Stage 1 Completed

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.

The Road Ahead

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.