Saturday Post -- 09/12/17

Daddy & Sam on chairlift, Cochabamba.

We have had an unintended blogpost holiday, and it wasn’t until we got  message from someone mentioning how they missed our updates that we noticed. Oops. Sorry. The truth is that last weekend we were in Cochabamba for our 18-month Latin Link review and the weekend before that, well, I have no idea. It was too long ago, but apparently, we were busy. 

I (Amanda) can’t report on our activities from two weeks ago (as I can’t remember), but I can tell you that Cochabamba was fun. It involved good food, Man U football (for Craig) and late-night chats with friends (and a soft play adventure for Sam). We stayed with Jimmy and Brigitte Fernandez, fellow Latin Linkers, and Brigitte completed our review with us on the Friday. For those of you who don’t know, to fully join Latin Link you have to complete their two-year Stride program first. Essentially, it’s a two-year short-term program where you are supervised by the in-country Latin Link short term coordinator (Brigitte). So even though Craig and I have been in Bolivia for almost eight years now, we are technically short-termers with Latin Link. Once we complete our two years (next September), we will then be classed as full-term. One of the responsibilities of the short-term coordinator is to do six-monthly reviews with those under their care, hence our 18-month review. The review was intensive, and it was refreshing to go over all the good and bad of the last six months with someone who understands. 

We have horses in the streets in Trinidad, too; they can
usually be found rummaging around the garbage
at the end of our street.

The truth is that we have so many filters that we consciously or subconsciously apply to ourselves when we have conversations with anyone. The filters can be multi-layered with some people, or completely different with others. I guess as Christians, we sometimes use the phrase ‘the Sunday mask’ to kind of start talking about the topic of authenticity, but I think ‘filters’ goes further than that, and I think we do it with everyone. I choose to deepen conversations or not depending on who I am talking to and my past experiences with this person. I choose to share things or not with people depending on the person’s background and personal experiences. I choose to be vulnerable or not with friends and family based on how I think they are going to react. I filter. The person that anybody is the most unfiltered with is usually the person they are closest to, but even then, there are filters. I am definitely the most unfiltered with Craig, but I still have to filter. Maybe I present information or a scenario to him in a considered way that will most appeal to him, or I choose a moment to share bad news that I know would be better than another. This is still filtering. 

Why am I talking about filtering? Because missionaries to have filter a lot. I don’t know if we have to filter more than other people, as I have not been a lawyer, doctor, investment banker, teacher, etc. However, I definitely feel like I have to filter more than I did before I became a missionary and its exhausting. We filter what we say and how we say it to the people we are working with here in Bolivia. We have to constantly be aware of being culturally sensitive, and yet be assertive and authoritative in what we say. We have to know when to show vulnerability to build relationships, but when to hold back so as to not negatively affect the ministry. We have to live a Christian life that reflects what we’re teaching and yet show that it’s OK to struggle in this life sometimes (but not too much, because certain sins get higher eyebrow-lifts than others, which would affect our credibility, which in itself is filtering). We have to constantly give advice, care, affection, time etc, and filter out our needs for advice, care, affection, time etc if we feel that the other person is unreceptive to this (which happens a lot). Our job is filtering. 

Cochabamba's Cristo de la Concordia towers over Sam.

Then we have to filter how we interact with our supporters and prayer partners. I think as far as accountability goes, Craig and I try to be as open as we can and limit the number of filters we put into place. We want people to have a genuine idea of our life, which includes struggles. We don’t want to hide the bad. However, that doesn’t mean that our blog posts and emails are not carefully considered, with wording changed, paragraphs deleted and sometimes heated discussions as to content. Sometimes I just want to post a GIF of someone banging their head against a wall, but I choose to apply a filter to that decision (mainly because I don’t know how to post GIFs). And the filters that we need to consider and apply when the ‘M’ word is involved?!?! Money is a touchy subject. And there is no manual written for missionaries that works for everyone on how to deal with fundraising. The way someone can address funding needs in one place is completely different to someone in another place. Sometimes Craig and I have to send separate emails to our North American supporters and our UK supporters because the issue is dealt with in such varied ways. All of this is filtering. 

Then there are the ways that we filter with friends and family. We all do this, but maybe some more than others. What and how I share something with Craig is different than what and how I share something with my Mom, based on how important the information is and how I think the information is going to be received. 

We're not in Cochabamba any more: the scene we woke up to on Tuesday
morning. Rainy season has started here in earnest.

I think the art of filtering is something the majority of us learn to do from an early age and we generally do it subconsciously. However, recently it has started to be something I am noticing more and more and it has begun to be a bit of a strain. I don’t think it is something we can just stop doing, but sometimes I want to rip the filters off and spout off verbal musings to the world and say, “Hah, take that!” So, (going all the way back to the beginning) it was really refreshing to talk to Brigitte about life in general and current struggles because I could remove a lot of the filters. She understands our context, understands the culture, has been to see us in Trinidad and knows our surroundings, and she is our friend. I ripped off a whole pile of the filters that I feel have been constraining me for a while and it felt good. I think we apply a lot of filters to escape judgment from others, and it was so liberating to be listened to and not judged. 

Sam. You'll find him in the club.

Since coming back from Cochabamba, the school holidays have started. For the first time in our lives the school holidays are not quite as exciting as they have been. Sam’s home for two months!!! The church has a kids’ club three days a week for two hours and Craig is helping with that and takes Sam along. He’s also going to a friend’s house one morning a week so he has time with friends. Now we get to participate in the age-old problem: how do we entertain our child for two months without going crazy? It is going to be good times! 

Oh, Christmas decorations went up this week as well!

Sam makes a (sadly inedible) candy cane at said club.

Prayer

• Preparation for Christmas programmes both in the Foundation and in the church.
• The local kids’ time in the Kid’s Program, that they would respond to the gospel message.
• Sam’s time at home with us for the next two months; that we would be blessed by it and not find it stressful.

Praise

• Time with friends in Cochabamba last weekend.
• The end of many of FT’s yearly programs and the blessing they have been to people.
• A visit from Latin Link’s Bolivia Director Louis Woodley Friday evening.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 12/11/16

Expository preachers on tour. Batten down the hatches.

First up, Mrs. C had last week promised some photographs from camp in today's blog post. However, I've taken the executive decision (see also: Ephesians 5:22) to postpone publication. The reason is that most of my evenings this week have been spent editing the now-customary camp video, a compilation to music of the best images from the weekend -- and quite frankly, if I have to upload one more picture of someone bathing in mud, I might go doolally. However, the video is being premiered at the youth group tonight, and several members or leaders in the group have access to our blog. So, in order to preserve some element of surprise, we'll share the video in a separate post over the weekend.

Post-camp, I had just a few days to recover before setting off to Cochabamba for another adventure, albeit one that was conspicuously lacking in team-chants or blocked toilets. This time around, the environs were considerably more civilised (a monastery, no less), as I joined with a group of Bible teachers from around Bolivia for a Langham training weekend.

Regular readers know that Langham Preaching has been a major element of my ministry over these last two years. We meet once a year for an intensive residential training retreat headed up by Langham workers, and then in between, we meet once a month for our escuelita, in which a Bible text is prayed through, a sermon preached on said text, and then the sermon itself is deconstructed by the group (indeed, we had November's escuelita this very morning). 

God is blessing the ministry of Langham Preaching in Bolivia to such an extent that the national workers are finding it increasingly challenging to meet the needs of all the groups in the country. Moreover, the vision has always been to equip local workers with the tools to take on much of the work themselves. For that reason, there is a renewed drive to train key Langham contacts throughout the country such as myself in running the annual workshops, and that was the purpose of the get-together.

The main seminars looked in detail at Langham Preaching's methodology, which would be based on a student-centric teaching model, one which is fairly familiar to people in Europe or North America, but not here; 'learning' in Bolivia at all levels is very much still saddled with the chalk-and-talk approach. Naturally, then, the theory behind such practice was relatively new to most participants, but even white guys like myself and England's Jonny Anderson (based in Sucre) learned much from these sessions.

Cochabamba's Cristo looms large over lunch.

Additionally, I learned that the Trinidad model (annual meeting, monthly escuelitas, annual meeting etc.) is not the only approach taken to the local groups. Indeed, some meet on a weekly basis, and instead of teaching the main material in big, intensive annual chunks, it is spread out over the year in a way that perhaps guards against forgetfulness, as well as the big-event mentality (something that can prove a bit of an obstacle in this region of Bolivia). It's something to chew on for when we return from home assignment, with one or two others having recently asked me about the possibility of starting a new group.

Above all, though, the group was nourished by some tremendous preaching, with three sermons focusing on 'The Spirituality of Jesus'. After a couple of years of email contact, this was my first experience of meeting and sitting under the tremendous preaching ministry of Igor Amestegui, a Bolivian who is based in Cochabamba, but who is Langham's facilitator for the entire region of Latin America. Over the course of the weekend, it was a thrill to get to know people like Igor and other workers throughout Bolivia (including those working in Quechua and Aymara communities); again, I was thankful for the great opportunities for fellowship that have very quickly opened up to Amanda and I within the country over recent months.

Indeed, we're looking forward to receiving more visitors from around Bolivia before we leave Trinidad at the end of December: Edwin from Langham is due back in mid-December, and Brigitte from Latin Link will be here, God-willing, at the end of this month for an overnight visit. Before them, however, we are looking forward to welcoming LAM Canada's Sue Barham, who is due in the big T on Monday for a three-night stay. World: Trinidad welcomes you!

Prayer

• For our time with Sue this week.
• We're due to leave Trinidad for home assignment at the end of December, and the limited time available to tie up loose ends here is being more keenly felt with each week that goes by. Pray for calmness, and the sense to take each day as it comes.

Praise

• For an encouraging visit to Cochabamba last weekend for Craig.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 27/08/16

"YOU'RE FORGETTING ABOUT THE BANK-SLIP!"

It's Saturday morning and Amanda has a flight to catch. In a few hours, she sets off for Cochabamba, where she is due to attend the wedding of a fellow Latin Linker this afternoon. Meanwhile, back home, cue mis-matched clothes, dirty-bottle-backlogs and bathtime shortcuts -- or, as it's otherwise known, 'father-son bonding time'.

Amanda returns tomorrow afternoon. But Sam and I aren't going to get too comfortable. Because before we know it, it will be Friday morning...and Amanda will have a flight to catch! This time, her mother's jetting in for an extended visit, and requires picking-up in Santa Cruz. Meanwhile, back home...oh, you get the drift. Please pray!

Still, at least we're in something of an adversity-overcoming frame of mind these days, not least having finally submitted Sam's Bolivian passport application this week. Here are the highlights, otherwise known as How Bolivian Officialdom Works.

A week past on Monday, we processed Sam's Bolivian I.D. card, a pre-requisite for a passport application here and so, thus armed, we swung by the immigration office. We did this, not to submit the application there and then, but to be given what I've come to call our Scavenger Hunt List. In the west these days, you tend to go online, print the forms, fill them in, send them in with a photo and your bank details, and a few weeks down the line a passport is delivered to your door. 

Not so here. Not for passports, not for I.D. card applications, and definitely not for visa applications (Amanda and I spent around 43% of our first three years here in the immigration office). Here you are given a slip of paper with several items you'd better present before you even think about getting a passport. Sunshine. As well as photocopies of various documents of our own as parents, they included:

• A bank slip, proving that you have deposited the money into the required account. This was introduced some years ago here, as a way of clamping down on government workers requesting, say, 'something for the wife's Christmas' in order to hasten applications.
• An original birth certificate, which you don't get back. Here, photocopied birth certificates are about as useful as a freezer in the North Pole. On the flipside, they will print a new 'original' for you there and then, for the required fee.
• Most curiously, a 'permission to travel' document (isn't that what a passport is?). Now that we live with a Bolivian, we've discovered that it's necessary to submit a separate document for the trip in question. Which, of course, is somewhat perplexing for us, as the only reason we needed the document was to get the passport, not to travel any time soon.

The problem is that there is always at least one document that, itself, generates its own Scavenger Hunt List. This time, that proved to be the permission to travel document. In the past, we had actually filled in a couple of domestic permission to travel documents in order that Sam could travel within Bolivia (a requirement here for travelling with children: they are valid for 30 days). Assuming that this was what they required -- as we could not currently leave the country without a passport -- we swung by the bus station (they are available there and at the airport) and picked one up. No, silly, we were told on our third visit to the immigration office, it's a permission to travel internationally. 

Off we went, then, to that office, and sure enough, another bundle of paperwork was required. It would take a full week for us to assemble this and then get the document.

So, on Monday past, with a spring in our step, off we went to immigration, brandishing said document, slamming it on the guy's desk and singing in unison, 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' to the requisite dance-steps (I may have exaggerated parts of the last sentence). Billy Bureaucrat simply had to admit defeat. He couldn't send us away for the umpteenth time for a document he'd forgotten to mention (that did happen). We had met all the requirements and there was nothing he could do about it but process that application. 

Nothing he could do, that is, until, a couple of minutes into his entering our details into the system...there was a power-cut. "There's been a power-cut," he informed us, barely able to contain a grin (the nefarious so-and-so) and completely powerless, in a quite literal sense, to do much about it. 

As lacking in aesthetic qualities as it was, I can assure you that a pan-pipe-wielding llama chewing coca leaves with an Andean backdrop could not have made for a more Bolivian scene.

Untypically, however, the power surged back into life about fifteen minutes later, and our decision to hang around instead of coming back in the afternoon was vindicated. However, the immigration office in Trinidad is just the start. The application should now be in La Paz, and it won't be another couple of weeks, probably, until we see the passport.

While we wait for that, there's a fair amount of homework for us to do as we try to work out what is required for visas for the UK and Canada (and, further down the line, the USA) for next year. Only one problem with that strategy: my wife never seems to be here.

Prayer

• For no more bumps in the road for Sam's passport application (another quirk of the system here is that, because things get sent to La Paz, if the people there find any seeming inconsistencies, the documents get sent back, and we have to make the changes, re-submit, and wait another two weeks; hoping we can avoid that).
• Every two or three years, we spend a little time with the youth in the church addressing the topic of sex and relationships. Craig is speaking tonight on what the Bible has to say on the subject. Pray for Craig, for the other leaders as they discuss these issues with the young people in small groups afterwards, and for the young people themselves. A huge, highly sensitive topic.
• A new volunteer, Melissa Olmstead, arrives on Monday from Oregon, for an eight-month stint in Trinidad. Pray for her and for Amanda as she supervises her time here.
• For safe travels for Amanda both today and Friday, and an encouraging time in Cochabamba in the next 24 hours.
• For Craig and Sam as they hold the fort back in Trinidad. Pray that this would be a special time for them both.

Praise

• Amanda had an unexpected (and unexpectedly deep) chat with a member of staff at FT yesterday. Give thanks for the opportunity to minister to that staff member.
• For all the frustration, we are making good progress on Sam's documentation. Give thanks for that.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 30/05/15

An impromptu photoshoot up at Cristo de la Concordia. 

Last year as we visited one church after another to report on our work, I tended to dust down the same line to describe the topography of the Beni region: "The street on which this building sits has a greater incline than anything in the Beni for hundreds of miles." And I wasn't exaggerating. It's gotten to the stage now that, when we're out in the car and we approach an elevated bridge on the road, we're practically reaching for the sick bucket just in case, so accustomed have we become to the flatness around us.

