Mission Partners

The Mescos

Dear friends in Christ.

Greetings to you all

I am writing to tell you that this week I was appointed by BishopWilliam Godfrey to establish a new mission in the small village of Cabanaconde in the Colca Canyon, seven hours away from the city of Arequipa.

The new mission is called "San Felipe". My family will stay in Arequipa and I will come to visit them at the end of each month, for we do not yet have a place where we can stay. I shall rent a room and then we will build accommodation on ground that the church has bought in Cabanaconde.

From there we shall go out to visit other villages, to serve and help people and tell them the good news of Christ. It is a very Roman Catholic area and local traditions and alcohol are very dominant in these places.

It is a huge challenge for my family and myself, especially as we have always lived together and have never been separated as a family, but if the Lord needs me, I will go for a period. I recognise that I have no experience in the mission field , nor in living in a different culture, but I trust that the Lord will help me and so I ask for your prayers for my family in Arequipa, for my children: Alejandro (23), Carlos (20), Helen (18)and my wife, Doris, who will be in charge of them, as they will need company for a while.

The Church of San Lucas and the School will be taken over by other leaders and also my responsibility as Regional Director will be taken on by another person, although we do not know who it will be.

I should like to thank you all sincerely for your trememdous help in my ministry in Arequipa over these years and I should like to invite all of you to accompany me with your prayers and support in this new mission, as there is much financial need and poverty amongst the children and the old people, some of whom live in neglect, with no-one to look after them.

With much love,

Alejandro Mesco

(translated by Hazel Crossley, volunteer at San Lucas)