1000 Words

This is a picture of the front gate of the campamento of the Igelesia Metodista in Tambo de Mora, near Chincha, Peru. The photo of the gate was taken by Hendrix College student Grace Yokem, after the Hendrix mission team finished painting it. The young girl in the picture lives in the community and participates in the church's activities in the campamento.

They say a picture tells 1000 words, and I think this is a good example of that. This old gate, for me, is a symbol of the Methodist Church's work in the area. Tambo de Mora is a struggling fishing community where endemic poverty and substance abuse make for a hard childhood for many kids. It's not the kind of place you'd plant a megachurch, I can assure you. But just like that tough old gate, the Methodist Church under the leadership of my friend, Pedro Uchuya, has stuck with the community in good times and bad (including the severe earthquake last August, which hit Tambo de Mora hard). There is now a new church as a part of the campamento facility, and an active feeding ministry provides nourishment every Saturday and Sunday to over 50 hungry kids. An already-planted orchard inside the campamento's walls will eventually provide fresh fruit to the community, and the area is also used as a place where kids can gather in safety to hang out and play soccer.

I've rarely been anywhere that I saw the Holy Spirit more plainly at work than in that campamento. The kids who live there, and the adults who give so much of themselves in ministry, provide signs of the coming kingdom. I thank God daily for my connection to them.