A Baptism of Thunder!

So, Christmas is now over in Peru –it was over for Peruvians on the 25^th December! They celebrate Christmas on the 24^th, with a big meal and presents at midnight followed by loads of fireworks (which we had an amazing view of from our flat!). Other traditions include eating A LOT of panaton, our local supermarkets have been full of the stuff since... the beginning of October! They also eat turkey like us Brits, however some people we know were brave enough to cook an entire pig for their family!

On the 24^th, we had a Church service where all the church members took part in making Christingles. Check out the girls creations below:

The orange represents the world, the red ribbon represents the blood of Christ, and the four sticks of sweets represent the four seasons.

We spent our Christmas day with the Williamsons and with four other families, what a packed house it was. We met many Australians and Americans who did not know about Christmas crackers, so we introduced them to it through our home made version with toilet rolls and wrapping paper – we never need to buy Christmas crackers again!

We have been keeping up our visits to the regional hospital in the festive season. Robyn who runs the project has gone to see family over Christmas and New Year, this has given us a great opportunity to practice our Spanish with the patients and use the ideas we have picked up from her over the past few months. We hope to make her proud when she returns!

To celebrate the arrival of 2012 we went to the main square to see the New Year in with fireworks and classic Peruvian music. There was a band playing for several hours as we counted down and at midnight there was an amazing display of fireworks over the cathedral. Healthy and safety here is slightly different than in the UK...

The plasa was completely full of people awaiting the New Year!

The following day we were a part of a baptismal service which was a first here in Peru. It was a privilege to see someone so new to the Church be baptised and confirm their faith in Jesus especially in the spiritually lost place Cusco is. A few weeks before he was baptised, whilst sick, he read the whole of the Old Testament - an inspiration to all of us! Everyone came to the Pastor’s house for the service which was held in the garden with a paddling pool just as a thunderstorm was about to break! It is traditional at the start of each year for members of the church to share a testimony of how God has worked in their life over the last year. Amy and Jess took part and spoke about their experience in Spanish.

Toto being baptised by the church leaders.

Now we are off to plan for February!  Ciao for now!

Ps thanks for all the encouraging comments... David Gordon.