Dear Friends,
I am in Peru this week and have a trip report to share with you today. But first, here are the things you should know…
- The Small Group/Pulpit connection is going very well. (This is the process of sending the study guide from each sermon in our series out to our Small Group leaders and members each Sunday afternoon.) Many people are taking advantage of the study guide and using it to go deeper into the Scriptures during their Small Group time. Others, however, are still looking for a group to belong to. If this is you, please come and join Susan Freeman, our Small Group Minister, for breakfast on Saturday. You will be blessed!
- This past weekend about 70 men from Christ Church met on the shores of a beautiful lake at Pine Cove for a weekend of Bible teaching, worship, and extended times of prayer on the dock. So how did it go? Here’s a report from our men’s minister, Jason Bowman:
Not a man who attended will ever see Samson the same again, and likely they will not view themselves the same. We spent our conference sessions studying the topic of a Faithful God in Faithless Times putting a microscope to the life of Samson. What we saw is how God works through us even in times when we are faithless and failing. We saw an incredible picture of the grace and commitment of our great God.
We spent our early mornings and late evenings on the dock in prayer. There is something profound and very uplifting to hear the deep rumble of 50 men on a dock as the sun comes up praying together, confessing our sins, and proclaiming what we believe through the apostle’s creed. We also saw men step up in leadership as these times of daily office were led by men involved in our XP discipleship program.
All I can say about our times of praise is that they were awesome! The sense of the Holy Spirit was palpable in the room.
For many men God showed up powerfully at this conference. There was such a positive response that we are already considering what we might do next year, and dozens of men from this year’s conference have already committed to helping in 2010.
We ended our time with the Eucharist outdoors near the lake. It was the capstone to a weekend focused on our Savior. And it was just plain beautiful to be among the trees overlooking the lake as we prayed together and partook of body and blood of Christ. What a blessed weekend!
- As you have probably heard, Fr. Jed’s church plant, Restoration Anglican Church, is getting underway. They are making preparations for their first public worship service on October 18. As a blessing for their ministry, we will take up a special offering during our Sanctuary worship services on Oct 11. If you’d like to learn more about Restoration or to meet Fr. Jed, come to their update session this Sunday, Oct 4 at 9:15 or 11 a.m. in Room 201 (Adult Ed Building.)
A now, a word from Peru:
Busy, Busy Bishop
I can remember the moment the Lord touched me. It was 10 years ago in the old Christ Church sanctuary. Bishop Godfrey was speaking about being appointed to the Diocese of Peru. There was nearly nothing there in terms of an Anglican presence: a few congregations, an ex-patriot cathedral, and a handful of priests who had been without a bishop for many years, no car, a small stipend, no schools, no seminary. Nearly nothing.
The Lord seemed to punch me right in the chest and a message emerged in my head: Help this man. It was strong and I knew I had to respond to it. I went to Bishop Godfrey after the talk and introduced myself. I told him that I had been touched by God and was told to help him in any way that I could.
It has been a great relationship between us since. He and his wife, Judith, are well known at Christ Church and beloved by so many.
Judith Godfrey, Bishop Godfrey and David Roseberry inside a thatched mission...jammed every Sunday.
Now the diocese is expanding at an enormous rate. It is hard to keep track of the growth. There are two seminaries and approximately 45 missions. Missions are starting new missions! Many schools are up and running. There is an orphanage. Many of the churches and schools provide medical care and food. There is also a very, very busy Bishop Godfrey. It is amazing.
Two New Congregations Changing Lives
On Tuesday we went to see two new congregations. St. Patrick’s in the far north side of Lima is part of a growing “new town.” Don’t think suburb. Think shantytown. These are new towns filled with people who have migrated from the mountains hoping for opportunity and a new life. In the past few decades the population of Lima has exploded with these communities of settlers who live in shacks.
St. Patrick’s ministry is typical of many of the missions around Lima. It gathers a group of 60-80 people on Sunday afternoon for Anglican worship. During the week a SAMS worker comes to play and sing and teach the children the faith of the Gospel of Christ. Medical mission teams come to reach the community. Most recently a group of dentists and ophthalmologists worked over a weekend to provide dental care and eye exams. Judith told me that the church worship space was divided in two by blankets clipped to a rope. The dentists on one side, the eye doctors on the other. Two days later dozens and dozens of teeth were pulled and hundreds of eye glasses had been given out.
Ministry among these missions is holistic. Faith and Works proclaimed and provided in the name of Jesus Christ.
Humble missions are starting new missions!
Next we visited St. Andrew’s. It is high on a hill overlooking another “new town.” Fr. Benjamin leads this church and three others! He travels out here on a bus a few times each week. He meets with people, conducts services, teaches the children and the adults. He is a 64-year-old powerhouse of a man. He and his wife, Lyvia, are tireless in their love and affection and work among the poor communities. He oversees three other missions like St. Andrew’s.
We walked up to the top of the mountain and stood in the tiny room of the church. Dirt floor. Bamboo-type screen walls. Corrugated roof. Makeshift altar-table that looks like an old piano bench. Around the room and pinned to the screened walls are little posters of Jesus with children and maps of the Holy Land. It is humbling, to say the least. The place is packed on Sundays.
Marina, a member of the church, is with us. She tells me a story of the impact that this church has had on her life. Before this church, she would yell and beat her daughter routinely. She shares this story without shame. Beating children is common here and she simply did what was done to her in her own childhood. It is hard to be a child in this community. One night, Padre Benjamin’s wife, Lyvia, came for dinner. And Marina’s daughter misbehaved. Lyvia witnessed a display of violence in the home that horrified her.
Marina told me that when the fight was over, Lyvia sat down with her and spoke to her about the love of Jesus and His love for children. She taught her that love and grace and tenderness were the best ways to raise children. Marina says that she changed that night. She understood a different kind of life was possible. She stopped beating her daughter. Things are much better in her family.
Fr. David and Marina at St. Matthews' mission.
I stood there and listened to this story with amazement. The Gospel is preached in this little place…and it is lived out in extremely wonderful and transforming ways.
Christ Church’s Gift Realized
Driving back to the Godfreys’ in their little Honda, I thank God for the work and ministry of the Bill and Judith, and for the hundreds of people that have loved and supported them through Christ Church.
That night Bill and I co-teach a class on liturgy at the seminary in Lima. As we drive up to the building, I begin to smile. I see now the realization of a long-awaited dream and vision.
When Christ Church began our “Chapter Two” capital campaign in 2006, we added $500,000 for a diocesan center in Lima. The bishop had dreamed of what he needed: space for a growing seminary, offices for his administration and ministry, a meeting hall for diocesan conferences, and an opportunity for a new church in the city among the middle class.
He found a building that was being sold for the land it was on. It was perfect. It was an old seminary that had been abandoned years earlier. We made an offer. The deal took a year to close, but in June 2008 the Christ Church vestry funded the project with the $500,000 we had earmarked out of our Chapter Two funds.
This week, I am in awe of the building. I nearly wept when I saw it. The diocesan family had swarmed all over it, painted it, cleaned it, replaced lights, carpet, tile, fixtures, and a few appliances. It was immaculate. Shiny new. Kept with pride and joy. I had tears in my eyes as I walked into the chapel, the conference rooms, the seminary offices and classroom, the library and computer room. They were beautiful. Shiny with pride and joy. A dream had been fulfilled and this diocese had been equipped with the building they needed (nearly 32,000 square feet) through a sacrificial gift from Christ Church (you!) and the hard efforts of these wonderful people.
Prayer Chapel in the Newly Renovated Diocesan Building in Lima
The New Orphanage
The next morning I spoke to the Lima clergy (about 35 of them) about stewardship. I told a few jokes…they laughed. They got my jokes!!
On Saturday Fran and I will go to Arequipa for the groundbreaking for the new orphanage, Casa Hogar. The annual Roof Dog Run (coming up!) and other fund raising projects have generated enough revenue to move forward with the project to provide a home for some of the older children.
Dogs are everywhere, and this little girl loves them.
I will preach at Cristo Redentor church in Arequipa on Sunday.
It is hard to take it all in. I get quiet about it…trying to hear from God how we can continue to support Bishop Godfrey and Judith. The Bishop appears to be a great health, and he has a continuing heart of love for the people of Peru. His gospel is a very practical gospel. Preach the Good News of Jesus Christ…and do it, too. Get down into the lives of the poorest of the poor. Make a difference for Jesus Christ there. It’s a vision that is catching on. Dozens of clergy are following him. Mission is expanding. Thy will be done.
I have to thank to hundreds of families who have supported the Diocese of Peru and Christ Church through the capital campaign, Chapter Two. Money is always hard-earned, especially now, but the kind of generosity and vision that you have shown is bearing significant fruit thousands of miles away among a people who do not know you personally…but love you because they love Jesus Christ.
In His Name,
David+
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