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 The Life and Times
February 2009
I find that It’s traditional for me to begin my newsletterswith an apology for the obscene amount of timebetween each one. So. Yes. I am sorry. But I’mincluding a ridiculous amount of information to catch youup on as much as possible. This newsletter could keepyou busy for hours…days if you read slow.Ok I’m just going to start updating you from 2009 on,because I don’t like to live in the past too much. That,and I can’t even remember 2008 very well right now.Truth be told, I stumbled out of the starting gate in 2009.January sucked. I went through more highs and lows thatmonth in Peru than you could shake a stick at. However, Iknow that the month taught me lessons and that Christgrew me in more ways than I thought possible. Strugglesaren't fun, and those life annoyances and hardships are,well, annoying and hard, but surprisingly, they are whatgive us comfort. We can take comfort knowing thatwhatever hardship may come, God is working through itand doing something much grander for our good!
 2 Corinthians 4:8- We are hard pressed on every side, but notcrushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but notabandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We alwayscarry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the lifeof Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who arealive are always being given over to
death for Jesus' sake,
 so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then,death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
I hope you can Remember my Name
Suzuki Music Festival 2009
One of the ministries that I am most involved with here isthe CompArte Peru Music Ministry in Porvenir, anunderdeveloped neighborhood in Trujillo. The programstarted a couple of years ago and has a simple purpose:to teach music to children who could not otherwiseafford instruments or lessons.In the economic state these children are in, being able togo to concerts, buy supplies, instruments, or even beingable to buy music is a luxury that the children do nothave; so being able to attend a week long music campin Lima is basically impossible. However, with RonaldSerrano, director of the ministry, impossible is a word thatdoesn’t exist.Every year during the Peruvian summer (January &February), there is an International Suzuki Music festivalthat invites professional musicians and music teachers tocome to Lima to hold workshops and master classes for For this reason we maintain joy through stress, perhaps wedon't always do the best job of showing it on the outside,but the joy is there! WHERE? Down in our hearts to Stay!(Come on, you know you're singing the old Sunday schoolsong, and if you weren't the first time, you should be now)I hope that you enjoy reading about the work God isdoing here in Peru, I know it’s a long newsletter, but hey,God Is doing a lot of work here.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, wholoved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragementand good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthenyou in every good deed and word.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
 Gillian
students and teachers.As you can imagine this can be quite costly. Theregistration alone is 70 dollars, and the travel and foodcosts are another 55, an impossible fee for a Porvenir Income- the official minimum wage in Peru is about 500Soles or $156 monthly. But thanks to many donations, wewere able to pay the fees for the kids to go.2 days before the festival however, I received word fromRonald, the program director, that we were short onmoney for 5 children who wouldn't be able to go. We werea little panicked but I am happy to report that God isfaithful and thanks to some unexpected generousdonations, all 5 of the children who were not going to beable to go to the Suzuki Music Festival in Lima Peru wereable to attend, giving us a total of 21 kids who went to Limafor this incredible musical opportunity! Read More on thenext page and continue to pray for the kids in this program!
Of a Peru Mission Intern
 
 
 The Life and Times… Page 2 of 4
Over the past year and a half, Ronald Serrano Moreno, the founder of amusic ministry in the very low income district of Trujillo called El Porvenir.another volunteer, Rachel Jurkowski, and I have been working hard tofor the music programWe recently have some good steps towards the organization of theproject by becoming an official NGO, as well as deciding on our officialname- CompArte Perú (a fusion of two spanish words- comparte
Gaining Momentum with the Porvenir Music Ministry
Something is changing in El Porvenir. Now, in somecorners of this heavily populated district, in place oftraditional games of fulbito (soccer played on a court),children come together to play violin, treating it as if itwere a small party. The motive? The results of aninnovative new project called “Comp-Arte Peru” thatwell-known Trujillo violinist, Ronald Serrano Morenodirects.“The idea,” says Serrano Moreno, “is to give childrenand youth with little economic resources theopportunity to accomplish their goals through music.Obtaining that kind of discipline, that confidence in thework they put into music can then be applied to other aspects of their daily lives as well.The results are easy to see. Not only have the childrenaccomplished learning a musical instrument, but nowthey also look at the future with much more optimism.“The purpose of the project is to stimulate andmotivate the lower class children using music. Theycome underprivileged, they don’t have many toys or games, but through music, we hope to help them sethigher standards and reach their goals” explainsSerrano Moreno.However, the motivation does not stop there as themost outstanding students of the project advance tobe a part of the Teófilo Álvarez Dávila Youth Orchestra(a group that has already given commended musicalconcerts around Trujillo.The project has even pulled in two young volunteersfrom the United States who have been working in our city (Trujillo) for over a year- Gillian Baikie and RachelJurkowski.Gillian Baikie is a cellist who graduated from the schoolof Education (correction: School of Interior Design) atAnderson University of South Carolina. Before livinghere, she had already visited Trujillo and had seen thecondition of some parts of Trujillo and wasn’t shockedby the poverty of the area. Her only problem uponarrival was in fact the language barrier, a stumblingblock that she has overcome, as she is alreadyspeaking like a “Trujillana.”Gillian teaches cello to the children and youth in ElPorvenir and is happier for the experience she has had.“It’s been great, a child gains confidence and thenthat ability in music serves as way for him or her to set
When Music changes Soccer for Violins”
"Project Comp-Arte Peru takesthe Arts to poor children- Two UScellists are part ofan importantcultural work 
"
-La IndustriaSeptember 2008
 
meaning share, and arte meaning art).An exciting milestone for us was about 2 months ago, we wereinterviewed by the Trujillo Newspaper “La Industria” about CompArtePeru. A large article was printed in the Culture section of the mainnewspaper of Trujillo, meaning that we are also gaining morerecognition in the city.Here is the translated article, as well as a color copy of the photo thataccompanied the article:goals for his or her life, a way to grow as a person,” saysBaikie.Above all, she takes pride in seeing the progress of her pupils. To watch them as they are able to playbeautiful notes on their instruments and to see thesmiles on their faces. “They want to play, they love itand that love is contagious,” recounts Baikie, “Iremember one Saturday, some girls from theneighborhood found out about our project and cameby because they wanted to part of our group. The kidsin the project are an example for the other children.”Miss Baikie came to Peru with Peru Mission (MisiónReformada en Perú) and now, in spite of the meager state of the area, wants to stay another year andcontinue working with the children of lower incomefamilies. It has been here in Trujillo that she has mademany friends who have helped in everything, even inprocuring a cello for her to continue practicing her passion.“This project gives children the opportunity to rise togreater heights, to appreciate music more, to discover talents and to be an example for the other kids,” shesaid convinced.Likewise, her compatriot, Rachel Jurkowksi, whograduated from the University of Notre Dame inIndiana with a degree in Music and Philosophy, cameto Trujillo with the intention of doing volunteer work.“Ronald told me about the project and I told him ‘Sure,let’s go see,’ reflects Jurkowski.The beginning, as with everything, was difficult.Jurkowski was quiet, shy and the economic disparitywas an obstacle for her assimilation in Trujillo and withthe children. However, with time, she and her studentsbegan learning. “They loosened up a lot,” she says,“Now they laugh, converse, and there is a connectionbetween them that allows them to learn more quickly.”In fact, the majority of the children in the same positionhave a common, passionate desire to learn more andmore about music.“These children work so much harder because it is allthey have; and for that, they dedicate themselveswholeheartedly to practicing,” concluded Rachel.
 
 
 The Life and Times…Page 3 of 4
Peru Mission was very excited to hosta team of 22 doctors, nurses, andassorted other people fromIndependent Presbyterian Church inMemphis, TN February 16-20. The teamfrom IPC came down to do a series ofmedical campaigns in some of themore impoverished areas of Trujillo.This is the team’s second year here,and after the success of last year'scampaigns, everyone was excited tohave them return. The team workednon stop 5 days straight ministering,bringing down their own mobilepharmacy and consulting in the areasof general medicine, dentistry,nutrition, obstetrics, and even minor surgery to help out some of theseverely underdeveloped parts of mywonderful city of Trujillo. Everyday theteam saw well over 150 patients, andtouched communities in extraordinaryways in the really underdevelopedareas, including a few squatter townsthat have only been established in thelast few years.I spent the last week translating for thedoctors that came down here. It'ssuch a great privilege to meet so
ow do you say allbladder in panish
One thing you should know about me is thatI have always had a medically odd frenulum(you know that stringy part under your tongue?) Well, mine was always attachedtoo far up- I could never really stick out mytongue. It never bothered me, it just mademe less likely to get in trouble as a child.The last day of the medical campaign, Dr.John the dentist was checking out my boca,looked at my tongue, and said “Gillian!You're frenulum is tethered, why didn't youtell me? I can't take care right now."Um. Excuse me?It turns out there is a minor surgery that cancut and free my tongue from the slavery ofthe frenulum. He told me he could do it that
 This probably doesn’t count as missionary work…
Pictures from The 2009 IPCMedical Missions Trip
many more people in the Peruviancommunities that I don't get to visitvery often as well as to be able tospend some time with some reallygreat doctors from the States at thesame time. We were able to listen tothe stories from the patients andafter many exams, the doctorsprayed with the patients as well.I met one lady- Rosa, a singlemother who has anemia and abouta million other problems that couldvery easily destroy a person's spirit,but Rosa continues on. She is outsideof the church right now and seekingpeace, seeking comfort, andseeking anyone to make her feellike she is not alone in this world. Wetalked for a while and I tried to sharethe light of the Gospel with her andgive her passages so that she couldsee the hope she has in Christ alone.We prayed for awhile and Icontinue to pray for her as I ask youto do the same, for Rosa, and for everyone else that has similar stories.This week was tiring but filled withprofound and abundant blessings!
So I thought about it a little, and then thedentist told me that a procedure like thatwould cost between $500 in the States. So Idecided that having that procedure in athird world country for free beat the heck out of paying for it. So after some deliciousPeruvian food, Dr. John and Dr. Mel numbedme up, laughed as I struggled to pronouncemy th’s and then…Snip. My first surgery ever.After 3 minutes, I was freed from my former handicap. I now can pronounce thingsclearly, though I was unaware that I talkedfunny before, and good news, I can now rollmy R's faster in Spanish! So all in all, I think notpaying a dime for this thing was worth it.So there you have it- Medical Campaignsand a free frenectomy. All in all, another 
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