Saturday Post -- 12/03/16

"Sorted."

Many exciting things have taken place since we last posted. New ministries have launched, we’ve passed an important adoption milestone, and Amanda wore Craig’s trousers to work by accident.

Without further ado, then…

Praise

• On Wednesday, we attended the hearing for the termination of rights for Sam’s biological parents. Their family members had had over a month to respond to an edict in a national newspaper, asking them to come forward. As we had been half-expecting, and as was confirmed in the hearing, no-one showed during that time, thereby ruling them out of the process henceforth. So that hurdle has now been overcome and all that remains is for the adoption proper to be confirmed in the next month or two (excuse the vagueness re. a timeline; our hearing was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was cancelled at the last minute in order to give the judge’s office the afternoon off for International Women’s Day!). 
• We’ve had a really exciting past couple of weeks in the church. A week past on Monday, at the family’s request, we held a special evening service in the home of the boy who died so tragically a few weeks ago. They live in a village a few miles outside Trinidad, called Maná. The service was packed – it was standing-room only very early on – and many villagers who have no contact with our church turned up, as Elías, our pastor, delivered a gospel message and we sang hymns and prayed together.
• Meanwhile, the boy’s parents have been coming to church regularly, having previously turned up only for special events their children have been involved in (such as the Christmas service). Last Sunday, during a vibrant Communion service, both of them gave their lives to Christ. We were overjoyed.
• Finally, the launch of the new youth programme last Saturday went really well, with 30 young people in attendance. The meeting starts a little later than before, and lasts an extra half-hour, giving more time for games and small-group discussion. Though last week’s pizza was a one-off, alas.

Prayer

• In a few hours, our first visitors of 2016 will be boarding the first of four flights to Trinidad. We first met Bryan & Amanda Dove, from Ohio, way back in August 2007, and they are a special couple for us, being the first friends we got to know together, rather than one of us introducing them to the other and keeping our fingers crossed that they’d get along (a particular quirk of long-distance relationships). Despite spending most of the past decade on different continents, we’ve remained firm friends, and we can’t wait to see the Doves when they arrive, God-willing, tomorrow afternoon. Pray for their travels to and from Bolivia (they only have five days here), and for an encouraging week all round.
• Somewhat unexpectedly (not least for me), I’m teaching my English course again. The Foundation is needing a little help making ends meet, and after giving it some prayer, I’ve decided to run the course this year. In the past, students were always commenting on how cheap the course was (we were simply covering expenses for photocopying etc) so we’ve decided to increase the cost by, er, 500%! Yet still, people seem to consider it a bargain, and interest has been high, so I’m hoping it will prove an effective fundraiser. If you’ve been reading our blog for a few years, you’ll know that as we progress through the year, we begin reading the Bible together too. To that end, I’d really appreciate your prayers that God would bring together a group of students who are amiable, committed, and willing to learn.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda