It's been one of those classic Trinidad stop-start holiday weeks. Monday was Dia de la Santísima Trinidad, the city's annual holiday (i.e., the annual holiday in honour of the city, not the only holiday of the year -- let's not get ahead of ourselves here!) while Corpus Christi fell on Thursday. A rather truncated working week, then, and not too much to share on that front as a result. So instead, I thought that today, our regular readers might be interested to know about how certain members of the recurring cast are getting on.
First up, the missionaries. A couple of weeks back, Maicol and KC received notification that their adoption of Caleb was, at last, fully approved and legally watertight. Over four months of uncertainty, then, came to a happy end, and they now have the legal and psychological freedom to raise their son without fear of the authorities stepping in. Furthermore, like us, they are hoping to be able to take a furlough soon (in this case, to KC's native Seattle) and will be free to do this by mid-November, at which point Caleb will have been in the country for the required six months post-approval.
Kenny and Claudia, meanwhile, have flights booked for their own furlough, leaving Bolivia for six months in mid-July with Emma, Sara and Joshua, with Kenny's church visiting schedule pretty much fully occupied already. Kenny is in the process of crossing 't's and dotting 'i's both at FT and the church as they prepare to head to Scotland.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Vaca, our co-worker both at FT and in the church, has a new baby sister. KC (named after the aforementioned, though the family may have changed the spelling for ease of Spanish pronunciation) arrived safely on Wednesday. We're praying with particular urgency for her, as you may remember that the family last year lost their youngest daughter (and sixth child overall), who died, tragically, at just three months old, due to heart complications. This pregnancy then, naturally, has been greeted with a mix of hope and trepidation by the community and we'd really appreciate your own prayers for Elizabeth and her family, who live on relatively meagre means.
This morning we are tidying up a little, having last night played host to a new family who have turned up at the church over the last few months: Javier and Sandra, and their four children: Josué, Valeria, Javier Jr. and Efraín. The family are proud Paceños (i.e., La Paz natives) but have lived here for around five years now. Samaritan's Purse, Franklin Graham's humanitarian organisation, has a big presence in Bolivia and Javier oversees the Trinidad office. Javier and Sandra 'joined' the church a few weeks ago (inverted commas required here as we technically don't have a membership structure -- something we're working on as part of the internal review process at the moment) and have come in with a real servant attitude, and lots of insights as to how we can better serve one another and our community.
In a church dominated by children and young people who attend unaccompanied by their parents, it's been an encouragement to welcome another family to the congregation. From my own experience, committed couples tend to form the practical backbone of a church (at the moment, we have just over half-a-dozen in the entire congregation), and so we're looking forward to working alongside this new family and pray that God would be glorified in their presence among us.
A lot to be encouraged by, then, and a lot to be praying for. On that note...
Prayer
- For Elizabeth's new sister and for the family as they welcome the new arrival into their home.
- For our fellow missionaries and their various travel plans. Pray that Maicol and KC might be able to get a visa for Caleb without too many hitches. Pray also that we would all be more pro-active in delegating over the next few weeks and months, so that the Bolivians can manage without us (which is, in the end, the long-term goal) in our various absences.
- It's Wii night at youth group, having earned enough points (through such endeavours as memorising Bible verses and brining their Bibles to church) to win themselves an evening of videogamery. Pray for safety and a good time together tonight.
Praise
- For the arrival of a new family in the church and the various gifts they bring to the table.
- For Caleb's adoption and the resulting peace of mind for Maicol and KC.
Craig & Amanda
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