Monday, April 25, 2011

Monday is Laundry Day

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 04/25/11

The city of Valparaíso sits facing the Pacific coast, one of the chief ports of Chile. It is built on a series of hills and gullies. There are more than forty hills and to pass from one to the other, one has to go up to the top of hill or down to area at the waterfront. Houses built on the sides of the hills seem to defy gravity. The houses have no patios or garden areas where clothes might be hung so the string their clothes line out the window. Painting these houses is no easy task but the people want to make their city attractive. Many talk about the sights and the sounds and the smells of Valparaíso. Each is unique but unable to be captured by a photograph.

It was to this city in November of 1959 my wife, Evelyn, and I, along with our daughter Kathleen, arrived by boat. It was not to be our place of residence as we were embarking on our missionary work. However, we have returned often to visit churches in the area. We also have returned with visitors from abroad who never find enough time to take in all there is to see in the city, even scenes showing washing hanging from windows of colorful houses hugging the hillside. This picture was taken from a street on one side of the gully. Steps close by were available to walk down and across to the other side.

Photographer: David Jones, Chile. “Our home is inland in the city of San Felipe which lies in the foothills of the Andean mountains where the main highway connecting Chile to Argentina runs. We have nothing but praise to God for His keeping care for more than fifty-one years of missionary work. Each city presents a need that only Christ can satisfy and we seek God’s help to fulfill that need with the preaching of the gospel.”

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