PIURA, PERU First Some Local Color

Piura, Peru at Piura Norte  
February 14, 2014

Meet Brenda, our friend up in Piura, about an hour+ north of Lima by plane. Brenda works with the Piura Norte Allianza church through the organization TEAM.  

It was a lot of fun to work with Brenda, definitely a highlight of my trip to Peru!  We'd been planning our visit with her and the women she works with, for a couple months - on skype and email.

Brenda had a very special-in town retreat planned for the women at the church.  We would be teaching Encontrando a Dios en La Historia de Tu Vida -  Finding God in the Story of Your Life - using the Story Rope. 

We had a nice dinner that first evening in Piura and the next morning.visited Catacaos, a nearby craft town. 

Catacaos was filled with local color to photograph in every direction. Cathy took my iPad and had fun capturing the imagery.

Brenda took us to the jewelry shop that she thought had different things than most of the shops. 

Yes they did!!!!!!!

I took off my colorful glasses, wanting to make sure what I picked, went with them!

The rectangular  pendent is an Inca calendar!  Very cool!!! The other piece is made with minerals/stones found in Peru and put on a shell. Beautiful work! The chain was made up of old beads found in ruins around the country.

I am not a shopper at all - so this turned out to be a very special morning! Thank you, Brenda!!!

click here - next post - continue story.  (it is on my other blog, Our Stories)

RIO DE JANEIRO Edge of the Community

From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  

Took this photo along the drive to Christ the Redeemer, this past  Saturday. 

Up on that mountainside is the largest community in all of South America. People are born, raised and die there, spending little time outside their community.  I'm learning that the societal classes do not mix here.

I put the original photo (pictured)  in photoshop and came up with this colorful new header. 

Tomorrow, at the invitation of a local pastor, I'll be going into another community, where his church is.  We'll be making colorful story ropes,  a way for women to tell the stories of their lives inside the community. There are so many hard stories in these places.  It will be a blessing to serve there.

RIO DE JANEIRO Quilts at Celivre

From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Yesterday, Sunday, we set up a display of my 2 quilts, story rope and art quilt postcards in the church. 

Our upcoming workshop had already been advertised to the church community on FaceBook but it was good to show the art in person and have conversations after the service.   

Nelson explaining my quilts.

Raquel and I talking about next Saturday's workshop

Later in the afternoon, Diane and I met with Raquel and 3 other women leaders to plan next Saturday's story rope teaching with the women. 

They may have 30-40 women from their own church, Celivre and have asked their friends.

They've invited another church to also take advantage of the teaching. So we don't know how many will be coming.

Click on photos to enlarge.


Talking about connecting into missions.

Our numbers seem to be growing for the 4-5 workshops we have coming up in these 2 remaining weeks we are in Brazil.  

Click here for earlier Creative Process blog posts on experiences in Rio de Janeiro.  

Click here for Our Stories blog posts about story rope experiences during my time in Rio.  

RIO DE JANEIRO View From The Village

Writing from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Yesterday was Saturday. Not the best day to see Christ the Redeemer, considering it was the weekend. As our car got closer to the top of the mountain, we observed the long line of parked cars. At the end of the road, many people stood in long lines, waiting for vans to take them the rest of the way up to see Christ the Redeemer.  

Best to go back another day. Perhaps on Friday when we visit Alba, my new found Brazilian cousin. Actually cousin of my Brazilian brother-in-law, Robert, back in Florida. But I figure, mi familia es su familia,  right? Oh that's Spanish-does not work here, but I think the sentiment does!

Though I only saw Christ the Redeemer from a distance, I have been impacted and inspired by the sculpture of a 'living' Jesus, with outstretched arms, embracing all of Rio de Janeiro.

This morning I made some notes and sketched ideas for a series of collages, each with Christ the Redeemer on the mountaintop and some aspect of this culture.

• Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado  Mountain.

• My friend Carla and family took Nelson and I to see Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and the beaches of Rio.

• Zooming in on Christ the Redeemer.

BRAZIL From Rio de Janeiro

I'm excited! 

We're off this morning to see the amazing statue of Christ the Redeemer-with arms out-stretched over all of Rio. 

I have a feeling this day may inspire some art work. We are learning about so much.

PERU Teaching With Quilts

Writing about Peru from Rio de Janeiro. 

I taught with 2 quilts in Lima, Peru, with a great translator, Ruth.  Both are small and easy to travel with. Pathway to Healing was the first of the Rwanda quilts. click to see quilts  Rwanda experience click for pictured experience in Rwanda  (photo-teaching quilt in Lima)

The other, God's Story Rope is new, completed and photographed just a day before leaving. I use Pathway in the context of sharing my story rope. (see story rope around my neck in 3rd photo) 

God's Story Rope pictures hope, contained in the teaching that we are all in God's never ending love story. He loves us and has been with us in all our very dark times.  This quilt is a timeline of creation, the fall, the cross, resurrection and the present-all under God's always present golden story rope-His presence.

I am writing on 2 blogs about my trip to Peru and Brazil. Please take a look. The stories/blog posts on both blogs are different:

Our Stories (link) 

click on photos to enlarge. 
Good enlargement-professional photo of God's Story Rope quilt.

LIMA, PERU Why We Came

2/11/13   Our friend, Minina, took Cathy and I around LIma on our 2nd day in Peru. Our final stop was at the end of the great bay, wide open to the Pacific Ocean. This decorated cross with plastic Inca Kola bottles of now dead flowers at it's base, got my attention.  The whole 'picture' was so garish, hopeless, dead. It felt so distant from my own relationship with the living Son of God, Jesus.  

It reminded me of why we had come to Peru. To encourage  women with broken, heart breaking stories - with HOPE.  Jesus loves them. They matter to Him,  HE has been there all along for them.  These wonderful women are part of God's amazing love story!  

(click on photos to enlarge)  
Writing about Peru from Brazil.

PERU Meet Cathy

Writing about Peru from Brazil 

I was invited to Peru to teach the story-rope to women...a great opportunity to invite a friend to partner with me. 

I thought about Cathy. We had never worked together and we had only met twice, but I knew she had a huge heart for women. 

And though she never made a story-rope, she was so enthusiastic about God using it to help women.  She was the one! 

PERU Salud From Lima

Writing about Peru from Brazil.

Monday, February 11, 2013  

Salud!  

A bit travel weary in this picture but ready for a great adventure teaching in Peru. 

And believe me it started in this restaurant at Larcomar, a shopping mall in Miraflores, over looking the Pacific Coast.

Oh no!

That's an octopus on my plate!

Next post - meet my terrific team-mate, Cathy.