Going the extra mile

Update 2: Chris Mulryne. Today has been a positive day for Chris. At the insistence of the insurance company he was transferred from the Clinica Stella Marris to the Clinica el Golf (sounds more like a country club to me!) On arrival at the new clinic he was admitted immediately to the Intensive care unit for observation -but he's stable and doing well.

His progress owes much to the extra mile service of someone who could be described as an 'angel of mercy'. Dr Hernando Garzon is an American Doctor who normally works as a physician in the ER unit of a hospital in San Fransisco. He's the guy on the right in the picture. He deployed to the earthquake zone in Peru last week on a 2-week assignment to help those injured in the quake. It was Hernando who initially examined Chris and found the abnormality in his ECG test. Since then he's stuck to Chris like glue, travelling with him in the C130 plane back to Lima and being a constant encourager every step of the way.

He has vowed to stay with us until Chris leaves Peru bound for home shores. He's been invaluable, for the medical advice he's been giving, the translation services he's been forced into providing (as none of the medical personnel in either clinic have been able to speak with Chris in English) and the simple care and encouragement. He even smuggled a cup of tea into the ICU this mroning because he knew Chris was really missing a 'brew'.

His motto is 'we need to care for our own'.

At first glance this might sound a selfish and misplaced goal - after all, most of us involved in ministry have it drummed into us that we should be going out into the highways and byways to care for those outside. Caring for our own first is selfish - some might try to argue.

But it's been my experience that we often show far better care for those 'outside' than we do for our own. And I've seen many of our own who have become wounded on the way, or have dropped out through tiredness or discouragement, believing that no one cared for them. If I stop even for a brief moment I can fire off name after name of colleagues who used to serve alongside me but who are no longer in the fight, friends who might still be with us had someone just taken time to care.

This week Dr Garzon has been invaluable in his care and concern - but more than that, he's reminded me that perhaps it's only by protecting the valuable but vulnerable assets we already have that we can reach out with compassion to those others' who God places onto our radar.

Expect the unexpected (and keep smiling!)

If you read my last blog post you'll know that I arrived in Peru on Wednesday afternoon accompanied by my old friend Chris Mulryne. We are scheduled to be here for a week helping the Divisional Commander put plans together for the relief response to the earthquake which has almost wiped out the town of Pisco.

One thing I've learned in my decade of Emergency services ministry is that life is full of surprises. This trip has been no exception!

After arriving we discovered that the Army has a pretty low profile in Peru, largely because the Catholic church is so dominant. The Army's work for the earthquake had been noticed by the media and the arrival of the Army's International Emergency Coordinator had given them an opportunity to try and score a little more media time. So, for the first time ever, I found myself on the first morning of my assessment visit in the make up room of Peruvian national TV, having my face 'made up' in readiness for an interview slot on their morning show. It was fascinating to see how things in the studio ran - and it helped that the interviewer and presenter was absolutely stunning (don't tell Lyn I noticed!).

After the trip we headed off by car to Pisco - after removing the make up of course so we didn't give the impression that IHQ emergency guys turn up in the field looking like a couple of Nancy's.

When we arrived in Pisco Chris told me he had felt a bit unwell during the journey, but that it was probably indigestion. Next morning we started out tour of the Army's relief camps. Chris was still feeling uncomfortable and I suggested he found a way to get a check up. It tuned out that a small group of American physicians working with Relief International are partnering with TSA and providing clinic facilities for those injured in the quake. One of them offered to check Chris out while I carried on with the assessment.

It came as a great shock when I received a call later to say that the Doc had decided to give Chris an ECG and had discovered an abnormality - which meant Chris had likely had a heart attack!

I dashed back to base to find that Chris had been admitted to the local Field hospital awaiting transfer to the military airfield where he was to be airlifted back to hospital in Lima. So less than 24 hours after arriving in Pisco I was at the military airfield boarding a Hercules C130 cargo plane, with Chris laying on a stretcher.

A few hours later Chris was in the Intensive Care Unit of the clinic in Lima, the blood and ECG tests confirming he had indeed had a mild to moderate heart attack. As I write this he's waiting for a transfer to another specialist clinic in Lima, hoping that a few days to stabilise him will allow him to be medically repatriated home again.

I know I told him that the trip would prove valuable experience for him - little did I know what was in store! When I get time I'll tell you about the fantastic physician from Relief International who has not left our side since he first checked Chris over. But for now I'll leave you with the photo of Chris being loaded into the only vehicle we had which could serve as an ambulance - the emergency services canteen!

