Saturday Post -- 15/06/13

Involved as we are in a great variety of programmes, activities and services (ecclesiastical and otherwise), it can be easy to lose sight of the key commodity in missionary outreach: people.

Fortunately, one of the areas I’m involved in here in Bolivia gives us a great chance to touch base with individuals and develop Christ-centred relationships in the process.

FT, as I’ve probably mentioned before, is the official centre in the Beni region for the Emmaus correspondence course, in which students study the Bible, with the aid of course texts, and submit exams at their own pace. The whole course consists of around 40 texts, which go progressively deeper into Scripture. For example, the first two or three texts are steadfastly gospel-centred, communicating the Good News in simple language. But later texts focus on particular themes such as Baptism and Communion, particular books of the Bible, such as Galatians or John’s epistles. The texts are of particular use here, where daily Bible reading aids are sorely lacking; many students find themselves doing ‘a bit a day’ of their books.

Once completed, and the accompanying exams are submitted, it is over to KC (who oversees the programme), Elías and me to correct these – a fairly simple task, as they tend to be predominantly made up of true/false questions. However, most of the exams close with a series of open-ended questions, which usually apply the theory of the text to the individual. These questions, naturally, can throw up a whole variety of answers (some of which, occasionally, suggest a lack of real understanding of the text as a whole), and so our policy is to meet with each individual student when we return their exam.

On this basis, I’ve been meeting with a young man called Alfredo over the past few weeks. Well, not exactly. Alfredo, a cobbler in one of the markets here, is unable to walk without support and, naturally, struggles to get around. So instead of coming to us, we have been going to him – KC was visiting him until motherhood kicked in and asked me if I could take over this duty. It was hard to find a time that suited both of us, but recently we’ve been able to find a time every week that we can meet. This doesn’t give him nearly enough time to finish a text. However, it gives him regular contact with another Christian male and the chance to discuss what he’s been studying with someone who knows their Bible.

I’ve been greatly encouraged to meet with Alfredo and get to know him better. Despite having no support from family or friends, he has a real passion for his Bible and has spent a lot of time thinking about his faith – a rare commodity in this culture. His condition makes it hard for him to get to church. In our own church, which meets in an upper room (purely coincidentally, I might add) we are about to install a bannister (like so much in this culture, this depends on the guy who said he’d do it turning up when he says he will!) and I’m really hoping that once we have this in place, that we can bring Alfredo along to our congregation on Sundays where, God-willing, he can benefit from more support than he currently receives.

As Amanda mentioned last week, I made my own visit to a church on the other side of town to promote the Emmaus materials. Many of those who attend our church are ‘doing’ the course (though submission of texts tends to be somewhat infrequent) and so we’re keen to push the course, which is a terrific resource in evangelism and discipleship, into other faith communities in Trinidad.

This weekend is a relatively quiet one – for me, at least. Amanda is knee-deep in a weekend-long training course for the Kids’ Games programme at FT (which we ran last year between September and November – see posts from that time for more details), which is being supported by some visitors who have come all the way from Cochabamba to facilitate the training. So once this is posted, I must do for others as I so often have them do for me, and embark on the mother of all shopping trips. Nothing quite like Trinidad on a Saturday morning.

Which is itself complicated by the fact that we will soon have an extra mouth to feed. On Wednesday afternoon, our latest volunteer, Joe Sturman, arrives from the UK. Joe has just finished his second year of medical training at Birmingham and will be staying in our home during his month of volunteer work at FT. We’re looking forward to getting to know Joe over the next few weeks and, in particular, receiving his tribute of Dairy Milk bars. Godspeed, my friend!

Prayer

• For all those who have recently enrolled in the Emmaus course, that they would complete their texts promptly and would grow in Christ in the process.
• For Amanda and her fellow participants in the training course this weekend.
• For safety for Joe as he travels here on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• For Alfredo as he seeks to grow in his faith in challenging circumstances.

Praise

• For so many opportunities to get alongside people and share Christ with them, which the Emmaus course affords us.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda