Firstly: We're really sorry about the mistake in our earlier update about Ione's bring and buy / coffee morning - we actually made £350.

We've been here almost a week and we're only just recovering from our 36 hour journey! The flights were quite pleasant, although waiting in Miami was a nightmare, as there's nothing there! We slept a bit on the flight to Buenos Aires but not as much as we could have done with. We arrived in Montevideo around midday, and were met at the airport by Daniel (from Texas) & Fabio. Since then we haven't had much rest, as we've been shown around the various projects of the church here.

We've visited:
Colon
a very poor council housing area on the outskirts of Montevideo, where the church has a community centre with a chapel. We helped out with the Escuelita (a bit like sunday school) and played a few games with the youth before joining in with the service. Because it's in such a poor area, the centre is always having its windows smashed, so please, if you can, pray for this situation and for the protection of the people who work and go there. Quite a lot of the youth are going to be confirmed soon so please pray and give thanks for them.

CASA (Anglican Centre for Help and Solidarity)
Here they train people with skills they can use to earn money, they also help young people with their school work and in lots of other ways.

We went to the Church of the Holy Spirit, in the more affluent area of the city. Steve Carter, an English missionary is vicar there and we found his Spanish much easier to understand than the Uruguayans. We really enjoyed the service and everyone there was really friendly. We went for lunch afterwards with the Bishop's secretary, Ana, which was great!! Her family were lovely. Next week their Church is moving from a house to a Chapel next door, which everyone is really excited about.

We also went to the Cinema for a bit of a break, as the films here are in English (with Spanish subtitles).

Daniel has been teaching us a few of the perculiarities of Uruguayan spanish, and him and Luis have been great fun looking after us until the Bishop returned.

The Bishop (Miguel) and his wife Martha (a Deacon) just returned yesterday, and are great - they're really welcoming and friendly. They had to go straight to work as soon as they got back, but we ate with them and Miguel is an amazing cook - so don't worry about us loosing weight!

We've also spent some time with Jonathan and Trisha, other English missionaries who are involved with Youth Work and the Alpha Course. They've been very helpful and encouraging.

Anyway thats a brief summary of what's been happening,Gilberto, the vicar we're going to be working with in Salto has found us somewhere to live, so that's an answer to prayer! We've more or less mastered the bus system and we've only been seriously lost once (which was really just a lesson for Ricky in asking directions!). We're struggling with understanding the Uruguayan accent and vocab (as well as the Cuban and Brasilian accent that you hear around the Church), but we're in the process of organising some lessons for us both. Please thank God for our safe arrival and the arrival of Miguel and Martha, and for all the contacts we've made so far. Please pray that we will be able to communicate effectively with people and that our Spanish will improve. Also thank God for all the work that the Church is doing and pray that this will continue and grow.

Thank you for all your e-mails, keep them coming, sorry if we're slow to reply.

Lots of love
Ricky & Laura