Sunday Post -- 17/07/11

Posting a little later than usual this week due to a packed Saturday, crowned by an early morning fishing trip. Having spent the week getting up at the crack of dawn to set off for the 5-Day Club in San Pedro (more on which later) the thought of another early start at the weekend did not exactly set the pulse racing. Furthermore, though enjoyable enough activities in themselves, I have tended to have as much success at these things as Rupert Murdoch has in crisis management. We've been fishing a couple of times since we arrived in Bolivia. The first time, the fish appeared to have taken a holiday, and the second time, well...this happened.

Nonetheless, the size of the catch was not of paramount importance as this was the first 'men-only' outing in the history of El Jireh church and, along with ten guys from the youth group, there were five old(er) codgers, yours truly included. In other words, an exciting opportunity to forge closer ties.

And even more excitingly for me, my early rise was thoroughly vindicated, as not only did I manage to bag myself the first fish (a piranha) of the day -- and, therefore, of my lifetime -- but I ended up catching 40% of the entire haul. Impressive, eh? Until you clock that the entire haul between 15 of us was a mere ten fish. Anyway, if you don't believe me, the photographic evidence, thanks to that man Kenny Holt, is on Facebook.

A couple of the younger guys on the trip had also been on the leadership team over the course of the 5-Day Clubs, and this last week saw the second, and final, club take place in San Pedro, an altogether different context than Trinidad. In terms of accessibility, it's a good hour's drive out of town, half of which covers a dirt road. Indeed, so keen was I on Monday to cut the journey time, that the left-hand shock on the car buckled under the pressure. FT kindly provided me with a hire car for the remainder of the week.

Though we've been there a number of times now (including a week last year) this week we learned a little more about just how closed the village is, in terms of gospel ministry. After the Trinidad club, we had been used to a steady rise in the attendance as the week progressed. In San Pedro, the numbers plummeted dramatically on the Tuesday. On Friday, we met the pastor of the sole non-Catholic church in town (average Sunday turn-out: 4 teenagers) who told us that, from experience, he would not be surprised at all if many of the kids who turned up on Monday were beaten by their parents for doing so.

Education is a further obstacle. Naturally, teachers are reluctant to settle out in the middle of nowhere, so the government sends newly-qualified teachers to such locales for the first two years after their training. Their relative inexperience, and the shockingly low quality of their training, make for very poorly educated children.

In spite of all these factors, and in spite of the increasing lethargy of the leadership team as a whole, the Lord worked and we reckon that about five children made a commitment, and that in the face of probable opposition at home. And, among the rest of the 40 or so children who came every day, an important seed was planted which we'll seek to nurture in coming months.

Before I sign off, readers in the vicinity of Markham might be interested to know that we confirmed a date to give a report at Markham Bible Chapel (Amanda's old church in Canada) on Wednesday the 14th of September at 7.30pm. That's in addition to the dates we already have confirmed, which were referred to in the last quarterly newsletter.

Prayer
• For the seeds sown among the children of San Pedro.
• For Craig as he preaches, in a few hours’ time, on John 6 (‘the bread of life’).

Praise
• For safety on the road this week.
• For the strengthened ties in the church between the grown-ups and the teenagers over the last fortnight, due to the 5-Day Clubs.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda