Let’s take a brief side journey to the Anglican mission Santa María Magdalena in Juliaca, high on the Altiplano. On Sunday, June 8th, Fr. Juan Carlos, his youngest son, and I took off from Arequipa in order to celebrate Holy Communion with the brothers and sisters of this mission to which my home church, Anglican Church of the Resurrection, is sending support.
This mission in Juliaca is not new, but has grown extremely slowly, since there has almost never been a long-term, full-time pastor (ordained or unordained) assigned to live in Juliaca. Juliaca itself is a difficult city to begin a mission: the idolatry, witchcraft, and commercial materialism of Juliaca and its larger neighbour Puno is legendary and even prompted the choice of name for the mission: St. Mary Magdalene, from whom our Lord cast seven demons.
The trip up took about 5 hours, and was quite eventful, as we not only passed 14,000 feet of elevation, had a lunch consisting of cow tongue and native herbal tea, and were able to see flocks of alpaca and vicuña (an endangered relative of the llama and alpaca), but we also were graced with the continual presence of unheard music from the 1980s throughout our ascent. A bit tired, we were able to get some rest once we arrived before the service began.
Despite lower than average attendance, the service began well at 5:45. Fr. Juan Carlos allowed me to preach the sermon, taken from Romans 4, and God was clearly at work despite the cold, the altitude, and the language. There is a growing group of young people in their early 20s who have been working on the music, and were able to provide instrumentation for our singing, which was an added blessing.
Afterward, over hot chocolate and bread, I was able to get to know the congregation better. Together we sang Psalms and praise songs, shared stories and experiences, and I listened as they told me the trials and difficulties of raising up a mission in Juliaca, especially in the absence of a permanent pastor.
We began the return journey to Arequipa late, about 9:30, and our gracious Father gave us a swift and safe journey, tired but content with our trip and full with hope for the mission.
Please pray with us that God would grow this mission, not only in numbers but also in maturity, knowledge, and love; that he would provide shepherds to watch this flock, not only once a week, but full-time throughout the week; and that he would be glorified by this tiny point of light in the midst of such darkness in the difficult city of Juliaca.