wfn.org | United Methodist students share Peru mission experience

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 5, 2002  News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.   10-32-71BP{389}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this story.

A UMNS Report
By Jane Dennis*

Thirty students and leaders from three United Methodist colleges joined
forces this summer to work, live and witness among the people of Chincha,
Peru. 

Students from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., Lambuth University in
Jackson, Tenn., and Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., worked
together on a 12-day Volunteers in Mission trip to Peru. 

The students wielded pickaxes and shovels and mixed and poured concrete for
a foundation for a Methodist day school. They also laid brick for a kitchen
facility and were called to be painters and clean-up crews, volunteers at a
hospital and friends to the dozens of children and residents in the area who
turned out to help with the work.

"Fifty or more children showed up every day at the work site," said the Rev.
J.J. Derden, program coordinator of the Hendrix-Lilly Initiative, which
sponsored the trip along with Hendrix College. "They were just ecstatic that
these college students would play and read with them."

The children were a main reason Nic Poppe, a senior philosophy and Spanish
major at Hendrix College, returned to the region. He was among the student
volunteers who traveled to Chincha last summer on the first joint mission
effort organized by Lambuth and Hendrix.

Though the days are long and hot and the work strenuous, "you know that
you're helping a community strengthen itself," Poppe said.

"I loved being able to connect with two other colleges and work alongside
others and learn from them as well," said Kati Jo Klein, a senior elementary
education major at Dakota Wesleyan University.

The volunteers also visited with the townsfolk of Chincha, a costal town
about three hours south of Lima, to talk with them about the church,
politics and the state of their lives, Derden said.

"It was getting students 'beyond the bubble,' as we say at Hendrix; going
from a culture of privilege to a place where there's a lot of poverty. They
were able to see what life is like in a different culture and socioeconomic
class, and that's very important for developing stronger faith and
spirituality."

The students also brought along an incubator donated by a Conway hospital
and presented it as a gift to San Jose Hospital in Chincha.

The three colleges became connected in the mission effort through their
chaplains. The Rev. J. Wayne Clark, Hendrix College chaplain, is a friend
and mentor to Lambuth's assistant chaplain, the Rev. Andrew Thompson, a
Hendrix graduate. Thompson attended seminary with the Rev. Tim Eberhart,
chaplain at Dakota Wesleyan University.

The mission volunteers "were very enriched by the family atmosphere of
Chincha," Derden said, as well as "how much they offered us and how they
worked together. A little 5-year-old boy would be lifting blocks, and no one
would scold him or tell him, 'Don't do that!' They were all working together
for something for the community."

Eberhart concurred. "What was so powerful about it is these are the very
children who'll benefit from this school. For them to be part of that work
was very gratifying for us. We were confident that one day they would look
over at a wall and say, 'I helped build that.'"

The Methodist Church in Peru has a vision to build a school and children's
day-care facility in Chincha that will be used both for educational
purposes, Bible study and faith enrichment, Derden explained. The vision
includes a cafeteria, playgrounds, school buildings, dormitories and a
neighborhood community center.

"There's nothing like this in Chincha, and it will take a lot of work,
materials and time to see it completed," she said.

The summer experience made a lasting impression. 

"We went to Peru expecting to encounter the downtrodden, the lowly of
spirit, the poor," Eberhart said, "and we were quite surprised when we
encountered faces filled with joyfulness, playfulness and laughter. The
people of this region have nowhere near the material wealth we have, but
their spiritual wealth is immense."

The trip expenses were about $1,500 per person. The students held
fund-raisers on campus and garnered sponsorships from local churches and
individuals to cover the costs.

"Every young person who goes on a mission trip like this, and who
experiences Christian service outside their 'comfort zone,' is one more
person who brings that witness back to his or her local church and
community," Thompson said. "They come home so excited that they just can't
wait to tell others about it, so even more people have their eyes open to
serving the Lord."

"I have a strong desire to help others - this is one of my passions and
greatest gifts," Klein said. "I hope to be able to continue taking mission
trips in and out of the country. I'm so thankful for the opportunities I
have had. I would strongly encourage anyone who is debating whether or not
to go on a trip like this to jump at the opportunity because it will be an
eye-opening, heart-breaking, God-filled experience."

Many of the students on the trip have expressed an interest in the ministry
or in service programs such as the Peace Corps, Derden said. "To see the
tremendous gifts in these students, from those who worked with the children,
to those who showed natural leadership abilities at the work site - I was
blessed to be part of that. The amount of gifts God has given is truly
amazing."
# # #
*Dennis is editor of the Arkansas United Methodist, the newspaper of the
Little Rock and North Arkansas annual conferences.

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United Methodist News Service
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