August 2011

Huancayo, Peru

Volume 4, Issue 8

PREPARING FOR OUR LAST MONTH IN PERU BEFORE HEADING TO THE STATES FOR FURLOUGH
We will be heading back to the United States sometime in September (or October, depending on some legal issues with the kids visas). Please pray for us as we make preparations and as we are traveling.

WHAT DOES HEADING TO THE STATES FOR FURLOUGH MEAN?

HUANCAYO August marks two years in Peru for us (last month marked three years in Latin America). According to The Mission Society policy, this means it is time for us to head back to the states for a visit. The visit is called a furlough, but when I looked up the definition for that word, it seems to be a misnomer. Furlough refers to a break. A time of rest. We will take some time to rest, but actually, not much more than we would if we just stayed here in Peru. Maybe a more accurate name is W.S.S. for Working Stateside. Our time in the states is not a vacation time. It is a time to see family and friends. To catch up and to talk and chat about whats happening in our lives. It is also a time to meet with groups and churches. It is a time to seek both continued and new support. According to our visa status (the Peruvian governments permission for us to be here), we cannot earn money from Peruvian sources. Therefore, we need support from those outside the country. If we dont get it (or pledges for it) while we are working stateside, it is very hard to get.

UNITED STATES Do you like to get together with your friends? Do you like to know what God is doing around the world? Would you consider hosting a party for us while we are in the states? What we are looking for are a few people to host a Peru Party in their homes, at their church, in a local coffee shop, at the local library, school, or anyplace else. It could also take place any time during the day. All we ask you to do is invite 10-20 friends and acquaintances who might be interested in knowing what God is doing here in Peru in and through us, provide a place for us to meet, and a few refreshments (this doesnt have to be a lot, but people are attracted by food!). We will then share a 10 minute video with them and have an informal question and answer time. At the end we will ask them to prayerfully consider partnering with us so that we can continue to minister in Peru. Please take a look at our confirmed schedule and let us know when you could fit us in! If you are willing to host a party, please contact us at opencircleperu@gmail.com or on our facebook accounts (Ash McEuen or Audra McEuen).

CONFIRMED SPEAKING DATES

As of the first week of August, these are our confirmed speaking dates for our work in the states. If you ware willing and able to host a Peru Party for us, please check the red available dates. We will be in the southeast (mostly Georgia and Alabama) during October and November. The Monday

Sunday, October 7-9 ...McEachern UMC, Powder Springs Sunday PM, October 9........ Little River UMC, Woodstock Monday, October 10 .........................................Available Tuesday, October 11 ................ Peru Party in Woodstock Wednesday, October 12 ..........Woodlawn UMC, Augusta Thursday, October 13 ........................................Available Friday, October 14.............................................Available Sunday AM, October 16, .......Ooltewah UMC, Ooltewah Sunday PM, October 16............. Farmville UMC, Calhoun Monday, October 17 .........................................Available Tuesday, October 18 .........................................Available Wednesday, October 19 ...................... Sorayas Birthday Thursday, October 20 ........................................Available Friday, October 21.............................................Available Sunday AM, October 23 . McDonough UMC, McDonough Sunday PM, October 23.................... Trinity UMC, Dalton Monday, October 24 .........................................Available Tuesday, October 25 .......... Peru Party with Hinton UMC Wednesday, October 26 ................. Ellijay UMC(pending) Thursday, October 27 ........................................Available Friday, October 28.............................................Available Sunday AM, October 30 .. Ball Ground UMC, Ball Ground Sunday PM, October 30.....................................Available Tuesday, November 1 .......................................Available Wednesday, November 2 ...........Lowell UMC, Lowell, GA Thursday, November 3 ..................................... Available Sunday, November 6 ............ Covenant UMC, Dothan, AL Monday, November 7 ........ Available (in south Alabama) Tuesday, November 8 .......... Peru Party with the Hessels Wednesday, November 9 ..................................Available Thursday, November 10 ....................................Available Friday, November 11 .........................................Available Sunday morning, November 13 .... Midway UMC, Auburn Sunday evening, November 13 ..........................Available Monday, November 14 ........................ UGA, Athens, GA Tuesday, November 15 .....................................Available Wednesday, November 16 ................................Available Thursday, November 17 ....................................Available Friday, November 18 ....... Spring Place UMC, Chatsworth Sunday morning, November 20 .........................Available Sunday evening, November 20 .. Pending (North Georgia) Sunday, November 27 ................ Boynton UMC, Boynton Sunday, November 27 ..Woodstation UMC, Woodstation

following Thanksgiving, we will be heading north through Illinois and Wisconsin to Minnesota. After that we will head through the Dakotas (not sure which one yet) to Montana. The trip back to Georgia will take us through Colorado. We need to be in Florida the first week of January for a Mission Society meeting for all missionaries in the Americas. Our hope is to return to Peru as soon as the meeting is over.

SORAYA AND MARIA FERNANDA (A NEW FRIEND FROM BRAZIL) IN TRADITIONAL DRESSES
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 or online at http://opencircleperu.weebly.com. They receive their mail at Jirn San Jos 230 Urb. San Carlos, Huancayo, Per.

