eager desire for the house of God that He becomes uncharacteristically angry. Some people think Jesus looses control at this time, but He doesn’t ever loose control. He knew that the money changers don’t change their ways with reasoning or pleading. Actions speak louder than words and Jesus takes action.

The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. And, indeed they destroyed His body on Calvary. Three days later He was raised and that’s when all mankind learned, we too will be raised – if we believe in Him!

Rob

2 Updates In One

I had time both Monday and Tuesday nights to update my blog, but I couldn’t get into my WordPress web site either time. I’m going to be in Chimbote this Sunday and Monday to buy bicycle parts, so I won’t be able to write any updates until next week. So, I’ll combine last week’s and this weeks updates into this one.

The week of February 20-26 I got a lot more cubes sanded. I worked for 5 days solid, about 7-8 hours each day, so I’m up to over 450 cubes sanded and ready for paint. The work itself has become routine, so sanding all day long gives me lots of time to think about many things. Much of that thinking is about God and our relationships with Him. At one point I glanced at my watch and realized that neither God, nor nature, nor animals, nor anything else in the universe can make use of a watch.

Then I thought, there’s actually very little that has ever been made by mankind that nature, God or the universe can use – yet they all make things that humans use all the time. The only things I could think of which nature uses is the stuff we throw away or abandon. We buy food for domesticated animals and livestock, but otherwise nature has to wait until we discard things before they become useful. Garbage dumps and waste disposal sites support lots of creatures. Abandoned vehicles, buildings, ships and planes can become homes or temporary sanctuaries for lots of different animals. We tend to shoo away pests or attack them with various chemicals, traps and deterrents. We even build fences to keep them away from our valuable stuff.

We are a peculiar species.

Many of my thoughts drift into past events – recent & distant, good & bad – which have influenced my life. I came to understand that what I am experiencing right now, here in Pamparomas, is one of the most significant influences of my life, even thoughI haven’t yet realized all the ways this missionary work will affect my life.

The list of people who have influenced my life is very, very long and it begins with God and my loving parents, Jim & Joyce. I thought, there must be thousands of events and travels and adventures which have helped me become the person I am today. I am very grateful for all the influences of my life because I’ve enjoyed a pretty good life overall. Thank you God!

Last Saturday, I took a break from the wood cubes, but had a busy day anyway. Because I sat for most of the time while sanding all week, I went for a long walk early in the morning. That was nice as I met lots of people along the way and chatted with many of them. I got back home, had some breakfast and did some chores around my little house. Then, Father David’s dog, Drago came by. He was totally dirty. It looked like he had a good time rolling around in a mud puddle. So, I gave him a bath and clipped all his matted fur. He seemed to really enjoy it (as if that was his plan all along) and now he looks like a new doggie.

Then I worked cleaning some of the warehouse rooms and prepared to deliver a bunch of stuff the next day to a lady, Irene, who recycles and refurbished cloths, boots, shoes and sewing materials. The church was in dire need of cleaning too, so I worked there for a few hours.

Sunday morning we celebrated mass as usual and I helped hand out gifts right after. Also after mass I helped sell a few items from the warehouse. We needed to get ready for another truckload of donations arriving the following week. Then after noon, I delivered several boxes and bags of goods to Irene. Next, I worked with Elvis as he needed to move and re-stack all the bamboo which was used to prop up the peach trees. They’re being stored till next year, but needed to be organized better. That took me to suppertime and I called it a day. I made something to eat, read emails and news on the Internet and went to bed early.

The whole day Monday was spent helping utility workers install a new electricity meter in Father David’s guest house. While they did the install, I ran around getting them tools and supplies. They had to run new wiring and connect up a new circuit breaker too.

