Into the land where llamas, alpacas, and vicuna freely roam, where the landscape is barren desert, towering mountains, and dense jungle, where cities have existed for centuries at extremely high altitudes or at sea level, and where a third of the nation’s population resides—into this diverse, beautiful land forty adventurous, dedicated, hard-working individuals traveled to build a new house of worship.

These Maranatha volunteers traveled 250 miles north of Peru's capitol, Lima, to an oasis community, a suburb of Nuevo Chimbote, called Buenos Aires. After traveling past miles of huge sand mounds, a short distance inland from the Pacific Ocean, the Detroit Maranatha team took up residence in this town where the motor-scooter taxi is the main mode of transportation and shares the road with burro-pulled carts.

With the organizational skills of retired hospital administrator Richard "Dick" Lane, and the leadership of Arthur "Doc" Weaver, a retired surgeon, and a lot of muscle and perspiration, this group completed the church in five days. During this time, Don Horricks, a Canadian dentist, provided a dental clinic for hundreds of needy people in the area. Team members also presented a Vacation Bible School for 45 beautiful, well-behaved local children. None of this would have been possible without the fine culinary skills of Natalie Weaver and her kitchen crew.

This was the fifth Maranatha short-term missionary venture led by Dick and Doc. Doc and Natalie Weaver are members of the Plymouth (Michigan) Church and Dick is a member of the Metropolitan (Michigan) Church, also in Plymouth. Don, accompanied by his family, all from Wyoming, Ontario, Canada, made this an international team. Most of the remaining team members reside in Michigan, but there were also representatives from Nevada and Washington, and John Harvey, the construction leader, hails from Tennessee. Though the majority of the workers were members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, all were fine, dedicated Christians who desired to share in the Lord’s work.

The Buenos Aires Church is one of a hundred and one churches Maranatha Volunteers International (MVI) has slated to construct in Peru in the two years spanning 2004 and 2005. Dick and Doc were able to arrange this trip with the fine assistance of Manuel Brenes, MVI field representative. With guidance and direction by Manuel, and invaluable translating services provided by Iris Riethmeier of the Metropolitan Church, this was truly a successful trip.

This story would not be complete without mentioning the lovable, gracious, kind, friendly Adventist brethren of Peru—from the energetic, happy members of the Buenos Aires Church, to the colorfully-clad citizens from Adventist churches in the mountainous regions in the cities of Cusco and Machu Picchu. They love the Lord Jesus and serve Him with enthusiasm and sincerity.

The Detroit Maranatha team left Peru confident the new church would soon be full of new, vibrant followers of Jesus because of the dedicated church members who are sharing the Gospel with the people of Peru. We all look forward to Jesus’ soon coming. Maranatha!

Joy Hyde, a Maranatha volunteer, is a member of the Metropolitan Church in Plymouth, Michigan.