JUST A LITTLE BIT

Well we have been in Peru for two weeks now. It has been both wonderful and challenging at times mostly because we don't know the language. We have fallen in love with Picota and the people. We see that there is a great need here and are blessed to have been called to serve the people.

Here we are at a home visit with this elderly woman. Three generations of single mothers live in this home.

Picota and the outlying pueblos are in need of the Theology of the Body. We have learned that over 75% of the population is under 24 years of age. In some of the pueblos the percentage is much higher. This stems from first and foremost the lack of knowledge of Christ. Christ is who we are all called to love and it is His love that we are in search of. Often times this is sadly misunderstood and instead of His love people try to substitute Him for the love of others or self. 

We met this fifteen year old girl while visiting her abuela, grandmother, when we were told that she is pregnant and expecting her first child.

We have found that most of the children having children are living in broken homes without a father. This is very evident throughout Picota. We visited three homes last week and two of them were shared amongst three generations of single mothers. It is sad to think that these young girls have no father in their life, but what is even more sad is that they do not know their true Father. They do not know that He is with them and cares deeply for them; so much so, as to send His son to die for them. 

Calampa fixing the roof on the chapel at the Pastoral Center.

But there is hope! Jesus is alive here!!!

The people here are open to the Good News and are starving for it. Upon hearing God's Word there is a change in them. They want to live for Him and to change their ways. This is evident in the life of a couple we met. The woman was a teenager when she became pregnant with a child. It was not long after they found Christ a few years later that they became married in the Church. 

Padre Paco teaching the children with Faustina in his arms.

I come to you now to beg for prayers. Please pray for the people of Picota, Peru. They are in desperate need of God. I know that through your prayers and sacrifices God will hear your pleas and answer the needs of His children here. Please pray for modesty and chastity. Please pray for a love of God that burns in the hearts of the young and the old. Please pray that we will be open to what God is leading us to do for the people here. Please pray for the continued holiness of Padre Leopoldo and Padre Paco. I also ask that you pray for the Sisters that serve here that they may continue to serve God and that their order will continue to grow. 

Padre Paco and the Sisters at the future site of a boarding school for girls. This is one way they are trying to change the situation for young girls.