That evening, after supper, I tried to do an update on my blog, but the web site just wouldn’t load. I tried for over two hours, but it kept stalling and/or re-loading. I gave up after 9:00 PM and went to bed. Tuesday, I got a few more cubes sanded, but it began to rain hard and I needed to do rounds to look for leaks. Then I worked in the warehouse rooms to prepare them for the truck load arriving Thursday. After 7:00 PM I tried again to write a blog update, but the web site still wasn’t working, so I read news on the Internet and made popcorn before calling it a night.

Wednesday was the big clean up day for all 4 warehouse rooms. I was in charge of organizing them with help from Elvis, Santa & her daughter, Melanie and Ignatia. The day went very well and we managed to clear, clean and organize everything by 5:30 PM, with an hour lunch break.

Then Thursday, the truck delivered a fairly big load, as expected.This was a mixed truckload with items from both the Salvatorian Center and from Hermiston, Oregon. There was the usual clothing, shoes & boots, paper towels & TP, snacks and some medical supplies from Brother Regis and the Salvatorian Center, but there was also items which were held in customs from Hermiston – like a whole bunch of bicycles, Tomorrow & Monday I’ll be going to Chimbote and getting the parts needed to fix all these bikes, then they’ll be distributed to lots of eager people.There was also a whole lot of alfalfa seeds delivered which was loaded into Father David’s truck and brought to the development center. This too will be distributed to a group of needy people.While I was running around taking pictures and helping where I can, I didn’t see that a wooden trailer also arrived. So, afterwards I hooked it up to the white quad and took these pictures.We sure are grateful to receive all these wonderful donations. The difference they make is huge and couldn’t be accomplished any other way. Thank you all and many thanks to God too.

We got everything unloaded and enjoyed a nice lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. It was a good day and we were rewarded with an awesome sunset, so I had to take some photos of it. I took this first photo looking west from the Plaza de Armas. You might notice there are clouds above and below the sun as it’s setting.Then, as it quickly sank below the lower clouds, some light rain began to fall. You can barely see the vertical lines near the top of the photo.Soon, the sun started fading behind the lower clouds.It changed the colors of the sky quite abruptly, so I zoomed out to get this wide shot.The colors just got warmer as the sun sank further and further. Here’s a few more photos.God sure knows how to paint a beautiful sky!

Speaking of God, our Gospel this past Sunday, from Mark 2, is simple and direct. Jesus is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit where, for forty days He was tempted by Satan and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

It’s simple – the kingdom of God has arrived and believe in the gospel. It’s direct – repent. By repenting and believing in the gospel we are accepting an invitation to join in the kingdom of God – the most inclusive club of all.

Rob

Walking In The Rain

As I write, everything is getting drenched by the heavy rain. All the dogs that normally stroll the streets have hunkered down in the nearest dry spots they can find. They have that look of meek surrender to overwhelming odds. Eve troughs are overflowing and the water pours out like a fully open kitchen faucet. The streets are lined both sides by small rivers. The sound forces you to speak up when greeting folks. It’s quite magical as I walk the streets.

All this precipitation is causing plenty of growth. The mountains are turning green, the farms and gardens are sprouting, the flowers are blooming, the grass is getting tall and the earth is turning to mud. Nobody’s complaining. This is what people have been waiting for since last April.

Father David’s courtyard is responding to all the moister with new flowers. Here’s a photo of the entire courtyard.Now a closer look at the flowers together. (click the images to enlarge it)The photo above shows two sets of flowers. The next photo is a close up of the flowers in the background.Next is an overhead shot of the small flowers in the foreground and the base of the plant.And now the close up of the small flowers.
Speaking of flowers – last Sunday a lady came to church with flowers in her hair. I thought they were just plastic ornamental flowers, but they were unusual and beautiful, so I told her how lovely they looked. She took them out of her hair and gave them to me. Turns out they are real and freshly picked. So, I brought them home and put them in a small glass with water and took these pictures of them.I wonder if anyone knows what these flowers are called.
The mountains are getting greener so this Sunday I took these pictures of them.Aside from the weather, I’ve been working all week on the wood cubes – only this week I realized I haven’t taken any pictures of me working yet – so finally I took some. I’m working in Father David’s garage sanding the cubes and cutting out the bases. Here’s a shot of me at work sanding.See all the black bags to my left (just right of me in the photo) – that’s all the cubes that need sanding. There are about 15 bags with 130 cubes per bag or about another 1950 cubes to sand. The cubes in front on the table are done and the cubes closer to the sander need to be sanded. Here’s a closer look.And here’s a photo showing the difference between a rough cube and a sanded cube.Notice the nice patterns in the wood? I took another couple of photos of the cubes with cool colors and patterns.It’s almost a shame to paint them!

So, I have a lot more sanding to do. Thank goodness for the professional sander which was kindly donated to us or my work would take a lifetime to finish.

There’s another donation I want to show you – the trailer for the quads that came in the last container load from Hermiston, Oregon. Here you can see it attached to our white quad (which also came from Hermistom) and my good buddy Elvis.The cool thing about this trailer – it can dump the load just by removing a pin underneath and tipping it back.See the long metal piece that attaches to the quad – it can also be removed so that the trailer turns into a large wheel barrow. How cool is that!

This week, Father David returned from his vacation, visiting his Mom & Dad in U.S.A. Chuck & Joanne Johnson (Father David’s parents) live near Salmon Arm but are snowbirds – they fly to warmer climate in the winter. It’s sure good to have Father David back. We enjoyed celebrating mass this Sunday with our beloved Padre. We even handed out gifts after mass.This Sunday was the seventh week in ordinary time and our Gospel is from Mark 2 when Jesus heals a paralyzed man. Jesus is in Capernaum where so many people came together that the men, who brought the paralyzed man to see Jesus, couldn’t get through the door, so they cut a hole in the roof above Jesus. They lowered the paralyzed man lying on his mat, and Jesus – seeing how much faith they had – said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

But, some of the teachers of the Law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “How does He dare to talk like this? This is blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!” At once Jesus knew what they were thinking, so He said to them, “Why do you think such things? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So He said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat and go home!”

While they all watched, the man got up, picked up his mat, and hurried away. They were all completely amazed and praised God saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

Jesus knows what we are thinking – all of us – not just those teachers of the Law. Jesus knew us before we were born and He knows our hopes, dreams, desires and pains. He doesn’t judge us – yet, but he knows how to guide us and better our hopes, dreams, desires and pains. He knows us so well because He is our Father!

Rob

Keeping Busy In The Rain

Here it is, rainy season, but it’s not nearly as wet as I thought it would be. Sure, there’s been several times it rained hard, the grass is growing and the mountains are turning green again – I just thought it would be much wetter for some unknown reason. We still get rain about every other day, usually after 4:00 PM.

To me, it doesn’t matter much – I have plenty of work to do indoors.

The work on the wood cubes had to slow down this week. After four solid weeks of cutting cubes and drilling holes, then another week of sanding the wood cubes, I developed a problem. My arm and hand started going numb and tingling, especially when I was trying to sleep. There are several things that can cause this sensation, but my Internet research led me to realize I developed a repetitive stress injury. It’s not too serious a problem, but I noticed that my right arm and hand were quite soar when ever it wasn’t numb and tingling. So, I had to take a few days off from the sanding and do other work.

So far, I’ve rearranged one of our small storage rooms, so we can find things easier, like all the doors and tools we received from the kind folks in Hermiston, Oregon. The stuff was unloaded pretty quickly and was simply thrown into the room as it arrived. So, I emptied the room and reorganized it. Have a look at  these photos of the many doors we receivedand all the tools we now have.We’ve already put one of the doors to use in my space. We needed to divide the two guest houses of Father David’s. Here’s a photo showing the opening between the two houses before.As you can see, it’s just a wide hole. Father David asked me to have a door installed, so I contacted Ciriaco – our local carpenter. He had to use two large shaved tree trunks to make the door and frame fit in the wide space. He first cut the door and frame, as it was a bit too tall. He measured and cut the two pieces of lumber for the sides, buried them and cemented them in place. With all the pieces ready, it didn’t take him very long to instal. Have a look at the finished doorway.I installed a locking door handle – which was also came from Hermiston, Oregon – and it all works great.

Another job I took on was to reorganize the yard in the same space. Again, because we unloaded quickly, metal roofing panels, plastic tubing, fencing material and shelving parts were just left on the ground in the yard. I organized all the roofing panels on the adobe bricks, stacked the plastic tubing and shelving parts so that the grass in the yard was cleared. Here’s how it looked as we were unloading.Here’s how it looks now. It’s cloudy again, so the photos look foggy.I also had to cut the grass & weeds once the yard was tidy. So, I tried out the new weed whacker which also came from Hermiston. It did well except in the thicker weedy areas. I used another hand grass cutting tool from our new collection of tools. Between the two, I was able to clean up the whole yard pretty nicely.

I also took some time to fix a few leaks we had in our storage rooms and the house next to where I’m staying now. I was able to use some of the new roofing panels in the yard to cover up the existing roofing over the storage room and the house next to my place. It didn’t take long and it works great. Two leaks are fixed. To fix another leak in the storage room, I cut a piece of metal roofing panel to fit under a spot where it was leaking. I simply placed the metal under the leak and directed it so it flows outside. Another leak fixed. In the room with the doors, I just had to prop up one spot where the rain was coming in – that fixed it. In the second storage room there were three small leaks. For one of them, all I had to do was reshape the metal to catch the rain better. I couldn’t find the source of the second leak, so I placed a bucket under it for now and I check it often. The third leak is persistent and I can’t reshape the metal, so I used a stick to prop it in place. Hopefully, it will hold until the rainy season passes. Whenever it rains, I do my rounds and everything is looking good – nothing is getting wet.

Today, Tuesday, I got back to work sanding the wood cubes. My arm & hand feel lots better. I’m trying to take it easy and changing hands to prevent another repetitive stress injury.

Elvis has been working in the peach orchards spraying and clearing the weeds. I haven’t been able to help him much. but he seems to be getting lots done anyway. I’ve been checking the new roofing over the fertilizer and emptying the pools of rain that accumulate in it every few days. So far, it’s holding up pretty well. The fertilizer is still dry.

Sunday, I was on my own again for our church gathering. Elpidio was there and helped to sing hymns and recite the Rosary & Our Father prayers. I distributed the Eucharist and we closed with another hymn. Not many people showed up – with Elpidio there were four people. That’s OK. It was a nice prayer time anyway. Next week Father David should be back and we can celebrate a normal mass.

This week – the sixth week in ordinary time – our Gospel is from Mark 1. A leper comes to Jesus to be cured, saying, “If you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus was filled with pity, and stretched out His hand and touched him. “I want to,” He answered. “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man, and he was clean. Then Jesus spoke sternly to him and sent him away at once, after saying to him, “Listen, don’t tell anyone about this. But go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered.” But the man went away and began to spread the news everywhere. Indeed, he talked so much that Jesus could not go into a town publicly. Instead, he stayed out in lonely places, and people came to Him from everywhere.

So, why does Jesus say to the man, don’t tell anyone about this? I thinks it’s because He doesn’t want people to form mobs about Him. People can often become crazed when they form a mob. It’s know as mob mentality – they crowd around Him in an unruly and excitable way in order to admire or attack Him. So, He goes to lonely places, and the people still come to Him. With great patience and everlasting love, Jesus continues His mission and ministry.

Rob

The Rain Is Here

It was a fairly normal week here – except I traveled to Chimbote and back, but otherwise the usual work. I needed to get new drill bits for the wood cubes. I tried to sharpen the ones I had, but that didn’t go well. I though I could sharpen the bits myself – seems easy enough. I was wrong. I’m using what’s called auger drill bits which are much bigger than normal bits. I’ve sharpened normal bits before without problems, but auger bits are not the same. I did some research on the Internet to find out what I did wrong – which I should have done beforehand. Turns out I ruined the bits. So, Tuesday I went to Chimbote to buy new bits. I got half a days work done Wednesday and worked all day Thursday, Friday and half of Saturday on the wood.

Finally, we got some heavy rain. Last night (Sunday) at about 5:00 PM or so it started to come down hard. So I had to do rounds. I checked the church for leaks, then the two storage rooms, the garage and then my little place. The church has two small leaks which they can’t seem to fix, but they’re small enough that they don’t fill buckets very fast. Both storage rooms were dry, but a small tool room had a new leak, but again, just a small one. I put a bucket under it and left it for the night.

The garage was pretty wet though. The water was running under the door and forming pools. Thankfully, they were only by the door and nowhere else. I had to move some dirt (mud by now) and form a small bank to direct the water away from the garage entrance. That solved the water in problem, now I need to get the pooled water out. That wasn’t hard – I dug a tiny trench towards one corner and the water drained fairly quickly. I cleaned out the mud from the slot which guides the door and that job was done. My place leaked ever so little – I think 3 or 4 drops came down. so I’m not worried about it so far.

By the time I had something to eat and drink, it was after 8:00 PM and I was tired, so I went to bed before 9.

Anyway, I finished cutting and drilling 17 sacks of cubes. Each sack holds just over 130 cubes, so I now have about 2,200 cubes which need to be sanded – oh boy! I still need to cut the bases and drill them, but that won’t take too long.

The mountains are turning green now. I took some pictures, but I haven’t found the before pictures yet – with over 9,000 photos, it will take a bit more time to do the before & after shots, but here’s some photos of the mountains. This first photo is looking out from St. James church.Then I zoomed in a bit to show the farms just starting to turn green.Those are all facing North. The next photo, I went out back of my place facing South.Now, facing North-West.And, one photo facing West.They’re not finished changing colors yet. They will get greener and the farms will change color too. I’ll get more pictures and find the older, before photos too.

That same day I took these photos. There was an exceptionally nice sunset that evening. So, I took a few pictures. They need no explanation, they’re all facing West. Have a look.

There are quite a few nice sunsets here in Pamparomas. I have many more photos of sunsets from different evenings. I’ll create a slideshow for when I get back and show them all at one of my presentations.

This Sunday’s mass was different. Last week Elpidio was the celebrant while a young girl named Chantal did the reading and I distributed the Holy Communion. Elpidio wasn’t here for this weeks mass, so I was on my own. I can’t be the celebrant – my Spanish isn’t good enough. So, I simply greeted everyone and told them there would be no mass, but I think it’s important to pray. I told them we will be reciting the Holy Rosary, the Our Father, then I will distribute the Holy Communion and finish with a hymn. That all seemed to go well. There were about 10-12 people at mass which didn’t get underway until about 9:15 AM – many people were late. Four people came in after we finished, but I said the Our Father again and gave them the Eucharist anyway. I hope they enjoyed the prayer time.

This fifth week in ordinary time we hear more from the Gospel of Luke 1. Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes to the house of Simon and Andrew. There he cures Simon’s mother-in-law and she serves them. That evening, at sundown, they brought many people who were sick and with demons. “And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him pursued him, and they found him and said to him, “Every one is searching for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Preaching

What a great profession – preaching, curing the sick  and casting out demons. While this may seem remarkable, let us remember in John 14:12 Jesus says, “I am telling you the truth: whoever believes in me will do what I do – yes, he will do even greater things, because I am going to the Father.” Which means, we can do even greater things than preaching, healing the sick and casting out demons – but only if we believe in Him. When Jesus says we will do greater things, I don’t think He means we will do a better job than Him. I think He’s telling us we will do a greater number of these things, as He is going to the Father and we have thousands of years and thousands of people to do these things.

Rob