Saturday Post -- 15/08/15

Amanda in mid-potato-peel last night, getting ready for the big food-sale
fundraiser for the church's AWANA children's group this lunchtime.

As iron sharpens iron,

    so one person sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Looking back over the last seven days, iron-sharpening has certainly been the order of the week for me (Craig), both in my formal and informal ministry.

Having not managed to meet up with any of my discipleship charges the first couple of weeks back (in the first week Amanda and I were finding our feet again; in the second the independence day holiday and its attendant festivities got in the way), it was a joy to start where I'd left off with all four guys: Diego (19), Daniel (16), Yonatán (18) and Daniel (26). You may remember that the younger Daniel and Yonatán are serving in the youth group this year, Diego is Daniel's older brother and the erstwhile piano-player in the church music group, and the elder Daniel hails from Cuba, and is married to FT doctor Romina. All four guys face a varied set of challenges in their day-to-day lives, so it's important that they get a wider perspective on things once a week. To do that, I've been working through Vaughan Roberts' God's Big Picture with all four, a book that certainly raises the affections to things of God.

These days, I have a couple of bonus one-on-one appointments in my working week owing to the presence of volunteers Tom and Josh. Now about halfway into their two-month stint here, the brothers have demonstrated real maturity in their servant-like attitudes and the time they are taking while here to go deeper into God's word. Though usually (indeed, inevitably!) younger than ourselves, it's amazing how often God uses visiting volunteers to challenge our own way of doing things, and that's certainly been the case with the brothers Pike.

Last night (Friday), I made an appearance at the church men's group, and at the previous meeting, one of the guys had randomly asked when we could get together to watch The Godfather (a picture for which, if you've known me for five minutes, you'll be aware I have abiding affection). So an impromptu screening was arranged at our house mid-week, and I looked on with no shortage of envy as five blokes were acquainted for the first time with equine heads, taking the cannoli, and another invaluable contribution to the infant baptism debate. 

Just as pleasing -- and almost certainly more edifying -- was my FaceTime session the following evening with Alex Wann, our old friend from Wyoming who was here a couple of years ago with Samaritan's Purse, and is now based out in La Paz. In the end, our time in Trinidad overlapped by only four months, but he arrived at a point where I was seriously lacking male fellowship. He and I have kept in regular contact since, including those occasional -- but really valuable -- audio sessions. Alex is due to be in Bolivia for at least another year, and we'd love to get out and see him before he moves on.

Quite a catch.

And as if things couldn't have got any more testosterone-fuelled...I even managed to sneak in a few hours' fishing on my birthday (Monday) with my younger friends from Cochabamba, who are visiting for the university break. Being my birthday, Amanda even made an appearance. A good job, too; that was about the last time I saw her this week. And I suppose things will be necessarily equalised this week. I'm guessing next week's movie night will be more along the lines of Pride & Prejudice (the BBC one, naturally). Brood, Colin. Brood.

Prayer

• A potential adoption lead fell through this week. We continue to hear rumours and counter-rumours. Pray for patience, and for readiness when the moment comes.
• Amanda has had a fairly testing week in her HR role at the Foundation. Pray for abundant supplies of grace there.
• We had the opportunity to touch base with Andrew and Ruth Richards (UK), who will be joining us in October to run a marriage course (watch this space). Please pray for us as we prepare for that important week from both sides of the Atlantic.
• For increased maturity and love for the Lord for the various men with whom Craig is working -- and, indeed, for Craig himself!
• Craig is preaching again on 1 Kings 8:22-53 tomorrow morning...
• ...and Amanda is taking the youth meeting tonight, where they've recently begun a new series working through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (a relatively unknown text here).
• The American trio of volunteers leave Trinidad on Monday evening; pray for safe travels back to Seattle.

Praise

• For many opportunities for mutual encouragement this week, for both of us.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda