A Taste of Peru in the Old Pueblo

For those of you who missed it, the Evening in Peru fund raiser for the Peru Dental Missions trip was a spectacular cultural event. In the photo at the left you can see Deb Tilley presiding over the silent auction, which featured many quality Peruvian crafts, homemade items (such as Betty Hill's famous apricot and fig preserves), and some wonderful Christian calendars and journals.

Jack and Jill Hauschildt's spacious back yard and patio were festively decorated with many Peruvian artifacts, colored lights, and table centerpieces of crafts, colorful flowers, and Peruvian flags. Oscar Infante provided live South American background music during both the auction and dinner, and Amy Hauschildt showed an informative and inspiring power point presentation of the work of International Dental Ministries.

The Peruvian menu included an appetizer of Papas a la Huancaina (potatoes with a spicy cheese sauce) and an entree of Aji con Gallina (creamy chicken stew) served on a mound of rice with hard boiled egg garnish and a choice of several spicy sauces. For dessert, diners enjoyed Arroz con Leche y Mazamorra Morada Combinado, a rice pudding accompanied by purple corn compote.

After-dinner entertainment featured Jorge and Alicia Zapata in a demonstration of traditional Peruvian dances. Wade Remer emceed the evening, giving a thoughtful challenge for Dove Mountaineers to support this worthy project. His remarks and the generosity of those present netted over $1400 toward the cost of this mission trip. Pastor Allen Cooney brought up team members Amy Hauschildt, Jill Hauschildt, Allison McCurdy, and Jared Grinney for a dedicatory prayer at the conclusion of the evening.

An entertaining Peru quiz game informed attendees that there are there are 92 languages in Peru, and also provided a useful map of Peru to take home. Beautiful Spanish language bookmarks from "Women Who Change the World" were another "take home" souvenir of the evening.

I am impressed that so many Dove Mountaineer hands played a part in making this a memorable evening. The next time you hear of a mission event at DMC, you can be sure that it is a quality event, and well worth your time in attending!