Kirby Woods Baptist Church, REAPSouth partner, has been working among the Quechua in Ayacucho for several years. I had the privilege of serving with John Floyd, Matt Akers, Matt Gillis, and David Cole on a 5 day assessment trip in April. Our main goal was to reevaluate KWBC’s strategy in trying to plant a church there.
Here are a few shots from the trip. I took these on a Kodak disposable (I dared not travel with the D40).
What’s a trip up the mountains without some car trouble? Matt Gillis (the designated driver) managed to shake the battery loose. Not that he’s a bad driver. He’s actually a very skilled mountaineer. I think he’d make a good taxista if he ever needs work.
Want to get an idea of mountain travel? Watch the first few seconds of this video.
Solomon Grados accompanied us up the mountain. Not so much because we needed a translator (3 of us speak spanish), but because he spent two months in Santiago. He’s a local hero. He could run for mayor. He’s legendary.
Solomon is awesome. He was a translator back in the day when Amanda and I were on the REAPSouth team. So, we’ve got some history.
Each day we ate at a small store. The owner, Nelly prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us. If you could actually see through the window, you would see us sitting at a little wooden table consuming large amounts of rice and cow intestine. Actually, Matt Akers ate all the cow intestine. He couldn’t get enough of that stuff!
Solomon did a great job centering this photo. We were visiting another village and came across a Pollada. It was some sort of fundraiser for their school. David Cole and I partook.
Dr. Floyd, missions professor at MABTS and missions guy at KWBC, has more years of experience in cross-cultural ministry than I have of life. He was a missionary in the Philippines and also in Europe.
One of the most enjoyable things in the Andes mountains (and probably most places) is interacting with the kids. They’re great.
This is the only window in the school where we ate the Pollada. I thought the shaft of light cutting the streamer was nice.
I met Liz (above) about five years ago on my first trip to Santiago. She barely remembered me. She was only 5 at the time. But, we hung out. I told her a lot of stories from the Bible.
The soccer match between Santiago and a nearby village brought the town to the stadium. Santiago won.
After one of the goals, the guy who scored went running down the field, ripped his shirt off, and twirled it over his head in front of the crowd. He got a yellow card.
David Cole and I got our own soccer match going. We smoked some Peruvian chili (kind of). Here’s David doing a dance after scoring a goal. After the next goal he took his shirt and twirled it over his head.
Dana Palomino ate dinner with our team the night before we left for the U.S. She is currently teaching English and Italian, teaching Sunday School, and translating for Compassion International.
Mike and Kathy Weaver also joined us for dinner. Amanda and I worked for the Weavers during our stint in Peru. I tried to hint around for Kathy to cook for us. She’s an amazing cook!