Elohim - God is alive

Photo: The "bathrooms" outside of the Elohim school.

Elohim (אֱלהִים) is a Hebrew word that expresses a broad scope of concepts of divinity. In addition, Elohim is used as a name of God in Judaism. It is a word that expresses the love that God has for all people.

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of visiting a small school nestled above the impoverished community of Mariano Melgar in Arequipa. The impoverished surroundings of Mariano Melgar are nothing in comparison to the desperate poverty that one experiences in the area that surrounds the Elohim school.

I was first introduced to the Elohim school by Susi Prescott. Susi is a dynamic woman from Australia who has dedicated her life to helping this area. She is the sole source of fundraising and a stable "life line" for the people who depend on the Elohim school.

Ms. Prescott, Father Alex and the director of the school (Sra. Rosa) all met at the school to try and figure out a way that we can collaborate toward the betterment of the community and the children of the school.

Like anything - the possibilities are endless; and, it looks like we will be bringing our "Team Peru" group to the school for a community assessment, clinic, and school-based project in July. We will be partnering with Father Alex and bringing Peruvian physicians, dentists and nurses to the school to assess for malnutrition and oral pathology. In addition, we discussed the implementation of a Water Filtration unit in the school.

I am really excited about this project and look forward to helping the Elohim school in anyway that we can.