Saturday, November 26, 2016

Saturday Post -- 26/11/16

Flying to La Paz from Trinidad...
It's probably been mentioned here before, but the wealth of nature and scenery that Bolivia has to offer at times beggars belief. It really has everything but the sea. A case in point is the 50 minute flight we took on Monday from tropical Trinidad to the world's highest international airport in La Paz. 

But such stark contrasts go beyond landscapes. Bolivia, in broad terms, is populated by two main people groups: the highlanders in western regions like La Paz, Cochabamba and Sucre, and the hot-blooded orientistas in our side of the country. And but for finding themselves inside the same borderlines, they have little else in common; unfortunately this can make for no shortage of racism and mutual suspicion.

They don't particularly enjoy encroaching into enemy territory either. Most folk in Trinidad who have ventured beyond the city limits will have made their way to the camba capital of Santa Cruz, a city where the driving is appalling, the siestas are aggressively protected, and the music is always cranked up to 11; in other words, a really, really, really, really, really big version of Trinidad.

...means going from this...
But mention La Paz to most people here, and those have made the journey will screw up their noses, and those who haven't will ask you what the point of that would be.

Well, earlier this week, our overnight visit to La Paz did indeed have a point -- a very important one, indeed -- and we were thrilled for the excuse to spend some time in a city we've always enjoyed in the past, not least for its spectacular mountain setting. Only we left realising we have now probably become more orientista than we had realised.

The altitude, of course, is a big factor here. And that would be manageable if things were relatively horizontal. But when the nearest grocery store from your hotel is three steep uphill blocks away, that's challenging. And when said hotel inevitably has a staircase or two, well that's just taking things too far. 

...to this.
With so much energy expended during the day, you'd think sleep would come easily. But that is affected, too. The first night or two at altitude is always challenging due to the vast change in temperature, and the shortness of breath, which you didn't notice during the day when you had other things to do (I often lie still wondering if I will wake up the next day or be suffocated to death in my sleep). To his credit, Sam adjusted marvellously to this, while his parents got about three hours' each.

So it's fair to say we were not exactly in sparkling form come Tuesday morning, with the appointment due to take place at 9am. Not being the best sleeper myself at the best of times -- this almost certainly being my 'thorn in the flesh' -- I just knew that this was the moment to trust fully in him whose power is manifested in our weakness. And that just about got us through the day.

As for the appointment, it could not have gone better. As mentioned last week, it was simply a handover of the compulsory documentation for the UK visa, plus anything else that might aid our cause (such as a letter from my parents). The only complicating factor was getting Sam's photograph taken; Sam, the most wanton of flirts, had eyes only for the woman and not the guy taking the picture. No documents appeared to be amiss, and yesterday we received email confirmation from Colombia that the application had arrived and was being processed. We should have an answer within the next ten days.


The appointment over and done with, we took advantage of La Paz's impressive new cable car system and hitched a ride back up (where else?) to our hotel, where we checked out and Sam rubbed further salt into the sleep wound by dosing off for a couple of hours in the hotel reception. A quick lunch followed in a café we know and trust, before heading to the airport and our flight back to Trinidad, where mosquitos, humidity and oxygen awaited us. It was good to be back.

Only La Paz hadn't left us. That trusted café, we were to find out in the next 24 hours, had given us both a nasty bout of food poisoning. That trusted café where, to our general annoyance, Sam had staunchly refused to eat anything, returning to Trinidad both fully rested and lacking in any queasiness whatsoever. You'll soon learn, m'boy. You'll soon learn.


Prayer
  • Pray for the visa application, now making its way through the British consulate in Bogotá.
  • Pray for energy to finish well here. Knowing ourselves and what we can handle, we generally have a three-month rule, whereby we are never in Trinidad for more than a three-month period without some kind of break. We are now entering month three since our last proper break and are flagging somewhat, with so much left to do before leaving Trinidad at the end of December.
  • Pray particularly for the church and Fundación Totaí, where we have a lot of groundwork to put in place before leaving. Normally, this is a sign that overseas workers haven't been doing their jobs properly (i.e., they haven't been training up others during their time on the field). In our case, it owes more to a couple of key people leaving both organisations at year's end.
  • Pray for the visit this week of Brigitte Borner from Latin Link, who is coming to assess the short-term volunteering options we have available here.
  • Finally, joking aside, pray for the city of La Paz, which is experiencing severe water shortages right now (we were largely spared any problems in the neighbourhood in which we stayed).
Praise
  • For safe travels to and from La Paz, and a straightforward appointment on Tuesday morning.
  • For the three months spent here by Melissa Olmstead (USA), who volunteered in the church and foundation and was supervised by Amanda. She moves on to Cochabamba for further language training on Sunday.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Saturday Post -- 19/11/16

Pull a face like that on Tuesday, and we're toast.
A great deal of our time this week has been devoted to a ten-minute appointment in La Paz on Tuesday morning of the next. It's time to apply for Sam's UK visa -- and we will have two more such applications in the coming months for Canada and the USA.

We have enjoyed our visits to La Paz in the past (a city that truly has to be seen to be believed), but this time it's strictly business, with our work here in Trinidad limiting us to an overnight stay; that said, we hope to see some friends while we're in town.

The nearest UK consulate is actually in Colombia, so our appointment is simply a case of submitting the various forms and evidential documents, and doing Sam's biometrics. There will then be a wait of two-to-three weeks while we wait for an answer, which we hope will be in the affirmative.

Technically, we are very much doing this the wrong way round. Consulates generally warn you not to buy flights before getting a visa, in case anything falls through. However, there was no way we were going to wait till just a month before our planned travel date to the UK. Flights for mid-January (deliberately avoiding the Christmas period) were already eye-wateringly expensive back when we booked them in September; goodness knows what we'd be paying with just weeks to spare. Additionally, we happen to know from personal experience (namely, Brazilgate) that our travel agency are a dab hand when it comes to refunds. 

So, to La Paz we go, on two wings and no shortage of prayers. Appreciate your own prayers for Tuesday and the following weeks as we await an answer.

Blazing a trail on Thursday was Sue Barham, who had an overnight in La Paz herself after her four-day visit to Trinidad. We first met Sue and husband Ken in Costa Rica in 2012, at a LAM Canada conference, when they were serving in Honduras (after a stint in Costa Rica itself). They are now back in Canada, but Sue is currently working for LAM Canada as the Short-Term Recruitment Coordinator. She came to Trinidad this week to explore opportunities for short-term volunteers, and really appreciated the opportunity to see our work up close; we enjoyed having her here too. Sue was really excited for the possibilities that exist for short-termers in Canada, who increasingly are looking to come and fill a role on the mission field, rather than just make the trip and see what comes up. In ten days' time, Latin Link's Brigitte Borner will be here to investigate short-term opportunities herself. The way things are going, Amanda and I are excited for the future: it seems there will be little chance of our non-Bolivian-chocolate stash dwindling any time soon!

Prayer
  • For safety in our travel to and from La Paz (a thrilling flight, by the way!), for a smooth adjustment to the high altitude -- not least for Sam -- and a straightforward appointment on Tuesday morning.
  • For continued reserves of energy and patience as we chip away at the list-as-long-as-your-arm of things to deal with before leaving at the end of December.
Praise
  • For a great time with Sue this week, and plenty of scope for future partnership with LAM Canada in the area of short-term workers.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 19/11/16

A great deal of our time this week has been devoted to a ten-minute appointment in La Paz on Tuesday morning of the next. It's time to apply for Sam's UK visa -- and we will have two more such applications in the coming months for Canada and the USA.

We have enjoyed our visits to La Paz in the past (a city that truly has to be seen to be believed), but this time it's strictly business, with our work here in Trinidad limiting us to an overnight stay; that said, we hope to see some friends while we're in town.

The nearest UK consulate is actually in Colombia, so our appointment is simply a case of submitting the various forms and evidential documents, and doing Sam's biometrics. There will then be a wait of two-to-three weeks while we wait for an answer, which we hope will be in the affirmative.

Technically, we are very much doing this the wrong way round. Consulates generally warn you not to buy flights before getting a visa, in case anything falls through. However, there was no way we were going to wait till just a month before our planned travel date to the UK. Flights for mid-January (deliberately avoiding the Christmas period) were already eye-wateringly expensive back when we booked them in September; goodness knows what we'd be paying with just weeks to spare. Additionally, we happen to know from personal experience (namely, Brazilgate) that our travel agency are a dab hand when it comes to refunds. 

So, to La Paz we go, on two wings and no shortage of prayers. Appreciate your own prayers for Tuesday and the following weeks as we await an answer.

Blazing a trail on Thursday was Sue Barham, who had an overnight in La Paz herself after her four-day visit to Trinidad. We first met Sue and husband Ken in Costa Rica in 2012, at a LAM Canada conference, when they were serving in Honduras (after a stint in Costa Rica itself). They are now back in Canada, but Sue is currently working for LAM Canada as the Short-Term Recruitment Coordinator. She came to Trinidad this week to explore opportunities for short-term volunteers, and really appreciated the opportunity to see our work up close; we enjoyed having her here too. Sue was really excited for the possibilities that exist for short-termers in Canada, who increasingly are looking to come and fill a role on the mission field, rather than just make the trip and see what comes up. In ten days' time, Latin Link's Brigitte Borner will be here to investigate short-term opportunities herself. The way things are going, Amanda and I are excited for the future: it seems there will be little chance of our non-Bolivian-chocolate stash dwindling any time soon!

Prayer
  • For safety in our travel to and from La Paz (a thrilling flight, by the way!), for a smooth adjustment to the high altitude -- not least for Sam -- and a straightforward appointment on Tuesday morning.
  • For continued reserves of energy and patience as we chip away at the list-as-long-as-your-arm of things to deal with before leaving at the end of December.
Praise
  • For a great time with Sue this week, and plenty of scope for future partnership with LAM Canada in the area of short-term workers.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Saturday Post -- 12/11/16

Expository preachers on tour. Batten down the hatches.
First up, Mrs. C had last week promised some photographs from camp in today's blog post. However, I've taken the executive decision (see also: Ephesians 5:22) to postpone publication. The reason is that most of my evenings this week have been spent editing the now-customary camp video, a compilation to music of the best images from the weekend -- and quite frankly, if I have to upload one more picture of someone bathing in mud, I might go doolally. However, the video is being premiered at the youth group tonight, and several members or leaders in the group have access to our blog. So, in order to preserve some element of surprise, we'll share the video in a separate post over the weekend.

Post-camp, I had just a few days to recover before setting off to Cochabamba for another adventure, albeit one that was conspicuously lacking in team-chants or blocked toilets. This time around, the environs were considerably more civilised (a monastery, no less), as I joined with a group of Bible teachers from around Bolivia for a Langham training weekend.

Regular readers know that Langham Preaching has been a major element of my ministry over these last two years. We meet once a year for an intensive residential training retreat headed up by Langham workers, and then in between, we meet once a month for our escuelita, in which a Bible text is prayed through, a sermon preached on said text, and then the sermon itself is deconstructed by the group (indeed, we had November's escuelita this very morning). 


God is blessing the ministry of Langham Preaching in Bolivia to such an extent that the national workers are finding it increasingly challenging to meet the needs of all the groups in the country. Moreover, the vision has always been to equip local workers with the tools to take on much of the work themselves. For that reason, there is a renewed drive to train key Langham contacts throughout the country such as myself in running the annual workshops, and that was the purpose of the get-together.

The main seminars looked in detail at Langham Preaching's methodology, which would be based on a student-centric teaching model, one which is fairly familiar to people in Europe or North America, but not here; 'learning' in Bolivia at all levels is very much still saddled with the chalk-and-talk approach. Naturally, then, the theory behind such practice was relatively new to most participants, but even white guys like myself and England's Jonny Anderson (based in Sucre) learned much from these sessions.

Cochabamba's Cristo looms large over lunch.
Additionally, I learned that the Trinidad model (annual meeting, monthly escuelitas, annual meeting etc.) is not the only approach taken to the local groups. Indeed, some meet on a weekly basis, and instead of teaching the main material in big, intensive annual chunks, it is spread out over the year in a way that perhaps guards against forgetfulness, as well as the big-event mentality (something that can prove a bit of an obstacle in this region of Bolivia). It's something to chew on for when we return from home assignment, with one or two others having recently asked me about the possibility of starting a new group.


Above all, though, the group was nourished by some tremendous preaching, with three sermons focusing on 'The Spirituality of Jesus'. After a couple of years of email contact, this was my first experience of meeting and sitting under the tremendous preaching ministry of Igor Amestegui, a Bolivian who is based in Cochabamba, but who is Langham's facilitator for the entire region of Latin America. Over the course of the weekend, it was a thrill to get to know people like Igor and other workers throughout Bolivia (including those working in Quechua and Aymara communities); again, I was thankful for the great opportunities for fellowship that have very quickly opened up to Amanda and I within the country over recent months.


Indeed, we're looking forward to receiving more visitors from around Bolivia before we leave Trinidad at the end of December: Edwin from Langham is due back in mid-December, and Brigitte from Latin Link will be here, God-willing, at the end of this month for an overnight visit. Before them, however, we are looking forward to welcoming LAM Canada's Sue Barham, who is due in the big T on Monday for a three-night stay. World: Trinidad welcomes you!

Prayer
  • For our time with Sue this week.
  • We're due to leave Trinidad for home assignment at the end of December, and the limited time available to tie up loose ends here is being more keenly felt with each week that goes by. Pray for calmness, and the sense to take each day as it comes.
Praise
  • For an encouraging visit to Cochabamba last weekend for Craig.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Saturday Post - 05/11/2016

Sorry for the two week gap in blog posts, my (Sam's) parents have been so busy recently that they haven't even had time to look after me properly. They keep passing me off to other people who are way more fun than they are. For instance, last weekend they dragged me off to camp for three days where they proceeded to leave me with Auntie Melissa, while they ran around like crazy people, shouting really loudly, and the only time I saw them was at meal times when they kept forcing vegetables on me. That's not very nice. And then on Tuesday they BOTH go to work for a bit and leave me with Uncle Andy and Auntie Moira. AND THEN yesterday Daddy just ups and leaves for Cochabamba and Mommy decides to work a full day and leaves me with Auntie Carla and Kenny in the morning and Auntie Lilian in the afternoon. The truth is I'm not complaining very much, because all these people are more fun than my parents and let me get away with so much more. They think I'm cute or something...*sound of people wrestling over the computer*... okay, Amanda is here now. Way to lay on the guilt, Sam. It's true though, we wouldn't have been able to get through the last two weeks without the great help of so many people. Even now, Melissa is over watching Sam while I write this blog and while I to go grocery shopping. They say it takes a village, and that is most certainly true. My village is awesome!

I can't even remember why we couldn't write a blog post two weeks ago. I think Edwin, from Langham, had arrived on the Friday night and the entire Langham group had come over to meet with him that evening, and then Craig, Edwin and everyone else had their normal Langham meeting at 6 am the next morning. Oh yes...then Edwin, Craig, Sam and I drove all the way out to the camp site to see how the buildings were holding up. After that visit Craig and I decided that we wouldn't be staying at the camp site every night, but driving back and forth. Essentially, the buildings weren't holding up that well. Sunday morning, Louis from LatinLink arrived for an overnight with us as new LatinLink members and we had a nice day out with him on Monday as we shared fish at the river. Unfortunately, Sam came down with a virus, so I took my mobile pharmacy and digital thermometer with me to the river and kept checking his temperature as it steadily went up and up and up. I managed to keep my panic internal as I didn't want to come across as a slightly unhinged person in front of the head of LatinLink Bolivia, but it was a struggle and I'm sure I was not very participative in the lunch conversation. We did see the Doctor after lunch, which helped my mental state, but were essentially told to keep doing what we were doing. I don't even know what I did during that work week, except that I worked and then there was camp prep. Thursday afternoon, Melissa again had to watch Sam, so that Craig could teach his English class and so I could do all the camp shopping with Mariana. Mariana and I then proceeded to blow our 'camp materials' budget and spend double than what we had thought things would cost. Next year, instead of picking a random number for that part of the budget, we should actually cost things out. Might be a good idea.

The night before camp started was the Foundation Anniversary Dinner, which was my job to organise. The food was awesome, the cake was even better, Craig lost at 20 questions, but Elias won in 12, we heard testimonies of how God is using people in their jobs at FT and where the gospel was clearly shared to all the staff. It was a lot better than last year, but I'm still thinking about how to make it even better next year. Our big problem is that the FT anniversary dinner is always going to be right before camp, which makes life a bit difficult. But regardless, HAPPY 12TH ANNIVERSARY FT! My office is the hottest room in the building, but I still love you.


Craig won't like these photos because they are not centred and cropped properly. Shame he's in Cochabamba, isn't it?
And then there was camp.  Living under the Power of Grace! Like our shirts?

The blue runs like crazy - hand wash only!
Also, Craig ordered his shirt a size smaller than normal because he wanted to look studdly. 

Last year there were 20 campers and about 10 leaders. This year we decided to go nuts and open the camp up to all ages and other churches, because we like to inflict pain on ourselves like that. We had 100 people in total. I kept looking at Mariana in the office every morning and saying, "We're crazy." And when I was hauling 300 Pilfruits (the equivalent of a juice box, but in a small bag) to my car I definitely thought I was crazy. But despite feeling like we'd bitten off more than we could chew, camp went really well. Everything went smoothly, no major injuries or illnesses, everyone participated and had a great time. We were excited to see some families come that are connected to our church, but not regular attenders, some of whom we knew weren't believers. We were so excited by the opportunity to come alongside them and share Christ and show them what Christian fellowship can be like.

Our speaker was Jurgen Schulz from La Paz, but actually from Victoria, British Columbia, but originally from Germany. He and his wife have been missionaries with MSC Canada in Bolivia for 39 years, and he flew out from La Paz to spend the weekend teaching us about grace. He spoke from various parables in the New Testament, but returned to the Prodigal Son over and over again. He was so clear that everyone was able to understand what he was saying; it was so exciting to have a speaker that everyone was enjoying. The campsite turned out to be a bit rustic for him as well, so he drove back and forth with us and stayed in our guest room every night. I fell asleep during all of the return trips, but I know Craig enjoyed discussing a wide range of topics with Jurgen. It was a huge blessing to have him with us.

The only downside about camp was that my team came in last and Craig's team came in second last, so neither of us got the large chocolate bar to take home at the end. *Sigh* Well, there's always next year.

On behalf of all the leaders of the JV group, we would like to thank everyone who supported camp this year. We were overwhelmed by the response and at one point I actually thought we wouldn't be able to spend it all. Do not worry, having to double our materials budget went a long way to using up money that I thought was going to be excess. Mariana and I spent the three weeks before camp looking at each other and saying, "We're not going to have a enough", "We're going to have so much extra", "We're definitely not going to have enough", etc. We learnt that organising a camp for 100 people is expensive, but we also saw God's provision through you because he sent us EXACTLY what we needed.

I have no idea where Craig has kept the pictures from camp, so I'll ask him to post some next week when it is most definitely his turn to write the blog.

The very next day we had guests arrive from Cochabamba, Andy and Moira Irvine, who are there with SIM for two years. We have shamelessly used them for a place to stay when we've been in Cochabamba recently, having only met them for the first time in July, having bumped into Andy at the Santa Cruz airport where he declared, "Hey, I've seen you guys on a fridge before." Because they're from Edinburgh and know the same peeps we know. So, it was their turn to come see us and experience Trinidad. We tried to make it as interesting as possible for them in the 2 days they were here, so we spent an afternoon at the laguna and then went to the river for fish the next day and did some pink dolphin spotting on a riverboat. And as all good times should, we ended with two rounds of Bonanza and a group screening (minus Craig, but plus Melissa) of Dirty Dancing...because nobody  puts Baby in the corner. Moira is pretty talented with a camera; please enjoy her handiwork below.


Ya, my Mom spent the whole boat ride making sure I didn't fling myself off the side, but I had fun. 
Craig is in Cochabamba just now at the annual Langham conference, and I spent all day yesterday in interviews as we're looking for Mariana's replacement in FT. It was sad to meet these people and know that we couldn't hire them all. They are all in need of work as so many business and government positions are making cuts. We haven't made a final decision yet...guess what I'll be doing next week?!?! Stay tuned for updates in the hunt for 'the Mariana 2.0'.

Prayer:

  • For Craig during this conference and for his safe return Monday morning.
  • We sent off the initial application for Sam's UK visa and we have an interview date for the 21st of November, please pray that the visa is granted without any problems. 
  • For the FT Board as they decide who to hire.
  • For Melissa as she is travelling in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay this week.
  • For Sam as he bounces back from a cold.


Praise:

  • For a wonderful camp full of God's provision and blessing.
  • For getting to meet and know Jurgen.
  • For a great two days with Andy and Moira (we probably won't see them again for awhile).
  • For all the people who've helped look after Sam when we've needed the support. 


¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig, Amanda & Sam