I got tickled to hear the children practicing their Spanish, and each one correcting the other. One says, “That’s not how you say it.” Another says, “You don’t know what you’re saying.” A third, “No, they are saying it right.” A fourth, “Daddy, how do you really say it?”
At least they are practicing, and having a lot of fund amidst all the picking at one another.
220V electricity running into shower head to produce hot water. If you accidently touch the shower head you get a real ZAP! Even reaching over to adjust the water pressure (turn the knob while standing under the heated water) can cause your body to be a conduit. Visitors beware!
We met a man here in Lima to whom we witnessed. We were shocked to hear his beliefs. He claimed to be a Jew that not only believed in the New Testament but also that Messiah had come, and was living in Cuzco, Peru! He even had photographs and a statement of beliefs of the group to which he belonged. Jesus warned us, many false christs would come and deceive many.
We gave him some Scripture to look up and he assured us he would. How sad that one apparently so sincere could be so deceived. Certainly we are living in the last days. The growing spiritual darkness should be our wake up call to vigilance and action.
Greetings friends! We have arrived in Lima and things are going well. The children were just great on our travel day (Tuesday, November 3rd). We awoke at 4am after three hours of sleep to load up all of our luggage and run to the airport. We crashed in bed (which felt more like sleeping on boards) about 2am the next day.
The only big surprise was that the owner of the apartment that we reserved for two months backed out on us AFTER we arrived, so we have been staying in temporary housing while we search for another apartment.
Thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for us as we complete the resident visa process in our host country. We made a big splash down at the Peruvian immigration office this morning to review all of the remaining requirements. Officials kept shuffling my wife and children to low traffic areas as I travelled up and down three different floors to take care of our immigration business.
The Peruvian food is great! They put mayonaise on just about everything, including tacos, so hold the mayo has been a common request.
God bless you all! I’ll write more later.
Dear Friends,
We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for our move to Peru. We will finish itineration in less than two weeks, and then it is time for packing. Everything is still going well with the visa process. We have reason to hope that we will receive our residency visas by the end of the year, and plan to go through the interview process (a series of interviews) with the Ministry of Religion in Lima, the capital of Peru, during the month of November.
Again, thank you for your prayers. We are very excited about all that we have seen God begin to do.
Dear friends,
Things are visibly wrapping up now. We were blessed to itinerate in Arizona over the last several weeks. While here, we completed one part of our visa application-the apostille process for two of the children’s birth certificates. We have to travel to the Peruvian consulate in Chicago next to get another birth certificate apostilled and then on to the Peruvian consulate in Houston. There we hope to finish our initial paperwork for entering the country and be able to make the move to Lima where we will be submitting our entire residency visa package to the Peruvian government. This process is taking a bit longer than anticipated, but we thank God that everything has gone well to-date. Thanks for your prayers.
Friends,
We are so close to finishing up deputation/itineration! Thanks for all the prayers. Our next step is to make the big move to Lima, Peru to finalize our resident visas. God has really blessed us with some great helpers in Lima. In July or August we plan to make a trip into the Amazon to look for a site for the mission station. We know that is going to be a BIG project. Pray that the Lord will direct our steps and grant us favor. Newsletters are about to be mailed out giving more details…
Blessings upon all, The Barraclough Family
We have just wrapped up our final missions services for 2008 and are somewhere around 75% of our needed monthly support. We are now pausing as we await Judith’s final month of pregnancy and allow her time to recuperate after the birth before we begin itineration in 2009.
We plan to be itinerating in part of February through mid-May 2009. At that time we’ll see where we are at with regards to our budget. We’re excited about getting things started in Perú as quickly as possible.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Dear Friends, yesterday was a big day for us as we travelled up to Kansas City for Judith’s naturalization tests. It’s amazing to see God move down to the finite details. Beginning in May, the Lord spoke to us to submit the application. Just two days later the funds were given to do it. This was our first answer to prayer.
We prayed, “Lord, you know that we’re itinerating right now all over the country. Please let all of the appointments be scheduled on days when we will be back at our home base in Missouri.” Wonderfully, the Lord answered this request!
We also prayed, “Lord, you know that the government said it could take up to about one and a half years. Lord, please speed that process up for us so as to not interrupt our departure for the field.” Incredibly, just four months have passed. What a wonderful God we serve!
Finally, knowing that Judith’s interview was coming up, we prayed, “Lord, please give Judith a nice, friendly interviewer that will make her feel at ease.” And yesterday, the Lord answered this request as well!
She was in and out in about 30 minutes, and recounted to us how everything went. She said the interviewer proclaimed, “Congratulations! You’ve passed all tests.”
We now await a letter informing us of when her naturalization ceremony will be. This is a huge blessing to us which aids us in applying for resident visas in Perú. Thank you to all who prayed, and continue to pray for us as we make strides in God’s timing toward our field of calling.
On the uneventful drive back down to Neosho, MO (3 hours by highway) we praised the Lord. When we awoke this morning, our front right tire was totally flat. We know that God prevented an accident, and took care of us, even when we didn’t know or sense the danger!
The Lord has continued to speak to saints across this country regarding supporting our ministry on a monthly basis. We have now surpassed the 70% mark, meaning we have received pledges that slightly exceed 70% of our needed monthly support budget to begin resident missionary ministry in Perú.
Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. We have not pinpointed a definite departure date for Perú yet. We are focused on raising our budget.
I do have one prayer request: please pray that the Lord will direct us to suitable property in Madre de Dios, the state of Perú we plan to move to. The property we looked at in January seems ideal. It is now the decision of the owner on what she would like to do. We would really rather purchase than rent if that is the Lord’s will. Thanks for your prayers. God bless you all!
