Volume 2 ● Issue 8 ● [email protected] The festive spirit is almost palpable as you walk through the bustling streets of Lima the week of Fiestas Patrias (Peru´s Independence Celebrations). The vendors scattered throughout the streets selling flags, hats, and pins hardly seem to notice the grey, dreary weather that accompanies them. The capital city´s gloomy sky is almost forgotten as red and white paraphenalia fill the streets in preparation for the freedom celebrations scheduled for July 28 th , 2011. On that day 190 years ago, Argentinean liberator Don José de San Martín declared Peru´s independence from the Viceroyalty of Spain. Peru´s Independence Day may not be nearly as significant to me as it is to a Peruvian, but you can be sure I´ll be raising my glass (of Pisco Sour) in celebration of this country´s freedom. And you can be sure that I´ll be raising the banner of freedom of a different kind on July 28 th , and long after, too. Freedom from oppressive Spanish rule is certainly cause to celebrate, but freedom from sin, death, and the devil is reason for a celebration that lasts forever. The independence our great liberator Jesus declared for us on the cross almost 2,000 years ago not only frees us from the yolk of slavery to sin, death, and the devil. But, because Jesus has declared us righteous, we are free to serve the one true God and all of His children as well. We are free to reach out to others with the Good News of the Gospel without fear that the salvation of those we are called to invite to the celebration depends on us. Because of the all-sufficient work of Jesus on the cross (Hebrews 10:10-12), we are free to celebrate our freedom we have in Him, and free to invite the whole world to join us. Mission Update Here I am, Send Me! It´s official! Our Synod´s Office for International Mission has extended me a call to serve as a career missionary in Peru! As with every other missionary (all baptized members of the Body of Christ!) my primary calling is to boldly proclaim the Good News of the Gospel (the free forgiveness that our Savior won for all of us sinners on the cross!) with the whole world. I will also have the privilege of leading the new believers of the Lutheran Church in Peru in sharing the Good News of the Gospel through acts of mercy/ human care. I will be traveling to California on August 2 nd for a three week break before beginning my transition into career service. The first step of the process will be raising a more permanent network of support amongst individuals, congregations, organizations, and schools in the United States. Please join me in thanking the Lord for calling me to serve in His harvest fields. Please, also, prayerfully consider supporting my mission financially. Sending a career missionary to the field is significantly more costly than sending a GEO (Globally Engaged in Outreach) missionary. In order to be faithful to my calling, I depend on Christians like you that desire more than anything to see Free to Serve Anthony DiLiberto El Cuy Times Globally Engaged in Outreach Missionary, Perú 1 800 433 3954 www.lcmsworldmission.org [email protected] Fiestas patrias celebrations in Miraflores. Singing to God with the Amiguitos de Cristo (Little Friends in Christ) group during our latest visit to Lunahuaná. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6