February 2007

Dear all,

Warm greetings from cloudy Arequipa! So much has happened in the last 2 months that it is hard to know where to begin.

First of all, we left Belfast on 7th January and had a very uneventful journey which we are very thankful for. We arrived in Lima just 30 minutes late at 11pm Peru-time. We are 5 hours behind the UK.

We were in Lima for 3 days and then attempted to fly to Arequipa, but because of the rain in Arequipa the plane was re-scheduled for 6am the next morning. This meant we had to spend the night in the airport which the kids haven’t forgotten.

We lived for a while in the mission guest apartment while we re-adjusted to life and arranged to move back into our old house. It was amazing how quickly we re-settled, it now feels like home.

There was so much to do in completing paperwork for the children’s schooling, for purchasing things we needed and for the house. As you can appreciate, this last month has been somewhat crazy, but God has helped us through it all.

We have been able to find our way around and remember where to go to buy things.

We returned to the language institute to go through a one month grammar course in Spanish. Quickly we had homework and there are always plenty of chances to practice when you’re buying things!

The children also started Spanish lessons with Sandra who we had before. They both have 1 hour a day, Phillip especially has reverted back to Spanish rather easily.

Debbie is doing well and she’s speaking so much more now.

After 2 weeks we went to Lima on an overnight bus (14 hours in total) to go to the SIM Missionary Conference for all the Peru missionaries. There were about 60 of us in total and we had one of the SIM “Pastor’s at large” teaching us from Habakkuk. It was a wonderful opportunity to refresh ourselves spiritually and catch up with the other missionaries and what they are doing at this time. The children had a special programme which they thoroughly enjoyed.

We stayed on in Lima for a few days after in order that we could get our “Carnets”.

Unfortunately we all got a little ill with a tummy bug, but such is life adjusting to Peru.

When we returned we were able to move into our house and since then it seems to have been constant buying of things that we need for the house. For example, we went one day to the furniture market to look for what we needed and get the prices. The next day, we arranged for a small truck to meet us there and buy the beds. The owner of the shop (don’t get any ideas of places like MFI!!) said he had what we wanted and proceeded to bring out to the street the bed bases. Quickly we realised that they weren’t stained, and the man told us “don’t worry, I will do it now” and proceeded to stain them on the street. So we waited for an hour while he went round them all with a cloth, using some kind of stain! We then went to buy the mattresses, and again the man said, yes I have them, but in reality he didn’t and he had to ring round several places to find what we wanted. About an hour later, he had them, we had to try them all out and then it was time for loading everything up and getting them home! Exhausting work in a second language!

The children started school on 5th March. It was a busy 2 weeks as we got all their books and stationery for school. One day we went to the “stationery” shop and spent just over 2 hours getting all their stationery. The whole list was checked 3 times to make sure it was all correct! We then spent time nearly every day trying to find all their text-books for school – we are still missing one book for each of them, but hopefully they will come in soon – we have been promised they will.

WELCOME TO PERU!

You may remember that the school doesn’t have a uniform, so most days they go in their jeans and a t-shirt. But on days they have sports, they go in the school sports uniforms. Debbie has started 1st grade and Phillip 5th grade. Every single thing has got to have their names on it, so this also takes time.

We have now finished the one month grammar revision and it has been really good. There are some things that we couldn’t understand or use before and now they seem to be a bit clearer. We need to practice more and we plan to find someone for each of us to practice with a few times a week.

We’ve also had an introduction to the local hospital when Iain cut his hand and needed to have 3 stitches!

Iain has also been out with Hans Kaser researching the prices of the ingredients for the Breakfast Programme. It will begin on 9th April, but before then there is a lot to do. We have all the churches that have the programme and so each church will meet with us, discuss the programme in their church and how many children they have. We will then arrange to meet with them again to pick up the food that they need to last them until June. We hope to have all this done, (as well as all the food bought for a good price) by the end of March.

In April, we will begin to visit each of the churches in Arequipa who have a programme early in the morning. It will be a good orientation of the city!
Possibly in May or there abouts, Iain will have an opportunity to visit the highland churches with several other missionaries for a few days. This will mean going to villages much higher than Arequipa, so pray for a safe journey and health while away.

Continue to pray for our safety, recently one of our friends was robbed just a few metres from our house. It is impossible to be safe all the time, but pray for wisdom as we go about our daily work.

Iain, Heather, Phillip & Debbie

ADDRESSES:

Iain & Heather McKelvie
Apartado 1810
Arequipa
PERU
Tel: 0051 54 25 85 19

SIM (Ireland)
285a Woodstock Road
Belfast BT6 8PR
Tel: 028 90 451 451
Email: info@simireland.co.uk

SIM (UK)
Wetheringsett Manor
Wetheringsett
Stowmarket
IP14 5OX

Prayer Points

• Give thanks for a safe journey here and for the contentment that we feel being here
• Pray for the children as they begin school, make new friends and settle down to school in another language
• Give thanks for the time we spent in language school, pray that we would be understood as we begin work
• Pray for the Breakfast Programme and all the organising that needs done in the next few weeks Especially for Hans as Iain shadows him for this interim period, in interviews and administration.
• Pray for people that we meet that we would be faithful in sharing the message of the cross
• Pray for a young missionary from Germany who has just suffered a stroke while here and needs to return back to Germany.
• Pray for the Reuters, whom some of you have met, as they prepare to leave Germany to return to Peru in June.
  

Colossians 4:2-6 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful….let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”