With my family here, we stopped in at ATEK for a tour, to meet the staff and to hear about the progression of their projects and plans.
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| Milagros and Pastor Fredi showed us photos from Huanca Huanca on the laptop |
Pastor Fredi had been in our sister village, Huanca Huanca the day before we came and had photos to show and updates to tell us. The agriculture program that our church is involved with has really been productive and is benefiting the community. With the help of Bernaldino, the agriculturist our church sponsors, they have been learning to plant and produce new vegetables that have never before been grown there. Previously, the community has mostly lived on potatoes and the scant meat they raise, needing to trade for or buy other vegetables and produce in Cusco or closer to Cusco. It is over a 5 hour drive on rough, windy roads, and public transport is not constant. I am sure you can imagine the lack of resources and proper vitamins and nutrients.
During this past year, they have been planting, harvesting and selling new vegetables such as beets, varieties of onion, garlic, carrots, and others. They are starting to see a financial benefit, and are encouraged by the money they have for their homes, children's education and other needs.
The process for getting land rights for the new church they want to build has also been long and drawn-out. However, it finally looks like it should be a go, with permission from the mayor, land titles and paperwork in place. They are hoping to have a local team start building the new Huanca Huanca evangelical church in the coming weeks!
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| Milagros telling us about the current building work on our tour of ATEK |
The third story of the ATEK building in Cusco is also underway. The dormitories in the opposite building are done and ready for people to use the location as a hostel. The third story will provide more space for dormitories. When there are training sessions at ATEK for community church pastors, elders, pastor's wives, and Sunday school leaders, the spaces for teaching and dormitories are full over maximum.
Work continues in the offices by staff preparing Sunday school and teaching material, planning for children's summer camps, agriculture and health campaigns, and other areas. They are also working on producing the first Bible dictionary in Quechua.
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