Matucana

Hello to all from Matucana. Martin and I arrived in Matucana Tuesday evening via bus and got into a hostel only a few munutes before the evening rains came. It is much cooler here than I had expected - I packed shorts and t-shirts in abundance.. limited warm clothes. Lima felt like it was pushing a sunny 90 degrees when we left Tuesday late afternoon and a few hours later in Matucana it was about 50 degrees and foggy. We´re only about 7,800 feet up in a bit of a valley. As you can see in the pics, there are taller peaks all around us. Since it is rainy season here, the mountains are green with vegetation and they provide a gorgeous backdrop for the town.







Yesterday we walked around most of Matucana (dodging the rain) - to see and be seen - and we met many of the contacts made by the stateside sponsoring church just last month when they were here for a short stay. The town is small, but not at all like a remote mountain village. There are many tiny shops, restaurants, street vendors, etc. to accommodate most every need. Our hostel is very nice and we have hot water! I feel a little spoiled since I know the other teams probably won´t have it so good! We are staying at the hostel run by Emilio and Maribel who are just very nice folks (they gave us a great price on very nice rooms) and they are open to our holding meetings at the hostel if needed- we have not yet met their two kids, Rosi and Luis as they are out of town with an uncle.

During our walk around town Martin and I met with the principal of the local elementary school - her name is Flor - and she was very receptive to the idea of us teaching english and bible stories to children in the town. The kids are all on "summer break" from school, so we will be able to use school facilities with no problem. This Friday we will find out what the best schedule will be for the school and starting next week we´ll begin the ministry of teaching english - that I can do!







We also met Elisabeth and Keyla, part of a strong Christian family that is currently holding house church (meetings) regularly on Friday evenings. Tomorrow we will attend and worship with them - I personally can´t wait to attend my first house church in the field! Elisabeth told us that attendance to their meetings had dropped off dramatically since last month´s stateside church visit, so we will be working to invite back folks and invite new folks to their meetings.

This morning we met Jose Acosta, I logistics director in the town government. He speaks english (halleluah) and is a repected man in this town. We have already set up regular meetings with him for discipleship as he is a believer, but he is looking for encouragement and training. What a great opportunity for a strong leader in Sr Acosta!

I have added pics of the town and surrounding sites so you can get an idea of the area. I don´t have any pics yet of the locals we contacted - it´s just not good manners to start snapping photos of everyone we meet. There will be time to share with you the faces of Matucana.. but until then we´ll share with you their hearts!

As always, pray for those mentioned in this blog and all of the situations described. Pray for:

1. Our Friday meeting tomorrow evening at Elisabeth´s and her leadership.
2. Our arrangement with the school for english classes.
3. Sr Acosta´s discipleship and his growth as a leader.
4. The people of Matucana and surrounding areas.
5. Our guidance as we interact with the people in Matucana as we move outward into area villages.
6. Pray for our 3rd team member, Brittne. She had to stay behind in Lima a few extra days for medical reasons, but will be joining us this Saturday!

Since there is internet access here, I hope to post several times a week if I can.

In Christ-
Greg o Gregório