Huanta

Monday dawned sunny and cool, and by midmorning we were on the road by taxi to Huanta, a town much smaller than Ayacucho. On the way we were treated to beautiful views of the Andean desert.

After an hour and a half or so, we arrived in Huanta, which struck us as being much more relaxed and open, as well as warmer and even a bit cleaner than Ayacucho. It is also a city with a lot of history.

We checked out the facilities at Genesis Presbyterian Church, where the workshop took place, then checked into the Morales Hotel, a very comfortable … we thought of it as a reasonably priced bed without breakfast … a few doors down the street.

Back at the church we were enthusiastically greeted by the thirteen workshop participants, and Ginny and Miguel got right to work.

After the workshop, Pastor Samuel and Miguel returned to Ayacucho for the night, and Pastor Teodoro, the pastor of Genesis Pres, adopted us for dinner at one of Huanta’s ubiquitous chifes, which seem to be restaurants specializing in fried rice. And what a dinner it was! We should have known by the name of the dish—aeropuerto (airport)—that we were ordering more than we could eat, but we didn’t. With Miguel’s words that not finishing one’s meal indicates that the food is no good, we did our best to chow it down—it really was delicious—but had to give up with at least a full helping yet to go. No one seemed offended when we asked for a take-away carton, and we were relieved that Pastor Teodoro took some home as well, so maybe no damage was done.

After a good night’s sleep, Pastor Teodoro came by to take us to breakfast. When we told him we couldn’t possibly face a restaurant breakfast, he took us up to the studio of the radio station he and his wife—who also shares pulpit duties at Genesis Pres—run. From 4am to 9pm every day, they broadcast the gospel in Quechua, Spanish, and what sounded like various mixtures thereof to thousands of people in three regions (provinces). There we enjoyed a relaxed conversation over just what we needed to eat—the local-style breads of Ayacucho and Huanta, eggs, and tea.

Attendance at Tuesday’s workshop was less than the first day, even with a few new faces—Peruvians have jobs too—but after presentations by Ginny and by Pastor Samuel, those who had come split into two groups and each composed a song – one group singing through Psalm 117 and the other choosing the opening verses from Psalm 67.  Both songs were in authentic Quechua style and the people seemed very pleased with them. They even sang through each song a second time, adding whatever percussion instruments they could come up with—an old bucket for a bass drum, cymbals from two saucepan lids, and used water bottles filled with some stones for shakers.

The drive back to Ayacucho was beautiful and relaxing, despite the many hairpin curves.

What’s next? Well, we just found out that Ginny’s part in the women’s conference is now only one session—a bit of a disappointment, for sure (it seems to have been a communication mix-up)—but we know that God is the one who is determining our daily schedule here, so we look forward to what his plans are for us these next two days before the weekend music festival begins.