Saturday Post -- 04/09/10

Blog readers who question the power of prayer may wish to take note of events 48 hours after our previous entry. You’ll remember we’d requested prayer for rain over Bolivia, a hitherto unknown quantity for some three or four months. On Sunday evening, a downpour ensued and has been followed by two further storms (one of which caused Amanda to literally jump out of bed the other night).

The immediate benefits are obvious. Night driving is no longer the hazard it was and the colours of Trinidad are on show again. Looking out our kitchen window, we can see rich shades of green in the dense jungle that we’d forgotten existed. And the airports are fully functioning again, meaning that we should be able to travel to La Paz next weekend for our week in the Altiplano of Bolivia.

And longer-term, the smoke’s recession means stress-free breathing and an end to that feeling that you’ve woken up in the middle of the Marlboro factory. Happily, though heavy, the rains weren’t so prolonged as to cause any significant flooding or damage to properties – many properties here, of course, being a simple combination of sticks and tarpaulin.

I got an insight into just such housing while driving FT’s ambulance earlier this week. Recently I’ve been charged with going twice a week to a clinic on the other side of town to pick up some children who come to FT for physiotherapy care. The uptake, however, had tailed off in recent weeks and so our physio, Paris, was keen to accompany me as we opted to drive directly to the doorsteps of many needy patients. We drove through one barrio to pick up some cases that I hadn’t even known existed before though it soon became clear why Trinidad’s town councillors would be unlikely to make a song and dance about it. While waiting outside one house, Paris pointed out to me the adjacent cuneta (sewer) where, just a couple of weeks back, he’d spotted a live alligator!

With a team from FT on the annual “Oye Bolivia” trip north, the usual health excursions have been sidelined this week so Amanda has been mostly based at headquarters while I’ve mostly focused my attention on my sermon this Sunday from 3 John 9-11. Our usual church/youth responsibilities will make for another busy weekend, though quiet weekends have long been a thing of the past (which is why we’re planning on being away for two of them in a couple of weeks). But with Amanda’s 25th birthday falling on Saturday, I’m sure we’ll find time to enjoy ourselves.

Prayer
• For Craig as he preaches on Sunday.
• For continued refreshment from above – i.e., rain.

Praise
• For the week’s showers.
• For the opportunity to help isolated physio cases this week.

¡Qué Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda