July 2011

Huancayo, Peru

Volume 4, Issue 7

No, Omega laughed. Im just like swimming. Will you teach me? asked the young lady. For the next hour, Omega and the young lady swam in the pool, starting in the big pool, they moved to the wading pool to help boost the students confidence. The whole time she was teaching, they were being watched by other Peruvians. Eventually they moved to the intermediate pool for more practice in a bit deeper water. Audra and I watched from our seats at the table under the umbrella. When our eyes looked back at the wading pool, we saw something wonderful: the mother who had been watching Omega and the young lady, was doing the same thing with her two children. She was teaching them how to swim. That is really what it is about. We are here to teach others how to swim. We cannot do the swimming for them. Thats their job. We can, however, offer the tools they need to do it. Thats called empowerment. Its a tough word sometimes, and there is a fine line between it and prescribing. In a nutshell, the difference between the two is this: empowerment begins with them while prescription begins with us; empowerment allows them to seek and to discover their own needs for themselves while prescription means we come in with all the answers even though they might not even think they need to ask the question; empowerment is letting them decide for themselves while we provide tools as they request them while prescription is us telling them what to do whether or not they want to. Prescription is easy and lasts for a short time. Empowerment is hard (and sometimes frustrating) but lasts for much longer. Whats really cool about empowerment is that we dont know who is being affected. Omega was teaching one girl to swim, but with her actions, another family was

A multiplying ministry:
empowering others to do what they can do for themselves
LA MERCED Ayli and Kia were in the jungle around La Merced helping with a medical campaign with Roswell United Methodist Church in Roswell, Georgia. At the end of the week, Audra, Ash, Todd, and Soraya, along with Joel (Kia s enamorado) and the two interns working with them this summer, went up and then down the mountain to see them. They spent the weekend enjoying the sun and relaxing. At the hotel where we stayed, there is a swimming pool used by the community. Soon after we got there, we put on our bathing suits and went down to cool off. Being the only people not from Peru, which was rather obvious because of the color of our skin, we drew some attention from the other people there. They watched us from the far end of the pool, trying to figure us out. Omega, one of the interns, began swimming laps the long length of the pool. One of the young ladies watching from the side watched with interest. Eventually, she screwed up enough courage to ask her with wide eyes, Are you training for the Olympics?

A trip to the jungle

Medical Missionaries
LA MERCED A couple of weeks ago, me and my sister (Kia) went to the jungle for a medical mission trip with a group of people from a church in the USA named Roswell UMC. I was working with the kids all week and got to play and dance with about 50 kids every day. It was awesome to see how a small thing, like painting their faces, could make them so happy. I was really blessed to be a part of that mission trip and connect with the people from the states and the people in the jungle of Peru. (by Ayli , age 14)

A few things we do
HUANCAYO We are always busy with one thing or another. A few of the ministries we are focusing on this month (and early July) include a new Bible Study for youth and young people, a workshop with ninth graders at the local Methodist School on Enamoramiento: Love and Sexuality, and a workshop that teaches families their role in teaching their children how to read.

affected when the mama thought, Hey, I can do that! and began teaching her own children. Had Omega said, You need to do this with your children, she probably would have come up with a log of excuses not to. Ministry multiplication happens when we empower others to do it for themselves. The old saying talks about giving people a fish and teaching them to fish. Our goal here in Peru is to teach people how to fish, or to swim, or to read, or to make moral decisions, or to know Christ Jesus, or or or Sometimes people look at us as mini-gods for doing what we are doing. Oh, youre from North America. You have all the answers. We hear that in one form or another. The truth is, we dont. We have tools to offer. We have ideas. But ultimately, it is up to them to come up with the solutions. We are here to help them in the journey as they are here to help us in ours. It works together like that. It is truly a blessing.

Open Circle Peru is published monthly by the McEuen Family, Missionaries to Peru with The Mission Society. They may be reached by email at opencircleperu@gmail.com. Their webpage is found at http://opencircleperu.weebly.com. You can send them mail at Jirn San Jos 230; Urb. San Carlos; Huancayo, Per.

Interns for the summer

HUANCAYO What a blessing it is when the body of Christ is working together. This summer, we have the blessed privilege to work with two young people for five weeks. Both Alex Wilson and Omega Tennant graduated with honors from Union Grove High School in McDonough, Georgia, this past spring and have decided to spend their last summer of childhood helping the children of Peru (both were here a year ago on a short term team). They have been working at the library and at one of the local orphanages, making a lot of new friends. They are very talented, flexible and able to do what we ask of them. We are very blessed to have them here with us. We asked them to write a few words about their experience here so far: Alex Wilson (age 18) I am here in Peru this summer simply from listening to God. I had totally different plans for the summer last year, but I realized I wasnt being obedient to Gods calling for my life. Now I am here and loving it. I am building relationships with many kids, and I love every second spent with them. I am very happy here and leaving will be very difficult Alex will be attending Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia, this fall. He is undecided about his major, but is leaning towards international languages. Omega Tennant (age 18) Coming back to Peru for the second time has been drastically different than the first time. I prepared to come here, embrace the culture, and learn about people who I believed to be bastante diferente than me. I realized, however, upon arriving here that the people are just as interested in learning more about me as I was them. It has been life changing and a real time of self discovery. I sometimes find myself trying to find things that bother me about being here or struggles that I have, but I truly cant think of any that wouldnt also be in the states. I know that truly, God has sent me here for a reason. Omega will be attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville this fall. She is undecided on a major, but is leaning towards languages and anthropology.

PLANS FOR THE FALL

HUANCAYO The time has nearly arrived for us to return to the United States for a time of furlough. We will be there (depending on the price of airline tickets) from mid-September through mid-January. During that time we will spend time with family and friends, as well as speak at a (hopefully) large number of churches, small groups, libraries, etc. If you would like us to talk with your organization, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can put it on our calendar. Although we will truly miss Per and the people here while we are gone, we are looking forward to seeing all of you as well.

Whats up with the Family

Kia has been working hard taking the lead in preparing music and worship services for the upcoming training of The Mission Society that will take place here in Huancayo the first two weeks of July. She will also teach the two and three year old Missionary Kid training during the retreat. Ayli enjoyed her time in the jungle (its a lot hotter there than here in the mountains). She is looking forward to spending time with other Missionary Kids during the training next month. She is a tremendous help with the interns. Todd has gotten a new violin (full size now) and has learned six new songs. Soraya loves being a princess and dressing up. She is at preschool five days a week and has a lot of new friends. Audra is enjoying playing hostess for visitors and teams that come our way. Right now she is making 42 welcome baskets for the training in July. Ash is spending a lot of time preparing and leading workshops for adults, youth, and children. He is also speaking a number of Sundays at different churches.

DEAR ASH, AUDRA, KIA, AYLI , TODD, AND SORAYA, Through careful and earnest prayer, I have come to the following decision:
I/we will pray for you. Please send me/us your prayer letter. Please update me by e-mail ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ As God provides, I/we will partner with you by giving $ __________ per month / quarter /year I would like to give a one-time gift of $ __________. Please contact us again next year. I would like to be your liaison with my church or organization. I would like to organize an annual support raising event (e.g., sale, dinner, carwash, golf tournament, 5K run, etc)

Your name ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City_____________________________________________________ State________________ Zip ______________________________________ Phone (______) ___________________________ Church _______________________________________________________________________ Please return this form (with your first gift, if applicable) to: The Mission Society PO Box 922637 Norcross, GA 30010-2637

Designate gifts: McEuen Support 5/323

Photos from the front: Omega teaching the girl to swim; A beautiful woman from the jungle; Alex Wilson; Omega Tennant; Kia and Ayli with some children in the jungle; Audra holding a Machetero (so named because his teeth are as sharp as a machete); Todd having fun; Ash talking (big surprise there, huh?); and Soraya dressing as a princess.