An updated Schedule is on our webpage: http://opencircleperu.weebly.com

ASHS OPPORTUNITIES TO TEACH

HUANCAYO Ash has been teaching a lot lately. He has been in demand over the past few years to speak with youth and young adult groups, to speak at chapel services, and to teach classes on a variety of topics. Requests for him to speak seem to have increased a lot over the past few months. Recently, for example, he spent a few hours with about 50 young people (from age 12 to about 25) in a youth retreat in a nearby community. He shared with them the first words of Jesus in the gospel of John (What are you looking for? and Come and see) and invited the youth to consider what they are looking for in their relationship with Christ. Later, he spoke individually with some of the youth talking about what it means for a Christian to date and if God really speaks to people through dreams among other topics (the youth approached him with these questions). Ash has also been working with a local church the first Sunday of each month, sharing what it means to be in missions. Every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is a missionary. Whether it is at home or in another country, we are all called, he said. Later this month he will be teaching a class on how to tell stories from the Bible as a form of discipleship and evangelism. The purpose is to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to the people and to help them to find the answers for themselves, instead of having them spoon fed by the expert. He will also teach a longer seminar on how to do inductive Bible Study. Inductive Bible Study is a way that anybody can look closely at the Word of God and find what it means for their lives, he said. It is most effective and applicable to our own lives when we let the Holy Spirit teach us. We can use commentaries and read what others say later, but first we need to do some work ourselves.

MINISTRY IN HUANCAN
HUANCAN As a family, we have been to Huancan twice. The first Christmas here, we were invited to share a Chocolatada with the kids in the community (a chocolatada is a party where rich hot chocolate is served with a sweet Christmas bread called Panetn). This past February, we were invited again to share another Chocolatada. We enjoyed both times and both times we began to fall in love with the community. The last time there, Ash sat next to an elderly woman from the community. She looked at him and said simply, I wish I could learn the stories of the Bible. The community has a Catholic chapel, but by all appearances the priest is only there on occasion. The religious atmosphere is one of apathy, with people coming to church only for the festivals and the parties after the mass. There is no evangelical presence in the community. Audra and Ash and the family have been praying and wondering what Gods plan is for the community. Recently, two people approached them saying We feel God calling us to do a mission work in Huancan. How exciting! What is more exciting is that it is two Peruvians who want to do the work. They are working with the McEuens to learn better how to enter the community and to share the love of God with the people and how to meet not only the spiritual, but also the physical and mental needs as well. It is a lost community, the Peruvians told them. People dont often consider it a place of importance. We think the Holy Spirit is leading us to work there. Audra and Ash will be working in the background, empowering the local people to do what God has called them to do. This month we begin working with them, helping them to enter Huancan as learners, asking the people to teach them. From there, they will begin to build their ministry based on the words and teachings of the people who actually live there.

FINANCES ARE VERY LOW

HUANCAYO, 2011 Because of our need for a time of work in the states and the cost of tickets and travel, our finances are very low right now. Please prayerfully consider helping us out so that we can continue to do ministry here in Peru. To send gifts, please use the form at the end of this newsletter or go online to www.themissionsociety.org/people/mceuen. A TYPICAL POSE FOR AYLI WITH HER CAMERA

TRAINING HELD IN HUANCAYO

HUANCAYO Five years ago, Audra, Ash, Kia, Ayli, Todd and Soraya (although still in Audras belly at the time) flew to Brazil to receive two weeks of intense training with The Mission Society. Many of the things they learned there have been informing their ministry ever since. It is this training that in many ways sets The Mission Society apart from most other mission sending agencies. That training continued in Brazil for three more years, until this past month when it moved here to the mountains of Peru. The first week of July, nearly one hundred men, women, youth, adolescents, and children from the United States, Peru, Haiti, Kenya, Brazil, Ecuador and Germany came together to learn more about how to truly serve God as a cross-cultural witness. According to many sources, the training here was one of the best yet. As a team, the missionaries here in Huancayo (the McEuen, Drum and Ivey families) pulled together to host the training, running errands, talking to new missionaries, leading sessions, and translating, among other things. Current plans are for the Mission Society to return in July of 2012.

PERUS NEW PRESIDENT

LIMA On July 28, 2011 (the day Peru celebrated 190 years of independence from Spain) a new president of the country was sworn into office. His name is Ollanta Humala and is a member of the Gana Peru (Peru wins) party, the Nationalist political party. He has a colorful history and is a soldier by training. Winning the runoff election by only a few percentage points over Keiko Fujimori, Ollanta appealed to the people living in poverty. Although he has just begun his term in office, his speech laying out his plan of action for government held many promises for a better tomorrow. One of the biggest steps he has made so far is cancel the 1993 (more conservative) constitution in favor of the 1979 (more militaristic) constitution. Some Peruvians like this move. Others do not. Please be in prayer for the people of Peru and for President Ollanta Humala during this time of change and transition.

ABOVE: B. TODD TAKING A BREAK BETWEEN SESSIONS BELOW: KIA WITH ONE OF HER STUDENTS AT TMS TRAINING