Cultural Shock in Peru!

Since we have been involved in overseeing the Mision Rescate team which consists of 5 Peruvian young people and 2 from Ireland we have enjoyed different experiences with them both individually and as a team. Recently I had the joy of taking seeing the team respond in a number of different situations. I guess the reactions of those involved pointed towards culture shock. Surprisingly on both occasions it was our Peruvian team members who experienced it. It just goes to show that you don't have to be too far away from home to experience cultural shock.

Incident number 1: Half day visit to Arica, Chile
At the beginning of December both Simon and Roberta had to leave Peru in order to renew their Visas. We decided on a half day trip to Arica which is about 45 minutes away from Tacna. Two of the Peruvian team members decided they would like to join us for this journey. As we approached the border we could sense the excitement increasing to a level that was clearly almost incontrollable.

The day proved to be quite relaxing and we were able to enjoy a number of treats in Arica as well as the luxury of walking around and just people watching. As we walked around and crossed roads our two Peruvian members were amazed that cars actually stopped at zebra crossings to allow pedestrians to cross. at one point as a car pulled up to the crossing and stopped they were unwilling to cross the road until the car had passed. It was only after hand signals from the driver that they realised their lives were not in danger. Later on as they got to grip with things and crossed at a zebra crossing while a police car waited for us to cross someone commented "wow this is amazing, even the police obey the zebra crossing!" The shock of this was compounded by the fact that other motorists didn't toot their horns violently one mili second before the traffic lights changed. Personally being in Arica made me realise that I would have to adjust some of my "Peruvian driving techniques"!

Incident Number 2: Thunder Storms in Puno

Last week I was able to join the team as they made a trip to the mountains to help distribute presents to Sunday School kids. The trip proved to be interesting for a number of reasons, none moreso than watching the effect of the 5200 metre altitude on some of the team members. Fortunately everyone enjoyed the experience and although there was great joy in watching the children recieve their presents I imagine that the smile on the Peruvian team members faces when they saw the rain and hail that accompanied the thunderstorm was equal to the smile of joy from the children! On our first night in Puno we sat in a small cafe finishing off our dinner as we began to hear the pounding on the roof. In any regard the storm was impressive but as Simon, Roberta and I watched the first drops of rain we had seen for many months the rest of the team rain onto the street and danced with joy at having being able to watch their first real thunderstorm and to top it all off it wasn't just rain, it was hail! Coming from Northern Ireland I guess there are some things you just take for granted!

A Week in the life of the Murphys

Over the last 18 months we have often been asked "what is a typical day like for you?" or "What is a typical week like?" all too often these have been almost impossible questions to answer so recently I thought it might be worthwhile to try and remember some of the things we have done over the past week or so and put them down in the form of a diary, so here goes!:

Sunday 19th October

Once again an early start, no sleeping in with Joel around, although we were able to lie on in bed until 7am, so that was a little lazy compared to our normal start to the day!

Like most Sunday mornings we managed to get up and out for a walk along the seafront with the kids before coffee time and then church. We then headed up to La Pampa for church at 11am.

We arrived back home from church and I (Dave) managed to shovel my dinner down before heading out to Ite to oversee the Mision Rescate Team as they took responsibility for Sunday School. Following Sunday School the team also took the evening service. Both services were encouraging and over 50 children turned up for Sunday School.

After this I left the team back at the Camp Centre and had a short meeting with them before driving home and jumping into bed. As I arrived home I found Alicia just as tired as me after looking after the kids all afternoon as well as entertaining a couple of unexpected visitors (Since Joel's birth Alicia has not really been able to attend the Sunday evening services as it is over too late and does not suit feeding times or bed times for the kids).

Monday 20th October

Monday always seems to be a rush to get ready and it always seems to be the day that Sarah is in the least of a rush! We manage to get her up and dressed into her full uniform of blazer and skirt, fed and off to school by 8.30am. Alicia headed off to the market to get some groceries and I headed out to take the dog a brisk walk before our customary prayer meeting with the Morrows. After the meeting which normally takes most of the morning Alicia started preparing some lunch while I headed into the town to get some supplies for the Mision Rescate Team arriving back home just in time to collect Sarah from school at 1pm.

After lunch Alicia and I, with the kids head out to Ite to catch up with the team and see how they are getting on with their preparations for meetings. We spent most of the afternoon in Ite and arrive home in time to get a late tea and get the kids ready for bed.

Tuesday 21st October

Today starts like most other days and I manage to give the dog a good long walk before coming back and putting the finishing touches to the Bible Study I had prepared for Ite. Most Tuesdays I head out to Ite mid afternoon so that I can spend time with the Team before the meeting and also try and visit in the village just before the meeting starts to remind people.

This week it is refreshing as although I had to share the Team take responsibility for leading and for the music and so I just share and lead the prayer time. After the meeting I leave the team back at the centre de-brief with them and then head home to Alicia to see how her afternoon has been with the kids.

Wednesday 22nd October

Wednesdays have proved to be the most hectic days because in October I have been leaving the house at 8am, this has left Alicia with Joel and preparing Sarah for school alone. Each Wednesday I have collected Pastor Mario from the Ilo church and taken him to Ite to teach the team on evangelism, while another believer from the church; Freddy has been teaching some Spanish. During these lessons I have tried to use the time to catch up on paperwork and my general planning.

I arrived home from this in time for a late lunch and then a relatively free afternoon. Since alot of my time out is in the afternoon and the evening I try to set aside at least one afternoon a week to spend with the kids. Today we went out onto the grass at the seafront and flew Sarah's new kite. We enjoyed a great afternoon before heading back home, getting tea ready and the children bathed and off to bed.

Thursday 23rd October

Each Thursday everyone involved in the ministry at the camp centre meet for a time of planning, sharing and prayer. While I head out to this Alicia stays at home with Joel and has a Spanish conversation class with a lady from Ilo.

I arrive back mid afternoon and enjoy my lunch before preparing something for the youth meeting on Friday night.

Friday 24th October

Today is the big day. I have planned to do my driving test. Since arriving in Peru I have been using an international licence but decided it was time to get a Peruvian one. I had passed the medical, psychological and psychosimatic test a few weeks earlier and the theory test the previous week. Everything seemed a bit strange and didnt really relate to driving for example in one test I had to name 4 large cities, 4 types of fish and know at what time of the day my shadow would be the shortest (I didn't tell them I was from Northern Ireland and so we don't have shadows!) Last Friday afternoon I had attempted the driving test which involved a grand total of two parking manouevres in a large car park, I failed. The first manouevre was parallel parking into a space 1 metre longer than the length of the car and the second was to reverse park the car (diagonally) for a starting position of a right angle from the space. The area you must fit into is 2m 20cm; 40 cm wider than the car (not including the mirrors)in three moves with the second move being the edge forward 1m, it was on this that I failed the previous week.

After making a longer than expected visit to the travel agent to price flights home for our deputation I headed out with my friend Freddy to practice parking. After some practice and a quick lunch I head up to the testing area for the 2.30 start time. After waiting an hour the examiners arrive. I was one of six candidates for the test and after the first manouevre the group is reduced to myself and one other. Eventually we come to the second manouevre and this time the practice has paid off, I get the test and my friend reminds me it is one more step towards being Peruvian. I don't really care about that, I am just relieved to have passed what seemed like the strangest driving test I have ever seen. Not once did we drive in traffic and we barely drove in forward gears!

As I drew sighed with relief I rushed home to collect my stuff before heading out to the young peoples meeting in Ite. I quickly greet and say goodbye to Alicia, Joel and Sarah. I have hardly seen them all day and Joel has been a little off form with his teeth coming through, I feel bad for abandoning them but head off. We have a good meeting with the young people, they are given an open time to ask questions about God and I try to answer some of their deep questions. Many of them seem to be searching. After the meeting we stand around and have a chat before I once again head back home.

Saturday 25th October

Today we get to relax a little. After get ourselves together Alicia heads out to the market with Sarah while I mind Joel. We enjoy coffee and preparing some meat for a BBQ at lunch time. The temperature is 25 degrees so we enjoy a good bit of the afternoon after our BBQ on the patio roof. Later on we head out to the grass to fly Sarah's kite once again. As Joel sits in his pram his sits fascinated with the colours of the kite. We head back in again in time for a pancake tea and get the kids ready for bed.

A Princess, A Spring Party, an Athletics Coach and a Bug!

Our title to this post may seem somewhat bizarre, perhaps resembling the author of the blog, however it really seems to sum some of our activities over the last few weeks. Let me explain:

A Princess and A Spring Party

Yesterday (September 23rd) was officially the first day of Spring here in Peru (although temperatures have been quite pleasant for a number of weeks now). In order to celebrate this arrival many of the schools organise parties. Sarah's school was no exception to the rule and had arranged that all the children meet in a conference room of a local restaurant for some entertainment from a surprisingly funny clown, loud music and lots of junk food. Of course all the children were over the moon to have such a treat.

As part of the celebrations each class had to select a female best friend and a male best friend and the couple with the most votes from each class would represent the class as the prince and princess. Yes you have already guessed it, Sarah was selected as the Princess and her good friend Josue (a child of some Christian parents we have got to know) was selected as the prince. So as all the other children donned their dresses and tuxedos (yes it was that formal!) Sarah dressed up in a lovely white dress and tiara to partner her Prince Charming!
With each event Sarah seems to be enjoying the attention more and more and was really chuffed that she had been chosen to represent the class and be the centre of attention! We have added some photos to give you a glimpse of the whole affair.

A Bug

Ok this is rather uninteresting but adds to the title! In brief, about two weeks ago I (Dave) was struck down with a stomach bug which left me weak for a few days. The timing of the bug was highly inapproriate as we had the Mission Director, Gordon Darragh and a supportor of the Mission visiting with us and to make matters worse it was within a week of my birthday. For me it was just another birthday but some people wanted to make a huge deal of the fact that it was a major landmark. Anyway without revealing my age the bug was conveniently renamed "thirtyitis!"

I insisted that the bug had nothing to do with the impending birthday but few were prepared to believe me - that was until everyone else started to come down with the bug. In our family Joel was the only to avoid the bug and even our "strong invincible" guests were both eventually struck down with the illness. Fortunately for all the affects seemed to pass within a few days. The fortunate thing about it all is that on my birthday I was well recovered and able to consume large amounts of cake while most other had to pass the offer by - I discovered that a cake between one person is a big cake!

An Athletics Coach

Most of you who know me will know that I am a passionate sports fan and many will know of my interest in football and especially Liverpool. (By the way I did not get too many emails from my good friends who normally email me after and Man U Liverpool encounter. Can't understand why, they must have been eating humble pie!) Some of you will also know that in my younger days (that were not that long ago!) I was a very keen and active track and field athlete. It had seemed that that interest had very much become a thing of the past until about a month ago when news of my former glories spread as far as the current athletics director in Ilo. Consequently, I was approached to help with athletics coaching in Ilo. So far this has been very enjoyable and interesting. As I coach these young athletes I realise how fortunate I was with all the facilities available to me. We train on a dirt track, some days there are lanes marked some days we draw a line in the dirt. In short facilities are basic, there are a few hurdles, a few throwing implements and I am led to believe that some of the athletes are high jumpers but I have yet to see a mat! I was wondering if it was a case of going back to basics and high jumping into sand - not sure how to coach that! Anyway the opportunity to help and be involved in this has been fantastic. My language has really been stretched, I am having lots of fun and getting to know many young people and parents. I am part of this because I want to help, but hopefully in this area I can also be salt and light and I may have more opportunities to share Christ.

On our next post I hope to share a little bit about some of the more intentional ministry opportunities we are involved in. As always we give thanks to God for you all, for your prayers, for your support and for your interest in the work that God is doing here in Peru. God Bless you all.

Some Photos

At the start of the week we said goodbye to Gordon Darragh (the Mission Director) and David Hamill (a believer from NI who had been travelling with him to see the work). Each time we have visitors it is always a blessing to have them and to be reminded of the love, support and prayers of many people back home in Northern Ireland and indeed in varios parts of the world. The visit was a really good visit from our perspective (and hopefully from theirs too!) and after almost a week of constant conversation and almost constant laughing the empty house seemed so much more quiet.

The quietness of the house was added to very soon after the visitors left as most of us fell sick with a stomach bug. (Gordon claimed it was a reaction against the visitors leaving and that they should have stayed longer!) Fortunately it seemed to affect Alicia and I for a short period of time but Sarah seemed to pick up the bug a little later than us and is still off school , although she should be back on her feet again soon. Fortunately Joel seems to have managed to keep himself healthy and remains his happy, bubbly self.

Since we had not posted for a while and had not posted any photos for even longer we decided we would add a few recent ones just so you can see how big and grown up Joel and Sarah are getting and how young and youthful Alicia and I still are! Enjoy!

Paperwork, Paperwork and more Paperwork!

Each time I update our blog I promise myself I will not let it be so long before updating it next time. Unfortunately I contstantly keep falling into the trap of being distracted by other things, getting on with our routine and trying to keep the wheels in motion.

July has been an eventful and very interesting month. At the start of the month we said goodbye to Alicia's mum who had been visiting us for just over three weeks. Her presence here was not just appreciated for her company but it also proved to be a vital help as we came to terms with having a new baby on the scene. Alicia's mum was brilliant at helping out around the house, helping to cook and generally spoiling and looking after all of us.

Throughout most of the month of June and right through July we had been anticipating the paperwork on our car being completed so that we would be mobile. Each week we seemed to be saying that it would be "this week." Due to an administrative error by the company that sold the vehicle getting license plates and all the other paper work proved to be a much longer process than it should have. Eventually at the end of July we got the necessary papers to enable us to drive the car. We are certainly delighted to have a vehicle that allows us to get to and from Ite and the other areas where we are involved in the work but it also enables us to get away from time to time as well when we have some time off. Thank you to so many of you who prayed for this and to those of you who gave so generously to enable this purchase to be made.

In the middle of July I made the trip to Lima in order to pick up a minibus for the ministry of the Camp and Conference Centre. The bus will be used to transport campers to and from the beach during camps as well as in numerous other ways. The trip included an 18 hour bus journey to Lima and a 24 hour journey (including stops) in the minibus back. While in Lima I was able to visit the British Embassy and Consulate in order to get the necessary British version of Joel's birth certificate. Although according to the documentation I read the procedure seemed fairly straight forward it all turned out to be far from it. Fortunately I was able to represent Joel in Lima as it is the only place in Peru where I could get this done and am thankful that I did not have to run around from pillar to post with Alicia and the kids trying to get this done.

The unfortunate side of the trip was that I was not able to apply for Joel's passport without having him present, however I knew I could do this at the Honory Consulate in Arequipa - a four hour journey away. So after a week getting back into the swing of things here in Ilo/Ite the four of us headed off to Arequipa in order to make Joel's passport application. At the time of writing the application has been made but we have yet to receive any form of response whether it has been approved or declined. Hopefully later in the week we should receive confirmation.

Aside from all the formalities of registering Joel and adjusting to having him around (by the way he is a delight to have and has a real wee chuckle!) we have been continuing with our work in Ite. In some ways things have been a little quieter recently due to it being the winter in Peru but that has freed us up to get our paperwork in order and has also given us a chance to think about the work a little bit more. In a few weeks time we will receive a visit from Gordon Darragh the Mission Director and the new Gap Year team will commence, we are also waiting to hear news about a site that we enquired about to build the new church in Ite (last year the building was burnt to the ground and the plan is to build again on a new site.)

Sarah is very excited this week because after two weeks off for mid winter break she started back at school. Over the next couple of weeks there will be numerous special activities to mark the sixth anniversary of the school. Tomorrow she has yet another birthday party. After each party she goes to she is always keen to know when hers will be. We dread telling her that hers was not that long ago and it will be a long time before her next one. She is certainly much more keen for celebration and festivities than either her mother or father!

Give thanks to the Lord for He is Good

Recently I was thinking about our time here in Peru and the things that have happened, some things we had anticipated and other things have taken us by surprise but in each circumstance we have had a real sense of God's presence. As I was thinking I began to think back to the fears and doubts we had before coming to Peru. To be honest our biggest fears and worries lay in bringing our precious 1 1/2 year old Sarah to a completely different country where she would be exposed to all sorts of things and we could not guarantee what would lie ahead of her. As pondered this I thought back to the different experiences that Sarah has had so far and I realised that although she may have been separated from her extended family and taken out of a culture that Alicia and I were so comfortable in Sarah has very much adjusted to life here in Peru. What a blessing from God it has been that although we are sinful and worry when God promises that He will even take care of the flowers and the trees never mind us He still keeps His promises and undertakes for our worries.

I think the video footage that we have added just demonstrates how well Sarah has adjusted to life here and it also shows how perhaps she is being exposed to things that she would not have been exposed to at home, things that will ultimately make her a more confident person. God is really good. Now I wonder if we can really trust Him and leave all our worries with Him. How often do we fail Him by worying about the things that He has already taken care of.

The two video clips are from a belated Father's Day celebration put on by Sarah's School. We were very proud of her for her participation in the two performances firstly as a Cowgirl and secondly as a Clown. The evening out proved to be very exciting for Sarah as it was her first performance in front of her wee brother who seemed to enjoy the event. We hope you enjoy Sarah's performances as much as we did!

Please accept my apologies for the quality of the video but I had to upload it at a poorer quality as the internet connection is too slow and kept timing out, better than nothing though!

Chaos in Ilo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7458517.stm

One of the negative things about Peru is that strikes are a frequence occurance. Generally speaking most strikes are resolved within a matter of days, often the threat of strike is enough to achieve the required outcome. Fortunately for us Ilo is one of the most tranquil areas of Peru and the strikes here would be nothing compared to the rest of the country......................that was until last week! The people inthe province of Moquegua (which includes Ilo) have taken exception to the way they have been treated for numerous years and without going into lots of political details on Tuesday 10th June one of the most severe and longest running strikes for many years began. Generally speaking even in severe strike conditions there is still minor movement of vehicles between one town and another and even within the town and precaution is taken to avoid the main flashpoints. As I write this we are now in our fourth day of the strike and no signs of any resolution.

Unfortunately the strike which is predominantly confined to the province of Moquegua coincided with the arrival of Alicia's mother for a two week visit to see her new grandson. Although there were rumours of strikes before she left we did not take too much heed of this as we were unsure whether it would materialise or not. On the day of Alicia's mothers arrival we realised the extent of the situation that we were facing, recognising that most roads in and out of Ilo were blocked and it would be very difficult to make our way through to Tacna to collect her. Trevor Morrow and I decided to leave early in the day before the strike gained any momentum and made our way towards the main exit road towards Tacna zigzagging across the road to avoid boulders that had been placed across varios parts of the road. As we came to the main interseccion out of Ilo we approached a crowd blocking the exit, recognising it would be impossible to pass we turned back and decided to try again later in the afternoon. We felt that if we timed our exit between 2pm and 5pm we would overlap with siesta and dinner time and may be more likely to get out. This time we made our way as far as the main interseccion and the crowd had dispersed. Although the road was almost impassable we somehow managed to swerve through the boulders (some of which were 2 feet high) and broken glass and make our way out of Ilo. On the way out we discovered that the baracades were continuous for almost 3 km - a constant rubble of rocks and boulders on the road, and every 500metres or so we encountered more taxing obstacles that required more care and craft to get by, each of which gave a sense of satisfacion that we had overcome one more obstacle and we were closer to being on our way to Tacna to collect Alicia's mum. Eventually we came to a maned baracade and it became clear that it was in the best interest's of our safety to turn back. We were disappointed butnot defeated and so decided to try a few other exits from Ilo but it quickly became clear that it would not be in any way possible to get a car out of Ilo. Knowing this we decided to contact one of the missionaries in Tacna and ask them to meet Alicia's mum at the airport and to put her up for the night in Tacna.

As we considered the situation overnight and realised that there was still no change in the activities in the town we realised that would had no idea when we would be able to drive through to collect Alicia's mum and so we began to think of alternatives. So on Thursday morning we asked on of the Peruvian national workers who spoke good english to accompany Alicia's mum by taxi as far towards Ilo as possible and we would commence our walk out of Ilo to greet her at the first point of resistance on the way towards Ilo. Our understanding at this point was that this was 6km outside Ilo which we considered long but managable. As we walked out and crossed picket lines and baracades (we were informed that walking out was possible permitted) we realised the level of resistance the people of Ilo were putting up. Some of the believers from the La Pampa church had come on bicycles to help us get out but as we came to one picket line and baracade they were told they could not cross with bicycles but we could walk, however as we approached on foot we were also told we could not pass and that we would have to climb the hill to pass round the side of the baracade - the strikers stood and watched as we made our way around and as our friends who were not allowed to cycle put the bikes on their shoulders and walked around! This proved to be the main obstacle and although we realised that the last block was actually over 10km out of Ilo we eventually made it there to find Alicia's mum, her escort, taxi and taxi driver on the other side of the manned baracade. Needless to say this was not the welcome that any of us had anticipated she would receive!

As we approached and briefly welcomed Alicia's mum we realised that now our two main concerns were getting back to Ilo and getting the taxi with our national worker who had accompanied Alicia's mum to this point back to Tacna. Having made it that far by foot and having seen the obstacles, we were confident that it would at least be possible to get back home by foot but we were now faced with a situation where although the strikers were allowing Alicia's mum to walk in to Ilo they were threatening to prevent the taxi from returning to Tacna! After much discussion it was agreed to allow the return. I dread to think what was going on in Alicia's mum's head as will discussed and pleaded with the strikers in Spanish all of which even to me seemed like complete confusion!

As the taxi made it's way back to Tacna we had to consider our best options for returning home with Alicia's mum and all her luggage. We were informed that it was unlikely that it would be as easy to return back over the pickets lines we had crossed as they would have expended all their mercy letting us through in the first place and so we would need to return on a new route. At this baracade where we collected Alicia's mum we were shown a degree of compassion because we were foreigners and "it is not the foreigners fault!" It just so happened that one of the strikers was a taxi driver and so for a fare offered to drive us back in towards Ilo via another route, up to about 500metres before another flash point. Our friends who had accompanied us on bicycles followed us up on their bikes. Eventually we were dropped off just outside the La Pampa area of Ilo, on a road somewhere in the desert and began the rest of our return journey on foot. We walked past the main roundabout with suicases, boxes and everything in hand without a comment made (although we did get a few weird looks).

After passing the roundabout we still had roughly 3km to walk and hoped that there would be at least some movement of vehicles within the town so we could get a taxi home but there was nothing. Eventually we arrived back at the house at 3.30pm 5 hours after leaving the house but it was certainly worth it to see Alicia's mum's joy at seeing her new grandson and her precious granddaughter not to forget her daughter and much less anxious son-in-law!

