Saturday Post -- 26/06/10

Temperatures in the mid-30s. Heat exhaustion taking its toll. Forest fires as far as the eye can see. How’s that for a winter solstice? Monday was the shortest day of the year, yet climate-wise, it couldn’t have been further from the crisp, dark Decembers we’re used to. Though we’re obviously in a much more tropical climate, such temperatures are uncharacteristic of this time of year. Indeed, we haven’t felt the cool, and the moisture, of a south wind since late May. As a result, we’ve moved from a waterlogged summer into a bone-dry winter. Feast or famine.

I may have used a little dramatic licence with the ‘forest fires’ comment. In actual fact, people have been setting fire to large swathes of forestry surrounding FT and our home, though as they have just purchased the land and wish to build on it, this is only their right. But we’ve been given an intriguing insight into the machinations of the 'property market'. About a month ago, some Trinidad residents began taking over large sections of land owned by the university. And the government, no friend of the universities currently (they’ve had the cheek to stand up to the President, you see), were quite happy to let this take place. Keen not to suffer a similar fate, local landowners dusted down the ‘for sale’ signs and opted to cash their chips rather than lose everything.

Therefore, this once-tranquil spot on the edge of town has seen a deluge of settlers move in and prepare their plots of land for building. It’s like the Old West has come to Trinidad! But sacrificing the peace and quiet is more than worth it now that FT, and the church, are now part of a thriving neighbourhood – a legion of opportunities to share the Buenas Nuevas de Jesucristo now sit on our doorstep!

More selfishly, the fiery conditions have fortuitously combined with Kenny & Claudia’s arrival. In his time back in Scotland, Kenny has developed a keen interest in photography and it’s fair to say that his regular appearances on the balcony to take sunset shots have reignited (‘scuse the pun) my own interest. I was hoping to post some here, but the connection's unbearably slow, even for Bolivia. Will hopefully get them up in a separate post soon.

In the past hours, we’ve just bid a fond farewell to the aforementioned visitors from Scotland (see top photo). They very kindly took Amanda and I out for dinner on Monday evening and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them and filling Alastair in on our time to date at FT. As well as their business with Rachel, they were able to play an active role here and there, with Alasdair leading the morning meditations, Alasdair & Stuart attending surgery and Alastair poring over the FT accounts (good times!). In all honesty, a week is far too short a time for anyone to visit, but we feel exceedingly blessed by their time here – the closest thing to family we’ve been able to spend time with since we arrived. You can't have too many Alas(t/d)airs in this life!

Amongst all this excitement, work has plodded along as usual, with my work on the website ticking along nicely and Amanda now up to two surgery sessions per week. The attendance at the English classes has flatlined a little, so we’re opening them up to teenagers, as well as adults. Initially, the age limit had been introduced because the overwhelming interest was from those in their late-teens/early-20s. However, one quickly learns here that verbal agreements don’t tend to amount to very much, so we’re glad to open the door to the teenagers and, in doing so, supplementing their (pretty diabolical) school classes with the English-speaker’s perspective.

We’re hoping to compile the quarterly prayer update next week, so please excuse our blogging absence for a fortnight. If you’re a regular blog reader and you’d like to receive our prayer update by email (or if you're just up for a general chinwag) please be sure to email us at cramandaham@gmail.com.

Prayer
• For Craig, as he preaches this Sunday on 1 John 5:6-12.
• For our language studies.

Praise
• For a really refreshing visit from ‘The Cartsbridge Three’.
• For the arrival of a whole new neighbourhood and the great opportunity this presents for FT and the church.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda