So yesterday were mayoral, district, and regional elections in Peru. It was interesting seeing everyone out and about - here it's required to vote or you get fined. I can see pros and cons to that, but all the same it was an interesting dynamic to be here for that. We had church early because you can't have public gatherings during voting hours so people can go vote. And a lot of people had to travel home to where they were registered in order to vote...kind of like Mary and Joseph...
The past few weeks at SUSA (Sociedad Universitaria San Agustin - the university ministry we have for young adults) we have been focusing on the elections. Pastor Jaime, one of the pastors who works for the mission and has been working with SUSA, wanted to encourage those who come, as young, educated citizens, to not only be interested and informed in the political process, but also to take responsibility for choosing responsibile leaders who will (hopefully) do the best for Trujillo and Peru. While I'm not particularly into politics, I thought it was a cool idea to focus on for the young people who come to SUSA.
SUSA is actually doing w
ell and, excitedly seems to be growing. We meet on Friday evenings, and it's drawing a lot of students from the SALI language classes. Some of the people have a church they are involved in, but a lot of them haven't had much exposure to the Gospel, so it's a great opportunity to build relationships with people, especially taking conversations beyond the classroom environment. There are a lot of cool people that I'm enjoying getting to know. And at the last SUSA meeting, we had over 60 people there! We took a paseo - outing - a couple of weeks ago to Huanchaco, a little beach town right by Trujillo. It was fun to "fish" (even thought it was cold), eat, and hang out. Hopefully we can continue to build unity with the core group and welcome in more and more.
ell and, excitedly seems to be growing. We meet on Friday evenings, and it's drawing a lot of students from the SALI language classes. Some of the people have a church they are involved in, but a lot of them haven't had much exposure to the Gospel, so it's a great opportunity to build relationships with people, especially taking conversations beyond the classroom environment. There are a lot of cool people that I'm enjoying getting to know. And at the last SUSA meeting, we had over 60 people there! We took a paseo - outing - a couple of weeks ago to Huanchaco, a little beach town right by Trujillo. It was fun to "fish" (even thought it was cold), eat, and hang out. Hopefully we can continue to build unity with the core group and welcome in more and more.Juan, everyone's favorite "little brother" (he's 15) on our SUSA fishing paseo to Huanchaco.
One thought/prayer request before I go. I'm trying to figure out how long I'm going to stay here - through next May or through July. Perhaps two months won't make a huge difference, but I am trying to start deciding how I can best be used next June and July. Some of that depends on what happens for me next fall, so thanks for your prayers and encouragement as I try to be open for what I should do.
blessings to all!
What an interesting voting process. Does no public gatherings during voting hours also keep people from protesting or something? Do politicians hang signs all over the place (in yards, by the streets, etc) like they do here?
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