Saturday Post -- 01/12/12

Here are some pictures of the house taken over the past week:

The view from outside the perimeter wall, now complete with entrances for
cars and humans.

A closer look at the front. The earth has now mostly been raised on this side
to the same level as the house.

Amanda checking out her the laundry room,

which has been integrated into the back wall.

The living/dining room. The ceilings were finally put in place this week
throughout the house.

An upstairs bedroom. Most of the wiring is now in place.

Thanks again to you all for your prayers for our land application. The process has been unusually slow but on Thursday we received documentation confirming us as the owners of one of the two neighbouring plots, and the other plot, we are told, will be fully registered in our name by Monday. We will therefore by next week, after a year of wrangling and paper-trails up blind alleys, be the owners of two plots of land which have doubled in value since we purchased them – a major answer to prayer. What remains now is to find a buyer and channel any sale proceeds into the building fund. Anyway, for now we give thanks for the impending conclusion of this long process.

This was the last week of classes for the year in Trinidad’s schools and there’s definitely been an end-of-term feel to things this week, as we wrap up some ministries and continue in our preparations for Christmas.

My R.E. classes in our local secondary school concluded with an investigation into the resurrection of Christ and the various claims and counter-claims surrounding it. Thanks to some extra funds available to us this year, I was able to give each of the students a couple of booklets which look at what it means to be a Christian and who God is. Many of these young people have accepted Christ over the past couple of months but most do not come from Christian homes – indeed, many will be actively discouraged from attending a Bible-teaching church. So it’s of vital importance that, with the holidays now beginning, they ‘don’t go home empty-handed’, as it were.

Elizabeth and I have also been winding down the Community classes this week, where we gave the kids extra time to memorise verses and key facts from the story of David, both of which they’ve been learning over the past months in the class. They’ll be tested on these during a quiz we’ve organised as part of the end-of-year party. Once again, we’ve received a generous one-off gift to allow the class attendees to mark the year’s end. But rather than stage separate parties for each group, as we’ve done in the past, we’re bringing the two groups together on Wednesday afternoon.

But as the rear-view mirror shows the school year disappearing from view, a cursory onward glance shows the festive season very much looming large. This afternoon the church’s children’s and youth ministries come together for the first of four weekly rehearsals for our Christmas service on the afternoon of the 23^rd of December. From early November, the leaders of these two groups have been busy planning the programme; now it’s over to our young people to see what they can make of it.

Prayer

• For the end-of-year Community class celebrations on Wednesday.
• For a smooth start to preparations for the Christmas service, the church’s biggest evangelistic opportunity of the year, this weekend.
• For the many teenagers who’ve put their trust in Jesus from the local secondary school, that they would have access to the support they need over the holidays. 

Praise 

• For a positive conclusion to the lengthy land application process.
• For progress on our house.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda