As our time here in Ilo increases it seems to be more and more difficult to update our blog on a regular basis. As I sat down to think of the reasons for our failings in this regard I thought of the usual excuses, “we were busy”, “there were more important things to get down” or “the internet was not working for about three weeks here”, but as I thought of these seemingly valid excuses I realised that although these things may have contributed in one sense there is probably another reason. In our intial months in Peru we were making observations about culture, experiencing new activities and events and informing of our own progress as a family. I genuinely believe that it has become more difficult to blog regularly because although we are experiencing strange and different things on a regular basis we have adjusted and what was once strange is a way of life….not just for the Peruvians who we rub shoulders with but for us too. Therefore as we have settled into a routine it becomes more difficult to identify things of note that we care share with you. To this end we want to thank you for your continued prayers for us, we are of no doubt that your prayers have been key to helping us settle here in Peru. However in writing this there is the danger that we suggest that our time of settling, adjusting and adapting to the culture, language and ministry has finished and we are now perfectly adjusted missionaries. The reality is that we still need your prayers, we still have difficult days and face situations that seem unnatural and we still miss friends an family from home but we are pleased that God has brought us to this bought where we are content with where he has us.

It was never the intention of the blog to give detailed reports of the work that we are involved in here in Peru but we do like to give you an insight into some of the situations that we encounter and some of the things that God is doing here in Ilo/Ite. As many of you are aware, while the Morrows were on furlough we took responsibility for a number of areas of the work here, including overseeing the small church in Ite and overseeing camps and the Year Team (Mision Rescate. At the beggining of April the Morrows were back from furlough and able to step back into the work. Since then we have tried to divide up the work in a manner that is a little bit more manageable. This has been a very encouraging time for us being able to work very closely alongside another missionary family and share the work load.

In early April my (Dave’s) parents paid a three week visit which was really appreciated. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with family and share the country, people and work that we are passionate about with them. It was also a good time for them as they were able to see the overall work and get a better idea of the things that we and the mission are involved in here in the South of Peru. We were also very pleased at how well Sarah took to here grandparents who she had not seen for over a year. She had a blast! It was important for her grandparents to see her going to school and how content she is here in her surroundings. With every visit from home it is nice to get time to relax as well and we really enjoyed the few days that we spent in Arequipa with mum and dad.

It was great that I was able to make it to Lima to say my farewells as mum and dads departure was combined with a necessary trip to Lima with Trevor Morrow to make some necessary purchases for the camp centre and look into the types of vehicles that are available. Many of you will have been aware that we have been looking into the purchase of a vehicle for a little while now and the trip proved to be very benificial in this regard. We thank you for your prayers and for you generosity in making this possible for us, hopefully in the not too distant future we will be able to proceed with the purchase of a vehicle.

Although the time in Lima was very busy it was thoroughly enjoyable and although many people see Lima as an undesireable large city (like most large cities), for two missionaries living in the small port of Lima it was like letting a child loose in a sweet shop! It is always exciting to be able to find small things like Heinz Ketchup, Museli or other eatables.

It was always our intention after having left language school and moving to Ilo to find a language tutor who could help us with conversation and reinforcement of ideas and rules however with one thing and another this never seemed to work out but just this last week steps have been taken to pursue this once again. It seems that in the next couple of weeks we will be starting to work with a tutor. We trust that this will help us to make big strides in bettering our ability to communicate and eradicating any bad habits that we have formed. Please pray for this.

One of the difficulties of being in Peru is certainly the seperation from family and friends, this has become all the more clear to us over the last number of weeks as my grandfather has taken seriously ill. As other family members give updates on his condition in the hospital the distance is certainly felt. Please pray for my the doctors and my family as they try to make my grandfather as comfortable as possible.

Again we really do thank you for your interest in us, and in the work here in Peru, your prayers are very much valued and appreciated. At times the work here can be lonely but we are regularly reminded that we are not alone in the work as we have some many people walking alongside us in prayer and above all we have a God who promised never to leave us or forsake us. Praise the Lord for His faithfullness and thank you for playing such a large part in the ministry here.

It is probably about a month since we last updated our blog which is a good sign to many of you regular readers that we have been quite busy over this last period. Fortunately things seem to have slowed down a little this last week or so with the return of Christine Morrow and kids to Ilo, Trevor’s return in a couple of weeks time will be a great help too.

In March my (Dave’s) preaching responsibilities seem to have been quite a bit more frequent. It has really been good to preach in Spanish although at times it has made me feel slightly restricted both in what I can say and in the deliverance of what I say. On the other hand each time I have preached or spoken I have had a great sense of the Lord empowering me. Needless to say a 30 minute sermon takes many hours preparation and then the actual deliverance of it consumes practically all my energy to the point of near exhaustion; however it is in these times where I have been able to see God working through my weaknesses.

Since the Morrows left for furlough and we have taken more responsibility for the church in Ite, we have got to know some of the regular participants in the services much better which has been a real blessing to us. On a more negative note however, numbers throughout the summer period have really dwindled as a result of holidays and community sports events. We really would appreciate your prayers for this as we have tried to reach out in a number of ways including having a number of open air events in the main Plaza of the village. Interest in these events have been good but there seems to be something stopping people from making the transition from these events to our regular services.

As the school holidays have come to an end, the intensity of camps has eased off. The camp centre will not be used quite as much over the coming weeks although we do anticipate a number of other camps in the coming months, some which may just last over the weekend and others that will be during holidays or conferences for Pastors, leaders etc.

We have continued to oversee the Mision Rescate team that is based at the camp centre and have been ministering in various church in Ite, Ilo, Moquegua, Puno and Tacna over the past year. It has been very encouraging to be involved with these young people who have set this year aside to serve the Lord. One of the greatest encouragements has been to see each of them develop in confidence and in their faith.

Closer to home in Ilo, things are going well. Alicia is now into her seventh month of pregnancy and everything is going well. We have been very impressed so far with the standard of medical care that Alicia has been getting.

Sarah has settled in really well to her new nursery which we are very pleased about. Each day she enthusiastically tells us about the songs she sang, the little dances she learnt or the painting she coloured. Today she brought home her very first homework which was a bit of a shock for a 2 year old to have homework, but no doubt over the coming months and years we will learn lots of cultural and language things through Sarah!

Once again time has got the better of us and despite the best intentions to update this blog more frequently we have not been able to follow through with them! The last month has been a month of variety. We have been kept busy looking after the Mision Rescate year team which is based at the Camp and Conference Centre (Baptist Centre – Valle Azul), overseeing camps and also the small church in Ite.

The month has been a good month in many ways as it has enabled us to really find our feet in the ministry here. At times we have really been stretched, particularly with regards to language but also in other areas too, however we have also had some very encouraging and reassuring moments.

Some of the challenges over the last month have included the Morrow’s car (which we were using) breaking down a few days after they left and being with the mechanic for almost a month. This stretched us in quite a lot of ways, trying to manage without this vehicle but I also gave me some extra mechanical vocabulary! The incident also gave us another insight into some of the frustrations of life here (that is if you can’t see the funny side of things!) I initially took the car to a welder to fix a part of the car, he was unable to fix it but in the process he damaged a cable to the car computer which resulted in the car breaking down half way between Ilo and Ite. I ended up getting the car towed to Ilo where a mechanic looked at it. After a number of hours standing in the hot sun he told us we needed to tow the car to an electrical engineer as it was an electrical fault. We towed it to the electrical engineer and after looking at the car for over 4 hours he informed me that he believed there was a fault with a cable behind the engine but he could not take it out because it was in a difficult place, therefore we had to go to a mechanic so that he could remove the engine in order to get the cable! We eventually got the mechanic and he informed us that he could manage the electrical side of things. On removing the cable we discovered it was faulty and spent the next three weeks trying to find a new cable, we tried practically everywhere in Peru and phone calls we also made to Arica, Chile in order to see if they had the part, it was beginning to look like we were going to have to place an order to the USA when we found a place in Lima with the parts! To cut a long story short the car is back on the road again but the electrical fault left the radio not working – I think I will just avoid trying to fix that!!!

Another more difficult incident here in Ilo was the hospitalisation and then return home of Sam Colville, one of the Gap Year students. After having Sam here for five months and seeing his involvement in the team and the work it was difficult to see him leave and probably even more difficult for the rest of the team.

The Camps that we have had so far have not been as well attended as we initially anticipated, however this has allowed for time to make necessary adjustments to the programme and has also allowed for much more personal interaction with the campers. The Mision Rescate team have been excellent in their handling of the camps and seem to have really enjoyed this. Tomorrow starts another Youth Camp and so the coming week will be busy for all.

The week after the Youth Camp, Mision Rescate, ourselves and Milagros will be involved in holiday Bibles clubs. There will be a team in Ite and a team in Moquegua working on these.
Ite has itself produced some highlights and some lowlights over the last month. It seems that throughout the summer the church services are going to be competing against summer sports events in the village and as a result our numbers have been low of late. On a more encouraging note we have had quite a few new people coming to worship with us and a number of people who had not been for some time coming back again.

In the village there are many problems, two weeks ago a man murdered his wife as a result of a heated row they had, then this past weekend Ite was the victim of a large scale robbery by a gang of eight men. Fortunately police intercepted the gang and they have been detained. As a result of all these struggles we have been trying to think of ways to really reach out to the people in the village. There has been some visitation going on in the village, and tonight (Friday 15th Feb) we plan to hold the second outreach event, this time we have been given permission by the mayor to use the amphitheatre in the main plaza. We trust that many people will be able to hear a relevant Gospel message and be challenged by what they hear.

On a personal note we are doing really well. Alicia is growing bigger by the day. She had a scan this week and got a little shock when the scan brought the due date three weeks forward to mid-May instead of the start of June. But the important thing is that the baby seems to be developing well and Alicia is keeping well.

Sarah is really doing well at her nursery. Just this morning we were at a party prepared by the teachers and pupils to be presented to parents. It was wonderful just to see Sarah mixing so well with her friends and teachers and the confidence she has developed even over this last month. Sadly she will now have a three week break from nursery before the new season starts but we are so pleased that she is happy in her nursery and has settled so well.

Once again lack of time seems to have prevented us from sitting down and updating our blog for some time. Some days here in Peru you run around like a crazy person trying to get things done and then at the end of the day you have to sit back and think very hard what you have done that day! When we first arrived in Peru a more experienced missionary from a different mission shared a piece of advice with us. He said here in Peru you should plan to do two things everyday and be pleased when you get one done! I think it would be fair to say that this is an exaggeration but I guess in recent days we have become aware that in some ways this is not too far away from the truth! Often we find ourselves one problem away from completing a task.

Since the New Year time really has flown by rapidly. On Saturday 5th January the first camp started at Baptist Centre – Valle Azul. Although the week of camp proved to be quite tiring it was highly profitable as many of the young campers who attended were encouraged in their faith and a few made commitments to follow Jesus as their Saviour for the very first time. It is in these times that we are reminded that this is what serving as a missionary is all about – seeing lives transformed for God.

The week following the first camp we spent preparing for the second camp, a Family Camp which starts tomorrow (19th January) and runs to the 26th January. During this week we also took over a number of responsibilities from the Morrow family as they left Ilo for Ireland via Lima on Monday 14th January. Over the next three months Alicia and I will have more responsibility in looking after the small church plant in Ite, including taking quite a few meetings, looking after the overall running of camps and overseeing the Mision Rescate Team who are based at the Camp Centre for a year.

We really would appreciate your prayers over the few months as we try to be faithful in serving the Lord with what we have been given. As we take on these new responsibilities we are encouraged by seven words from Psalm 29:11 “The Lord gives strength to his people.”

Since moving to Ilo at the end of September Sarah has been spent most of her time at home. On Monday past Sarah started back into and induction month for her new nursery. She will attend the nursery for two hours a day three days a week for a month. After a couple of weeks break she will properly enrol in the nursery at the beginning of March. Once again we ask that you would pray that Sarah will adjust to her new surroundings. To date she has been happy with the concept of going to nursery and making new friends again but the reality has been a little more difficult and there have been a few tears. We hope and pray that very soon she will settle and will pick up where she left off with her Spanish.

Finally we just want to apologise to any of you who may have received some junk mail from us earlier in the week. We are not sure what happened but are suspecting that someone hacked our email. We have now increased security and have not experienced any problems since. As a result of our problem with our email we lost all our email addresses. We were able to retrieve some addresses which we had written down in various places, however if you regularly receive our prayer letters (or emails from us) and would wish to continue doing so please send us an email expressing your desire to do this so that we can store your email address once again. Once again we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to you. After looking into the problem it seems it is not something that is a threat to others.

As always we want to thank you for your love, prayers and support. You have been such an encouragement to us as a family. We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who remembered us in anyway over the Christmas period, be it in prayer, through an email or phone call or by card or parcel.

May God Bless you all.

If you are a regular reader of our blog then you deserve an apology from us for our lack of entries over these last number of weeks. Can I assure you that the reason for this is not because we have been idle or have not wanted to add any entries, in fact it is very much to the contrary!

Since our last entry we have been very busy, Dave has preached on two separate Tuesday evenings in Ite at the Prayer Meeting and Bible Study, we have been planning camps for January with the Morrows and we have been helping to plan and organise a Christmas outreach program for the community in Ite and a program for the La Pampa church in Ilo.

As well as all the busyness which we experienced we also have been blessed to have Alicia’s parents with us from the start of December right through to the end of January. Their presence here with us has been wonderful and they have been great at helping out with various practical things so that we can get on with the planning of programs and so on.

On the 8th December we were able to take just over a weeks break with Alicia’s parents, firstly in Mejia and then in Arequipa. This time out was certainly a welcome break and it was only afterwards that we realised that it was our first real holiday break away somewhere in almost a year and a half. The time spent on the beach digging sandcastles for Sarah and looking for crabs as well as all the books read and miles walked certainly helped us to chill out!

Since arriving back to Ilo on Tuesday we have been busy working alongside Mision Rescate (The Gap Year Team) in order to put together a Christmas program for the La Pampa Church (Friday night) and the community of Ite (Sunday afternoon). We are hoping that through song, the reading of God’s Word, narration and a short message people will hear the true message of Christmas and appreciate that it is much more than just giving and receiving presents but it is about the Incarnation of the greatest gift ever.

After Sunday’s Christmas program we should have a few days to unwind and enjoy some time together as a family. Alicia’s parents plan to travel for about a week in Peru from Boxing Day and the following day some good friends whom we met while at language school in Arequipa are coming to stay with us as they were planning to be passing through Ilo on that date and wanted to take the opportunity to spend some time with us.

Other significant news is that we are expecting our second child at the beginning of June. Alicia has a check up this week (16 weeks) and everything appears well so we really have much to give thanks to God for. We would appreciate your prayers for Alicia and the unborn child over the coming months.

Finally, we want to wish you a wonderful Christmas. We thank you again for you interest you have taken in us and the work here, thanks to you for the prayers that have been prayed over this past year and for the encouraging comments that so many of you have posted over this last year; always at the right time.

Over the last month or so we have been expecting to get a better idea of what a normal day for a missionary in Ilo involves, however as time has passed it has become apparent that no two days are the same!

Since we arrived in Ilo our time has been spent trying to get settled into our house, settling into Ilo and helping get ready fof the opening of the Camp and Conference Centre in Ite. Prior to the opening of the Camp Centre my (Dave) time was spent working alongside the workers and the Gap Year Team in Ite doing manual work in order to get the Centre ready for the opening. This proved to be interesting as I had not done manual work of this type for many years (I also found out that manual work in Peru means manual as there are no machines for the heavier stuff!) The opportunity to work alongside the Gap Year team and the site workers proved very helpful from a language perspective as well as I found I was picking up new vocabulary. During these weeks I also spent quite a bit of time running back and forth to shops, hardwear stores and other places to get building equipment for the centre.

After working right into the early hours of the morning of the opening of the camp centre, we finally managed to get it ready for the big day. We were delighted that for the opening we could have the presence of eight people from Northern Ireland who arrived in Tacna the morning of the opening. After bringing our guests to Ilo to get a quick cup of coffee and spliting the eight between our house and the Morrows we headed for the Camp Centre.

The opening proved to be a wonderful event in which I believe God was truly glorified and where there were many unbelievers present to witness what God had done. After a number of special events and presentations our Mission Director, Gordon Darragh unveiled a plaque and then we enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Following lunch we had a time of praise led by a national pastor and a band from the Gap Year Team, it was truly uplifting. After our time of singing Derek Baxter brought a message from Psalm 100 focusing on our need to be thankful for what he has provided for us. The whole day was sandwiched by Alicia playing “I cannot tell why he whom angels worshipped” to a traditional Irish tune on the flute and by a Peruvian closing with some traditional music on the panpipes and the Peruvian flute.

For us as a family this event was hugely significant and we were delighted to be part of the missionary team in Peru for the opening. One of the most significant events in the lead up to us coming to Peru was when we first heard Trevor present the vision for a Camp and Conference Centre at the annual May meetings over five and a half years ago. At this presentation we already had a desire in our hearts to serve God but were unsure where we could fit in and what gifts we could bring to the missionary team here. As Trevor presented his vision it was as if God was speaking to us directly and confirming that he wanted us to go to Peru and that he would make sure that there was an area in which our gifts could be used. To sit on the day of the opening remembering this and also looking into the future and visualising us being a part of God’s work here was very special.

Following the opening we had the joy of hosting the team from Ireland for almost a week in total. It was lovely to have people staying with us and representing all the other people in Ireland who are so faithful in supporting and praying for the work here in Peru. The visit of this group proved to be a huge encouragement to us.

The Friday following the opening of the Camp Centre a day-long ladies conference entitled “Heart to Heart” was held. The day proved to be very uplifting for many of the ladies. The following day the Camp Centre was used for a Youth Conference called “Me Queda Sin Palabras” (Lost for Words). The focus of the conference was on encouraging the young people not to be lost for words when sharing their faith but to be bold in doing so. Although mainly focused on teaching the young people to evanglise there was an evagelistic message within the seminars and we were delighted that at least one young person made a committment to Christ.

Although the official opening has passed, over the coming months workmen will continue working on the Camp Centre as there is still a lot to be done. In the next week or two we also plan to sit down with Trevor and Christine Morrow to map out a program for Camps for January and Febuary. We would appreciate your prayers as we do this.

It seems that a lot lies ahead of us and we will constantly be encountering new challenges in this life where no two days are the same. However we hope that within the next two weeks we can begin some classes with a language tutor so to help ground us in what we learnt in Arequipa and keep us moving in the right direction with regards to language. We are also delighted that we will have a visit from Alicia’s Mum and Dad who come at the beginning of December. We are delighted that we will be able to spend time with them and that they will be able to see the work that we are involved in here in Ilo.

I would especially appreciate your prayers over these next couple of weeks as next Tuesday and the following Tuesday I will be sharing from God’s Word at the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting in Ite. This will be my first time to share from God’s Word in Spanish and so I am a little nervous about this!

This week a special evangelistic campaign has started in the La Pampa Church in Ilo. The Gap Year team are helping with this and as I write this some good opportunities have presented themselves through door to door work. Next week the team will follow up on these opportunities visiting the people in their homes once again. Please pray for them.

Finally over this past six weeks here in Ilo through our running around and general day to day activities it has become evident that we are going to need a vehicle of some kind here in order to be able to really throw ourselves into the work. Again we would ask you to join with us in prayer for this need.

Once again we thank you all for your interest in what we are doing and more importantly in God’s Work here in Peru. Thank you for your faithful prayers.

These last couple of weeks in Ilo have been very busy ones and also very interesting. Part of adjusting to life in Ilo has entailed furnishing our house. We have spent alot of time running from one furniture shop to another. We have discovered that buying furniture here in Peru is very different from the same in Ballymena! As we enquired abo various things we have been told to come back the next day or in a week and they will have it, as we do this we are often disappointed as the shop is either closed for no known reason or they still don’t have the furniture! At times this has proved to be frustrating as we are keen to get settled and begin to have a more active role in the work here.

Aside from settling in to Ilo we have also been getting to know many of the believers in Ilo and Ite, this has been a real encouragement to us and we trust that over time God can use us to be a huge encouragement to them. Alicia has been attending the ladies meeting in Ite on a weekly basis with Christine and has really enjoyed getting to know these ladies. I have been helping out each Saturday at the Camp Centre where there is now weekly work days for the various churches. I also go out to the Camp Centre a couple of times a week with Trevor to help with the year long evangelism team that is currently based there. While there I am able to go on to the mid week meeting or youth meeting at the Ite church depending on the day. Last week I spent two days in Tacna with Trevor as he was looking for materials and equipment for the camp centre. The opening of the centre is Saturday 3rd November. The building work is not yet complete but we will have to be content with this come 3rd November as there is too much to be done to finish off. This week the workers will continue to work on construction, painting, wiring etc and then next week their time will be devoted to cleaning up and preparing for the opening. Fortunately the Gap team have been able to lend a labouring hand at the centre.

Sarah seems to have settled well here in Ilo. We had initially planned to put her in a nursery here as she developed so well and made some good friends in here nursery in Arequipa, however after giving if some thought we decided against this idea. The school year in Peru ends at Christmas time and then restarts in March. We thought that Sarah needed time to settle and adjust to life here before being thrown into another new situation. We felt that one change in March would be sufficient as if we sent here now if would be likely that she would have to change school again in March again as the nurseries here seem to be different from Arequipa. They go up to 3 years and then there is a different school for over 3s. So far it has worked out well, we are enjoying having her around the house a little more and she does not seem to be missing out on the chance to mix with other children or to speak spanish either. God has truly been good.

On Thursday past we left the sunny hills of Arequipa for the dull and gloomy shores of Ilo. However although there was not much brightness in the sky this trip signaled a new dawn for us as we prepared to set up home in Ilo. Surprisingly the move went very smoothly. We had arranged for a removal lorry to come at 9am to take our luggage and when a lady from the business arrived at the door at 10am to enquire what time we wanted the lorry at we began to doubt whether our stuff would ever arrive in Ilo! After this hiccup everything else went as planned.

We travelled to Ilo with Trevor Morrow who had come to Arequipa to pick us up and to get some items in Arequipa for the camp centre. Fortunately his time in Arequipa was very productive as he was able to get more than he had anticipated.

It was planned that we would stay with the Morrows in their house until we got things sorted in our own house and arrangements had been made to meet the owners of our house on Thursday afternoon, however after not getting left as early as anticipated we postponed this appointement until Friday morning. When we did see the house and meet the owners we found that the house was spotless and the owner had gone to great lengths to help us settle in. We are already thankful for the wonderful ladylords we have for our house and trust that over time we will be able to get to know them better.

Since we got the keys of our house most of our time has been consumed organising our stuff, going to the market to buy essential items and spending time with Sarah. Once again Sarah seems to have coped with the transition remarkably well. We can do nothing other than thank God for this and thank God for a wonderful toddler who brings us so much joy. We hope to allow Sarah a few weeks of adjusting to her new environment before we enroll her in a nursery and so this week we may begin looking at the various possibilities. We would appreciate your prayers that we would find somewhere where she would be equally as happy as she was in Arequipa and that she would soon make a new group of friends.

As we become more settled with practical items in our house we hope to be able to establish an idea of where we will best fit in to the work here in Ilo and Ite. We are praying that God will direct us to the right place. It is likely that our role will be multi-faceted and we are fairly certain that part of this will revolve around the new camp and conference centre in Ite. We ask for your prayers for the opening of the centre in the first week in November. As yet the construction is not completed and funds are low. Please pray with us that the deadline and also financial commitments could be met. I know that the MEET (Gap Year) Team would appreciate your prayers too as they arrive on Thursday. Their time here will involve planning and helping to run camps and also some evangelism work in the Baptist churches throughout the South of Peru.

Again we thank you for your support and for remembering us as a family and the rest of the work of Baptist Missions in Peru.

Today we finished our studies at the Language Institute. After 28 weeks of study at the Institute we said our goodbyes today during a small party that was held for our farewell. The goal had always been to move on from the Institute and not to stay here in Arequipa but after 28 weeks working with various teachers we have developed a bond with many of them and so our goodbyes were much more difficult to say than we thought they would be. On the other hand our graduation from the Institute gave us a sense of achievement and a great awareness of how with God’s help we have developed from having very little Spanish to being able to converse in Spanish.

The end of this chapter also marks the beginning of the next chapter – our work in Ilo (which was the reason we came to Peru). We will make this move next Thursday. Tomorrow morning I (Dave) will join many of the teachers and students from the Institute for the weekly game of football and then afterwards we (as a family) have been invited to enjoy lunch with our teachers Julio and Miriam at their house. In the evening we have been asked to come along to the youth fellowship of of church in order to judge a fancy dress competition. It should be fun.

On Sunday we will say goodbye to many from our church, and will likely be required to say something to the church in relation to our leaving. Alicia has also been asked to play her flute during the service, something she has not had much opportunity to do since coming here.

Next week will involve packing up our last few things and also trying to fit in a number of things in that we have not yet been able to do in Arequipa. One of the things we want to see but have not seen is the project our church is involved in in a shanty town area of Arequipa. The church has a small school there providing free schooling and some nutrition for children who cannot afford such things.

On Wednesday we hope to have a little bit of time to visit Sarah’s nursery as they are having a farewell for her there too. It will also give us a little longer to see how she has developed. Normally we don’t see her in class as we are in class at the same time but according to her teacher she is talking away in Spanish and really interacting well with the rest of the class. More recently Sarah had been mothering one of the newer younger kids in the nursery!

As the title says step 1 (our time at the language institute) has been completed, however as I have written previously we still need more practice and time studying on our own in order to raise our level of Spanish. Step 2 will involve settling into Ilo. It will be a much more difficult step to measure in terms of its completion, however as we settle little by little we will get more involved in the work there. As we settle we will also be able to identify exactely what areas of the work we will be involved in.

Since we arrived in Peru in January we have been so encouraged at how so many of you have maintained an interest in our adjustment to life in Peru and news of of development here. as we come to the end of our time of official language study we feel it is appropriate to let you know of the changes and challenges that lie ahead so that you can be up to date with our situation and can continue to remember us in prayer.

Friday September 21st will be our last day at the language school. As is custom we will have a small party as a farewell on this day. On the one hand it will be an exciting day as it will be the closure of one chapter here in Peru and the beggning of the next chapter. Language Study has been a necessary step in the preparation for what we came to Peru for – to share the Love of Christ with those who have never heard of it. Having said this over the past six months we have made some good friends, particularly with the teachers who have invested so much time and energy into our development. It will be difficult to say our goodbyes to them but we will keep good contact with many of the friends we have made. The last number of weeks have been building up to us leaving the language institute as we have been spending lots of time working through some tests in order to identify our weaknesses and then the rest of the time has been spent working on these areas of weakness.

The time at the language institute has been hugely beneficial and it is encouraging that having arrived in Peru with virtually no Spanish we can now have conversations with people. We have been very impressed with the system that the institute has used and the amount of time and energy the teachers have been willing to expend in order to ensure we understand things well, however at this point and time we are far from fluent. We still lack alot of vocabularly that can only be adquired from experience and time in the country. We also need lots more practice in conversation in order to become more competant Spanish speakers. With this in mind we are pleased that we will soon move on and be more involved with people and involved in real life situations where we will have to make more use of what language we have. We feel that with the base we already have this will enable us to develop from our current level. We also plan to have a tutor working with us for a few hours a week who will help us.

After finishing language study on 21st September we will have almost a week to pack up and get ready for our move to Ilo. We are currently making plans for the removal of our personal stuff and a number of furniture items that we have bought in Arequipa over the last number of weeks. We have had to buy a number of things here in Arequipa as they are either not available in Ilo or there is not as good a selection there. Hopefully during this week we will also have enough time to say goodbyes to some of the people we have got to know here.

During our last visit to Ilo in July we had the opportunity to look at a couple of houses. One of the houses we saw we really liked and were praying that it would be possible for us to rent this house. There was a degree of doubt about the availability of this house to us but on Saturday past we heard that the owners were willing to rent it to us and wanted to accomodate us in any way they could. We praise the Lord that this is available to us and that we will be arriving in Ilo having seen inside the house we will be living in. God has been more than good to us, thank you for praying with us.

Our first couple of weeks in Ilo will mainly involve us getting settled into the house and organising our stuff. We plan to put Sarah into a nursery once again as it has helped her so much and it is good for her to have the interaction with other kids her age, but we will probably allow her a couple of weeks in Ilo to settle in her new surroundings before we enrol her anywhere.

A week after we arrive in Ilo the Baptist Missions Gap year team will arrive. We will be working alongside these young people who will be working at the Camp and Conference Centre in Ite with 9 Peruvian young people. We are excited about this opportunity. I know that these young people would appreciate your prayers as they prepare for a busy year of camps and evangelism with some of the churches in the mountains.

We are also likely to have some form of church involvement. At present the nature of this involvement remains to be seen, we are unsure whether this will be in the small church plant in Ite or in the more established La Pampa church in Ilo. We would appreciate your prayers that we would fit in where God wants us to be involved.

One other area for pray is regarding our driving licences. At present we do not have Peruvian driving licences but eventually we will have to drive in and out to Ite on a regular basis. We hope to be able to take our Peruvian driving test as soon as possible in order that we can get around a little bit more easily.

Once again we want to thank you all for your interest and prayers in the work of Baptist Missions and particularly in us as a family. We are deeply indebted to you because without your prayers we could not be here.