For almost ten years, Carlos Sarmiento and myself, Tony Wilson,  Franciscans of Holy Name Province, have had the privilege to work in Santa Ana Parish, in the district of Nuevo Milenio, a settlement  nestled in the desert hills on the periphery of Lima Peru. Nuevo Milenio, true to its name, is a hope filled community of approximately 20,000 inhabitants looking forward to a new millennium of peace and opportunity. The parishioners are mostly made up of migrants from the mountain areas who were refugees escaping from Sendero Luminoso and the terrorist violence of the last decade. Although it has a stark beauty, It is a poor area with many of the problems that come with  poverty; youth struggling with an environment where drugs are always present, and youth gangs who recruit  new members through harassment and intimidation.

The multiplication of different sects, some Christian some not, is also a constant difficulty as they confuse and divide the community. The many families headed by single mothers often live in extreme poverty. But it is a joy to be with this people who have a deep and constant openness to God. This is demonstrated by that generous hospitality, that Jesus recognized as a precondition for accepting the Good News. We see every day amid the many social problems, many modern examples of St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres, poor men and women with deep faith  and active compassion  for others in need, lived out in a natural,  spontaneous,  and very human way.   

Our parish has many programs for evangelization such as the Secular Franciscans, Jufra(Franciscan youth), Legion of Mary, Charismatic renewal, Neo-catechumenate way,   Family catechesis, mission chapels, and small faith communities.   We recently finished our parish grammar school. The vocational training center has programs  for cosmetology, clothing and textiles, computer use and maintenance, cooking, baking and pastry. These help youth and single mothers develop skills and enable them to start their own micro  businesses.  With the help of the F.M.U. we are able to offer a range of social services: food programs, parish school, psychologist, medical clinic with services of a dentist, ophthalmologist, general medicine, free legal service, and a licensed social worker. We also work in coordination with a local NGO to address some of the community social issues such as pollution, lack of police presence, trying for more collaboration among the 17 smaller settlements which make up Nuevo Milenio. We try as well to safeguard and appreciate the culture of the various regions of Peru from which our families originate.  and together with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary with whom we work try to communicate our  Franciscan charism,  that special Franciscan way of being Christian.

This year in union with the Diocese of Lima Sur to which we belong, we have as  our priorities working with families and youth, especially those at risk.  And if God provides, we hope to  continue with the implementation of our school,  vocational training programs and begin a high school.

Please keep us in your prayer as we continue to plant the seeds for  the church of  the “new millennium”   here in the hills on the outskirts of Lima.