We’ve now been back in the UK for three months. The time has rushed by. We wanted to catch up with family and friends. We needed to sort out lots of practical issues as we set up home, and of course we’ve spent time talking to USPG and others about our future.

We are now happily settled, for the moment, in our house near Grantham. It's been good to take time to readjust to life in the UK. The weather was a real shock at first - so cold! But gradually we have re-acclimatised, and can now brave the outdoors without coat and hat even when the temperature plummets as low as 15C.

Having some space and time to reflect has been really useful. Of course, we are very sad that our time in Central America was shorter than planned, and sad that it ended as it did. But thanks to the support we received from Churches and individuals here in the UK, we were able to give a year of our time to the Diocese of Belize. We know how much we have been enriched by our time there. And we know that we can point to positive things we have left behind.

We are still in touch with quite a few people in Belize, thanks to email and facebook. We were really shocked to hear about the earthquake off the coast of Honduras at the end of May, and by the photos we saw from Monkey River and elsewhere. (Fortunately, though there was extensive property damage, no one seems to have been seriously injured.)

So what next? One immediate priority is new jobs for each of us. Ideally, we would like one of us to be Parish based, and the other to have a chaplaincy, or other specialist ministry role. So we need two jobs, one Parish and one not, within easy travelling distance of each other.

Ruth is applying for healthcare and educational chaplaincies. Malcolm is looking at Parishes. It’s quite exciting – we need to go where the work is, and in principle we could end up anywhere! We've had some initial conversations with Bishops and Archdeacons, Ruth has had one interview for a post which she decided wasn't right for her, and more interviews and visits are in the diary for the next few weeks. Please continue to pray for us through this process.

And meanwhile we are both helping out locally in Parishes where there are currently vacancies. This is useful for them, and also gives us a chance to re-engage with ministry here in England. Ruth is helping out in Melton Mowbray, and Malcolm in Bottesford (nr Grantham).

Our other aim for the next couple of months is to try to arrange some visits to “report back” to
some of the Churches that have supported us and prayed for us over the last year. It will be good to share news of the Church in Central America, and who knows, perhaps encourage others to volunteer as mission companions too.