Spare a moment to pray for Chris and his wife Gaynor, can you? I know they were value your thoughts at this time.

Update from Peru 1 - pressure....!

Chris Mulryne (a corps officer from Ipswich) and I landed in Lima, Peru yesterday afternoon to help draw up plans for the Army’s longer term response to the recent earthquake. It was a long day. We left our hotel near Heathrow at 4am to check in for a very early flight out to Amsterdam. There we made a quick change and caught the direct flight to Lima, Peru. It was a long flight – although we were fortunate to have a good tail wind which sped us along in 11.5 hours instead of the anticipated 13. Still, one’s backside can get pretty numb after 11 hours sitting in economy. We arrived early in Lima and all our bags arrived, too – which is a minor miracle these days based on the reputations of Heathrow and Schipol airports!

We were met at the airport by Major Luz Nesterenko. She and her husband Alex are the Divisional Commanders of Peru. The country is one division of the South America West Teritory (which includes 4 other countries within it).

It was great to meet up with Luz again. I last worked with them 9 years ago when I was deployed to the Republic of Georgia (former Soviet Union) to run a feeding programme for a month and they were the Regional Commanders. Age must have caught up with both of us – as neither of us recognised the other - not a good way to start off this new chapter in our working relationship!

Alex and Luz are great people. They have 3 kids, the oldest being 14 and the youngest just 4. They’ve been DC’s in Peru for about 3 years and now find themselves leading a response to a major earthquake.

It’s when I come to places like this and see how officers such as Alex and Luz live and work that I understand and see for myself what real pressure is about. They have a nice home, but it’s built on top of DHQ, so they are never away from the work. Life at the moment is absolute frenetic for them. They have 26 officers in their division – Luz wasn’t sure how many soldiers, but they have only 12 fairly small corps so it’s not a huge number. From within hours of the earthquake hitting the town of Pisco, their relief teams have been in place, giving out hot meals, blankets and medicines. They are currently operating 6 distribution kitchens, serving 6,000 people a day with hot food. Early teams were asked by the local authorities to help recover the bodies. I have photos (not suitable for publishing) of SA personnel dragging the bodies from the rubble and bagging them for collection.

Pisco is a town of 120,000, and it’s estimated that over 80% of the buildings have been destroyed. I’ll see it for myself later today as we are heading out there in a few hours – so I’ll post some pics to this blog asap.

Many people have lost their homes and have no where to live. Others still have something but are afraid to live in it because of the aftershocks which continue till now. The relief teams have been given some rooms by the local authorities and are staying there working 20 hour shifts.

Today a team of reinforcements arrive from Chile. They are expecting about 12 Salvation Army volunteers to arrive to provide some relief to the teams who have been working non stop for a week now. But these reinforcements will themselves increase the pressure on Alex and Luz – they will need meeting, organising and accommodating. And of course, Chris and I turn up too, adding to their logistical problems. My prayer is that we’ll be an asset and not a burden!

Alex didn’t get home till midnight last night – he left Pisco at about 8pm to start the 4 hour drive back to Lima. As Chris and I had already been up 24 hours we retired to bed after dinner so will meet Alex this morning and discuss the way forward. We have been asked to do interviews with the State TV station this morning before we head to Pisco at lunchtime.

In the midst of all this chaos, Alex and Luz try to keep family life and routine going for their 3 kids – doing the school run and maintaining ‘home’. When I look at this lovely family I see what ‘pressure ‘ really means and realise that my life is an absolute doddle compared to theirs.

If you read this blog today perhaps you could offer up a quick prayer for Alex, Luz and their 3 sons, that God will watch over them and help them through these day.

Man looks at the outward appearance......but....

Image is everything - or so we are told. That concept was turned on it's head for me over the weekend. On Sunday morning we travelled about an hour north to lead worship at a small corps in Hertfordshire. We arrived really early and found ourselves waiting outside the hall. Well, we thought it was the hall. There wasn't anything which said it was The Salvation Army. the lettering which formerly made up the sign had either been vandalised or just deteriorated. There were only 3 letters left - T E A. At least that summed up what we are famous for, I suppose!

After a few minutes of waiting I began to think we might have the start time wrong. So I went to check the sign on the exterior noticeboard and found it was actually an appeal to help find a missing cat. Having never visited the place before I felt rather discouraged by this downbeat exterior. I even said to Lyn, 'the Army is going down the pan'.

