Nine weeks and counting

Welcome one and all to 2008. We pray that you all have a peaceful year; prayers especially for the people of Kenya following the recent elections there, and for the people of Belize who go to the polls on February 7th.

We are now counting down the few remaining weeks til our move to Central America. Arrangements have been made for shipping our luggage and it's all due to be collected from here for shipment in early February. Our leaving date is set for the week after Easter, Flying out from Birmingham on March 26th. After that the diary just has blank pages, waiting to be filled with all that awaits us.

In the time remaining to us in the UK we are trying to catch up with friends and family. We're also still working on raising the funds we need for our time in Belize, and we are very grateful indeed to everyone who is supporting us.

At Queen's College in Birmingham, UK, it's been a privilege to meet with people from all across the world, and to spend time with them thinking about mission, globalisation and the needs of the church around the world. We are also working on our Spanish, and finishing off some academic work, which we hope to complete before we travel.

And there are lots of last minute practical things - all very necessary, but time consuming and not desperately exciting.

What has been good is that one of the other students here has lived and worked in Belmopan, and has experience of the Church in Belize. We are very grateful for all the insights that have been shared, and the glimpses of what life is like in the place that will soon be home.