“Extending the hand of friendship” – this is how the ladies´ groups work within Diospi Suyana.
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Lyndal Maxwell, Petra Höfer and Damaris Hassfeld lead a women’s group each week for some of the Quechuas. Damaris actually participates in 2 groups and recently showed the movie “Mary Magdalena” one evening to an attentive audience. With no cinema being available for use, the location was a simple mudbrick room with a bare cement floor. The ladies were very happy to welcome several new attendees.
Meanwhile, in the other group which meets during the day, craft was the order of the day. Guadalupe gave birth to her twins 2 years ago in the hospital Diospi Suyana and now she generously opens her home each week to these meetings. These meetings need special preparation because many of the women can neither read nor write. This week there was cause for a special celebration in honour of the 2nd birthday of the twins. Incidentally, their names are not typically Peruvian – they are called “Lyndal” and “Klaus”!
Even though there is clearly a wide gap between the Quechua culture and that of the foreign missionaries, the common love of Christ spans this chasm. The missionary women are well accepted in the ladies´ groups. Over the years many have invested time into tese groups including –
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Dr. Melanie Zeyse, Dr. Dorothea Brady, Dr. Birgit Bardy, Barbara Klemenz and Dr. Martina John.
