¡La Selva!

We have just been told that we are heading to the jungle on Friday! We will be jumping onto a bus in the morning to travel over 18 hours to a small town in the jungle. We have no idea what the acommodation is like but we have been told that we´ll be "roughing it."

Two young people from the church here in Arequipa worked there for a period of 5 months as part of a missions team. There are a handful of Christians there who don´t have a church. They really need teaching and discipleship. The 3 of us along with Marcos, Marilyn and Bernardo will be leaving on Friday morning and we´ll be back on the 18th just before travelling down to Ilo the next day.

Please pray for us as we travel that´d we´d be kept safe and that God would use us to help encourage and teach the young believers there.

Thankyou for all your prayers. We really appreciate them and need them.

There ain´t no mountian high enough....

Last Thursday we took the 6 hour bus trip higher into the Andes. Puno is 3,800 metres above sea level, on the edge of Lake Titicaca, and, as we soon discovered - a totally different world. The purpose of this expedition was to help Lourdes Brew with what is known as "The Sunday School Project". The Sunday School´s back home raise money to buy a Christmas gift for the children of the Sunday Schools high in the Andes.

During out time we stayed with Lourdes´ family in Yunguyo - a small village 2 hours from Puno. We had a great time with them and were continually told to "serve ourselves" at meal times. We definitely ate more than our share of food!

On Friday we sorted, named and packed 467 t-shirts for children, from the ages of 4-15, that belong to 14 different churches. On Saturday and Sunday we visited the Churches to distribute the gifts. Each Sunday School recited different verses they had learnt or sang songs. We also gave out sweet bread to the children and had hot chocolate.

One of the Churches we visited on Saturday afternoon was in the country side near Huapaca. We stopped at a small house on the edge of the road. The next thing we knew about 20 children had climbed into the combi all excited and ready to go. We drove further down the road and onto a track, at the end of which was a small building. These people were so welcoming and so grateful for every little thing. Simon had the oppurtunity to share a childrens story at this church and also preach twice on Sunday. After visiting the first church on Sunday morning we were presented with dinner - rice, chuno (freeze dried potato) and fried cheese. The second church once again saw us being presented with dinner - rice, chuno amd fried cheese... Thankfully we had some spare plastic bags and were able to discretely bring our second dinner away with us for consumption later on....

It was a great weekend and we really gained a understanding of how difficult life can be here. It was very interesting to see where the work of Irish Baptist Foreign Missions began all those years ago in 1927.

Schools out for Summer!!!

Last Friday saw the 3 of us bidding farewell to the Language school. (It´s hard to believe that 2 months have gone by so quickly!!) Each time a student leaves, the school has a 'Dispedida' (farewell), where we eat empanadas, share 'thank-you' gifts and listen to a farewell speech in Spanish. We were no exception, the 3 of us gave our speechs and told the teachers how great they were...we also made some 15's which seemed to go down pretty well with both the teachers and other students.



With a bit of extra time over the past few days, we have been able to use it to help with the various projects in both the church (Pepe and Jardin- schools belonging to the church) and Latin Link (Shalom- Latin Link school)



We head to Puno tomorrow for 5 days to help out with the Christmas Project. Each year churches back home send money to be used in the Sunday schools in Puno. Lourdes Brew heads up and brings clothes for the kids, kind of like a reward at the end of the year and as a special Christmas treat. Its also a time that is used to encourage the Sunday school teachers in the great work they do.



Pray for us

- as we adapt to the change in situation

- as we get more involved in the various projects with the church and Latin Link

- for safely in travelling to Puno

- God might use us in assising Lourdes Brew



Thanks once again for your continued support in prayer, it is greatly appreciated!!

Meeting Missionaries

Once again we have had another pretty hectic week, but it's been great!

Sunday week ago we had the opportunity to meet up with Iain and Heather McKelvie and their 2 children, Philip and Debbie. They are SIM missionaries from Mountpottinger Baptist and have been serving here in Arequipa for around 5 years. It was great to have a time of fellowship in their church cafe and then the following evening in their home (the homemade choc-chip pancakes weren't too bad either!!). They were able to tell us a little bit about the childrens ministries they are involved in. For more information check out http://www.themckelvies.co.uk/

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon in the Turner household, once again they provided wonderful hospitality with a roast beef dinner (champ included!) followed with apple crumble and custard (at Simons request!!!) They have a hectic schedule so it was lovely to spend some time with them outside of the regular church activities.

That evening we were hosted by Steve and Rachel Peat along with their kids Amy, Gareth and Joel. They are from York and have been serving in Arequipa with SIM for around 13 years. It was a brilliant opportunity for us to gain insight into the ministries they are involved in. They gave us lots of kids and youth resources in Spanish (it's extremely diffiucult to find good quality scriptural materials), these will definitely come in useful throughout the rest of the year. You can find out more about the Peat family at http://www.peats.org/

One moring when we arrived into language school, the school´s director told Simon that a friend of his Dad´s was in Arequipa. He gave him a mobile number which resulted in Simon meeting Pastor Spencer Cunnah who is the minister in Wycliffe International Church, Sheffield. He is over for a few days visiting. He then put us in touch with the Peats which was great! It´s a small world!!!

Both the McKelvies and Peats are returning home at the beginning of December until February/March. Pray for them as they leave their ministries and pack things up here in Arequipa, adjusting to life back in the UK. Also as they travel around, speaking at various churches services and meetings, that they will have an impact on those they speak to and that others would be a source of encouragement to them in the wonderful work they are doing here.