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Garth & Denise Neel;
Grace, Isaac, Joanna and Magdalena
The Neels
Jr. Las Crucinelas 722-724
Cooperativa Las Flores
San Juan de Lurigancho
Lima, Perú
phone 51-1-376 3760 (the country code is 51)
EMAIL ADDRESS
garth_neel@terra.com.pe
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Recent Updates
(from SAMS News)
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We have had visits from three
Canadians recently: Dave and Nora Kemp from St. Andrew's, Pender Harbour
in BC, a parish which supports us very faithfully, and Pat Lee from SAMS,
who brought books for the children and visited with some of the people
of Mision San Mateo.
Things continue to go well in the mission. The
services are well attended, the youth group continues to grow, with some
of the young people showing signs of being leaders in the future.
We had our second fundraising event, a pollada (a sale
of fried chicken), a great time of working together. The ladies are very
resourceful.
The mission is going away on a paseo this Saturday, a
day spent in the countryside. People are very excited - many of them
rarely escape from the city. There will be about 60 people going.
Things continue to be difficult for many of the folks.
One family filed a complaint with the local police. They had been
threatened with violence by some neighbours. It appears that the
neighbours have paid the police in order to have the complaint
disappear. Now the family must start all over again, a process which is
very difficult. Terrorism is not dead in El Peru. The Shining Path is
still very active. This past year, several soldiers and policemen have
been killed in battles with the group, usually out in the country.
Our family is well. The girls are doing well in their
studies in Spanish, and we have lots of visitors in our house each week.
Much love in Christ, Garth & Denise.
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November 26, 2003
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San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima,
Perú.
Dear friends in Christ,
We are very pleased to be able to report to you on the activity that
continues in Misión
San Mateo, both in the congregation and in the school. To begin with the
latter, Garth is now significantly more involved in the administration
of the school (Colegio San Mateo) something which includes the hiring of
personnel, general care of the building, pastoral care for school
families, pastoral care for the staff, and the direction of worship for
the students. He also is now tutor for fifth grade (a group of six boys)
and therefore has some specific responsibility for their developement.
He recently used his van (what is left of it) to take the sixth grade
and their teacher on a visit to some Incan ruins here in the city. (The
ruin is a temple made of mud bricks which has stood for over 1000 years,
giving you some idea of how dry the costal area is ... i.e. it has not
rained for 1000 years). He spends time each week talking with the
directora and helping her with various problems within the school,
trying to provide a link with the Diocesan Office as well.
Garth is also a member of the Diocesan Council and
recently formed part of a commission to evaluate several candidates for
ordination within the Diocese.With the help of one of the members of the
congregation, he is also working at buying some land near to the school
for the construction of a church building for Misi ón
San Mateo. This is a complicated process as very often the owners of the
land do not have their documents in order. Much of the property in
Lurigancho was "invaded" some years ago, that is, the folks
simply moved in and set up residence, without purchasing the property.
While in the past that was legal, it means that many people are simply
not registered as the owners of their property, have not paid any taxes,
etc. All this makes a sale very difficult. Prayers would be appreciated
here. In the mission itself, which is the main focus of our ministry, we
continue to see much interest and activity. Most recently, 40 members of
the congregation went together on a short "paseo" (a day trip)
to Chosica, a small town north of Lima with parks, swimming pools and
playgrounds. A good time was had by all, both young and old (from the
children all the way up to Ernestina, who, at 80, is the oldest member
of the congregation) even though the park was very full and we had some
trouble finding a shady place to sit. The trip was paid for by the
offerings of the people themselves collected, bit by bit, over the year.
We held a fund raising event in November to provide
for a Christmas activity for the neighbourhood children in December. The
ladies of the mission provide traditional Christmas treats for the kids
on the last Sunday in Advent. The mission has now also given monetary
support to the Diocese of Per ú
to help open other missions in other cities in the country. The people
are very proud of the fact that they have been able to do this.
The youth of the parish continue to be active. They
have attended a retreat day at the Cathedral and other evening events
organized by the youth of the Diocese. Two of the youth gave testimonies
during our recent trip to Chosica. They regularly help with the Sunday
liturgy, with readings, music, prayers and the administration of the
chalice. They also help with that most important of jobs, moving all of
the church furniture back upstairs to Garth's third floor office after
the services on Sunday !
Since our last prayer letter, there have been several
children who have received their first communion and we have recently
celebrated another baptism. The mission is now becoming more widely
known in the area and we are seeing people coming to us to ask questions
about baptisms, first communions and marriages. Garth is now regularly
asked to visit in people's homes to pray with them and has recently
prayed for God's blessing at the opening of a pharmacy belonging to one
of the families who are involved in the school. It is very common here
in Per ú,
when opening a new business, to ask a pastor or priest to come and offer
prayers, a custom we might perhaps do well to adopt a little more in
Canada.
Our services continue twice every Sunday. The regular
attenders are very pleased to see newcomers present and do their best to
make them welcome. Our desire is that all who come shall hear the Gospel
faithfully proclaimed and that it will enter into the heart of all those
who have ears to hear. It is interesting to note that many, many people
are not terribly worried about whether they are attending the Roman
Catholic Church or the Anglican Church, that is, their attachment to the
Roman Church is not as strong as one might expect. In fact, many people
have a very loose connection with the Church throughout most of their
lives and have not ever experienced what it is to have a pastor. When I
point out to them that there are some significant differences between
the Anglican and Roman Churches, they are quite open. When I point out
that I have a wife and four children, one of the most common replies is,
"Well, so do many of the Roman Catholic priests, although they are
not so open about it".
Denise continues to work faithfully with the Sunday
School and also sometimes goes out to visit the people of the mission.
Recently, the husband of Ernestina, Teodosio, died at home in his bed.
The people of the mission were a great support to Ernestina and her
family. We had services in their home the night before the funeral and
went with them all to the cemetery for the interment. Denise visited
with the family of Ernestina in the days following the funeral.
We have found that the people are accustomed to doing
a funeral themselves and have not been accustomed to having a pastor
present to provide a Christian burial. It is, however, something that
they desire. On the way out of the cemetery that day, Garth was asked by
another family (wholly unknown to him) to do a committal for their loved
one whose coffin was sitting at the gate. This, of course, he gladly
did. In their gratitude, the family paid him 2 soles for his services
(about $1.00), all they could scrape together at the moment. He accepted
it, of course, out of respect to them.
Denise also plays host to a steady stream of visitors
here at home, making sure that they all get fed and watered. She often
helps some of the local kids (friends of Grace) with their homework.
There are several children who like to visit in our house because they
live in a single room with several other people and don't have space to
study. There are several boys who like to do a little bit of work for us
in and around the house in order to help pay for food and rent for their
families. Denise is also training the girls and Isaac to do more work in
the house.
Through some special private gifts that have come to
us, we have also been able to help several people get started in a small
business or to pay for further studies for a child. All this has helped
to let them know that the Church does indeed care about them, for their
general well-being as well as their spiritual lives. These small loans
are to be paid back not in cash but in service and ministry to others.
We will be helping more people in this way in the new year. There are
many homes here where the children eat only once day and sometimes don't
eat at all.
Once again, for all of your prayers and support we
are sincerely thankful. Your gifts are a "sweet smelling aroma, an
acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all
your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our
God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Philippians
4:18-20).
In Christ, Garth,
Denise and family.
Notes from the Support Team:
We are pleased to hear of the Christian growth and
the sense of community that is developing among the people of the San
Mateo Mission and praise God for what is happening there. We ourselves
have grown spiritually as we have recognized the provision and
protection of the Lord’s hand over the events that have occurred in
the Neel’s lives during this mission. In August 2004 the Neel’s
first term of service will enter its’ final stage as they return to
Canada for furlough… a time of vacation, rest and also of return
visits to parishes to share about their mission experiences. Future
prayer letters will bring details of the procedure for arranging to have
such visits to your parishes.
When sending donations to the SAMS office in Barrie, Ontario please
remember to clearly designate your donation as "Neel’s
support". This is very important; it assures that your donation is
channeled according to your wishes. The mailing address for this can be
found in the on the front of this letter. If you have any
change-of-address information, please notify the Support Team by writing
to: Edith Burnside, PO Box 1827, Neepawa MB R0J 1H0
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From
SAMS NEWS
Fall 2003
An important focus of Garth and Denise's
ministry is to reach out to the youth of Lurigancho, drawing them, and
hopefully their families, into the life of the church. Above, parish
youth members, Sammy and Giancarlos, and below Miguel, on a couple of
outings that take them away from their inner city surroundings
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As always, our work with the
people of Mision San Mateo (Saint Matthew's Mission) in Lurigancho
continues to be a great joy. The young people of tne parish have
continued to develop their music ministry and we now have a good
vocabulary of songs and hymns for use during the liturgy. They have been
very faithful, many of them playing for Divine Service in the morning
and then returning later as well for the evening liturgy.
An adult member of the congregation and his wife also
have some songs and hymns that they are beginning to share with us.
These are more in the traditional style of the Peruvian native people, a
style called "Huayno" (pronounced "oo-wy-no"). They
also sing a little in Quechua, the language of one large group of
indigenous people here, understood and spoken by many people in
Lurigancho, the majority of whom were not born in Lima but in the other
provinces of Peru.
The folks of the mission recently organized their
first fund-raising event, to help support the overall work of the
Diocese. This was an "anticuchada" ... a sale of "anticuchos"
... these being several pieces of beef heart skewered on a wooden stick
and roasted over hot coals (with a delicious secret sauce, of course).
The ladies of the mission worked hard on this event which, while not
raising a lot of money, turned out to be great fun for all of us and
there is the promise of more such events to come.
For one week in July, the mission also hosted a team
of twelve people from Texas. These folks presented a Vacation Bible
School during the afternoons in the school. This was attended by about
60 children each day. In the evenings, the team presented some teachings
and music for the youth of the parish, ending their last day with us by
demonstrating (and teaching) some Texas line-dancing. These evening
events were also well attended (not only by the youth) while the ladies
of the mission provided some traditional Peruvian sweets for the final
celebration. The presence of this team was a great encouragement to all.
At the time of writing, we have just arrived home
after a short trip to Chosica, a small city north-east of Lima. There we
spent some time in a small park area with play
structures, swings, a swimming pool, tame alpacas, (an animal symilar to
a lams), plenty of space and some welcome quiet. It was not without an
unexpected adventure or two.
Just as we were settling down into our lawn chairs, we
heard a loud splash. We looked up to see Maggie (6) frantically
splashing around in the deep end of the swimming pool. I made a dash to
the pool, jumped in and hauled her out just as she was going under for
the third time. When Maggie got her breath back, she told us that Isaac
(9) had pushed her in. And, sure enough, there he was, definitely
looking very pleased about something. But God be praised, Maggie was
fine. And we reminded ourselves once again that life with an autistic
person (Isaac) requires constant vigilance.
However, we had to remind ourselves of it once more
before the day was over. The park area, we were told, was entirely
fenced in. This proved to be a somewhat inaccurate statement. After a
frantic (but definitely prayerful) half-hour search with the help of the
park staff, we found Isaac well out into the vast desert, heading more
or less in the direction of Brazil.
God be praised once more, a young man whose tiny house
is on the mountainside had seen Isaac go by, and pointed us in the right
direction when we appeared. Had we delayed even a few minutes longer, he
might have been gone for good. The area is simply an empty waste-land,
full of deep gullies which run labyrinth-like in all directions. As we
ran over the rocks and through the cactus, the young man with me spied
Isaac below us in one such gully. He had been running out into the
desert for some time during our search for him but apparently then
turned and started to run back in the direction of my shouts.
I suspect Isaac knew he was in some danger by the look
on his face when we found him, but it is always difficult to say how
much he understands. One thing is clear, when we are not looking (even
for a moment), he wastes no time in pursuing his own agendas. Needless
to say, for God's providence this day, and for all of your on-going
prayers, we are deeply thankful.
At this time, we would very much appreciate your
prayers for the folks of the mission, very many of whom face difficult
economic situations. Do pray that they will all awaken to the importance
of their own ministries in the life of the mission and will have hearts
eager to serve. Pray also for the growth in grace of our young people,
that out of their number will come some future leaders of God's church
in Peru. Pray also for several families that are preparing for baptisms
and First communions. For all of you, we continue to pray and give
thanks for all your love and prayers.
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August 2003,
Lima, Perú
WEB.jpg)
Elizabeth helps with the 'Fellowship Lunch" at
San Mateo
WEB.jpg)
Texas style fun during a visit from a team from Christ
Church, Plano, TX
Music Ministry at
San Mateo
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Dear Friends,
We are very close now to completing our second year of ministry in Misión San Mateo. We arrived here in Perú from Costa Rica in August of 2001. These two years, full of various kinds of experiences and events, have passed very quickly for us.
Reflecting upon all that has passed, we first of all want to say how much we have appreciated all of you who have continued to support us over time and across the distance. Once again, our ministry here is, in a very real way, your ministry, too, for you have made it all possible. People who had not ever heard the Gospel clearly presented before have now heard it and have had the opportunity to respond to it. We see evidence of their response in the things that are happening in the mission.
The congregation has grown over the last two years. That is to say, there are more folks attending now than when we first started. There are especially more young people in attendance than before. And God continues to work among us and so will draw still more folks to His church in the future.
I must confess, though, to always being just a little uncomfortable when talking about the growth of the mission, for several reasons. First of all, the real growth, the growth that is spiritual and internal, is entirely in the hands of the Lord. It is not something that we can force to happen. It is also, at least for a while, somewhat invisible. That is to say, we cannot see into the hearts of the people, but can only wait to see how they live their lives in response to the Gospel, a process that takes some time. And it is always possible to be mistaken about someone's real spiritual condition. In the end, only the Lord really knows those who are His. I therefore shy away from reporting lots of conversions, preferring to let the evidence of the new birth gradually reveal itself in the lives of the people over time. In time, the real fruit will be seen.
Secondly, I am always nervous talking about numbers, simply because they do tend to fluctuate somewhat. Sometimes, people who have been quite faithful, and have given promise of good things to come, suddenly stop appearing, while others, total strangers to us, suddenly appear. We can only say at this point, that there continues to be a great deal of this kind of movement in the mission and whereas we started with about six people, we now have about 10 families that are regular in attendance and giving good signs of a renewed heart, bringing to about 50 or so the actual number of people who are regularly a part of our congregational life. There are others who are connected with us more loosely but who do occasionally look to us for help and
ministry.
We have seen the faithfulness of a young lad of 12 who has rarely missed a Sunday with us. He and his older brother come to the morning service and then usually return again in the evening. The older lad, in a quiet and humorous way, exercises a strong leadership role among the other youth of the mission and in his
neighborhood.
We have seen the faithfulness of a young man of 18 who lost his mother earlier this year. She was one of the original members of the mission. This young man has continued to be a leader as well among the youth while doing what he can to support his younger brother. He expresses his faith in Christ openly to his friends.
We have seen the faithfulness of a man and his wife who have given leadership in the mission in various ways, helping to organize events, encouraging others in their
neighborhood to come to the services. In spite of having very little, they show their faith in God by sharing freely the little that they have. They are consistently cheerful in spite of their hardships. There are many people here who work very hard and gain very little.
Little by little, the folks are beginning to understand that they have a part to play in the spread of the Gospel here in Lurigancho and that as they grow in grace as a congregation they are thus glorifying God and giving testimony to the reality of His sovereignty in this world. They are learning to participate more and more in the worship services and, as you all know, the young people now are able to lead most of the music during the liturgy. They are also in contact with other young people in the Diocese and learning more and more through these relationships as well.
We are continuing to try to buy some land for the construction of the church building in Lurigancho. This has proved difficult since those who are selling tend to inflate their price when they learn that it is the Anglican Church that is wanting to buy. One person simply doubled the usual price for land in the area and asked that of us when we enquired. We now enquire without letting people know (at first) just who is enquiring, in order to get an idea what it is really worth. Generally speaking, a plot of 200 square metres will sell for about $13,000.00 US.
For us as a family, our two years here have been both very good and yet also not without challenges and difficulties. Perhaps the most difficult thing for us is that we live rather circumscribed lives compared to what we would in Canada (or at least in Manitoba). This is especially true for the children. Because of the conditions here in Lima, a busy city with lots of crime, it is not possible for the children simply to go outside and play on their own. There are lots of unscrupulous, dangerous people around. Thankfully, we have the roof of the house where they can get out into the fresh air, and ride their bikes around, and a park nearby where we can go with them (and with the dog). As well, Grace has friends now from her class at the nearby school, as do Joanna and Maggie from their classes and from the Sunday School. Isaac is content with his classes at home and enjoys getting out on his bike to ride his favorite route. The reality is that, here in Lurigancho, there are not a lot of supports available for autistic people and their families.
Of course, we continue to thank God for all His continuing goodness towards us. It is very clear that He has watched over us throughout these two years and brought us over some rough patches. We have no doubts about His wisdom and providence and rejoice each day in His grace. And we continue to pray that many people in Lurigancho will come to build their lives on the foundation of that grace. May it also be with each of you where you are.
In Christ,
Garth, Denise and family.
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YES! I would really like to help the
Neel Family in their work in Peru.
Please send details of your financial/ prayer/
other commitment with:
Your Name; email address; mailing address;
and Phone Number
to
SAMS- Canada
PO Box 21082, Barrie, Ont., Canada, L4M 6J1
SAMS Canada will not share this information
with anyone other than the officers of SAMS Canada, the Mission Partner
concerned, or anyone required by law to have this information, (eg: Revenue
Canada)
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