13 September 2011
|Another interesting incident for me was when we were on “vacation” here by the ocean. We had lived in Mollendo during our early years here (1967 through 1969) and we (especially the kids and I) really enjoy coming back to the seafront.
Two British mission boards own summerhouses in Mejia, a fishing village near Mollendo. Different missionaries rent these homes for a few days or weeks during our summer (December through February.) Anyway, we usually get a few days down there.
One of those times, also when Joe was small, we were enjoying the ocean. I love to jump in the waves, but when I come out, as you can imagine, I am not exactly fixed up to meet important people. On this occasion, as I emerged from the sea I was sure I saw a former president of Peru!
Below: Peruvian presidents, Fernando Belaunde on the left, Alan Garcia on the right.I said to myself, “either I have sand in my eyes, or this is really Fernando Belaunde!” There was no way I would not face him as I came out of the water, he was right there by the ocean watching me emerge!
Well, it was indeed he, and even though I was dripping wet and all sandy and salty, he was very diplomatic and greeted me in perfect English! He later met Bob and saw little Joe playing in the sand, congratulated us and returned to his family who were accompanying him on the beach.
I commented how we wished he were still president, as he had done a lot for the roads in the south of Peru, and Bob travels extensively to outlying places with no roads. Mr. Belaunde very graciously thanked us. He was a very kind gentleman.
Interestingly enough, we also saw Alan Garcia, who was elected right after Mr. Belaunde in 1985, in the airport in Arequipa just before his election. He didn’t actually see all of us, but he winked at our daughter, Terri!
We were sending her off to school in Bolivia for her final year at the New Tribes Mission School. Anyway, Alan Garcia is now president again, and we will say that this time he has done more for the roads here.
We are thankful that many of the towns Bob visits now are accessible by road, even though some of these are not exactly highways! We do not exactly expect to meet up with presidents, but it has been kind of interesting. Most of all we desire to be ready to meet the Lord when our time comes to do that!