Mission Meanderings

This painting of Jesus the Good Shepherd has been done for us by Ruben Aponte, a Lima artist. The image is a symbol for us of our ministry. It is based on historic images and has Peruvian themes and gold leaf in the Cuzco style.

Our ministry is changing.  Polly and I have taken the decision to move home to Vermont.  We will move back April 21/22.  We intend to continue with SAMS and indeed I shall continue to work closely with Bishop Godfrey, partner congregations and Dioceses as well as helping teams.  SAMS have said that their expressed desire is for us to continue with them, albeit in a different role.  Quite what that might be we are not sure.  I have shared my passion for the pastoral care of missionaries, and clergy.  I envisage pastoral visitation in the field and continuing to raise support to do this.  Our home in Vermont has an extra cottage (sort of rough still) that we might convert for retreats and visitors.  Much of this has to be prayed through and worked on as we seek God’s will for us and how best to use our talents and resources.

The four years here have been very fruitful and the relationships here have been some of our most significant.  It is a privilege to help someone minister to their highest potential and to help clergy and missionaries reach their potential.  For both of us working with Bishop Godfrey, the Cathedral community and the chapels and missions serving the poorest of the poor is a a gift to us.  Bishop Bill and Judith remain some of our best friends.  We will miss the people, bustle and energy of this vital country and people.  However, God seems to have spoken to us decisively and we must follow.  We trust our heavenly Father, and now await the next stages of our life and ministry as it is made clear to us.

You have been a blessing to us and to those whose lives we have touched.  You have helped make possible this ministry  here in Peru. Please continue to partner with us, pray for us and support how God is using us.    If you have suggestions and ideas, if God speaks to you on our behalf, please let us know.    

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91:1 and 2 ESV

• GREAT NEWS – details yet to be seen – my free translation of this email from Bishop Godfrey – “With my warm greetings to everyone. The good news is that the President (Humala of Peru) has just signed – a few minutes ago – the new regulation on Religious Liberty which replaces the old punitive regulation. Thank God for this good news. …”

  Con mis saludos cálidos para todos, y la buena noticia que el Presidente ya firmó – hace unos minutos – el nuevo Reglamento de Libertad Religiosa que reemplaza el viejo reglamento punitivo. Gloria a Dios por esta buena noticia. Un abrazo para todos ustedes y pido que compartan la noticia con los miembros de nuestras comunidades este fin de semana. Demos gracias a Dios por la victoria. Con mis oraciones. En Cristo, +William

In July 2011, on his last day in office, President Garcia of Peru signed a regulation (Ley 29635) that defined a “religious entity” as needing 10,000 verifiable adult adherents.  Thus regulating out of legal existence as recognized religious entities most religions and churches other than the Roman Catholics.  This regulation (Ley 29635) comes into effect on January 18, 2013.  It can thus be seen as anti-Semitic, anti Islam, anti Hindu, anti Buddhist and anti most Christian churches in Peru.

The history is as follows;

In December 2010 the Peruvian Government passed the Law of Religious Freedom and Equality.  This law guarantees all religions and churches equality before the law.  What was then required was a regulation, which would define a “religious entity.”  The Ministry of Justice, we are told, had prepared such a regulation that would have continued the recognition accorded to religious groups and churches as we already had in Peru. However, this was not the regulation that was signed. It is suggested that at the last minute some ultra conservative Roman Catholic persons substituted another regulation, which was then signed by the departing president.

The effect of this regulation is that other religions such as Judaism and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are no longer recognized.  Nor are other churches such as Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and the scores of independent Evangelical Churches likely to fit the requirement and simply will become civic associations like a football or cricket club.  It also means that they will no longer be able to have foreign missionaries as legal residents.

Interestingly the day January 18, 2013 is the first day of the week of prayer for Christian unity!

The Anglican Church in Peru – with whom I am a missionary – is a special case.  Our existence here in Peru was the result of an intergovernmental treaty in 1846.  we are not sure if that confers upon us any legal status separately from the new regulation.  However we have joined forces with the other religious groups and Churches to seek a new and just regulation.  The current one we regard as unjust and punitive.

It is hoped that President Humala will sign a new regulation that supersedes the one of July 2011, signed by President Garcia and due to take effect January 18, 2013.  Meanwhile we are gathering adult signatures from as many as possible seeking to collect 10,000 plus signatures.  Each signature has to be accompanied by a person’s full name, identity document and fingerprint of the right index finger.  This is a tall order.

We are seeking prayer over this.

1. To see the regulation be replaced by one with the previous rules intact.
2. To gather signatures.
3. In our case as Anglicans to see if the treaty of 1846 still is in force and covers our own Anglican presence.

To God be the Glory.

Ian Montgomery, Lima, Peru

Pachacutec, Ventanilla

Last week I visited in Pachacutec, Ventanilla with Dr. Townsend Cooper, his wife Dawn and nurse Fany.  We were accompanied by a U.S. team from MedSend.  MedSend is a Christian group that gives financial help and cover the repayment of education loans for missionary doctors in the field.  Pachacutec is a shantytown out at the end of any roads and was formed about eight years ago.

Pachacutec – the end of the road, literally!

Fr. Jaime Siancas

In Ventanilla we had a clinic for children.  We expected fifteen and saw forty.  The clinic was set up in our mission there – San Patricio.  San Patricio and its mission/house church, San Marcos, are overseen by Fr. Jaime Siancas and Deacon David Rodriguez.  Their devotion and commitment have made this a lively center of mission.  The medical ministry there is part of the concept of total ministry or Integrated Mission that is the hallmark of the Anglican Church in Peru.  Fr. Jaime had asked the bishop to be posted to the poorest of the poor – here he is!

Dawn and Townsend at work

The next day we visited Villa el Salvador – our furthest south mission which has been established with a church building for several years.  The Priest in Charge is Fr. Carlos Quispe who also heads up our social outreach programs through our NGO, Communion Peru.

With Fr. Carlos at Villa el Salvador

It is our hope to use the church, Jesus el Salvador, as a health outreach center by training some select workers in how to teach healthy living.  To do this effectively, we need a place that has  facilities, water and sewage.  We tend so easily to take this all for granted but here in Lima and most parts of Peru these are often not present.
At the Jesus el Salvador we met a family where the two-year old daughter had been thought to be autistic.  In Peru she would be simply sidelined all her life.  Thankfully Townsend in fact diagnosed her as deaf.  We are now working with a local ex-pat whose business is hearing aids.  It was amazing – he turned up at the cathedral one Sunday and we got to talking and I took his card.  That next week Townsend spoke to me of the girl, and I was able to put them in touch and we are well on the way to getting hearing aids.  Talk about God working things out!

From Villa el Salvador we moved on to Chancheria and the chapel of San Pablo

Chancheria

Chancheria – Pigsty – is a shanty town where the homes are mixed in among pigs pens.  Next to the area is a huge cemetery where the bodies are interred maybe eighteen inches deep due to the rocks.  The dust has interesting components.  It is a very poor area and not well served.  We have had successful medical campaigns there and our social worker – Erica Montoya does most of the followup.

Chancheria showing an unusual feature – green hillside. Only at this time of year does the combination of damp mist and grey skies produce green growth. Most of the year the hillsides are brown and sandy.

The MedSend team was very taken by the seamless integration of Gospel and social outreach.  We are not compartmentalized in our ministry as we are one Church seeking to minister to the whole person.  We seek to bring Jesus to people and people to Jesus.  Jesus is in our words as well as in our actions.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.   If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  James 1:22-27 ESV

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The shores of Lake Titicaca, near Puno. There are two large peninsulas that nearly encircle the section of lake dominated by Puno. A large part of that area is taken up by the reeds and floating islands of the Uros.

Polly and I spent nearly a week at our highest churches in Peru.  We traveled to Juliaca and Puno.

When you arrive it takes your breath away - literally!

A small farm bordering the lake

We stayed in a small hotel overlooking the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Juliaca is a sprawling busy city on the Altiplano – the high plain of the Andes.  There we have one church and a mission congregation. Two priests serve these congregations – Fr. Rubén Mancilla and Fr. Luis Vizcarra.

Fr. Rubén is originally from Lima.  He has made the transition to the altiplano and his wife is from there.  Fr. Luis comes from Arequippa.  He is the first priest who has grown up within, been trained by and then ordained in the Anglican Church of Peru.  These young clergy are gifted in their ministry.  They complement each other superbly.

After church with two new friends - Santa Maria Magdalena

Juliaca is the business center for the region.  It sits just west of Lake Titicaca which is the highest navigable lake in the world.  Located at 12,500 feet above sea level, it borders Bolivia and measures about one hundred by sixty miles.

The Cathedral in Puno

Its main city is Puno, about thirty miles from Juliaca.  It is a tourist destination and port.

One of the floating islands of the Uros

The the closest islands are the famous floating islands of the Uros.  There they speak Aymara.  These island colonies were first developed to escape enslavement.  The communities on the other islands are pre-Incan and Quechua speaking (the language of the Inca).

In Juliaca we have a church and a mission.  In the city is Santa Maria Magdalena.  The church is housed in a mission center with chapel, class rooms, accommodation and vegetable garden.  Out in the country is the mission at the chapel of Tariachi.

The Tariachi congregation

The Tariachi chapel is loaned to us by a local landowner who built the chapel in 1971 for his workers.  It sat unused until Fr. Rubén came along and asked to lead services there. Both congregations normally host well over fifty people of all ages at each service.  In the Tariachi area there is expansive building of new homes as Juliaca is growing.  This is an amazing mission opportunity.  Frs. Rubén and Luis are developing this growing ministry.

Sunday best for church!

While in Tariachi we were treated to two picnic lunches, one after the other as well as a pastoral call to one of the local brickmaking families.

Brick making by hand. In the background is the kiln. The formed bricks are dried in the sun before being fired.

At the church of St. Mary Magdalena the clergy have begun a significant new ministry among the deaf.

The signing class on Sunday afternoon

Every Sunday afternoon they host classes in sign language.  Many of these families then stay for the service that follows.

Frs. Rubén and Luis are currently beginning pastoral calls in Puno where they see the beginnings of a new faith community; a new mission is on the horizon.

Polly and Fr. Luis meeting a parishioner on her way to the chapel

We spent Sunday with the congregations and then Monday we went into Puno.  Tuesday we went to the floating islands and then on the the Island of Taquile, out in the main part of the lake.

The British gunboat MV Yavari.

On Wednesday we visited an old British gunboat that was made in London and hauled by mule train over six years to Puno where she is now being restored.  The MV Yavari used to sail between Puno and Copacabana in Bolivia.

Enjoy the slide show that follows – we are heading back to the USA on April 24 and hope to see many of you over the summer as we visit our faithful senders – congregations and individuals.  We love you and bless you for your partnership with us.

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Greetings from Lima.  This has been a whirlwind six weeks since my father, Hector Montgomery, died on January 14.

Hector Montgomery 1917-2012 in about 1942 with his new Paratrooper wings

We were able to gather as a family in London on February 18.  We had a wonderful family reunion as we celebrated his life, that of my mother who died in 2007, and reflected on the fact that my generation now make up the “elders.”  I know my parents have left their stamp on me, and I embrace their imprint.

