In 1997 a small group of parishioners at Immaculate Conception Parish formed a Mission Committee and began a relationship of support and prayers with a parish, Nuestra Señora de la Paz, Our Lady of Peace, in Villa El Salvador, a suburb of Lima, Peru. Our Lady of Peace had a population of about 30,000 Parishioners. Due to the number of parishioners, the parish was subdivided into five satellite chapels, one of which was San Martín de Porres, one of the patron saints of Peru.

The Mission Committee of Immaculate Conception worked in conjunction with the pastor, Fr. Frank Fairbairn, and the parish council at Nuestra Señora de la Paz in Peru, to decide how best we might help. Our spiritual support takes the form of a prayer every week remembering our brothers and sisters at the weekend Masses and a candle lit at the side altar of Mary Immaculate to remind us to pray for them. They do the same in their church for us. Initially, our financial support was used to establish a fund as start-up money for people beginning a small business. That proved successful for several years, and then, the parishioners of the satellite chapel, San Martín, met with their pastor to request that our money be used to build a “real” church in which to worship. They were worshipping in a small roughly built hall, which was used for multiple purposes. All of the other satellite chapels had "real" churches. So by consent of all parties, we began to help them to build a new church structure with a parish hall and other rooms for Religious Education classes and evening meetings as needed. The pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish at the time was Fr. Richard Runte. His suggestion was to place an envelope in the set of envelopes which are sent to each parishioner each month. Any parishioner interested in helping with the project could contribute what they could.

Architectural plans were drawn. In the summer of 2000 some members of the Mission Committee traveled to Peru to visit our brothers and sisters to participate in the ground breaking ceremony. All work on the new church was realized by the parishioners themselves. They did the digging and laying the foundation.  They put bricks and beams into place.  They built the pews and the doors.  They installed the stained glass windows.  Their sweat and blood together with our prayers and finances built the church. By 2004 the building itself was completed and ready to be used as a Church. The only things left to do were the pews (They used the old benches and chairs until the pews were finished), the lighting system and the sound system. 

There has been tremendous growth in population of the area in which our sister parish is located. The diocese in Lima, Peru decided to split Our Lady of Peace with its five satellite chapels into two separate parishes. The beautiful church that we helped build, San Martín, is now the central parish church with two satellite chapels. The two satellite chapels are: La Santisima Cruz (The Most Holy Cross) and Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe). Our Lady of Peace has the other satellite chapels. The diocese indicated that there were already too many San Martín de Porres parishes in Lima. Therefore, our people had to come up with another name. They decided on the name that San Martín had as his religious name—San Martín de la Caridad—Saint Martin of God’s Love.

Fr. John O'Leary, the current pastor of San Martín, called in January of 2004 to invite some of the Mission Committee to participate in the dedication of the new church. It was scheduled for the feast day of San Martin, November 3, 2004. After checking with the committee members, we called Fr. John back to tell him that we would not be able to attend due to the inability of people to get vacation time in the fall season. He insisted that we needed to be present at the dedication. Without the financial support of Immaculate Conception Parish, they would have no church in which to celebrate. He requested that we give him three different dates in July and August that we would be able to be present at the celebration. Fr. John would check with the Bishop to see which of the three dates would be acceptable to him. We conferred with each other and came up with the dates that we would be able to go. We were humbled that it was considered so important for some of us to be present as representatives of Immaculate Conception Parish. The new church dedication was August 29, 2004. A group from our Mission Committee, Mary Courtney, John and Maureen Sheehan, and Peg Wallace, participated in all the celebrations and dedication of the new church. During the ceremony we participated in the offertory procession. We also gave the greetings and congratulations of our parish and our pastor, Fr. Bill Wallis.  We spoke after the sermon, thanking the parishioners for their friendship over the years and pledging our continued support. After the Mass and Dedication Ceremony, the parishioners put on a show highlighting the typical dances of the various regions of the country. Other parishioners sang and recited poetry in our honor. This was followed by a huge meal. Peruvians always celebrate with food.

With poverty so rampant in our parish, each neighborhood has several soup kitchens. This is one in our area. It is a small one room building in which a meal is prepared six days a week.  The women in the kitchen prepare thick nutritious soups or stews. They begin every morning at eight, cutting vegetables, slicing meats, adding bones, and beginning the meal simmering. The people in the neighborhood come to get their meals at noon. They bring their own containers to be filled and then carry them home to eat their meal. For many of them it is the only meal of the day. Our parishioners desperately want to build a soup kitchen on our land next to the church. For the Peruvian people, a church is a center or focal point of life. It is the center of a community. Groups meet making plans to serve the community in various ways. One group in our parish reaches out to women and children who are being abused. Another works with youth opening their minds and lives to the needs of the community. Still another works with prisoners who have been jailed, many times, with little or no reason for being there. The law works differently in Peru (and many other nations) than it does here. Once in jail, there are no time restraints or guaranteed representation in court. Many people are left to waste without recourse. 

The women of our parish work on different craft items that they sell to earn money. This picture shows a group working on the three-dimensional cloth wall hangings that we sell. We also visited the group that makes the greeting cards that we have for sale. Both groups told us of the hours they spend on the crafts they make. When we last visited them, we asked about what that extra cash helped them to buy. One said that it enabled her to send her daughter to college. Another said that it helped the family to put more nutritious food on the table. Another said that her family was able to add a floor on to their house with what she earned. Their stories moved us with their poignancy. These are some of the gifts we bring back here to sell for our sister who work so hard to help their families

Sr. Inez, one of the nuns who work in the parish, is seen at the entrance of the Oscar Romero Parish Center. The center is dedicated to helping the senior citizens of the parish to meet and share in community. They meet three days a week and work on crafts, sing, listen to God's Word, and play cards and other games. They also enjoy a healthy noon meal together and participate in staying in touch with others. 

In 2000 when we were in Peru we went there at lunch time.  It happened to be the 4th of July and they surprised us by singing the "Stars Spangled Banner" for us.  Of course we joined in.  Afterwards, everyone clapped and laughed at the effort. There was an elderly woman, 103, who came up and gave us greetings from their group.  It was quite an experience and moved us immensely. Then we visited with them and checked out some of their crafts. What a great 4th of July!