Supporting the churches of Lojen and Salinas Moche
Up near the shores of Laguna Salinas is a tiny village called Lojen. The IEP (Iglesia Evangelica Peruana) church there isn't really established, and Roberto (Arequipa IEP presbytery elder) was itching to visit the small fellowship with their new building (less than a year old, and still largely unfinished). Could I take him up there one weekend so that we could encourage the church? No worries at all Roberto, Mike is always ready to give the Hilux another flogging and get to know more of the Quechua believers in the boondocks ;-)
Saturday afternoon saw us take off on the 2-hour trip to the high altitude salt lake, which is also about 2 kilometres higher in altitude than Arequipa. The carretera (road) up the mountain side isn't sealed, and there are drifts of pulverised dust about 1 foot deep with lots of loose rocks mixed in. On these trochas (tracks) the Hilux gearbox gets shoved into 4WD 'high range' to minimise the risk of understeer in the bends.
We pulled in to Salinas Moche in the late afternoon where there is some mobile coverage available , and Roberto began tracking down different church folk to see if a church service could be organised in Lojen with the support of some of the Moche crew. One of the IEP brothers finally got back from rounding up his herd of alpacas and llamas for the night, and he helped us set up our sleeping quarters in the church hall. By then word had got around that Pastor Roberto was in town, and the services were organised for Sunday morning: 9:00am in Lojen, and 11:00am in Salinas Moche. Sorted!
Above: people rocking up for the service at Lojen.
Sunday morning at about 7:00am we headed off for Lojen, an easy 20 minute around the laguna from Moche. First port of call was the granja (farm) of Faustino and his family, who provided us with a great breakfast of fried aplaca meat, rice and onions. Then down to the church building where people were gathering. We all sang (Spanish and Quechua numbers), Roberto preached, I brought greetings from the Australian churches, and a great time was had by all.
Above: Faustino's kids with a couple of their puppies.
Below: the alpaca/ llama herd itching to get out of the corral and start grazing.
There is one song I've often heard sung in these church services out in the high country, and I think the fact that it's a bit of a favourite reveals a lot about both the struggles and the faith of these Quechua believers:
Agradecimiento / Gratitude
Gracias Padre, gracias Padre / Thank you Father, thank you Father
En el nombre de Jesucristo. / In the name of Jesus Christ.
En las luchas, en las pruebas, / In the struggles, in the trials,
La iglesia sigue caminando. / The church keeps on walking.
Tú eres bueno, misericordioso, / You are good, merciful,
Tú eres santo, todopoderoso. / You are holy, all-powerful.
Tú eres justo y nunca has mentido, / You are just and you have never lied,
Es por eso que en ti yo confío. / That is why I trust in you.
Below: after-service snap. Holding Bibles aloft for a photo is the done thing.
From Lojen it was back to Moche and the Sunday service there, then lunch in a small but popular local restaurant. On the menu for the afternoon was soup with alpaca jawbone and chuños (the black potatos that are freeze-dried during the cold winters). I quietly gifted my chuños to Roberto who is always as happy to receive them as I am happy to get rid of them. I just can't handle the flavour or the strange texture, but if it's been a staple food for your whole life then of course it's a different matter!
Above: some of the Salinas Moche congregation.
On the way back down to Arequipa we took in the view from an old mirador (lookout) across Laguna Salinas. What a great weekend!
Above: Remants of the Inca (or pre-Inca? who knows) lookout.
Below: Roberto, probably dreaming about sprouting condor's wings.
