Arequipa

Colca Canyon

Someone else who the Lord got us in touch with on our next visit in 2007 was Alejandro Mesco.  He is a pioneering Anglican priest in the southern Andean mountain region.

He is quite amazing, when we met him his parish straddled the Colca Canyon which is about half its maximum depth where he was based, a mere 1800 m going to the bottom and the same again going up, which is considerably more than Ben Nevis, just to get to work in the morning.

Later on he was re-located to a second new parish where he is starting again almost from scratch, Villa Ecologica in Arequipa.

Very strange area, arid, very poor water supply, with very needy people.  He built a small congregation although the main occupation there is mining, so the miners are away for three weeks at a time.

Pastor Alejandro
Pastor Alejandro

Funding opportunities acted on.

  • Assist building Mission House in Cabanaconde in The Colca Canyon..
  • Fund food for Alpha course (or similar curriculum) in parish.
  • Lay on water supply both for San Felipe mission in Cabanaconde, Colca Canyon.

St. Felipe Mission

The Lord put it in our hearts to find Alejandro Mesco, an Anglican minister in the Colca Canyon.  This was through a picture in a missionary magazine. We had never met him before.   Our mission was to help him with the expense for laying up the waste and water pipes for the mission.  We arrived just in time to provide the means for him to pay the workers just before Christmas.

St. James Mission

Santiago Apostol is a small community. The chapel (beneath picture) as it was in 2013.   Lacked facilities such as water, light and sewage pipes etc.  As you will see in the pictures, there are people living around.  People are very humble they come from the outskirts of the city looking for a job.

In 2014, The Condor Vision Trust helped with the restoration of the chapel providing windows and the provision of water pipes and water as well as the equipment needed to carry out the work.

Waterpipes 1
Waterpipes 1
Waterpipes 2
Waterpipes 2
Waterpipes 3
Waterpipes 3

Fr. Alejandro gives thanks to God that he has now got windows in the mission.   Apart from working in the building he is also translating the Anglican literature in to Quechua the Indian language.

Congregation
Congregation
Congregation
Congregation

Fr. Alejandro wrote:  “Thank you so much for your help and your prayers as you can see the chapel has changed greatly”

We are thankful to God the water company has agreed to the installation of water pipes and sewage drainage in this arid location where the mission is situated.   It is a great joy for Fr. Alejandro because there has not been water and toilets in the mission for 8 years.

Fr. Alejandro
Fr. Alejandro
Fr. Alejandro
Fr. Alejandro
Fr. Alejandro
Fr. Alejandro