18th March 2008
We are very, very pleased to tell you all that we have had news about visas.  We are apparently waiting for one more signature which we should get by the end of the next week!  We now have a provisional flight on the 9th April!!!  This might have to be put back if the signature doesn't come through - but either way, we are nearly there!

It's exciting news but potentially sad as the longer-termers who are still in training here will be sad to see us go as they are few in number and we have very much enjoyed being part of them for longer and have really appreciated beginning semester two here at IMC.  Now I know what I will be missing, it saddens me that we won't be around to complete the semester...

HOWEVER, we very much feel that God has timed this perfectly and we have been convinced of the rightness of us staying in the UK for that little bit longer and more importantly the rightness of going to Peru when we get the word.  Our extra time here has served us well and we recently realised that we had moved on from feeling frustrated at not being able to go to feeling very peaceful about staying here for as long as it would take.

So now we are looking forward to packing up life once again (and adding a few more things to my parents' garage!) and starting life in Peru in the very near future - good things come to those who wait VERY patiently!!!

Thank you all for your support and your prayers re. the visas.  We hope that you will all follow us on our journey and enjoy it!

We'll confirm details once we have them confirmed to us...

Lots of love Rach and Paul xx

3rd March 2008
Thank you so much for everyone who has shown such interest in us, especially over the last 6 months since starting training with BMS World Mission in Birmingham.  Thank you also for those of you who continue to ask us about how our visa situation has developed (or not as the case may be!!).  Finally we have a little news to share!

We heard from Peru at the weekend that the documents we sent over to Lima in order to request visas are currently in the Immigration Office in Lima and we are awaiting the relevant person to cable permission for our visas to the Consulate in London.  Although this seems a very simple procedure, there has been a change in staff at the office and being 'New Kids on the Block' they are apparently asserting their new authority in ways that could slow down the process somewhat.

It's good to know that we are waiting for just the final stage and that one simple cable to London will mean we can go down, collect visas and get flights booked.  We are still unsure how long this might take.  It has been suggested to us that we might know in the next couple of weeks, if not, within the next month.

In the meantime, Paul and I are now nearly recovered from our bouts of illness.  I eventually succumbed to a cough and throat ulcers so we've both been out of circulation for a good while - good job our flights didn't come through earlier!!

We are also very impressed with the training BMS have provided for us - even managing to throw in an earthquake for good measure!!

We hope to send out much more exciting news very soon...

Lots of love to everyone and please keep the emails coming so that we can keep up to date with all your news too.

Rach and Paul xx

19th February 2008
Firstly, thank you (we think!?!) to all those who have been praying that we get significant rest before going to Peru.  This last week Paul has been completely floored by really bad flu and consequently had LOTS of rest, while I have, quite successfully, been fighting it off (and so far so good apart from dizzy spells, nose bleed, head cold and slight temperature) and have rested lots in between playing nurse!  The upside of it all is that I have had someone to watch rubbish tv with (Paul doesn't do tv but he wasn't up to anything else!) and also to sit outside in the sun.

Aside from that, the latest is that the process in Peru regarding our visa situation is apparently going well (whatever that means!) and BMS are talking about booking provisional flights.  We are thankful that it appears that the process hasn't been made any more complicated.

Whilst in email conversation with the one BMS missionary currently out in Lima, we learned that there is slight concern over where we might live once we get down to Chincha Alta (after spending 2 months orientation in Lima) as the number of 'good' buildings have been greatly reduced and so finding one to rent is presenting quite a challenge.  Our missionary friend, Margaret, stays in a tent when she herself visits Chincha from Lima!  We'll have a chance to help look around once we get there, so we still have a good bit of time to work that one out.

Prayer Requests:
- Full recovery for Paul
- Smooth process of packing up and getting ready for the off
- Visas to come through
- God's provision of somewhere to live!

Lots of love Rach and Paul xx

9th February 2008
Hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather this weekend.  It's lovely to see the daffodils out - a bit soon isn't it?

The lastest on our visa situation is that we had a sudden flurry of activity this week when we were asked to hike it down to the Peruvian Consulate again to get some more documents legalised and sent off to Peru.  At first it wasn't clear what the process was and we thought we were going to have to see a Notary, then visit the Foreign Office, then return to the Consulate, but in the end we were able to do everything at the Consulate.  We are now hoping that we have finished our end of the deal in full now and we are hoping that all that remains is to wait for the visas to come through.  We also hope that this won't take long now!

It was nice to see so many of you a couple of weeks ago either in Norwich or Cambridge.  Thanks to all those who came to our commissioning service at Gateway Vineyard, Norwich.  We particularly had an encouraging time when some of you prayed for us.  God really encouraged us through words and pictures given to some of you.  We were also able to share in a service at Cambridge Vineyard - our old church.  We felt very welcomed and "sent off" with your prayers and also the lovely Peruvian food we shared together! 

We are very much looking forward to emailing you are flight dates... but until then, enjoy the sun!

Love Rach and Paul xx

25th January 2008
Sorry if it feels a bit like you're being bombarded by e-mails from us, but we thought that many of you would want a quick update on our visa situation. As you know, we went to the Peruvian consulate on Tuesday (complete with Rachel's A-level certificates and every other piece of paper we could find!!). We were the first to arrive there that morning, but the last to leave - not least because no-one (including us) seemed sure what we were trying to do! There are numerous processes that can be gone through and Peru and London were advising us to do different ones. In the end we did manage to get something stamped, which we hope is enough to mean that the visa process can be started on our behalf in Peru, but many of our documents remain unstamped (including Rachel's A-Level certificates) because we weren't convinced they were necessary and it would cost a lost (£32 per certificate!!) to have them legalised. We await news from Peru on how our application will be received there....

As you can probably imagine we are very keen to get going and the more we stay around the more we feel that we are in the departure lounge waiting to board the plane but the delays keep coming.  We would value your prayers regarding a quick solution to our visas and a subsequent date to fly!

Thanks again to everyone who prayed for the missing certificates and who continues to be interested in our story - we really appreciate your support and look forward to seeing many of you at our commissioning in Norwich on Sunday.

Lots of love,

Paul and Rachel

20th January 2008
Arrived in Somerset this afternoon, had a frustrating call with the Peruvian consulate who don't understand what we are trying to do and how... but walked to a very random place in my parents spare room... and found my certificates in a nice neat pile on a shelve with TOYS!! What an amazing answer to prayer that is!  I don't even have the satisfaction of tearing my parents house upside down! Heading to the consulate tomorrow - all being well!

Thanks everyone,

Rach and Paul xx

19th January 2008
A massive prayer request to all of those who would oblige in offering up a prayer (or lots of) for us regarding our visa process.  I discovered today that I am missing some important documents (my 'A'-Level certificates) that seem to be essential in the process of obtaining a visa.  I'll be speaking to various people Monday morning to get advice on this and possibly going down to Somerset to turn my parents house upside down to find them - it can take up to 30 days to get replacements (and lots of money). Please pray that we can either start the process off without them, or that Paul and I find them tomorrow.  We were hoping to go to the Consulate in London on Tuesday.

Here beginneth lessons in patience with overseas communication and logistics!!

Thanks

Rach and Paul

19th January 2008
Welcome to those who have recently been added to our email list that.  If at any point you wish to not receive these emails any longer please go to  www.paulandrach.com and unsubscribe from our newsletters. If you know of anyone who wishes to receive our news, tell them they can also subsribe at the same web address or indeed drop us an email.

Our website is being changed over the next few weeks before we go and should soon be much more informative about Peru, what we are doing, how you can support us... and lots more!  We'll let you know when it has been changed online.

In the meantime, we have had news regarding obtaining our visas - we are hoping to start the process on Tuesday by going down to the Peruvian Consulate in London where we have to take lots of documents, money, photos and letters with the aim of giving power of attourney to a man in Lima who will, as our representative, organise the necessary things to authorise the visas.  This involves a complicated process with various stages at which things could slow down considerably.  We have been warned that the last time someone got a visa to Peru, the process was painfully frustrating.

However, once we have the visas, we can book a flight!  So we are looking forward to that.  I'm really looking forward to writing emails to you with news from Peru rather than Norwich and Birmingham!!!

For those of you would like to receive an official newsletter (quarterly through BMS World Mission) and haven't already let us know, please email us, telling us whether you would like to receive it through the post or by email - thanks to everyone who has already responded.

For those of you who support us through prayer, please pray: - that we would be organised enough to go to London with EVERYTHING we can possibly think of (including all the right things!!) that the Peruvian Consulate might ask us for (they aren't being very consistant with their advice.) - that we will understand what they asking of us - that the whole process of getting a visa would be as quick as possible - that we can get the information we need from a missionary already in Peru regarding what we need to take with us

Lots of love to you all,

Rach and Paul xx

9th January 2008
Happy New Year everyone! Did you all have a good Christmas and New year?  Paul and I spent a relaxing two weeks with our families in Somerset and Kent and we are now back in Birmingham trying to get visas sorted out before we can get flights to Peru. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Monday and did it in style by visiting a Sikh Temple in Birmingham (as part of our course here) and we were all treated to a meal at the Temple.  Sikhs are very generous!  Not many people can boast of spending their wedding anniversary in a Sikh Gudwara!

As we continue with our preparations, one of the things we have to organise before we leave the country is a list of people who will want to receive an offical quarterly newsletter that we are expected to produce through BMS World Mission (the organisation we are with).  This newsletter would be in addition to the emails we send out semi-regularly and can be received through the post or by email.  Please email me if you would like to receive our official BMS newsletter and indicate whether you would prefer to receive this through the post or by email (remember to include your contact details!).

There will be some overlap regarding what we put in both the official newsletters and our own news emails, but essentially they will be different in terms of content and definitely style! 

Anyway, so far we are looking at flying to Peru sometime in February, as early after the 7th as visas allow we think. 

We'll be in contact again when we have more news,

God Bless

Rach and Paul xx