The Peru Gazette

By John T. Ryan

Fall marks the arrival of the apple harvest and the arrival of hundreds of Jamaican workers in the Peru community.  It also marks a time of year when the Peru Community Church comes alive with men’s voices singing hymns and reciting Bible verses without any need of hymnal or text. While Jamaicans often walk to our local stores and ride their bikes on our streets, very few “Peruvians” have a personal relationship with these men. The Peru Community Church has developed a personal relationship with the Jamaican workers through a January mission trip to Jamaica and through its annual Sunday evening Jamaican worship service. This past Sunday, October 3rd, the Community Church was filled with a joyous spirit as Reverend J. Oliver Daley, Pastor of the Ridgemont United Church in Mandeville, Jamaica spoke and about one hundred Jamaican men praised their God through prayer and song.  Life while in Peru is often difficult and lonely for these men who are separated from their families. The welcome offered to these men by the members of the Peru Community Church is a sign that a Christian spirit of hospitality is alive and well in Peru, N.Y. (Click here to see photos of the Oct. 3rd service)