After a while, the officers arrived and we went inside. The place started filling up. By the time we were ready to start the (smallish) hall was pretty much full. And what a great atmosphere - young families and small children mingled with older members of the congregation. The worship was well received - people joined in really nicely. After the meeting we were invited to join in for after meeting 'tea and fellowship'. Guess what, nearly everyone did! They chatted, they laughed and they enjoyed each other's company. I learned the stories of families who had been attracted to the church by the warm welcome and the care of the officer in charge. The 'upbeat' buzz about the place was in complete contrast to the exterior. To me, this was real church!

Being honest, I'd have liked to have seen a nicer exterior and a more welcoming appearance. I would have liked to see the place given a touch of paint and a new sign. But the lesson for me was that church is much more than snazzy posters or fancy slogans. It's about the family of God; Christianity in community. Despite the peeling paint and lack of external SA Shield I'm pretty sure this place will continue to attract new members. If this is what 'going down the pan' looks like in reality - then I hope other corps catch the habit.

It cheered me up, anyway!

After a pretty difficult week, this joke (rather un-pc, I'm afraid) really cheered me up:

A mother takes her five year old son shopping during a busy lunchtime. They end up in in a queue behind a very large woman in a business suit complete with pager. As they wait the little boy says rather loudly, "Mum, she's really fat!!".
Embarrassed, the mother bends down and has a quiet chat with the little boy.
A few minutes pass and the little boy spreads his hands as wide as they can go and says even more loudly "She must be this wide..!!!"
At this the business woman turns round and glares at the little boy. His mother gives him a telling off and tells him to be quiet.
After a brief lull, the large woman reaches the till. Just at that point her pager starts bleeping.
The little boy yells out, "Run for your life - she's reversing..!!!!"

It's a fair cop

What sort of week have you had? I confess mine has had it's real 'ups' and 'downs'. We started our week 'up north' leading the funeral of an old friend. As odd as it sounds, this was one of the 'ups'. He had experienced a full life, the church was packed to the doors and there was a real spirit of celebration for a life lived to the full.

Returned to work and spent the rest of the week feeling like we were under attack and fighting a rearguard defence every day. They were the 'downs' - but even in dealing with those some positive results have come.

Last night topped the week off nicely. As I rode home my mind was full of all the garbage I felt I had been dealing with during the day. I wasn't concentrating as well as I should have been. As I made my way down the outside of a traffic queue I followed another biker around a Keep Left bollard (on the right!). I didn't realise 2 police motorcyclists were following me. You guessed it, immediately pulled over an an on the spot £30 fine. It's the first time I've been nicked and the copper was nice enough about it, but it wasn't a great feeling.

As I rode away I was kicking myself for getting caught. If only I had checked my mirrors. On any normal day I would have done - but the hassle of the day distracted me. Strangely enough, despite having just committed an offence I felt no remorse for breaking the law - only annoyed that I got caught. As I rode carefully away afterwards I was passed by many other bikers, all taking the same (illegal) route around the bollards I had been taking earlier. Made me even more annoyed seeing them on their way home while I pottered along obeying the rules.

It made me think. Is sin wrong only if we get found out? Or does Christian integrity mean trying to do the right thing - even when no one's looking?

I don't believe it!

I was visiting a corps 'up north' recently (no names, no pack drill). Standing outside, I was looking at the notices at the front of the hall. The first thing I noticed was how nicely made they were - I hate poorly produced posters. Note only were they well produced, they were themed 'we are the church that listens'. Matching format - so far, so good.

The first poster said, 'you told us that you wanted parent and toddlers even during the holidays. We listened - we now run parent and toddlers even through the holidays'. Wow, commitment to meeting needs. Still good, I thought.

The next poster said 'you told us that Sundays are a busy day. We listened - so we now have worship every fortnight'. WHAT!!!!! I suddenly went into my Victor Meldrew mode - I called Lyn to loook whilst doing my, 'I don't believe it!' routine.

Am I really turning into a grumpy old man, or what? Now I'm all for valuing family time. The old days of 3 meetings and 2 Sunday Schools every Sunday now seem like a form of torture. But worship every fortnight! Do I assume that Parent and Toddlers are more important than Sunday worship? And we wonder why the church is declining! I'd be interested in your comments - let me know what you think.

Well said, sir!

With all respect to the sensitivities of those poor folks who suffered the flooding recently, I came across a great quote last weekend.

One of the casualties of the flooding in Gloucester was the local football team. Under a few inches of water the pitch was unplayable. On the verge of a new season this was obviously a terrible blow to the club.

In response, their manager was quoted as saying, 'we face many challenges; it's not the start to the season we were hoping - but at least the players remain buoyant!'

Yeah - goal !!!!!