We May Have Just Met the Father of the Year

When we met Lucero, we also met her father.  He was quite a talkative guy, and by the time he was done talking, we were totally amazed.

For starters, he worked in zinc and silver mines for years, until all the toxins and pollutants in the mines made his health so bad he was forced to stop.  I've visited a couple mines (no longer functioning) in the last few years - enough to appreciate the difficulty and danger of the work, and have tremendous respect for the guys that do that kind of work.  

 Like most folks in Chosica, Peru he could not afford a well-built house, and so be started with a house like the picture below.  This is still part of their house today, but he's been slowly transforming it as he's been able.  Note the piles of cardboard - he collects recyclables that he later sells for money to help support his family.

There is no running water in Chosica, and it only rains 1-2 months per year.  So he built a water tank on top of his house to hold water.  A water truck visits town periodically.  He buys all their water from the water tank, which is then delivered to a tank below his house.  He then pumps the water by hand up to the tank of top of his house to supply "running water."  They have no water besides what he buys and pumps in.

Notice the house walls in the pictures above and below.  As he has been able, he has purchased bricks and has replaced the corrugated siding with the bricks.  He then covered the brick with concrete to make the smooth walls.  This not only looks nicer, but it makes the house more structurally sound to withstand the annual storms and also earthquakes, which are fairly common in this area.  

Below is the bedroom which he constructed for Lucero and her mother 2 years ago. It has a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling - it took him about 10 years before he was able to run electricity into his house.  (Lucero's father still sleeps in lumpy bed in the corner of the main room of the house, near the plastic kitchen table.)

The back of the house runs directly into the side of a mountain.  As you hike up the path of bricks and stones, he has created various small farm areas, so he can provide for his family.  

Below is one of his two chicken coops.

He also grows a few of each type of plants, including spices and corn.  Since it doesn't rain very often in Chosica, he has to water his plants himself - pumping water into buckets, and then carrying them by hand up the mountain.

We couldn't get a picture, but as we walked through the "farm" we suddenly came upon a little old lady sitting in the shade of the plants. This was his 82-year-old aunt, who is in poor health.  She spends her day here sitting in the shade, and Lucero's father cares for her without help from outsiders.  

Below is a sink he built in the house - he was very proud of the pump he installed to provide water from the tank beneath the house to this sink.

Last but certainly not least, go back up to the picture at the top of this post.  This is Lucero's father standing next to a pay phone - his very own pay phone that he had installed in the front of his house as a way to earn more income.  Nobody in this town has a phone, so he called the phone company and asked them to install one in the wall of his house. When neighbors use the phone, he gets a percentage of the call fees.

We were amazed at the ingenuity and hard work we saw in this humble father in Chosica. He is a tremendous example of how hard folks in poverty work to improve the lives of their families with the resources they have available.  On top of what he has done, his work ethic has clearly been transferred to his children.

We were so very impressed with this man, and wanted to share his story!

Small Church + Missional Vision + Body of Christ = Huge Impact On TheCommunity

Yesterday we visited the church where Lucero attends the Compassion program.  It's on the side of a mountain in a very poor town.  It has only 30-40 attendees.  And yet, the church has a vital ministry to 250 children in the surrounding neighborhood.  We were struck at the size of the ministry this small church was able to have.

I wanted to jot a few notes about how this small church with limited resources was able to have such a big impact on kids and their families.  

1.  Missional vision 

It became apparent that the church has a strong missional focus - they want to reach their community.

2.  Focus on children 

While the church wants to reach people of all ages, they are focusing on reaching children.  Intervention at an early age is more effective than later trying to repair damage done by malnutrition, hardened hearts, poor health, lost educational opportunities, abuse, etc.  They also know that children that become Christ followers also often invite their family and friends to church.

3.  Committed members 

The children's ministry is owned by the members and pastor of this church.  Each person has a role they are responsible for, and they are committed to do that role with excellence.  

Some serve as kitchen workers who cook for hundreds of kids each day.  Some tutor the children after school. Others teach Bible classes.  Some teach the children income generating skills.  Some visit children's homes to understand the issues the child deals with at home, and whether there are any safety/abuse risks.  The list goes on and on....

4.  Drawing on outside expertise

The church did not have the expertise to build this ministry alone.  So they partnered with Compassion International, who provided training, curriculum, connections to medical staff, administrative controls required to ensure the program was well run with integrity, etc.  Compassion all also provides ongoing expert oversight and coaching to ensure the program is effectively achieving the intended goals, and that the children are being faithfully taught the Gospel.

5. Connection to the Body of Christ at-large.

The church clearly lacked the financial resources to do this type of ministry on this scale. Compassion provided connections with sponsors in other countries who help fund the program, and who develop encouraging relationships with the children and share Christ with them through their letters.   This relationship helps reinforce the work of the church workers who minister to the kids and share Christ with them on a daily basis.

With these partnerships, the church was able to put feet to their ministry.  

We learned that Lucero became involved in the local church's Compassion program because a neighbor knew Lucero's family was in great need.  The neighbor brought it to the attention of the church, who initiated a relationship with the family and invited Lucero to join their program.  They explained that as part of the program, Lucero would receive supplemental nutrition, Bible teaching, tutoring in school subjects, etc.  Her parents agreed she should attend.

We asked Lucero's parents how the program has helped.  They said they are not home during the day, and the church has given Lucero a safe place to be during the afternoons. They said it had helped her become more sociable.  And, they are very happy that she is learning about God.  

But that is just Lucero.  There are 250 other children of varying ages just like her, who have a church showing them the love of Christ in a very tangible way, pointing them to faith in Christ, and helping them develop to their full potential. 

All because a small church in a poor town on the side of a mountain had a vision of what God could do, and trusted God to provide help through the rest of the body of Christ.