We are just delighted that although the strike is still continuing and there does seem to be any imminent solution that Alicia's mum is here with us and we are able to enjoy here company rather than her stuck in Tacna not knowing when she would be able to get through to see us. We are also thankful to God that the Mision Rescate team were able to get out of the strike zone before it commenced and they are well away from any of the effects of the strike and will be able to make their way home to Ireland without any hassle.

Often people ask us what it is a typical day as a missionary and after almost a year and a half here in Peru I have not been able to describe a typical day, perhaps my acount of Alicia's mum's arrival explains why! The one thing we are sure of though is that although nothing seems certain here or indeed wherever we are we have an unchanging God who looks after us, protects us, guides us and provides for us, Praise be to our mighty God!

We really appreciate your interest in us and know that many of you check our blog regularly and pray for us frequently, we are so indebted to you, thank you. We have been overwhelmed by the number of messages from you after Joel's birth. We are so thankful to God that he is healthy and he is sleeping well at night, he is certainly a little treasure.

We will keep you updated on our current situation here in Ilo and in Joel's (and of course Sarah's) progress as they develop. We had been intending to add more video of Sarah's father's day performance which was due to be tomorrow but since she has been off school all week due to the strike it looks like this will either be cancelled or postponed. One advantage of the strike is that it gives me more time to spend at home with Alicia, Sarah, Joel and Alicia's mum, update the blog and watch Euro 2008! Life has certainly slowed down a little this week! Please do not be concerned for our safety, we are well and not under any threat but we would appreciate your prayers that there would be a resolution soon here in Ilo as it would certainly make life a little easier!

Ilo Welcomes Joel Murphy

Since emailing many of our good friends to inform them of the arrival of our second child; Joel John Murphy (to be called Joel and certainly not JJ!) on Sunday morning at 10.40am Peru time we have recieved numerous emails telling us of the desire to see some photos. It had always been our intention to put some photos on our blog and so we have made sure that there are enough to satisfy your interest and enable you all to determine who he looks like, Mum, Dad or grandparents!We do write this post aware that God really has been good to us by giving us Joel. We decided to call him Joel because it means "The Lord is God" however it is easy to confuse it to mean "The Lord is good" either way both are equally true and one is synomous with the other. John is a very special name and although it may not sit so well right after Joel it has great significance. My (Dave's) grandfather who passed away a few weeks ago was called John and my father and I both have John as a middle name. Incidentally, John means "God is gracious." Finally we did not have too much choice in the Murphy part of the name but since I am the only Murphy boy of my generation Joel also becomes the only Murphy boy and has the opportunity to carry on the name.
I don't want to write outside my remit but the labour itself was a much better labour than her labour with Sarah, only keeping us waiting for 8 hours compared to 42 the last time! Joel was born at 10.40am, and and declared healthy and normal. Initially we were of the belief that he weighed in just under 10lbs but after recieving the official papers and doing the caculations from Kilos to Pounds we discovered that he was indeed a very big boy; 4.695Kg or roughly 10lbs 5oz!
Since everything was normal and Joel was born before midday on Sunday he and Alicia were allowed home by 10am the next morning.

Sarah seems to have really taken to Joel and was so excited that she was going to visit him in hospital that she was virtually speechless. Since he has been home Sarah has been watching his every move and never wants to go out of his sight in case she misses something. One thing she told her dad was that she is looking forward to playing football with Joel, although she is more of the belief that that will be sooner rather than later. On the note of football I can confirm that Joel knows his football and is already a staunch Liverpool FC supporter, please don't try to lead him astray with any poor imatations from London or Manchester!On a more serious note we are indeed grateful to God that he has been gracious to us and given us this wonderful child. We have really appreciated your prayers throughout his development in the womb but please continue to pray for him as he develops and for us as parents as we try to be godly parents who will be able to show him that he name is much more than a name but that there is truth to be found in it. We trust and pray for both Joel and Sarah that at a young age they will come to know Christ as their Saviour. We feel called to Peru to share Christ here but pray that we will also be faithful in sharing Him in our own home.

Mother's Day Performance Part 2

It seems having made a concerted focus on getting back to regular blogging and of course an abundance of activity at present has made it much easier to do regular posts on the blog, in some ways it is difficult at the moment to put everything that is happening in words and pictures, for example last weekend was Ilo day (the anninversary of the Port) and everything came to a standstill to focus on the parades, parties and concerts that were held throughout the town. as you may have gathered by now nothing seems to be taken more seriously in Peru than festivals, parties and celebrations! The point of this blog however was not to write about Ilo Day, it was to finally post the video of the second part of Sarah's Mother's Day event. Of course I was keen to get this posted before the arrival of the baby as we will want to blog with photos as soon as he or she is born. So to not postpone the video anymore here it is below:

Instructions for viewing: If you click on play button and then press pause, meanwhile the video will be uploading (you can view progess on the timeline) once the video has uploaded press play and you will be able to watch it without any cuts or breaks in the play)

Pre-School Education Week

On our last blog post we shared some video (we hope to post the second part of the video soon) from Sarah's Birthday Party and Mothers' Day Presentations. In Peru you never have to wait too long for a reason to celebrate something. This week it is pre-school education week in Peru. At home this would possibly not mean very much but here in Peru it is taken quite seriously. All week there have been activities in the school and other events throughout the town. Yesterday there was a parade of all the pre-school children from the pre-schools through the town centre. Interestingly Sarah's school was one of the few pre-schools not to participate in this event; they had planned a week full of their own events. The program for her school was as follows:

• Monday a drawing competition for the school.
• Tuesday a singing competition.
• Wednesday a dancing competition.

• Thursday a visit to the Collosium to see the opening ceremony of the Junior Olympics.
• Friday a party to celebrate the end of Pre-school Education Week.

It is hard to know how Sarah got on in the drawing competition and how she will enjoy the Olympics tomorrow but she certainly threw herself into the singing. She was torn between singing Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or I Love You, You Love Me (Barney and Friends) Eventually she decided she would sing in Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Her teacher was impressed that she stood up in front of all the pre-school 3 year olds, 4 year olds and 5 year olds, and of course we were very proud that she rose to the occasion.

Initially we did not recognise the emphasis that other parents would put on their children doing well in all the competitions, however after one of the parents asked us if Sarah would team up with her son for the dancing competition we soon realised how important it was to the parents. Josue came to practise a traditional Peruvian dance with Sarah three times before the real thing. Although the performance was purely an in-school event and we were not allowed to be there we were informed that she performed well, although later she did confess to us " I did the circles too fast!" (News just in: Sarah and her partner won the dance competition - fancy that, a girl from Ballymena winning a dance competition in Peru!)

I must admit that I don't ever remember having as much activity or as much fun at school as Sarah seems to be having, it would almost make me want to go through it all again! On a more serious note all the activity and excitment has been a very good way for us to get to know her teachers and other parents much better. We trust and pray that through Sarah and the people that she brings us in contact with that we will have more opportunities to share Christ with them.

The festivities really don't stop here in Peru, and this weekend is Ilo day (-think American Independence Day and St Patricks Day combined and you are beginning to imagine the scale of things!). Festivities for that will likely start this Friday and run right through the weekend. We have been told that it is virtually impossible to sleep (we need to get used to that again anyhow with the impending arrival of Murphy junior number two!) as there are constant fireworks and bangers throughout the weekend. No doubt Sarah and her classmates will have been practising something to present for Ilo Day! Oh and then of course Father's Day is just around the corner! I guess one thing is for sure - you will never get bored here!

Don't forget to check our blog again soon for the second part of the video from Sarah's Mother's Day performance!

Video Footage of Sarah

Click on the Blue Area Below to see Pictures of Sarah's Birthday and Her Mother's Day Celebration

In order to view the attached video footage doubl click on the blue area above. This will take you to the photobucket website where you will once again see the same image in a smaller version. Double click again and then it should begin streaming. When the video starts streaming put the player on pause until streaming has finished and the video should play smoothly.

Unfortunately we have not been able to upload both performances onto this one post so in a week I will upload the second half - Los Ratoncitos (The Little Mice)

Sarah's Busy Weekend

Saturday past was Sarah's third birthday. We had been planning to keep things pretty low profile this year after our experience of having a party in school last year. Considering her birthday fell on a Saturday we thought it would work fine and we would not get any pressure from teachers to have a party in school - we had not accounted for Sarah though! About a week and a half before her birthday Sarah told us she was going to have a big party in school just like last year so we quickly got on with the plans!

Our weekend began with a party (which of course we had to be present at) on Friday in school. There was the traditdional handing over of presents, food, music and dancing. Sarah was so excited by the whole event at times we thought we were going to have to calm her down! In the afternoon she was so excited it was difficult to get her settled for her afternoon nap.

On Saturday morning Sarah got up and was allowed to open her presents. She had already received her bicyclce from her aunts and granny and granda and was almost knocked off her feet when she walked into her playroom to see the Winnie the Pooh stickers which her grandma and grandpa had bought stuck to the wall. What a surprise! Mummy and Daddy had obviously been up late the previous night sticking the wall stickers on. After breakfast we started to prepare for another party. Trevor, Christine, Rebecca and Andrew had been invited for a small party with more music, cake and lots of excitement.

As Sunday was Mother's Day in Peru all the kids in the school had been practising for a special event for Mothers on the Saturday afternoon. Sarah was taking part in two pieces (see above video), one she was required to wear traditional Peruvian custume and do a traditional dance and the second piece which lasted a total of nine minutes involved her dressing up with her classmates as naughty mice! She marched, danced, walked, jumped and ran for the whole time and then if that was not enough she danced to all the pieces by the other children in the older class too. Needless to say she slept really well on Saturday night.

With Sunday being Mother's Day the weekend would not have been complete without another event. The church in Ite decided to put on a special event to celebrate Mother's Day, although it was a little more tame it certainly finished off a very busy weekend for Sarah.

Looking back on April

As our time here in Ilo increases it seems to be more and more difficult to update our blog on a regular basis. As I sat down to think of the reasons for our failings in this regard I thought of the usual excuses, "we were busy", "there were more important things to get down" or "the internet was not working for about three weeks here", but as I thought of these seemingly valid excuses I realised that although these things may have contributed in one sense there is probably another reason. In our intial months in Peru we were making observations about culture, experiencing new activities and events and informing of our own progress as a family. I genuinely believe that it has become more difficult to blog regularly because although we are experiencing strange and different things on a regular basis we have adjusted and what was once strange is a way of life....not just for the Peruvians who we rub shoulders with but for us too. Therefore as we have settled into a routine it becomes more difficult to identify things of note that we care share with you. To this end we want to thank you for your continued prayers for us, we are of no doubt that your prayers have been key to helping us settle here in Peru. However in writing this there is the danger that we suggest that our time of settling, adjusting and adapting to the culture, language and ministry has finished and we are now perfectly adjusted missionaries. The reality is that we still need your prayers, we still have difficult days and face situations that seem unnatural and we still miss friends an family from home but we are pleased that God has brought us to this bought where we are content with where he has us.

It was never the intention of the blog to give detailed reports of the work that we are involved in here in Peru but we do like to give you an insight into some of the situations that we encounter and some of the things that God is doing here in Ilo/Ite. As many of you are aware, while the Morrows were on furlough we took responsibility for a number of areas of the work here, including overseeing the small church in Ite and overseeing camps and the Year Team (Mision Rescate. At the beggining of April the Morrows were back from furlough and able to step back into the work. Since then we have tried to divide up the work in a manner that is a little bit more manageable. This has been a very encouraging time for us being able to work very closely alongside another missionary family and share the work load.

In early April my (Dave's) parents paid a three week visit which was really appreciated. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with family and share the country, people and work that we are passionate about with them. It was also a good time for them as they were able to see the overall work and get a better idea of the things that we and the mission are involved in here in the South of Peru. We were also very pleased at how well Sarah took to here grandparents who she had not seen for over a year. She had a blast! It was important for her grandparents to see her going to school and how content she is here in her surroundings. With every visit from home it is nice to get time to relax as well and we really enjoyed the few days that we spent in Arequipa with mum and dad.

It was great that I was able to make it to Lima to say my farewells as mum and dads departure was combined with a necessary trip to Lima with Trevor Morrow to make some necessary purchases for the camp centre and look into the types of vehicles that are available. Many of you will have been aware that we have been looking into the purchase of a vehicle for a little while now and the trip proved to be very benificial in this regard. We thank you for your prayers and for you generosity in making this possible for us, hopefully in the not too distant future we will be able to proceed with the purchase of a vehicle.

Although the time in Lima was very busy it was thoroughly enjoyable and although many people see Lima as an undesireable large city (like most large cities), for two missionaries living in the small port of Lima it was like letting a child loose in a sweet shop! It is always exciting to be able to find small things like Heinz Ketchup, Museli or other eatables.


It was always our intention after having left language school and moving to Ilo to find a language tutor who could help us with conversation and reinforcement of ideas and rules however with one thing and another this never seemed to work out but just this last week steps have been taken to pursue this once again. It seems that in the next couple of weeks we will be starting to work with a tutor. We trust that this will help us to make big strides in bettering our ability to communicate and eradicating any bad habits that we have formed. Please pray for this.


One of the difficulties of being in Peru is certainly the seperation from family and friends, this has become all the more clear to us over the last number of weeks as my grandfather has taken seriously ill. As other family members give updates on his condition in the hospital the distance is certainly felt. Please pray for my the doctors and my family as they try to make my grandfather as comfortable as possible.

Again we really do thank you for your interest in us, and in the work here in Peru, your prayers are very much valued and appreciated. At times the work here can be lonely but we are regularly reminded that we are not alone in the work as we have some many people walking alongside us in prayer and above all we have a God who promised never to leave us or forsake us. Praise the Lord for His faithfullness and thank you for playing such a large part in the ministry here.

March Update

It is probably about a month since we last updated our blog which is a good sign to many of you regular readers that we have been quite busy over this last period. Fortunately things seem to have slowed down a little this last week or so with the return of Christine Morrow and kids to Ilo, Trevor’s return in a couple of weeks time will be a great help too.

In March my (Dave’s) preaching responsibilities seem to have been quite a bit more frequent. It has really been good to preach in Spanish although at times it has made me feel slightly restricted both in what I can say and in the deliverance of what I say. On the other hand each time I have preached or spoken I have had a great sense of the Lord empowering me. Needless to say a 30 minute sermon takes many hours preparation and then the actual deliverance of it consumes practically all my energy to the point of near exhaustion; however it is in these times where I have been able to see God working through my weaknesses.

Since the Morrows left for furlough and we have taken more responsibility for the church in Ite, we have got to know some of the regular participants in the services much better which has been a real blessing to us. On a more negative note however, numbers throughout the summer period have really dwindled as a result of holidays and community sports events. We really would appreciate your prayers for this as we have tried to reach out in a number of ways including having a number of open air events in the main Plaza of the village. Interest in these events have been good but there seems to be something stopping people from making the transition from these events to our regular services.

As the school holidays have come to an end, the intensity of camps has eased off. The camp centre will not be used quite as much over the coming weeks although we do anticipate a number of other camps in the coming months, some which may just last over the weekend and others that will be during holidays or conferences for Pastors, leaders etc.

We have continued to oversee the Mision Rescate team that is based at the camp centre and have been ministering in various church in Ite, Ilo, Moquegua, Puno and Tacna over the past year. It has been very encouraging to be involved with these young people who have set this year aside to serve the Lord. One of the greatest encouragements has been to see each of them develop in confidence and in their faith.

Closer to home in Ilo, things are going well. Alicia is now into her seventh month of pregnancy and everything is going well. We have been very impressed so far with the standard of medical care that Alicia has been getting.

Sarah has settled in really well to her new nursery which we are very pleased about. Each day she enthusiastically tells us about the songs she sang, the little dances she learnt or the painting she coloured. Today she brought home her very first homework which was a bit of a shock for a 2 year old to have homework, but no doubt over the coming months and years we will learn lots of cultural and language things through Sarah!

Once again time has got the better of us and despite the best intentions to update this blog more frequently we have not been able to follow through with them! The last month has been a month of variety. We have been kept busy looking after the Mision Rescate year team which is based at the Camp and Conference Centre (Baptist Centre – Valle Azul), overseeing camps and also the small church in Ite.

The month has been a good month in many ways as it has enabled us to really find our feet in the ministry here. At times we have really been stretched, particularly with regards to language but also in other areas too, however we have also had some very encouraging and reassuring moments.

Some of the challenges over the last month have included the Morrow’s car (which we were using) breaking down a few days after they left and being with the mechanic for almost a month. This stretched us in quite a lot of ways, trying to manage without this vehicle but I also gave me some extra mechanical vocabulary! The incident also gave us another insight into some of the frustrations of life here (that is if you can’t see the funny side of things!) I initially took the car to a welder to fix a part of the car, he was unable to fix it but in the process he damaged a cable to the car computer which resulted in the car breaking down half way between Ilo and Ite. I ended up getting the car towed to Ilo where a mechanic looked at it. After a number of hours standing in the hot sun he told us we needed to tow the car to an electrical engineer as it was an electrical fault. We towed it to the electrical engineer and after looking at the car for over 4 hours he informed me that he believed there was a fault with a cable behind the engine but he could not take it out because it was in a difficult place, therefore we had to go to a mechanic so that he could remove the engine in order to get the cable! We eventually got the mechanic and he informed us that he could manage the electrical side of things. On removing the cable we discovered it was faulty and spent the next three weeks trying to find a new cable, we tried practically everywhere in Peru and phone calls we also made to Arica, Chile in order to see if they had the part, it was beginning to look like we were going to have to place an order to the USA when we found a place in Lima with the parts! To cut a long story short the car is back on the road again but the electrical fault left the radio not working – I think I will just avoid trying to fix that!!!

Another more difficult incident here in Ilo was the hospitalisation and then return home of Sam Colville, one of the Gap Year students. After having Sam here for five months and seeing his involvement in the team and the work it was difficult to see him leave and probably even more difficult for the rest of the team.

The Camps that we have had so far have not been as well attended as we initially anticipated, however this has allowed for time to make necessary adjustments to the programme and has also allowed for much more personal interaction with the campers. The Mision Rescate team have been excellent in their handling of the camps and seem to have really enjoyed this. Tomorrow starts another Youth Camp and so the coming week will be busy for all.

The week after the Youth Camp, Mision Rescate, ourselves and Milagros will be involved in holiday Bibles clubs. There will be a team in Ite and a team in Moquegua working on these.
Ite has itself produced some highlights and some lowlights over the last month. It seems that throughout the summer the church services are going to be competing against summer sports events in the village and as a result our numbers have been low of late. On a more encouraging note we have had quite a few new people coming to worship with us and a number of people who had not been for some time coming back again.

In the village there are many problems, two weeks ago a man murdered his wife as a result of a heated row they had, then this past weekend Ite was the victim of a large scale robbery by a gang of eight men. Fortunately police intercepted the gang and they have been detained. As a result of all these struggles we have been trying to think of ways to really reach out to the people in the village. There has been some visitation going on in the village, and tonight (Friday 15th Feb) we plan to hold the second outreach event, this time we have been given permission by the mayor to use the amphitheatre in the main plaza. We trust that many people will be able to hear a relevant Gospel message and be challenged by what they hear.

On a personal note we are doing really well. Alicia is growing bigger by the day. She had a scan this week and got a little shock when the scan brought the due date three weeks forward to mid-May instead of the start of June. But the important thing is that the baby seems to be developing well and Alicia is keeping well.

Sarah is really doing well at her nursery. Just this morning we were at a party prepared by the teachers and pupils to be presented to parents. It was wonderful just to see Sarah mixing so well with her friends and teachers and the confidence she has developed even over this last month. Sadly she will now have a three week break from nursery before the new season starts but we are so pleased that she is happy in her nursery and has settled so well.

Camps Begin

Once again lack of time seems to have prevented us from sitting down and updating our blog for some time. Some days here in Peru you run around like a crazy person trying to get things done and then at the end of the day you have to sit back and think very hard what you have done that day! When we first arrived in Peru a more experienced missionary from a different mission shared a piece of advice with us. He said here in Peru you should plan to do two things everyday and be pleased when you get one done! I think it would be fair to say that this is an exaggeration but I guess in recent days we have become aware that in some ways this is not too far away from the truth! Often we find ourselves one problem away from completing a task.

Since the New Year time really has flown by rapidly. On Saturday 5th January the first camp started at Baptist Centre – Valle Azul. Although the week of camp proved to be quite tiring it was highly profitable as many of the young campers who attended were encouraged in their faith and a few made commitments to follow Jesus as their Saviour for the very first time. It is in these times that we are reminded that this is what serving as a missionary is all about – seeing lives transformed for God.

The week following the first camp we spent preparing for the second camp, a Family Camp which starts tomorrow (19th January) and runs to the 26th January. During this week we also took over a number of responsibilities from the Morrow family as they left Ilo for Ireland via Lima on Monday 14th January. Over the next three months Alicia and I will have more responsibility in looking after the small church plant in Ite, including taking quite a few meetings, looking after the overall running of camps and overseeing the Mision Rescate Team who are based at the Camp Centre for a year.

We really would appreciate your prayers over the few months as we try to be faithful in serving the Lord with what we have been given. As we take on these new responsibilities we are encouraged by seven words from Psalm 29:11 “The Lord gives strength to his people.”

Since moving to Ilo at the end of September Sarah has been spent most of her time at home. On Monday past Sarah started back into and induction month for her new nursery. She will attend the nursery for two hours a day three days a week for a month. After a couple of weeks break she will properly enrol in the nursery at the beginning of March. Once again we ask that you would pray that Sarah will adjust to her new surroundings. To date she has been happy with the concept of going to nursery and making new friends again but the reality has been a little more difficult and there have been a few tears. We hope and pray that very soon she will settle and will pick up where she left off with her Spanish.

Finally we just want to apologise to any of you who may have received some junk mail from us earlier in the week. We are not sure what happened but are suspecting that someone hacked our email. We have now increased security and have not experienced any problems since. As a result of our problem with our email we lost all our email addresses. We were able to retrieve some addresses which we had written down in various places, however if you regularly receive our prayer letters (or emails from us) and would wish to continue doing so please send us an email expressing your desire to do this so that we can store your email address once again. Once again we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to you. After looking into the problem it seems it is not something that is a threat to others.

As always we want to thank you for your love, prayers and support. You have been such an encouragement to us as a family. We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who remembered us in anyway over the Christmas period, be it in prayer, through an email or phone call or by card or parcel.

May God Bless you all.