Aventura Misionera

Back in Oz

2008-09-21T13:55:00.002+08:00

I can't believe but my time away is nearly over, I have just returned back to Oz and at the moment I am in Cairns waiting to board a plane to Sydney where I will be spending a few days before coming back home on the 25th.
My time in Papua New Guinea was a time of relaxation before having to go back to work. I had a wonderful time with Johnathan and Candy Burns and their kids Malachi and Ty. I also had the opportunity to catch up with Simon Gawa and His family who are all doing well. They have nearly finished building their house which when finished will look really nice.
Well I only have a little time remaining on this computer so until I get home on Thursday night, its goodbye and God bless.

Simon

Peru - Papua New Guinea

2008-09-12T06:22:00.003+08:00

Well it has been almost 2 weeks have past since we arrived home from Peru. It was so hard to leave, well for me it was anyway as it mean that I will not be seeing Veronica for a while, I thank God for modern technology such as email and sms because it means we can keep in contact and chat more often and doesn't cost a lot of money, even though she is worth it. We spent a day in Chile, which I wouldn't recommend, it cost US$60 just to get out of the airport US$40 for a taxi into town and US$30 for airport tax when we got back. Chile is very expensive a vast difference to Peru. Upon arrival into Sydney James caught a plane to Perth while I stayed for a couple of days and then took a plane to Cairns, where I stayed the night at Treetops Lodge. The next day 4th Sep, I boarded a Airlines PNG plane to Papua New Guinea. Upon my arrival I was met by Simon Gawa an old friend of mine. I stayed the night with him and his family. The next day is when all the excitement started. When I tried to check in for my flight to Hoskins thru Air Niuguini the lady behind the counter told me that my ticket had been cancelled. She explained to me because I had missed my flight on the 4th that all remaining tickets with them get cancelled. It was at this point i explained to her that because they changed their flight from 3pm to 6am I was still in transit to PNG and therefore it was their fault I missed the flight. I told them that I had to be on the next flight to Hoskins and after 3 hours of waiting at the airport they finally put me on the flight, but thats not all. When i arrived at Hoskins I had to go to the Air Niuguini office to check if my return flight was ok, this too had been cancelled so I had to rebook the same flight, another hour wasted. There have been so many problems with Air Niuguini lately that people are getting frustrated with them. They have been cancelling and down grading flight left, right and centre..
Anyway enough of that, I am here in Hoskins visiting Jonathan and Candy Burns some friends of mine, they work here with New Tribes Mission at the support base. I am not here to do much just relax and unwind from a pretty full on 2 months in Peru.
I will hopefully have some photos to show soon. Internet access up here is pretty limited.
Next Tuesday(16th) is inderpendence day here and we are all going into town for the festivities, I will hopefully have some great photos to show.
So until next time.
Lukim you.

Chile to the end

2008-08-29T20:18:00.006+08:00

Apologies for the lack of update on the rest of my time in Chile. I last left you in Antofogasta. I had sore rear end and a hand that wouldn't straighten out.

From my arrival on Thursday afternoon, I was taken to dinner with Pamela's friends where we organised to go to San Pedro near Calama in the east of Chile. After 4 hours by bus the next we had one small problem: it was a national holiday that weekend and the towns hotels were packed out. Luckily we managed to talk our way into the owners on site accommodation and went to dinner. There was one other small problem that night. The power had been cut to the town for the past week. It seems to be a problem most were ready for with most hotels having generators going and the rest used fires to keep light and warmth. Refrigeration was not a problem I can tell you that for certain.

The next day Pamela and I were picked up by a tour bus. First stop was the flamencos. Telephoto lenses are great but you need to be either very stable or use a tripod. From there we went to around 4200m above sea level where the volcanoes had blocked a river and created a couple of lagoons. The photo of Pamela only just does justice to the cold that the wind pushed through any clothes you might have. One older gent from Germany was quite happy in his pants and jumper but we grabbed any clothes we had and put them on.

After visiting a couple of the local communities we returned to San Pedro to find a bus ride back to Antofogasta. There is an exodus of many of the community values in much of Chile. Mining money means the communal maintenance of irrigation channels has been forgotten. Tourism provides a means to try and maintain some of that history but the line between culture and culture for tourism is somewhat blurred.

Antofogasta is a mining port it is the major centre for people working at the mines. Tourism in Antofogasta is pretty much non-existent but when much of the town is only 200 years old history hasn't been the major factor of places like Santiago or San Pedro. Because of the lack of things to see I was told Santiago was the place to go, and Pamela's sister was going back to study there so she could help me out and practice her English. (Much of Chile can tell you one or two words in English but you will find the younger ones either have studied it in school or have learnt it from television.)

Antofogasta did have one highlight though I was introduced to Saint Expidito. http://www.misanexpedito.com.ar/?p=16&cp=22
The Patron of Causes Urgent. Everything is urgent in the west

Crossing the desert by route 5 is an exercise in fuel calculations, drafting trucks and buses and generally trying to maintain some interest in the road ahead. The odd set of switchbacks to drop down the other side of a mountain gave me at least one highlight that day. Chanaral proved to be the fuel stop I should have made on my way up as it was just near the turn off between El Salado and route 5. Mainly a place to stay on the way to somewhere else the main square provided little interest other than the two stray dogs guarding the church.

With only 5 hours in the saddle La Sarena was the next opportunity for tourism. The region from Copiapo south had learned the value of the tourist with all sorts of signs appearing for this scenic spot and that winery. Those sorts of things didn't excite me that much so I kept going. Copiapo was the first serious sign of agriculture as it had found itself an old river bed to settle in. Vallena provided a burger that was loaded with Avocado. And the road along the coast had begun to be scenic with rocks, grass, flowers and cliffs surrounding various small towns.

Once at La Serena I went for walk through town. The museum had a couple of shrunken heads (that just looked like heads of children) and an old whale hunting boat in it. Well kind of, two leather bladders and a couple of pieces of wood supported one hunter while he tried to spear the whale.... The old churches were interesting but if only for the contrasting lack of decoration with every other historic church so far. A hastily organised observatory tour kept me up till late, as was a conversation with Paul a Scotsman travelling on his own whose Spanish was possibly worse than mine.

Santiago was much more interesting. After arriving into town late I found my way back to Bernard O'Higgins Avenue to find the hotel I stayed at on my first night in Chile and hopefully find my MP3 player cables. A side note is that the first president of Chile was an Irishman.... After no success I hotfooted through traffic much to the amazement of many Chileans whose idea of a bike is a Chinese 250. Again I was late and hadn't called but my guide was happy to see me alive. Because her house was on the other side of town I got to sit through a Spanish French class and a cancelled Spanish English class.

In the morning we tried our luck and managed to get a seat on the bus to Valle Nevado. My first introduction to snow was on the side of the road while the driver put snow chains on. Upon reaching the hotel we organised a ski lesson for the afternoon and relaxed for a while. While I was choking on the cost of the lessons, I was later to find out it was at least half the price you would pay in Australia.

In typical South American style the bus home was late so we missed one of my hosts classes. She wasn't too worried so after class we caught up with a couple of her friends for dinner (around midnight we left the apartment it was a late meal).

Saturday we rose to visit an art gallery literally across the road from Rayyen's apartment. This was followed by a visit to the mercardo (In Chile while the outside of the market may in fact sell fresh food the centre is filled with restaurants). A visit to Pablo Neruda's third house in Santiago was somewhat lost on me till it was put in the context of him as Chilean political activist as much as a poet.

Another trip to the airport and back to Lima for the trip to Cusco on the Monday.

A Picchu is worth a thousand words...

2008-08-29T09:08:00.002+08:00

Enough said...

To Cusco and beyond...

2008-08-29T08:30:00.004+08:00

James, Veronica and I have just returned back to Lima after spending 4 days in Cusco. Upon arriving in Cusco we were quickly picked up by Rene a local taxi driver, who would become our trip planner. He took us to a reasonably cheap hostel and then promptly organised our entire trip, which was good as it saved us a day of trying to organise it ourselves. He advised us on the best days to do things so we went along with his suggestion. We bought a 10 day multiple site tourist ticket, which gave us access to 16 different tourist sites.
So on Monday 25th we took our ticket and hopped on a tour bus with our guide for the day Willie and visited some old Inka ruins which were in a fairly close proximity to Cusco City.
On Tuesday 26th we took our ticket again and hopped on another tour bus with our guide for the day Lucho to some more Inka ruins and some markets where we could buy some souvenirs if we wanted to. This tour was a whole day trip.
On Wednesday 27th we started the day at 4:30 with breakfast as we had to catch a train at 6:00 to go to Machu Picchu. It was a 4 hour train ride to the town of Aguas Caliente (Hot Waters). Then a 5 minute walk to catch a bus for a 30 minute drive up to Machu Picchu. When we got there we were met by our tour guide Alberto, who spoke reasonably good English. The tour of Machu Picchu was 2 hours long with another hour afterwards for free time to take photos. We then made our way back down to Aguas Caliente for lunch and to catch the train back to Cusco. This trip was separate to the multi site ticket.
Today we had nothing planned so we grabbed our multi site ticket and used up what we had left and looked around local Museums in Cusco city, before getting on the plane and heading back to Lima.

Chile Photos

2008-08-25T13:03:00.002+08:00

A selection of Chile photos are available on:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jameschand

Galavanting is the right word

2008-08-23T20:26:00.008+08:00

Heading north again on Route 5 through Vallenar I again stopped for fuel expecting a very empty tank. That and a sore rear end meant soup and an ice cream was a good idea. Guessing at the offered menu seemed to work so far so Soupa de Casa was the only remaining thing you can´t complain when it cost around $2.

While the land had progressively been drying out as I headed north, I had been given 2 routes for Diego De Almagro the high and the low. Both required I find route 33 for the Argentinean border. With a bit of back tracking I was able to find the Camino Internacional, but not before one of the stray dogs of Paipote tried to sink his teeth into me. It didn't manage to get further than the jeans which it couldn't even grip so there wasn't even a need to stop.

Chileans often point out that they have a large menagerie of stray dogs roaming the streets, although the dogs on the street may or may not be strays they most definitely need to be added to the national emblems.

The low road would have me in Diego sooner (anyone else thinking of a Scottish folk song) and had the potential to have me in Antofogasta by the originally planned Day 3. It was going to be a long day but possible. Climbing the range, the Chileans continuing disrespect for the speed limit was not always able to be matched by the loaded KTM which was breathless in the altitude. It was here that I found out what one of the driest places on earth really is like. The desert is a barren moistureless wasteland, a place where the thought of something green let alone brown just does not exist. Sandy sections surrounded by mountains through to plains of rock again surrounded by mountains left me asking what on earth would have people out here. The occasional stone buildings whilst not inhabited pointed to the two purposes for being there: mining, and going on to somewhere else.

Road works had me guessing as to whether I should put the bike on the stand and take photos. After around 30 minutes they eventually let us pass but I still hadn't got the camera out. The other great feature of the Desert was also becoming quite apparent; it's very cold, and I can do basic camera operation without taking off my gloves.

Diego De Almagro I later found was one of the first Spanish explorers to cross the mountains. His namesake was somewhat like he might have been during his exploration: Tired, dirty and only carrying the bare necessities. El Salado on the road west was likewise and I while I still had daylight, I pushed on. Stopping for fuel and calling my host in Antofogasta would have been a good idea but that's hindsight for you.

Meeting up with route 5 again provided a moments joy and a moments relief behind a mound of dirt. The possibility of running out of fuel and not finding any stations so far had me running for Tal Tal on the coast. By now dusk had fallen and the two radiator exits on the sides of the tank became my new best friends as the blew slightly warmer air over my legs.

Tal Tal is mixture of mining town with hotels serving the visiting executives and engineers and a fishing village. The two hotels I found first were fully booked and not seeing many more I headed 50km north to Paposa. This proved fruitless as this mining camp and proved to have absolutely no accommodation. After returning to Tal Tal I was directed toward another hotel where they did have a room. Dinner was at around 11pm (apparently quite normal for Chile) and a bit late to call ahead in my Australian thinking.

Tal Tal north becomes dirt about 10km north of the town and seeing the road in daylight made so much more sense and much quicker progress. The road to Paposa was a very good dirt road but north of there it provided a variety of conditions 10km/h sections of rock and sand through to hard compacted straights where the 640 could breath sea level air. The road provides access to a couple of small mines/process plants and access for the locals to have very basic huts from which they fish and farm seaweed. In some places it was weaving in between the boulders of the mountains with steep declines from the mountain directly into the sea. In other places sand dunes had developed above the rocks but in all places it was mountains and rocks meeting the sea. Tsunami or earthquake would leave the inhabitants of this area stranded if they managed to survive.

Somewhere around Punta Des Reyes there was a process plant (I still have no idea what these tiny operations processes but they are there) and the dirt road continued into the mountains. There were no signs indicating where the roads went but at the intersection it looked most like the main road. The other way continued north along the coast but my rear end was getting tired of bumpy roads and the thought of tarmac was becoming dear to my heart.

This thought was pretty fruitless though as the road continued as dirt as it weaved it's way up dirt switchbacks between the hills. With the roads varying between tight single track corners which had me honking the horn for safety and two lanes of sweeping dirt the thought to stick to the biggest road and head north east kept me climbing the mountains. After about an hour or so and only 2 cars coming the other way the road started descending but became long smooth corners where speed could be brought back to a more achievable pace. Still very cold but always starkly beautiful.

At last I reached a bitumen intersection and I joined the rest of normal society and took Route 5 to Antofogasta.