VISITORS

Bishop Nick, Catherine and Steffi (here for part of a gap year) making a house call in Puente Piedra. Below Catherine Drayson praying for healing during a house call

Here in Peru we have been immersed in hospitality,  and it has been our privilege to host and show visitors what God is doing here: SAMS-USA sent a team for a missionary retreat, Bishop  Nick Drayson and his wife Catherine from Northern Argentina came for over a week and we have three more young English missionary visitors – two from CMS and one from USPG.

Entertaining gap year missionaries and more for a BBQ

We enjoy hosting dinners and BBQs at our apartment!

DIOCESE OF WORCESTER VISIT
Next week we have a team of eight coming in from the Diocese of Worcester.  When in England we had taken a day to visit with the team .  This was very helpful on both sides as then Bishop Godfrey and I could work on the itinerary along with Susan Park, who is our Peru teams co-ordinator.  Later in March, we have teams from Texas coming as well as a planned trip for Polly and me to Juliaca to visit, at long last, our Anglican congregation there.

Fr. Phil Bradshaw, Bishop John Inge, Sue Phillips, Polly, Robert Higham and Margaret Rutter - part of the team.

THANKS
I want to thank those who helped us out with our year-end funding.  God used you so wonderfully.  We were at last able to get our expenses paid, plan the trip to Juliaca, as well as restore our floating fund with SAMS.  Thank you for your faithfulness as senders.
Many Blessings,
Ian and Polly

The tent in the center is where we meet for Sunday morning worship

This afternoon I went off on a bushwhacking trip to the far north of Lima.  One of the challenges in Lima is getting places.  The roads are congested, noisy and driving is for the very bold.  I wrote a year or so ago about getting to Collique, also in the north.  Today I went to Puente Piedra.  A month ago they added a supplementary bus from the northern terminal to PP.  We have a great mission out there called San Andres. Today I traveled with Fr. Benjamin their priest who had never taken the Metropolitano.  For him it was a voyage of discovery.  He too was amazed – safe, fast and cheap.  What more can a priest and missionary want?

We left after English class – I teach a small group through conversation and Bible Study twice a week.  We went to one of the stations and lo in 45 minutes we were in Naranjal, the northern terminus.  There I led him into the market for “Chifa.”  Peruvian Chinese food.  It was rough basic and unsophisticated.  Amidst the noise of people, horns and traffic we enjoyed tortilla (veggie omelette) on chaufa (fried rice).  Probably not the cleanest place I have been in and I am hoping my tummy is OK – so far so good seven hours later.

Then onto the “Bus Alimentador” to Puente Piedra.  We hustled along in our splendid yellow dedicated charabanc and in half an hour we were there.  A quick walk through twisty roads full of vendors selling out of shops and onto the streets and we came to a Mototaxi rank.  These are three wheeled taxis based on motocycles.  Very tippy, not safe but such fun.  They have a fully enclosed windshield and then a sort of framed tent type of structure enclosing a double seat.  We were there in a trice.

The photo above is of the new mission property that is easily accessible without learning to ape a goat.  This is where they have Sunday morning services and where I hope we can build a mission and clergy apartment.  It will be called Holy Cross Mission, I think.  Now we have a cross, shrine and tent.  All we need is people, a Bible, bread and wine and we have church.  I also went up to the older church on the hillside (now used as a classroom), where we met with some of the kids who I have seen grow up over four years now.  They enthusiastically showed off what they had been learning about Samuel, Hannah and Eli.  They know their stuff!

Nicole - one of our young people wrote the first part about the roots of the Anglican Church. Perfect!

Following time with the children Benjamin and I went house calling.  What a privilege it is to visit in these homes.  In most cases the homes are headed by redoubtable women from other parts of the country.  They are amazing in the way they bring dignity to poverty, good values to their children.  Again I knew these women from four years of visiting their church.  Now to visit their homes is joy that is incomparable.  I should add that Fr. Benjamin is an amazing priest – he knows his people and they know him.  In each home I was able to pray and bless the family and the home.  I look forward to seeing this mission grow with a new building and in relationships and discipleship.