History of the Church in the neighborhood Jose Maria Arguedas

On September 20^th 1990 47 mothers formed the bamboo and grass soup kitchen called Cristo Rey (Christ the King) in the neighborhood of Jose Maria Arguedas that served 122 children something to eat.  A decade of the rosary was prayed at noon before serving the food.  This was the first structure where the people prayed together.

Soon the rosary was being prayed in neighborhood homes with a small statue of the Virgin Mary that was donated by the Franciscan Sisters.

Around 1992 a chapel of woven dry grass was erected and named St. Paul’s. 

In 1995 plywood was provided by Christ the King parish in Oklahoma City to build a more substantial chapel.

In the year 2000 the nearby tin chapel of St. Peter’s was replaced with a brick chapel and the tin panels were sent to Jose Maria Arguedas to reconstruct their chapel.  The chapel was now called The Divine Child Jesus.

Though the chapel was poor, Mass was frequently celebrated there thanks to a persevering group of faithful. A youth group was born, so too a bible study group and a Divine Mercy prayer group.  A charismatic prayer group and Family to Family prayer group have also been formed and all of these groups continue to flourish.  This area has been plagued by gang fights and drug addicts so these inroads are all the more significant.  The students at Christ the King School have done miracles through the Pennies for Peru program and the school next to the chapel has been transformed with bathrooms, classrooms, a library, playground equipment and soon a kitchen/lunch room.  Enrollment there is up.

During these years the faithful in the neighborhood sold tamales, ceviche (fish), and deserts to make improvements in their chapel - twenty dollars here, thirty dollars there.  In the year 2003 nearly $200.00 was raised by the faithful in 8 different activities.  In 2004 almost $500.00 has been raised in 9 different activities by faithful who have a hard time merely earning their daily bread to feed their families.

In 2003 Fr. Joe Ross and the Christ the King Mission team from Oklahoma City arrived and started to build the bell towers to the present church. The model for the facade came from a photo of the Church of the Holy Trinity atop the Spanish Steps in Rome.  The Peruvian bricklayers directed the missionaries in what to do while even the littlest children from the neighborhood joined the missionaries in carrying kids’ sized rocks and jugs of water that they could manage. Shortly after the Christ the King missionaries left, the faithful decided to name this final church: Cristo Rey - Christ the King – in gratitude to the community who made this virtually unreachable dream a reality and appropriately recovering the name originally given to the first humble structure where prayer began in this village. 

These latest photos (12/2004) show the church is nearly finished thanks to the generous support of the faithful at Christ the King.

More than 1000 residents of this neighborhood participated in the Great Catholic Mission of 2004.  Neighbors from all around look forward to the inauguration of this chapel where they will be able to worship the Lord in a place worthy of a King – Christ the King.

From all of the faithful here:  Mil Gracias – A thousand thanks.