Living Waters for the World Coming to a Maynay and Cristo Rey Near You

I spent the last week of May traveling with a team of Americans from San Gabriel Presbytery (California). It was 6 pastors and 3 lay people. They are representing the NGO Living Waters for the World and I am happy to say have signed covenants with both Cristo Rey Presbyterian Church in Huanta and the nearby community of Maynay to work together to install water purification systems and do the approriate hygiene and water use education, again TOGETHER being the key word.
It is sort of exciting. I know that the people of both communities are excited.
So Cyndie, Rob, Roger, Sam, Betsy, Andrea, and Wendy arrived in Ayacucho on Thursday morning along with the ever fabulous Rusty and Sara (PCUSA mission coworkers) who have built relationships in the Ayacucho region already and help to guide groups and teams coming to the area as well. Relationship facilitators, among other things, that is what they are.
Rusty made a comment, and helped me again put into words the way that Presbyterians do mission...yes, we do it in partnership, yes we work to not create dependency, but to empower the individuals and communities to identify and harness their resources and be self sustaining. ¨What can we do better together, than we can do apart,¨ Rusty said. It has given me something to chew and reflect on.
The folks from San Gabriel invited me along to do some basic translating and accompany them because I too have built relationships in the Ayacucho area with the people of Cristo Rey, Maynay, Emanuel-Cuchipampa, and especially the Synod leaders Agripino and Juan Quispe. We did a little of the tourist thing, a little historical absorbtion at the Museum of Memory, and a little shopping at an alabaster workshop, and the ceramics barrio of Quinua. Then it was down to business. Water talk over trout and potato dinners, fraternization and relationship building with laughter over pork chunks and chuno. A week that started out with a lot of trepidation and agnst on the part of the travelers from San Gabriel who REALLY want to see a system installed, and with similar pressure from back home, slowly disipated into the realization that this trip was neccessary for multiple reasons: 1) to build trust and confidence in the midst of relationship 2) as much as could be done via email was, but there is something to a face to face meeting 3) allowing the team members to know the people, and the people of Cristo Rey and Maynay to know the team BEFORE installing pipes and doing education together, which is weighty stuff.
There was time for serious nuts and bolts discussion, much needed reflection and debreifing at night among the group of travelers, but also a lot of jokes and laughter and getting to know one another (Peruvians and Americans) amongst meals, worship services, and even volleyball games with the pastor playing in his dress clothes and another Peruvian dude serving backwards. All of which was a priviledge to witness.