Get straight to La Punta

2008-08-21T21:29:00.004+08:00

While James has been off gallivanting around Chile, Veronica and I have had the chance to spend some time together (that is when she is not working). It has been really great. Vero has taken me to some of the local sightseeing places of Lima and the surrounding districts.
One of these places is La Punta (The Point), a 1 hour bus ride from the house.
In summer this town would be really, really nice, but during the winter as it is now it is cold and windy. However the local council is trying to brighten things up a bit by giving the town a bit of a face lift. They have started to paint the buildings in all sorts of bright colours.
The town is definitively geared up for tourists, well at least the restaurants are, expensive and the quality not as good as the smaller village meals. (Still cheaper than Australia though).
La Punta is also where the Naval Base is, as well as an old fort, unfortunately we didn't go to see inside that this time as it was getting late.
We hope to go back there when James gets back, so hopefully go see it then.

Navigating with James

2008-08-18T02:09:00.003+08:00

1. Check for fresh tyre tracks.
2. No signs directing you and signs for the places you’ve just been to probably mean you´re headed for the main road.
3. Abandoned villages are not a good sign but check first as what we might write off as an old dumped caravan was used by one of the local graziers.
4. Leave tricky navigation for the morning or the afternoon as heading north or east is easier to figure out when the sun is lower.
5. Look at the traffic: Tourist buses are a safe but boring sign for accommodation and tours, cars and taxis: locals in transport, Utes and large trucks: mines. Push bike tyres means locals. four tyres moving parallel is probably a light truck and most probably moving slow, it was a delivery van
6. Check tyre tracks at intersections: Main roads get used more often therefore will have tracks over the tops of minor routes
7. Be boring and buy a good map
8. Be really boring and buy yourself a GPS

North to Copiapo

2008-08-17T21:43:00.007+08:00

Chile by motorcycle,

I picked up the motorcycle (KTM 640 Adventure) on the morning of the 11th. and was given a few highlighted roads north to try. The major route north of Santiago and if it takes your fancy you can stay on a wonderfully smooth toll road that is designed to get people north and south as quickly as possible. While the mountains inevitably get in the road and there are some lovely curves it is a place for your rear end to get numb and there is a bit more to see than that.

Heading to Illapel Chile the guys from KTM Chile had highlighted a road that turned of the highway and became dirt. With no idea what either route would provide, my first Chilean dirt run was under way. The road was for the large open sections very good. The road did have for many places good signage and kilometres to go signs made the ride relaxing and able to enjoy the ride and the scenery. There were many small mines and the occasional 4WD coming the other way was the only traffic. The mountains rose and the the road got tighter and suddenly I was looking into valleys with snow topped mountains in the background.

After winding down the mountain the return to Bitumen was followed by an increase in pace when the occasional delivery van got out of the way. The farmland turned green again for wine and olives and a large river that was dammed further along the route.The regular stop signs for train tracks were disconcerting with many being paved over while the rail had had very little use recently.

After not finding the road for Pisco Elqui I rejoined route 5 for the run north to la Serena. The Map showed a road to El Higirio but there was little signage in the area. After noticing the distances and the River that followed the road I took to the dirt again. This was another enjoyable section of dirt road wth hard packed gravel and minimal potholes. It was rewarded with a herd of Alpacca and the occasional high road for views along the river. At Punta Choros the area became eerily familiar: the road had various hotels and camping places but the push for El Higirio by nightfall kept me going. Punta Choros was packed with hotels and camping and plenty of places offering to take you to se the dolphins, but it was not where I was looking to be.

After getting directions that I didn't understand "Primeras camino norte" got a nod and I headed north over the dunes. Good solid sand kept the progress coming and when the road returned to hard packed gravel the throttle was again opened up. El Higirio turned out to be a very small town and with no sign of a hotel, heading to one of the nearby seaside towns was my best option. Pulling into Caleta Chanaral, a sign for the tourist centre followed by one for "Hospedaje Don Juan" gave me hope for a bed for the night. One shop and twenty houses meant I was pretty lucky to find a place for the night.

Juan appeared to have converted the lower part of his two story into a 2 room 1 kitchen and 1 bathroom house and thus I was charged like a wounded bull. the local restaurant was feed fishermen when I arrived. but for around $8 for a 2 pieces of battered fish, salad and soup it wasn't to bad.

Heading off in the morning in hopes of finding a similar road north again had me slowly ploughing through soft sand. At less than walking pace I wasn't making good time and tried for El Higirio and route 5. Spotting a sign for El Morada and a well used road had me thinking of marked road to Vallenar. After half an hour and about 3 small mines the road disappeared. The thought of getting lost and running out of time had me back tracking to the road to route 5. The sight of two desert foxes that ran before I had the camera out made that little excursion worth while.

more will follow ASAP

Pulcalpa

2008-08-13T00:51:00.004+08:00

Just a quick post to let you know what we did when we visited Pulcalpa.
Veronica and Elda were involved with a FAIENAP conference. James and I went for a couple of the meetings where they made us get and sing, but for the majority of the time we spent our time sight seeing. We visited the local zoo which we were told was not very good, but when we got there is was more than we expected. Although the animal enclosures could use some upgrading, the majority of the animals looked healthy and well looked after. The layout of the zoo was very spread out which was good. The zoo also included a small museum of local history. Unlike Australian zoos you could get close enough to the animals to touch, yes even the big cats. It was quite funny the owners dogs running about taunting the Jaguars and other big cats, I can just imagine what was going through their minds. MMMMMMM Lunch.

We also went on a boat trip along the Yarinacocha river, which took us to the jungle. Where we saw many of the native birds, and a few of the native animals, we managed to spot a sloth in the trees eating. During the trip we visited a small zoo which had many animals from the jungle in it.

James is now in Chile motor biking his way around and visiting friends, I am sure he will update the blog of his whereabouts.

Anyway for now enjoy some photos of Pulcalpa Zoo. Yarinacocha photos will be uploaded as soon as James returns from Chile.

Blessings

Out and about by ourselves

2008-08-02T22:57:00.005+08:00

Just because Aventura Misionera Peru 2008 has come to a close does not mean that the blog has. As you would have read in the previous post Jill, Alex, Sybil and Delfin travelled to Chile for a few days. And I am sure that Jill will write something shortly about her time there.

As for James and myself we have been staying with Veronica and Elda in Lima, for some of the time when we have been going about sight seeing we have had them with us, but on other occasions we have had to fend for ourselves. This was the case when we went to Canta a 3 hour bus trip from Lima. Other than book the tickets which Veronica did for us from Lima, we were on our own. And apart from not understanding that the bloke that lead us around on the horses (yes we went horse riding, well sort of, we could have walked faster) wanted a tip, we did pretty good. We managed to buy our food, and some souvenirs with out any trouble at all. In fact the lady at the souvenir shop must have been so imprest with us that she gave us both a couple of free key rings. (So for those of you who we forgot to buy a gift for, guess what your getting).

Any how check out some of the photos we took around Canta and Obrajillo.

Scenery from Obrajillo

Excellente!

2008-07-28T14:45:00.005+08:00

The 8 of us were greeted at the Tarapoto San Martin airport by the arms of friends. Last years trip running kids programs had established ground support for this years work in the Lamas, Tarapoto and Chazuta. The girls were put up at Tedy's house, while us blokes and Sybil were put up at Gregorio's. Delfin's snoring had somewhat subsided, either that or we were getting used to it. While cold showers were a great wake up in the morning, the flow rate in Gregorio's shower soon got rid of any complaints and dirt.

The first 4 day's were based around Gregorio directing us to a village at the end of a road and working our way back. It was a blessing for this length of the trip to have pastor's with us who spoke the local Quechua language, who could carry on the conversation and break into song at random. Gregorio's cry of "Excellente!" when things were going our way reminded us of Mr Burns (The Simpsons) so we soon introduced him to the hand actions. His collection of "Westerns" theme songs had us whistling at the most random of times.

While our trip to San Ramon was based out of a van seating all of us and the occasional hitch-hikers, our day trips in Lamas were now done via 2wd Hilux dual cabs. The tray had sides added to serve as transport for both material and the materials owners so while 4 to 6 passengers was common in the cabin outward, the return trip included up to 6 originals and an additional 6 passengers in the tray, 2 large bundles of wood, 1 bag of oranges, a sack of oranges and a branch of unripe bananas; being paid in pineapples and oranges was common.

With roads being basic dirt tracks the throwing around in the tray left myself with a bruised hip and a very sore rear end from being whacked by the guard rails on the ute. Simon also copped a beating, others used the plank offered as seat but few of us will not be sitting quite right for a while. It was not much of an option to not make friends in many cases. Toll collectors armed with guns gave us a quick inspection but were happy with a some coinage. Our trip to Chazuta was somewhat more relaxing. We were put up by the local pastor and the trips to the villages were via boats seating 18.

Since in many cases we were provided for by the local parish the food was more of a concern for us. We were soon tired of chicken soup, boiled banana and Tapioca (here called Euka) the soup of dried salted fish was the most difficult to stomach but all managed a good portion. Days of being served coconuts and oranges although infinitely better than the fish soup, soon had us wishing for both somewhere to take a leak and some more substantial food in our stomach.

The distribution of cassettes was very successful: Chiefs and pastors were in the area so were able to be talked to. When your day starts by meeting the chief and he invites you inside while the rain comes in for a while, it can only be a good start. While our previous trips had the villages with various levels of dependency on outside employment either via tourism or working for outsiders, the villagers in San Martin were able to provide for themselves and sell some on to provide for additional items such as Tedy's dentistry.

We were this time working in both meeting the church/village and distributing in lump, or visiting house to house. While many were not willing to admit to know and use the local language, it soon became apparent that many did understand what was being said and were quite happy to receive the cassettes and CDs. With the wealthy villages it was noticed that more and more were requesting the CDs. The difference with San Ramon was dramatic.

Visits to schools were successful with much material handed out but some families were still without means to play the recordings and some children left not quite sure what they could have had. Happily with the churches already existing in the area we were able to bypass many of the introductions, and begin the distribution. It is a prayer that the tapes be used in ministry for both the people in the church but also be used in teaching those families not yet reached by the gospel. We are also blessed with the churches existing and being able to provide the follow up that will be lacking for San Ramon

The return to Tarapoto and a quick reunion with our Lamas friends was again turned to sadness as we boarded our plane back to Lima.

Toilets on strike

2008-07-28T13:23:00.008+08:00

We apologise for the lack of posts. Life doesn't always turn out like we planned and neither internet connections or the time to use them is available to temporary missionaries, "The harvest is ripe but the workers are few" so to speak. As stated we started off in San Ramon in the Junin Province. Simon and I managed to contract a stomach bug of some sort.

After consultation with the local doctor whose office looked like it had stepped out of the 60s we were given a course of drugs and an injection each. Simon was lucky enough to have it in the arm at the doctors office and was light headed after the experience. I on the other hand was back at the house in the lounge where Elda proceeded to tell me to roll over and drop my dacks. The rest of the Misionera crew were momentarily blinded by the white as she gave me an injection in the rear end. I wasn't complaining after a day as it seemed to sort things out and we were rolling again. "How's your stool?" was a valid question. Nonetheless neither of us really complained; Simon's shirts became a relaxed fit while my belt went to the next notch. Medicated diarrhoea is a great thing for losing weight quickly and easily.While the location of the nearest toilet was a key factor in any excursion from the house we managed to get up and operational after missing an overnight stay in one of the villages.

2 of the first 3 days were spent with the Chileans leading the programs in San Ramon we were isolated by road closure by miners in the area. We were greatly encouraged to see dramatic responses by children and when the program was rained out we still had the opportunity to minister to a woman and her daughter while we stood in a store front waiting for the rain to slow down.

Programs out of San Ramon typically were made around the Chilean crew entertaining the children with songs and stories while the adults were given a quick lesson in Ashaninca from the bible tapes. With the arrangements being made quickly for the San Ramon trip we were somewhat lacking in the planning department but were blessed with open arms of the villagers.

Reactions varied:

One chief who while willing to accept a cassette was very wary of anyone corrupting his children's minds and we were not permitted to continue working in the area.
One village there had been visitors to the village recently who were kidnapping children and there was at least one mother who would not let her child join in the kids program. At this same village we were expected to buy drinks for men constructing a small concrete bridge which forced us to walk the final 15minutes. It is hard to know what they thought of us.
The other negative from the run was when handing out stickers and sweets in the final village of San Ramon. Children were snatching gifts from us and each other while the village chief looked on.

We have to say though the the rest of the experience was fantastic. It is surreal to see grass huts with concrete junction boxes out the front and power lines running everywhere. The many positives included gifts on the way out including baskets and a duck nicknamed Dominoes. (what's in the box with the air holes that look like dots, When it stuck it's head out of the box it was peaking duck, and after the box deteriorated we had to put it back together with duct tape).

Responses were fantastic:

The highlight for many of us was one chief who knew it was more important to listen to the word of God than to attend to his paying tourist guests.
Chiefs watching us work with the children and listening to the tapes and messages given.
One village was comprised of only 7 huts had no men present and when the school children returned, only 1 boy around 13 was present. While we were not able to much for the long term health of the village we were able to give them the word of God, clothing and medicines. The old chieffess was a different person as she watched the children's program.
The children were fantastic to work with, they were somewhat taken back by the gringos and Chileans in clown and lion suits but were so well behaved, were children allowed to grow as children. There were many hugs going around as we departed each village.

Because many of the men were out working in the fields it was often the case for villages to be solely attended by the women and children. We visited a school in a village that was only accessible via boat or flying fox from the main road. It seemed rude to be pulled up the final 30m by two women and a man none of whom were much over 150cm.

Where possible Medicine kits and clothes were distributed. It is sad to see but there were several instances of relocation of the villages by the government and mining companies. Fields were often grown on the sides of hills that would be impossible to work come the rain.

We returned to Lima somewhat sadly. Pastor Juan and his wife Karen (who had moved there from Ecuador) had been struggling in their service of the church. When the church cannot afford the salary pastors from the city are asking for and there are few evangelical churches in the area, the isolation and workload is overbearing.

It was also a sad moment in Lima in the next 2 days as our Chilean contingent of Danae, Levi and Anna needed to return home. Bonds built despite a lack of common language were to be broken by distance. We will however be meeting up with them during our assorted stop overs in Santiago on the way back. The internet is a marvellous thing and friendships will be maintained.

2008-07-28T06:14:00.005+08:00

hola....
here's a short update to let you know where we have been and what we have been doing here in Pure. Well our time here i think is one we will never forget.

First i going to start of with my highlight.
One major highlight for we was when we were in one particular village and we started distributing cassette tapes. we came to a family and we started to ask them the normal questions of do you speak Quechua? do you know of Christ? can we play you this cassette tape? we played them the cassette tape and the joy in on the faces was so amazing to see how hungry they were for the word of god. This family gave their hearts to God and said they were going to use them.
This is a major deal because so many people that we played the cassettes to and talked to them about Christ gave their hearts to God. Its was a great encouragement to the people and encouragement to the team.
I have so many stories and experiences but I just do not have enough time . I am looking forward to sharing with you all when we come back to Australian.
I tonight I am getting ready to go to Chile so I wont to say thank you all for your prays .
God bless
from Jillian Ham

Jungles of Junin

2008-07-18T02:35:00.003+08:00

There is so much to write and not a lot of time to write it.
We finally made it to the jungle but unfortunately due to the strike are time was shortened by a couple of days, so we didn't get to San Martin Del Pangoa - Satipo. We did however make it to San Ramon, where we teamed up with Pastor Juan.
As this was of short notice we didn't really have a program to run with other than what Juan had organised.
Due to roads being blocked of due to the strike, most of our outreach opportunities during our first few days there were to children of San Ramon and surrounding areas. When the roads were finally accessible we made our way to many communities where Levi, Danae & Ana ran children's programs. Levi dressed up as a tiger, Danae and Ana dressed up as clowns. Jill also helped out with the children's program. Unfortunately James and myself got a bug and was unable to help out for the first couple of days in the communities. However it is a good way of losing some weight. We had to visit the local doctor and have an injection to help fight the bug. An experience in its self.
More to come soon.............

Deja Vu

2008-07-06T01:16:00.002+08:00

Well we have arrived here in Peru, and after being met at the airport by Veronica & Elda we were taxied to our accommodation. James, Delfin, Jill and myself are staying at a hostel called La Mia. Levi, Danae & Ana are also staying there as well. These are our new Chilean friends. Sybil & Alex are staying at Veronica & Elda's house.
We had a surprise the next day with Maria showing up to join us on the trip.
During the day Vero, Elda & Alex went to organise and purchase our bus tickets to San Martin Del Pangoa and also our plane tickets to Lamas. While the rest of us went to Central Lima to do some sight seeing.
Jill had a bit of scare when someone tried to snatch her bag, fortunately Ana saw what was going on and stood between Jill and the person so that he could not grab it. It was a warning to us all to keep our eyes open and to be aware of our surroundings.
Yesterday (Friday) we went through induction to prepare us for going into San Martin Del Pangoa, after which we went to the shops to buy a few essentials.
Upon our return from the shops we were given the bad news that the road up to San Martin Del Pangoa has been blocked again by another miners strike, so our plans to go there have be changed again. We are now taking each day as it comes, it looks like if all going well we will be going on Monday. So for our time here in Lima we will be participating in some local church activities.

Clear with a Slight Haze

2008-07-03T06:02:00.006+08:00

The title was the forecast given to us as we came into Santiago Chile. After 12 hrs. of flying from New Zealand we flew in across the coast line to a sight that made us go "So that's what a mountain range looks like". The snow capped mountains (literally capped although some were like many older gentlemen with more of a dusting than a proper cap) were new to Jill and I .

Santiago airport could be a lovely place to photograph the forest preceding the snow capped mountains but the haze turned out more to be a bit more than the slight than us Australians are used to . We could see the end of the runway but only because that was where the lights of the incoming plane approached the ground. The mountains were just visible above the haze.

