Saturday Post -- 10/10/15

Amanda, Andrew & Ruth in final preparation mode last night.

A monumentally busy week for us is approaching its climax. One of our dogs has fallen ill and multiple trips to the vet have ensued. Our car's ignition gave up completely resulting in an unscheduled appointment with our mechanic. We have no end of staff members to discipline, meetings to attend, sermons to write.

Oh yeah. And we've had a marriage course to run.

Not bad for effectively £1 a night.

But besides exhaustion, the overriding feeling is one of thankfulness for what looks to have been a tremendous blessing for our church and our community. 

Milton & Karen, whom we have gotten to know this week.

Being so involved in church, our 'weekend' usually kicks off somewhere around lunchtime on Sunday. Sound equipment packed away. AC units switched off. A hearty meal somewhere in town. Crash. 

Our pastor, Elías, welcomes the group on Thursday evening.

Last Sunday, however, these proceedings were merely the cue for those women who had been hard at work for months preparing the decor to finally move in and put the finishing touches to their masterpiece. Andrew & Ruth and ourselves were involved here too. Andrew & Ruth and I managed till about 7, when the bunting was being put up and it became increasingly clear our services would now be better put to use elsewhere; Amanda, meanwhile, tapped out at 10:30pm, with much work still to be done. By the early hours of Monday morning, the transformation was complete.

Each evening has a different centrepiece -- all hand-crafted by the women
of the church -- which the couple take home, along with the evening's key verses.

Monday morning and afternoon saw multiple car journeys into town to pick up various supplies for the week, our busyness rendering any first-night nerves irrelevant. Not that we need have worried about that. Andrew & Ruth have spent months planning the marriage course to the minute, and there has hardly been a false step all week.

Amanda and Ruth with Ruth Obando, who has spearheaded the arts and
crafts operation. Typically, Ruth and Ruth have grown very close this week.

The course itself has lasted about two hours each session. We have usually begun with a few words from Andrew & Ruth to summarise past teaching or to cue up the evening's theme (the course covers: Building Strong Foundations, The Art of Communication, Resolving Conflict, The Power of Forgiveness, The Impact of Family, Good Sex, and Love in Action). From here, it's straight into the Alpha-produced video for each night. Some of you may be familiar with the material and its high production values. These have most certainly been carried into the Spanish-language course; the dubbing, in particular, is accurate to the millisecond and in no way distracting. 

Eat, drink...and sort out your marriage!

Each evening's video lasts about an hour. But during the video, there are various pauses for exercises which are found in the accompanying manual. Crucially, these exercises are not carried out by the group as a whole, but they are discussed by each couple at their table (hence the 'date night' ambience; some light music is played during such times as well). These exercises inevitably constitute the meat of the course. And speaking of meat, a light meal has been served each night by a group of young people in the church during the longer exercises.

Nothing if not prepared.

Andrew & Ruth have normally rounded up proceedings with some more scriptural input and/or personal testimony, followed by a prayer.

Video time.

So far (the final two modules take place tomorrow afternoon and evening), the response has been tremendous. Around half of the couples in attendance are not from our church, and Amanda and I have made a point of cornering such people at the end of each evening to guage their thoughts. Granted, not everyone has gaily skipped out the door each evening. But everyone we have spoken to has been deeply challenged by what they considered for their own marriage, yet well equipped to address these issues as well.

The hyper-activity of planning during the weeks preceding meant that we ourselves had barely given a moment's thought to the prospect of asking these searching questions of our own marriage, until we took our seats at around 7:30pm. Yet for all our tiredness come the evening time, we have been given the grace to be able to work diligently through these exercises, to honestly reflect on where we are failing each other, and and to think creatively about how to tackle such areas of our relationship. It's been something of an unexpected surprise.

One of the younger couples hard at work.

The impression left amidst all this by Andrew & Ruth -- with barely a word of Spanish to their names -- has been seismic. Last night, a relatively private chap positively gushed as he spoke to me of their obvious love for the participants in the course. Each evening, no matter how many finishing touches to see to, they have invariably greeted every couple upon arrival with the traditional Beniano warmth, and have staunchly refused to allow their lack of Spanish to be a barrier in spending time with participants once the evening is done. Their wise words from the front each are backed up by their actions. 

Their work behind the scenes has also been noted. The core document for the week is a bulging file with hundreds of pages of notes, with scripts for each evening edited and re-edited. Though much of this work took place pre-travel, they have spent many hours here continually re-assessing the content in light of the culture and the events of the week so far. When they've not been going over such details with a fine tooth-comb, they can be found engaged in the many manual tasks required to run the course, whether that be sewing, shopping, drilling, ironing or baking. Much of this has taken place with the Bolivians themselves, only solidifying further these bonds. And so, this little church community has been left with a big example of marriage as servant ministry. 

We still have a great deal of the course to cover, and Andrew & Ruth still have another five days here with us. We're not half excited to see what's in store.

Prayer

• Pray for the remaining two modules of the course, taking place tomorrow afternoon and evening. 
• Pray for lasting change in the marriages of all the participants. 
• Pray for those couples who are co-habiting (very few couples actually marry in this culture), or who are not believers. Andrew & Ruth will be addressing both of these areas tomorrow evening; pray that these couples would be challenged.
• This is the Alpha Marriage Course's first ever incursion into Bolivia, and Alpha have asked Andrew & Ruth to look into promoting the course while here. To that end, a meeting of pastors and leaders here in Trinidad has been arranged for Monday evening. Prayer appreciated.
• Andrew & Ruth are moving on from here to La Paz and the Lake Titicaca region for a couple of days, before a couple of weeks' well-earned rest in Peru. Pray for safety in their travels.
• We (Craig & Amanda) are essentially running on adrenaline right now. Pray for rest.

Praise

• For an exciting week at the marriage course.
• For the great impact Andrew & Ruth have had in their short time here.
• For the LORD's sustaining of the four of us at this exceptionally busy time.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda