Catching UP!

Wednesday, February 24

This was the day to “shift gears”. First we had breakfast with Jenny Rodriquez at her house then we ventured out onto the streets to take Mark and Rachel to the airport and their return to US soil. And being the “strong man that I am” I was able to enjoy fellowship at Starbucks (or should that have been “week man”) where we were joined by Magaly Falcon, Jenny’s sister who works just a couple of blocks from the terminal and is involved with shipping of zinc products around the world. She is the wife of Dr. Roger Falcon who is also the assistant Pastor of the Church where they worship – Gustavo, Jenny’s husband is the pastor.

Marco and I then returned to pick up my belongings from the Clowers’ apartment at the IPHC Church and move everything to the Falcon residence for three nights. This was so I would be in the center and closer to where everything was happening for the next four days.

We picked up David Hodges at 5:00 PM and drove to my speaking engagement at Communidad Cristiana La Vina, pastored by Guillermo Sifuentes and his wife Lissett. The journey required that we leave the Falcon residence at 3:45 to pick up David at his house and be on our way from there at 5:00 so we could be at the church for a 7:00 service. If you could see the traffic at that time of day you would understand about the travel situation that is utter “chaos”.

As is common in this part of the world, many do not have vehicles and take the bus which when traffic is bad will make the Church service begin late – just to avoid confusion. It did and that make the conclusion take place at a late hour. That was because I was to teach two approximately one hour sessions. I made it and the hour was late which made it almost midnight by the time we dropped David Hodges off and make out way to the Falcon residence.

The day ended as the new day began!

Thursday, February 25

I got to sleep a little late and found out that my scheduled appointment had been cancelled making the day an almost “free day.” It allowed Marco and me time to go van shopping – that is looking. Success was not in the picture. All vans we found were too beat up and too high to even consider. So after 3 hours we called it quits and returned to the Falcon residence to enjoy the evening and permit me to make some decisions regarding the material for Friday nights engagement.

I did a “Babel Fish” translation of the student outline of my lecture into Spanish just to assist Roger who would then be able to correct the final so I could make a PowerPoint Presentation for those attending. We made it by 11:30 PM and called it a day.

Friday, February 26

Up earlier than I wanted to but I got my day started and it went from there. For our 11:30 appointment we shoved off by 10:00 and forced our way through the traffic and arrived on the other side of Lima and climb the mountains, flew down the other side and followed our host, Gene Gayle – a missionary from southern Louisiana to the vacation house where he and his family were staying. They had to come into Lima to renew their residency in Peru and get their new documents.

Gene is interested in establishing an extensions of Pacto de Vida in his city, Peor. It was a good time of sharing experiences, discoveries and concerns for the people of Peru. And of course! I cannot forget the sirloin steak! Delicious! And so was the salad with a special tomato, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and something else all put through a blender.
2:30PM arrived and we had to cut short our visit and return to Lima proper to be ready to depart of for the evening service – family seminar at Iglesia Centro Christiano De Avivamiento pastored by Gustavo & Jenny Rodriquez.

As seems to be the case more than not, Pastor Gustavo and I cannot seem to get our schedules together. When I am in Peru, he is gone. When he is in the United States, I am gone. There must be something wrong with both of us if both of us keep trying to avoid the other. If you can determine the problem, please — oh forget it! We really like each other, or I would not be speaking to his people.

But it was one of “those nights!” The fuse box burned up one breaker just before starting time. It seemed like an hour before they accomplished getting “some” electricity on. We had only lights in the back half. Extension cords kept my computer and the projector and video camera going. BUT!!! It as next to impossible to see my notes. That made for many confusing statements that made it very difficult for the interpreter. It is the only time I have walked away from any service of meeting on any trip outside the US and felt like I blew it! I still am not sure of what I said.

And to make matters worse, I was depending upon getting a good video of it to add to others on the subject of marriage to complete a course for the University. I had to forget including the PowerPoint in the video and after looking at what I did get – I really got almost nothing that is usable.

But ONWARD AND UPWARDS! That is the way the old ball bounces!

It is now Saturday AM and I quit!

Love,

Dr D