Apparently this is a standard view for Santiago and it is no real surprise as the view of Chile so far has been mountains with the valleys filled with settlements and farming. Without a stiff breeze these places would not get the fresh air that we are so used to.

The Chileans have been very friendly (I have to say that since Delfin our leader is Chilean) including a young girl at Starbucks (yes Starbucks are attempting to take over the world). She took my order for a hot chocolate but only after exclaiming in Spanish and climbing up on the counter rather excitedly to demonstrate how short she was (depending on your view of the world). At least the comments about my height will be in another language so I won't have heard all of them before.

Jill and Simon are fitting into their roles as South American Missionaries;
Simon was greeted on the plane from Sydney as if he was a local returning home while Jill could easily pass for one of the locals. The rest of the Australians (Delfin not counted) still stood out like sore thumbs. Alex was doing his best by wearing a hat he had purchased on a previous trip.

Upon our arrival we were handed a brochure about the VIP lounge and how it has been open up to the public for a small fee of US$30, this includes free drinks, internet, showers etc... but we decided to sit just outside the lounge and hook into the wireless network, so we didn't have to pay, and as our boarding passes for the Santiago to Lima leg were not able to be printed out in Sydney and we had to line up in Chile and wait for them to be printed we were given a free meal each at one of the local restaurants, and I must say the food was very nice.

GRN: A Sneek Peek

2008-06-26T07:33:00.002+08:00

We just thought you would all like to know what GRN (Global Recordings Network) looked like. So in the slideshow to the right you can see a few photos of the office.
One thing I will make a mention of is the new SABER MP3 Hand Wind Player, which was designed by the crew here at GRN.

The player will have 1GB memory on board, and a slot for an optional SD memory card up to 2GB.

Battery life is estimated at 10 hours at high volume.

The SABER is powered from internal rechargeable batteries. A built in generator allows the machine to be recharged by turning the handle. External power sources, such as AC/DC power packs, solar panels, or batteries, can also be used to recharge the machine.

Unlike the Messenger II it will not stop playing if you stop winding, potentially giving it unlimited playback.

The SABER is just about ready to be put into production, and should be available soon.

Something to S.T.E.W. over.

2008-06-23T07:02:00.003+08:00

Well, we are in Sydney, and have just attended a S.T.E.W. or for those who are not familiar with this a Short Term Enlightenment Weekend.
S.T.E.W. is a brief introduction to things that we may and will encounter on our trip to Peru or in that matter any other country.
The weekend taught us a number of important "need to knows" in order that we may best relate to the people we are going to visit.
Things such as:

What & Why of Missions?
What is the Time?
Cross Cultural Communication.
Embedded & Individual Societies.
My Experience, Their World.
Understanding Culture.
Form & Meaning.
Understanding Animism.
God's Plan, Your Life.
Victory in Jesus.
Holy Spirit Empowered Ministry.
Good Teams & Spirituality.
Cross Cultural Australia.
Good Lingo Fast.
Attitude for Harvest.
Making it Happen.

As you can see it has been a very busy weekend, and we are looking forward to putting into practise the things we have learnt.
Over the next week James is heading up to Queensland to visit family, while Jill and myself (Simon) will be sightseeing around Sydney as well as helping out in the GRN office.

Smile, God Loves You!

2008-06-17T21:09:00.004+08:00

Well it's now only 2 days until Jill, James and Simon fly to Sydney for the first stage of Aventura Misionera. I (Simon) thought it would be appropriate at this stage to introduce you to another member of the team who will be joining us in Sydney and then onto Peru.
Meet "Smiley". He is the unofficial mascot from the West. We hope to take many photos of Smiley enjoying himself and interacting with others while on our travels.

Countdown to Peru 2008

2008-06-03T21:11:00.002+08:00

Welcome to Aventura Misionera.

On the 19th June 2008, 3 young people from Western Australia (Jill, James and Simon) will start their journey to Peru by travelling to Sydney. While in Sydney they will meet up with the rest of the Australian contingent (Alex, Sybil and Delfin) and they will be partaking in a 3 day Short Term Enlightenment Weekend or S.T.E.W. for short. This will hopefully prepare them to some extent of things they will encounter when the arrive in Peru. They will continue their journey to Peru on the 2nd July 2008, when they jump on a plane and travel firstly to Auckland then to Chile and finally on to Peru, where they arrive some 30hrs later on the 2nd July 2008. When they arrive in Lima (Peru). They will join up with the rest of the team (Veronica, Elda and 6 Chileans).

While in Peru the team will be involved in distributing gospel message cassettes recorded in the native languages of Ashaninca and Quechua (San Martin).
They will also be involved in church programs, children's outreach and other activities.

Please pray for the team as they bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Peru in their native language.