We wanted to take the opportunity to bring you up to date on what is happening here in Peru, and to thank-you for your prayers before the throne on our behalf.

We are now in our fourth week of Spanish, and are trying to understand and use what we learn. Our teacher spends three hours a day with Kim and I and then one hour with the children. We then try to get out in the neighbourhood use it on anyone who is not moving. Our goal is to spend the next ten months learning the language.

We have found an apartment and moved in after some paint/renovations. Apartments here often do not come fixed up or with kitchen cupboards. So we are working away fixing things up and setting up house. The location is excellent as it is across the street from a general’s home which means we have 24/7 police presence on the street (a good theft deterrent).

We have not purchased a car yet so up to now we take the “combis” (vans in which they will pack up to 28 people) or locally we take the “Tico” taxis, it’s a snug fit for us but they get us where we need to go. Unfortunately to the uninitiated their driving can be rather terrifying. It’s like a game of chicken in a car (or van).

We are thankful that the weather here has been cool (for their standards). One gentleman told me the weather was strange – because it had been a bit cloudy lately!

We received news last week that our visas are ready. So in two weeks we will be traveling to Lima to pick them up. Then they will start working on the children’s visas. We are thankful that they were ready so quickly and that we do not have to leave the country to initiate them (which is what happened in the past).

The children have been busy with school and working on their Spanish. They have been able to go to the youth groups at the assembly and fellowship with the young people. It makes a great break for them. The challenge is keeping busy in a safe way in a city where you do not speak the language or know anyone.

We all have enjoyed fellowshipping at the local assembly. Many of the people are fairly new believers so please pray for their growth and wisdom for the leaders.

Prayer requests

· That we would learn Spanish

· Learn the customs of the people

· For our children – activites and friends

· For the children’s visas

In Him

Mark Kim and Family

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Apartment hunting was a bit different than we had previously experienced. We discovered that it was not uncommon for apartments to be rented with no cupboards in the kitchen. Often it is up to the new tenant to clean and update the apartment.
We also discovered that many houses here do not have hot water. They often have a devise attached to the showerhead that heats the water. Ironically it calls for 10awg wire which is what is actually the feed for the entire apartment.