Well, it's official. We have now purchased our return airline tickets. We will be heading back to Peru on August 1. After much searching and investigating we found some very good priced airline tickets. We will actually be flying out of Roanoke, Virginia. It sure is strange how the airlines work: We will fly from Roanoke to Atlanta and then a direct flight from Atlanta to Lima. The travel from Roanoke was $35 per ticket cheaper than flying directly from Atlanta!
I was actually quoted the following absurd itinerary by one agent: Travel from Greensboro, NC to Cincinnati, OH to Newark, NJ to Lima. That was over 16 hours of flying! I think I will stick to a more direct flight. It's hard to fly 5 hours north to eventually make it to South America.
We would appreciate your faithful prayers at this time. Pray for us as we pack and close up our mission home here in NC. Pray also as we finish visiting supporting churches and make last minute plans. Continue to pray that Olivia's paperwork will be processed quickly. Plus you can began praying now for our safety in travel back to Peru. (You will remember that John hates to fly!)
Mummy's Day in Peru
A female mummy was recently found near the Peruvian city of Trujillo. The mummy was found with extensive jewelry, artifacts, and most interestingly tatoos! The mummy's tattoos cover both arms and other areas of her body. Workers with the National Geographic society are studying the artifacts. They estimate the burial site is from about 450 A. D.
The remains are especially unusual because the grave contained not only jewelry and beads, but war-like items like clubs and spears. There was also the mummy of a sacrificed teenage girl. The site will be featured in the June issue of National Geographic magazine.
Mummies are a relatively common find in Peru. The coastal desert helps preserve much of Peru's ancient artifacts.
The remains are especially unusual because the grave contained not only jewelry and beads, but war-like items like clubs and spears. There was also the mummy of a sacrificed teenage girl. The site will be featured in the June issue of National Geographic magazine.
Mummies are a relatively common find in Peru. The coastal desert helps preserve much of Peru's ancient artifacts.
Special Prayer Request
As you can imagine there is much paperwork to be done in order to move to a foreign country. Three of us have our permanent resident visas for living in Peru. However, Olivia still needs to apply and qualify for her visa. We are working on that paperwork at this time.
In the past, Peru would not issue permanent resident visas to children until they had first entered Peru on a tourist visa with their parents. Then the family was required to leave the country, visit a consulate office, and then re-enter the country to receive the visa. We did this with Elizabeth in 2002. It required a visit to Ecuador and a lot of added expense.
The laws in Peru change almost daily. As of today, they are willing to issue Olivia a visa before we arrive in Peru. This would save a lot of time and expense. But, this could change at any moment. (It has changed twice in the last month!) It seems the immigration officers get to make up the rules as they go along, often according to their mood.
Pray that Olivia will be granted her permanent visa soon, and without having to enter Peru first.
In the past, Peru would not issue permanent resident visas to children until they had first entered Peru on a tourist visa with their parents. Then the family was required to leave the country, visit a consulate office, and then re-enter the country to receive the visa. We did this with Elizabeth in 2002. It required a visit to Ecuador and a lot of added expense.
The laws in Peru change almost daily. As of today, they are willing to issue Olivia a visa before we arrive in Peru. This would save a lot of time and expense. But, this could change at any moment. (It has changed twice in the last month!) It seems the immigration officers get to make up the rules as they go along, often according to their mood.
Pray that Olivia will be granted her permanent visa soon, and without having to enter Peru first.
The Wait is Over, for Now...
Yesterday, Peru's election officials finally announced the date for the second round of presidential elections. The vote will be between left-leaning Ollanta Humala and former president Alan Garcia. Garcia edged out the third place candidate by about 65,000 votes.
The elections will take place on June 4th.
The first round of voting took place on April 9th. The results were delayed as the politicians contested various ballot sheets. There were claims of techincal errors, arithmetic errors, and illegible handwriting. As of today 99.98% of the votes are counted and official.
We will be praying leading up to election day. We hope you will be doing the same.
The elections will take place on June 4th.
The first round of voting took place on April 9th. The results were delayed as the politicians contested various ballot sheets. There were claims of techincal errors, arithmetic errors, and illegible handwriting. As of today 99.98% of the votes are counted and official.
We will be praying leading up to election day. We hope you will be doing the same.
April is gone already?
It is hard to believe that the month is already past. We had a great month of traveling and meetings. By months end we had visited 7 of our supporting churches and participated in 23 services. (That is easy to do when you have 3 mission conferences back-to-back!) We also enjoyed a mini family vacation in Norfolk, Virginia over the Easter weekend.
We appreciate all of you that have been faithfully praying about the elections in Peru. We are a bit disappointed in the outcome of the first round of voting. The two candidates that we found less-favorable turned out to be the winners. They will face off in a final round in late May. So far about 99.5 percent of the votes have been tallied. It is statistically impossible for anyone else to bump them from the top two spots. There could be difficult days ahead in Peru and in the rest of South America. Its never to late to pray. Pray that God will work and keep the door of opportunity open in Peru. Pray also that world situations might turn more people to God.
It is indeed difficult to believe that April is already over. We are shopping for airline tickets now. We hope to have Olivia's visa paperwork done soon and our final travel plans in place. Before we know it May will be over and packing will have to begin! It will be great to know that you are praying for us all along the way!
We appreciate all of you that have been faithfully praying about the elections in Peru. We are a bit disappointed in the outcome of the first round of voting. The two candidates that we found less-favorable turned out to be the winners. They will face off in a final round in late May. So far about 99.5 percent of the votes have been tallied. It is statistically impossible for anyone else to bump them from the top two spots. There could be difficult days ahead in Peru and in the rest of South America. Its never to late to pray. Pray that God will work and keep the door of opportunity open in Peru. Pray also that world situations might turn more people to God.
It is indeed difficult to believe that April is already over. We are shopping for airline tickets now. We hope to have Olivia's visa paperwork done soon and our final travel plans in place. Before we know it May will be over and packing will have to begin! It will be great to know that you are praying for us all along the way!
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