July 2006


Short Re-cap

Since our last letter at the end of January, we have discovered that some of you did not receive it, sorry. Our letter went out at the same time as a 2-week postal strike began and it seems that some letters have never been delivered. So we will do a short re-cap for those of you who missed out!

In December Iain had another eye appointment with the Specialist in the Royal where it was found out that his eyesight had deteriorated slightly in his left eye. He was given new reading glasses and these have made a difference. At another appointment in January, he was told that the doctors are convinced that his eyesight deterioration is not due to altitude or sunlight but only his genetic make-up. He was also told that they are close to finding the gene pathway, which would mean that they could specify a Vitamin B type tablet that would slow down or stop the deterioration. For this we are thankful to God.

We also apologise that this letter is late… The reason being that we have been talking with SIM and our church about the possibility of further missionary service.

The Future

This whole process began with a time of waiting, fasting and prayer, asking God where he would have us serve. We had investigated working with another mission in other Spanish-speaking countries, several different kinds of Christian jobs within the UK, as well as a number of “normal” jobs. But the doors remained closed……

So we talked things through with Ian Grant (the new SIM Ireland director) and our church elder. Our desire remained to serve Him and one place that He had laid on our hearts was Peru.

Firstly, as we had come back for medical reasons, the Specialist in the Royal was asked for a report. She stated that Iain’s eyesight was not due to environmental conditions and she supported a return.

The Peru leadership was asked about our return, as were the Reuter’s and all were happy for us to return to the Breakfast Programme, which was where our hearts had been called to. We had a formal “interview” with the SIM Ireland Council and our church formally unanimously backed our return to Peru. The final meeting has just been held of the SIM UK Board and they have supported the other decisions to accept us again as long-term missionaries to Arequipa, Peru.

The whole process has taken 6 months and we feel the contentment that only Christ can give about taking this step again as a family. The children are also happy about returning.

Returning

The school year in Peru starts in March and we would prefer that the children could be in school for this time. So it would be good to leave either in late December or early January to allow the children to have time to settle in, have language lessons and fulfil visa requirements. We leave the exact timing with the Lord for His Perfect timing.
If we return in January we will probably get started straight away into the Breakfast Feeding Programme as the Reuter’s will still be in Germany.

The financial support needed is roughly about the same. We pray that you will consider prayerfully about supporting us in the future as we endeavour to serve the Lord once again. If so, please complete the enclosed form and return it to SIM UK. It is always said that final confirmation of the Lord’s will is that the finance comes in, so we continue to wait on the Lord and pray. We are extremely thankful for the support we received before, during and after our last term in Peru.