A Letter from Rusty Edmondson and Sara Armstrong, serving in Peru
December 2018
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“Cambia, Todo Cambia”
— “Everything Changes,” a song by Mercedes Sosa
“What happens when you leave everything behind? When you leave everything familiar, not just houses and streets and wet, windy wintertime, but husbands, children, friends? … None of these [familiar] things have followed me to Egypt. Does this mean I am no longer the same person? Does this mean I too have changed?”
— from “The Mistress of Nothing” by Kate Pullinger
Rusty and Sara are home. “Kinda. Sorta.” We have been traveling for four months in the US, speaking about our work in Peru, and visiting partner churches and presbyteries in Texas, Tennessee, California, Kentucky, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, New York and North Carolina, plus all the stops in between.
As we travel, we are reflecting on past and present changes. We are definitely not the same people we were 10 years ago. The changes we encounter as we re-enter the US are as pronounced as the changes we perceive in ourselves.
It is a privilege to travel the US on itineration for four months. We have spoken in numerous churches, and people are engaged when Sara talks about her “popsicle moments.” She decided that the best way to re-enter the US in September was to join in the New Mexico Pilgrimage for Unity. Participants walked 40 miles in three days through the beauty of the northern New Mexico mountains and desert. It was enervating and exhausting. The blisters were beginning to slow her down, when Sammy appeared on a dry, hot day with a truckload of cold drinks and popsicles. What a delight to see refreshing popsicles devoured by pilgrims in the hot sunshine! She speaks about how this moment reminds her of God’s presence. Our “popsicle moments” reinvigorate and reorient us to God’s purposes as we work with teams in Peru. And they continue to occur as we visit churches across the country. Outside the country, people sometimes say that US churches are dying. However, our travels suggest that US churches are lively and engaged.
Sara is also struck by the changes in her family. The three- and five-year-old nieces she left ten years ago are now teenagers with intriguing lives. They map out a whole new country to investigate.
What most stands out to Rusty is not really how grey-haired his friends have become, or the commercial changes in our home community. The two things that stand out most to him are what has not changed … the dark night sky and how quiet it is at our home in the mountains of Colorado. This is starkly different from the bright lights and the undercurrent of continuous noise in Lima.
As we travel and converse with many of the friends we have made in our years in Peru, we think that perhaps the most striking change in our lives is our global perspective. News and information on international issues are not well covered by US news companies, so our laptops have become our primary source of information now that we have returned to the US.
Retirement … Rusty keeps hearing that word, and yet he has a difficult time understanding its true meaning. He prefers a different word — transition. Rusty will transition from “employment” to a phase of “exploration” of his bucket list. First, however, Sara and Rusty want to stop for a time. A time of renewal to recharge, redirect, reboot … whatever. We are really looking forward to spending Christmas in our Colorado home with family and close friends. On April 1, 2019, Rusty begins a new chapter of fulfilling adventures.
Retooling … Sara will pursue options for her next stage in life after the holidays. So many things seem interesting and worthwhile: service in the church, translation, and work in Peru or with refugees. It will take time to sort out the possibilities and commit to new plans.
The first three months of 2019 will be a time of discernment. For us, this is an exciting time, a joyful time to await God’s direction into the future of traveling another unknown path.
As this chapter ends and a new one begins, we reflect on changes during 10 years of grace-filled life. We are so grateful for all of you who have walked alongside us, supporting us with friendship, gifts and prayers as we served in Peru. We are also grateful that mission co-worker Chenoa Stock, who is currently serving in Bolivia, will begin serving in Peru in the new year. With her creative talents, she will continue to extend the PERUSA ministry that we began. We ask that those of you who have so faithfully walked alongside us will continue doing so by supporting Chenoa.
We have so many stories!! We look forward to telling them, keeping up with old friends and making new ones in 2019.
As we settle in Colorado, please keep in contact with us!
We wish you all a wonderful, hope-filled Advent and a blessed Christmas.
Rusty and Sara
Please read this important message from José Luis Casal, Director, Presbyterian World Mission
Dear partners in God’s mission,
We near the close of 2018 inspired by the hope of Christ. God is transforming the world, and you are helping to make it happen.
Thank you very much for your support of our mission co-workers. The prayers and financial gifts of people like you enable them to work alongside global partners to address poverty, hopelessness, violence and other pressing problems in the name of Jesus Christ.
Every day, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers are blessed to be able to walk alongside their brothers and sisters across the globe. Listening to each other in faith and in friendship, they learn from each other how to work towards a world in which everyone flourishes. Acting upon what they discover together, PC(USA) mission co-workers and our global partners strengthen the body of Christ.
Because you are an integral part of God’s mission, I invite you to become more deeply committed to Presbyterian World Mission. First, would you make a year-end gift for the sending and support of our mission co-workers? The needs in the world are great, and World Mission is poised to answer God’s call to serve others.
I also invite you to ask your session to add our mission co-workers to your congregation’s prayer list and mission budget for 2019 and beyond. Your multi-year commitment will make a great difference in our involvement with our partners. The majority of our mission co-workers’ funding comes from the special gifts of individuals and congregations like yours, for God’s mission is a responsibility of the whole church, not a particular area of the church. Now more than ever, we need your financial support!
In faith, our mission co-workers accept a call to mission service. In faith, World Mission, representing the whole church and you, sends them to work with our global partners. In faith, will you also commit to support this work with your prayers and financial gifts? With hope and faith, I await your positive response!
At God’s service and at your service!
José Luis Casal
Director
P.S. Your gift will help meet critical needs of our global partners. Thank you!
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