Saturday Post -- 16/04/11

And a happy Palm Sunday to all our readers. This is a Totaí tree just beside our house. Not quite a palm tree but a decent substitute.

It's not generating anywhere near the international news coverage of last year's proposed fuel hike but the country is very much in the grip of civil unrest once again. Worldwide food prices are rocketing, due in part to the instability in the Middle East and its impact on oil prices. Bolivia has not been immune to this. We've seen our own grocery bills rise considerably over the past few months. Indeed, we reckon we're forking out roughly what we did for our weekly shop back in the UK. But while it means cutting back on other expenses, we at least have the means to cope. For public sector workers who earn around £1.70 per hour, many with several children to attend to, the squeeze is keenly felt.

And it's those workers who have taken to the streets this week in protest over what they consider a derisory wage increase of 10% from the government given the 20% rise in food costs. Their initial demand was 30%, then 20% and it seems they've settled on 15% for now. But after a week in which schools have been closed and the country's main roads have been blocked, the powers that be haven't budged.

So the country has more or less ground to a halt. But we're still standing and the Bible's take on international politics is always a source of reassurance: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7)

Please keep praying for next weekend's Easter Sunday celebration at the church, to which we're inviting many from our community and family/friends of regular church attenders. I followed somewhat amblingly in my father's footsteps a week ago, leading my first choir practice with the youth group. Amanda certainly spotted a few glaring similarities in our conducting styles. Anyway, most importantly, the young people certainly enjoyed the song (a Spanish version of "Worthy is the Lamb") and we'll continue to iron out the creases later today.

According to our hosts, Blogger, this is our 100th post. I think back ten years ago when I first came to Trinidad. This was back in the days when we were all still working out what to do with this new internet thing -- Napster, for example, was still very much alive and well. I considered it an achievement back then to get a monthly email off to a list of friends and family. So I reckon we've done alright to get at least one post a week done and dusted. Most importantly, it seems lots of people out there are reading and finding out what they can be praying for. And that, as the Hokey-Cokey would tell you, is what it's all about.

Prayer
• For continued preparation for the Easter service.
• For the tense situation in the country.

Praise
• For the Lord's constancy in the midst of uncertain times.
• For the ability to stay so well connected with friends and family in this way -- the internet does have its up-sides.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 09/04/11

Important developments on the visa front this week, though like a big tin of Christmas Celebrations, it’s decidedly mixed. The Galaxy Truffle is that my two-year extension came through, meaning I have permission to stay here till March 2013 and, best of all, I have my passport back in one piece. Meanwhile, Amanda’s news is the Topic lounging desolately at the bottom of the tin around Valentine’s Day. Her visa application was returned to Trinidad due to a perceived inconsistency in her application. Her Bolivian I.D. card states that she’s an administrator, whereas her work letter states that she’s a nurse (in reality, of course, she’s both). So we were initially pretty frustrated, but we are told that we should know within the next couple of weeks whether the re-submitted work letter and judicial statement have done the trick.

But I couldn’t put my feet up quite yet. Upon successfully receiving my new visa, I had 25 days to apply for my new I.D. card, or I would be charged a fine, which would increase on a daily basis. Two of the certificates which were required for this were the same for which we had to provide stacks of paperwork from all sorts of different people and organisations in our visa application. Happily, the chap who produced these for us told me the information he had on file would suffice, and so I was able to submit my I.D. card application at the expense of just a couple of work mornings (a new personal best there). However, I’ve been advised to wait 3-4 months for the plastic itself! Of course, a decade ago, it was produced there and then for you with the help of some cardboard, a passport photo and a laminator. Only in Bolivia could the so-called digital age complicate things even further.

The English classes have brought further encouragement this week, with around half-a-dozen new students turning up for the second modules, which began this week. And crucially, in contrast to last year, we haven’t lost many students. Last week we had been a little concerned that those who didn’t pass the exam would call it a day, but the majority of those have returned and are keen to keep going.

Another key ministry for us as a couple is the young people’s group in the church on Saturday evenings. And this weekend we start a short series focusing on Easter. Last year, if we’re honest, Easter was a little underwhelming. It was simply another regular Sunday service, and it seems it has been this way for several years now. The church are keen to change this and use the Easter service as an evangelistic event. And to encourage families and friends to come along, the young people will be preparing a couple of items. One is a drama set to music told from the perspective of one of the soldiers guarding the tomb. The other is a simple choral performance of the contemporary favourite ‘Worthy is the Lamb’ (Thank you for the Cross) in Spanish. Now the locals here love their music but, truth be told, they’re not too gifted vocally. So I’ve manfully volunteered to take charge of the operation, though we’ll keep ourselves limited to the melody. It’s a great song, however, and I pray that the youth would feel blessed by the opportunity to perform it.

More importantly, we pray that the significance of Easter would become clear to them. And, to that end, we’re focusing on three important aspects of Easter over the next three Saturdays. I’m kicking things off by looking at Jesus’ trial and its importance, e.g., the difference for our lives between Jesus being innocent and guilty. Please pray especially for these next three Saturdays. Rare is the Saturday evening that a new face wanders in (this being Bolivia, usually halfway through the evening!) and we know there are several in the group who have not yet accepted Christ as their saviour. Furthermore, many of the young people who are Christians would struggle to explain what being a Christian means and why, for example, Christ had to die – for most of them, their experience of the Christian faith is strongly tied to their experience of having grown up in the church. Pray that, by thinking about these things for themselves (something which is not encouraged in the educational system here), these young people would develop a firmer faith foundation.

Prayer
• For the Easter series with the young people.
• For Amanda’s re-submitted visa application.

Praise
• For new faces – and new opportunities – at the English classes.
• For the granting of Craig’s two-year extension.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 05/02/11

I write, safe and sound in the comforts of our Trinidad home at the end of a fantastic week’s holiday. We really are so very blessed.

A couple of months ago, when Jessica first notified us of her dates, we reckoned it might be a good idea to go without a break over the Christmas period (which is fairly muted here anyway) and take some time off to travel with her to Santa Cruz, see her off, and enjoy some quality time together in the process.

Thanks to the kindness of both sets of parents at Christmas, we were able to live it up a little for five nights at Hotel Buganvillas, a fairly swanky establishment, replete with swimming pools, health spa and the kind of breakfast buffet that causes cardiologists to lie awake at night. I have to say, I’m more used to roughing it for holidays, but then again, living in Trinidad effectively means roughing it all year round, so the opportunity to do as little as necessary was warmly welcomed. Even better, FT gets good discounts as they’ve sent them a fair bit of business over the years, so we got a great deal in the process.

Unlike our visit to La Paz last year, I didn’t really feel the need to resort to a travel log. La Paz is the picture-postcard ideal of Bolivia; colourful ladies in bowler-hats hobbling up and down the streets, llama-strewn landscapes just a short drive out of town. But Santa Cruz is very much the gritty industrial centre. Not much to look at and hardly brimming with cultural reference points. But certainly brimming with the sort of amenities we used to take for granted at home and which are sorely lacking in Trinidad. I certainly can’t remember being so excited about a visit to the supermarket. In Trinidad, customers are generally treated as if they should be grateful just to be getting any kind of service at all. In Santa Cruz, I had to pinch myself on more than one occasion as I was asked how I could be assisted.


We were also able to spend some time out of town. On the Sunday, we visited a huge tropical wildlife park owned by a local German family. Though, fascinating though the bird and butterfly sanctuaries were, we inevitably ended up crashing by the big swimming pool there. And we got used to such lounging as the week progressed, making the most of the hotel pool.

But, most importantly, we just savoured the time together outside of the usual work context. We had a great few days with Jessica, Amanda getting the chance to catch up with her sister, I getting the chance to deepen our friendship. After Jessica left on Tuesday morning, sad though we were to see her go, we got the chance to spend time together as a couple for the first time in a few weeks.


We got back this (Friday) morning and will hit the ground running again tomorrow, with the youth group back up and running again in the evening, and an exam at our sign language class in the afternoon. On Monday, my responsibilities with the Community classes resume for the year. And over the coming weeks, we’ll be re-launching the English classes and attempting to make further inroads on our two-year visas. The break was great, but it certainly feels like 2011’s about to begin in earnest.

Prayer
• For the church’s youth group as it kicks off again and our roles there as assistants and (we hope) as an example of a young, faithful, Christian couple – surprisingly lacking here and therefore an important witness in itself.
• For focus as we resume our tasks at work this week.

Praise
• For a terrific few days away from the hustle and bustle of Trinidad.
• For Jessica’s safe arrival back in Canada on Tuesday evening.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 14/08/10

Starting the blog this year has really given me a personal insight into the power of the internet. Its benefits have been threefold: it's allowed me to have a few moments of reflection at the week's close; it's given me a reason to keep up writing, which I've always enjoyed (even if the readers haven't); and, most importantly, it's kept friends and family with an interest in our work up-to-date with developments. And we've been immensely encouraged to get your feedback and to know that so many are using the blog to stay informed and to know how they can pray for us.

Having experienced this at first-hand, I've been keen to transfer these insights to FT's website, which was established a few years ago but has suffered from a lack of maintenance over the years -- quite simply, no-one has had the time to carry out the overhaul required. But this week, I've begun to make significant strides and I'm hoping to have the new site up and running within the next few months. Given the myriad of areas which FT's work covers and the overlapping nature of many of the ministries, it's a mammoth task, but one I'm excited to take on.

A few weeks ago we asked for guidance as to the direction of our work with some interesting opportunities potentially surfacing. Since arriving here in January, we’ve been keen to assist in the running of the Jovenes (youth) group, with both of us having a fair bit of experience in this area in the past. However, we were keen not to simply dive in to every area of need when we arrived, so as to accommodate the ever-increasing workload. Over the last few weeks, though, we’ve really felt God pointing us in the direction of the youth work and this was really confirmed to us last Saturday evening, when I spoke at the youth meeting for the first time. Given that around 70% of those who come to the church on a Sunday are aged 20 or under, the importance of the youth ministry cannot be overstated – it could be argued, indeed, that Jovenes is the church’s main service. So please pray ardently for us as we go into this. Pray that we will lead the youth in truth in a culture which abounds with damaging temptations, at school and in the home. And pray for discipline for ourselves in protecting our personal time at the weekend, now that Saturday night is youth night!

Earlier on Saturday, we enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the company of Sarah Bellhassen, a Canadian medical student who has just left FT after two weeks of voluntary work. We drove out to Loma Suarez, just 15 minutes’ drive from town but a stark contrast to the motorised chaos of central Trinidad – indeed, the only motor we could hear was that of the boat we were ferried up the river in. We sampled some mouth-watering fish before venturing up the water and, all said and done, enjoyed the three hours or so of escape. Some photos are included in the post.

A personal landmark in that I posted 28 years on Tuesday (now two years older than my Dad was when my parents had me – terrifying!) and thank you for the well-wishes expressed via Facebook and otherwise. No parties for me, though – I’d best leave that to the locals, who are doing wonders for our caffeine levels this weekend, the 10th anniversary of our neighbourhood. I woke up at 6am with the music from last night’s party still reverberating through the neighbourhood. And that was only Thursday.

PS – You may be aware that one of my main tasks is to put together the monthly update sent out to interested parties in the wider work of Fundación Totaí. If you’d like to be added to the address list for this update, just drop us a line at our email address (cramandaham@gmail.com) and we’ll be sure to add you to the mailing list.

Prayer
• Our new work with the Jovenes group (see above).
• Wise stewardship as we aim to furnish our flat in the next couple of weeks.

Praise
• Craig’s progress on the website development this week.
• A relaxing time out of town last weekend.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 07/08/10

I write to you on the 6th of August, a date of no great significance to most, but here in Bolivia, it's a different story as the Seis de Agosto, marking Bolivia's liberation from the Spaniards' grip in 1825, is the equivalent of July 4th in the States or July 14th in France. The schools are shut, businesses are closed for the day and a weekend of national festivities is in full swing. I would, of course, love to regale you with anecdotes and photos from this morning's big parade. Except we didn't go. Instead, we did something we've not done for about a month now: a lovely lie-in. And it was worth every minute.

The week was curtailed further for Amanda, who appears to have caught a fever last Sunday and didn't make it back to work until Tuesday afternoon. A retrospective chat with a GP at FT raised the possibility that she'd been hit by Dengue Fever, carried by mosquitoes and potentially lethal. We live on the less Dengue-ridden side of town, but in the cooler climates which we're experiencing just now, mosquitoes tend to go for whatever blood they can get their, er, hands on.

Anyway, needless to say, we're very thankful to have avoided the worst-case scenario there. Elsewhere, the sermon bandwagon continues to clatter along and is currently showing no signs of stopping. No sooner had I dusted off my effort at church last week than I was approached by some members of the Jovenes (youth) group, interested to know if I could address the theme of 'true love' this Saturday evening, a subject which I am frighteningly underqualified to address, even if I've received ample tutelage from one of the best teachers out there: marriage. I will be taking my cue from Ephesians 5, if anyone's interested.

Prayer
• For a restful holiday weekend.
• For Craig as he addresses the Jovenes group.

Praise
• For Amanda’s speedy recovery.
• For a productive week of work as we both had various administrative tasks to address.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda