Saturday Post -- 11/09/10

We’re both going on a somewhat holiday. Tomorrow lunchtime we’ll be vacating the Trinidad region for the first time since we arrived back in January and flying to La Paz. Our intention was to take a break from our life and work in Trinidad and, location-wise, we couldn’t have done much better. A vast metropolis set at a height of over 3500 metres above sea level and nestled within a dramatic crater (Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon would not be an unseemly landing vehicle), La Paz provides a stark contrast to the hot jungle lowlands of the Beni region. Weather-wise, meanwhile, it won over this Scotsman long ago. 20 celsius would be a pleasant day (though the proximity to the sun can make it feel warmer) with temperatures plummeting to zero or below in the evening. Needless to say, as oxygen lacks, hills abound, so a few days’ acclimatisation are essential.

Culturally, things are no less distinct from the Latin-infused Trinidad. La Paz is the main hub of the majority Aymara population of Bolivia, who descend from the country’s native Indians. Women in bowler hats carrying babies in their back-pouch can be seen trundling up and down the streets all over the city. Vibrant arts and crafts are furnished and sold at many a street corner. And rare is the restaurant meal which isn’t interrupted by a folk band thrashing their charangos (a Bolivian variation of the mandolin) and beating a drum.

All of which will be wonderful. But I’m not going to lie to you. Probably the thing we’re most looking forward to about La Paz is that, as a big city, it provides many of the amenities we took for granted back in Glasgow. It has bookshops. It has a multiplex cinema. It has Burger Kings – I’m not even sure if I’ve visited a Burger King this millennium, but all of a sudden the thought of a Whopper prompts me to reach for my bib.

It’s a ‘somewhat holiday’ as we have items of business to attend to but we’ve managed to keep these to a minimum; one being to purchase tracts for Fundación Totaí – a simple and effective way of ministering to those who pass through our doors every day – and the other is sourcing a new laptop to replace our faithful Macbook, which processed its last megabyte a few weeks ago. This coming Sunday, we’re hoping to pay a visit to the church of a chap called Juan Antonio, an old friend of the church here, whom we’ve heard so much about over the last few months.

On Tuesday, we’re going to take a three-hour bus trip up to Copacabana – not the beach in Rio but the original town from which it took the name. As a small town it’s worth a visit in itself, but the big attraction is the body of water it sits upon, the largest in South America at 190 km long and, at 3,810 metres altitude, the highest of its size in the world. I refer to Lake Titicaca, shared by Bolivia and Peru, as close to the sea as you’ll get here, but what a substitute! The navy blue water gleams like a diamond on the usually sunny days up there and is surrounded by some dramatic mountainous scenery. While we’re there, we hope to do something else we were getting used to back home, albeit, a lot more healthy than an XL bacon double cheeseburger: walking. The Isla del Sol, a two-hour boat ride from Copacabana, is home to some well-preserved Inca ruins and some excellent paths for exploring.

So much to look forward to, and you can probably sense my excitement, but above all, we just want to have a relaxing week and re-charge the batteries for the end of the calendar year, which we’re led to believe is usually the most hectic period at FT. And we hope that, in the moments of solitude in our hotel room, in a boat or on the road, the Lord will continue to reveal his plan for us and our work here in this country, where the myriad of spectacular landscapes provide a backdrop to corruption at all levels of society and rabid superstition (of which more when we return).

No post, then, next weekend, but I’ll be sure to regale our readership with photos and anecdotes when we return. God bless you in whatever situation you find yourself in right now.

Prayer
• For safety as we fly to La Paz – the smoke of a few weeks ago has returned to a lesser extent than previously. Flights are operating to the best of our knowledge.
• For a relaxing time away from Trinidad, and a renewed vision for our work.

Praise
• For Craig’s sermon on Sunday – really felt the Lord’s guidance as I addressed a difficult topic.
• For successful completion of all the usual end-of-month admin tasks.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda