Saturday Post -- 05/05/12

Writing from Santa Cruz this morning, where we travelled to on Wednesday evening to attend to 'a couple of important matters', as I put it in last week's post. At the same time, we were keen to keep those motives to ourselves. However, there comes a point when it's useful to give prayer partners a better idea as to what to pray for, and this morning, that time has most certainly come.

For the first couple of years of marriage, we didn't much give having a family a thought. Perhaps it was something to do with our urban locale, or our friendship groups at that time. However, almost as soon as we arrived in Bolivia back in early 2010, that desire to have children increased significantly (maybe it's something in the water!). 

However, in the last two years or so, we have learned that we are one of those couples for whom having children is not all that straightforward. And yes, while two years is a relative drop in the ocean for certain couples, we have been curious as to why it hasn't happened at this relatively fertile stage of our lives.

An exacerbating emotional factor is added to the mix in Bolivia. Back in the UK, we have contemporaries who have had children for a few years now, but that is in a culture where people increasingly wait well into their 30s to conceive, and we know that there would be zero peer-pressure from our friends. But here in Bolivia, having children at times feels like the national pastime. Indeed, one of the sadder aspects of our ministry is that, when we hear the word 'pregnant', it more often than not carries with it negative connotations of promising young lives going to waste. People here, in the church as much as anywhere else, simply cannot conceive of an inability to conceive, and barely a month goes by without someone asking us, with nothing but good intentions, "Why aren't you pregnant yet?"

We don't need the interrogations -- it's a question we've been asking ourselves for a long time. So in March, on our way to Costa Rica, we decided to do something about it, visiting a urologist we know in Santa Cruz, who went over the diagnostic treatment which could be carried out. In the end, we opted for a fertility clinic which we learned about largely through word-of-mouth. Amanda booked an appointment for Thursday morning, and that's why we're here.

But while I write to you from our guesthouse, Amanda has just woken up at the clinic, where she is awaiting exploratory, diagnostic surgery at 11.45am (4.45pm UK time, 11.45am in Toronto). It turned out that she has some complicating factors and what the doctor wishes to do is address those and, while he's at it, see if there are any more. I could go into a lot more detail (you should have seen Amanda's email to our parents!) but I reckon that's enough for you to be praying with. Like any surgery, complications could arise, but we're confident this will be a relatively straightforward procedure.

I will leave it at that for now as I have a clinic-bound bus to catch. We really appreciate your prayers at this time and thank you all so much for your interest in us.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!


Craig & Amanda


Update: While I was travelling over to the clinic, Amanda texted me to tell me she'd been moved up the queue, so she's in surgery right now (9am in Bolivia) meaning you can pray right away!