But our travels around Scotland last year also confirmed that our hearts were in the Highlands, and so, when the opportunity arose to visit some friends in Cochabamba, we enthusiastically headed for the high lands.

Feeding time in the main plaza.

Cochabamba is known in Bolivia as 'the city of the eternal spring' and is widely considered to have Bolivia's best, least punishing climate. Sitting at an elevation of 2,500 metres, the air is permanently fresh and the sky (almost) permanently blue, with daytime temperatures never reaching any higher than around 25 celsius and the nights offering a pleasing coolness. It is rather like a less exacting La Paz (altitude: 3,650 metres), and unlike Bolivia's de facto capital, the hills are mostly restricted to the surrounding valley ('shop till you drop' would not be an unfair tagline for La Paz's souvenir district).

John 14:6 and 15:12 are inscribed on the Bible.

Since the mid-1990s, Cochabamba's most famous landmark is the Cristo de la Concordia statue, which towers above the city and (gospel illustration ahoy!) is pretty much unavoidable wherever you are, even confronting you as you leave the airport. There is a walkway to the top of the 265-metre hill, but given that visitors are confronted with a sign saying 'In order to avoid getting mugged, we recommend not to use the stairs', I took one look at my bulging camera case and plumped for the cable-car instead. We were rewarded for our, er, efforts, with great views over the city. The statue, by the way, is a full four metres taller than its far more famous Brazilian counterpart, though seemingly Poland have recently taken the whole Christ-statue thing to whole new levels; mind you, it only beats Bolivia's because they ingeniously gave him a three metre-high crown.

Just to reiterate my response to one of my Facebook friends, no, these
are not bullet-holes.

The city itself is perfectly acceptable, though for an area of such outstanding natural beauty, the centre does not really distinguish itself. A couple of pretty plazas are basically all you get. That aside, the sprawl of shops and markets wasn't much different from what you'll find in Trinidad (albeit on a much bigger scale). In fairness, though, Bolivia's major cities are all largely devoid of architectural fascination, with the glowing exception of Sucre (much smaller, though still the official capital), where colonial architecture is all around, and the buildings, by law, have to be painted white once a year (told you it was glowing). 

Another view of the city.

Did we care? Not as long as we had a plate of fresh sushi/chicken wings/crepes/burgers/pizza in front of us. Which we often did, and mostly do not in Trinidad, due to lack of availability/resemblance to the dictionary definition of said platters. Let's just say that by Monday morning, I was seriously considering re-sending my measurements to the kilt-hire shop for my sister's upcoming nuptials.

With the McColls.

And such dining experiences were mostly enjoyed, of course, in the company of friends old and new(ish). Of course, we spent much of that time with our hosts, David & Jennifer McColl, whom we had been determined to visit before their looming exit from Bolivia. Dave and Jenn are something of a curiosity for us, having charted a not inconsiderably similar path to our own as a couple (which wasn't exactly normal in the first place). Dave, just like me, came out to Trinidad many years ago for a gap-year. He then, just like me, returned several years later, whereupon he met Jenn, a Canadian on a summer team. They were married in Toronto in 2012 and now Jenn, a first-generation Canuck, is blessed with a top-drawer Scottish husband. Just like Amanda.

So we all had a most enjoyable time catching up with each other while comparing and contrasting family-culture-clash experiences. And speaking of mixed marriages, we spent en evening in the company of Eduardo & Rachel Rojas. Eduardo, you may remember, is my contact from Langham Bolivia; indeed, that preaching conference begins this coming Thursday (see below). We had hosted Eduardo for a brief visit to Trinidad in February and were delighted to meet him and get to know his American wife, Rachel (in one of the several restaurants Eduardo had recommended to us, naturally). 

(L-R) Paulo, Ruddy and Enoc.

Cochabamba is also now the base for several young people from our own church, who have gone there to pursue work and/or studies. At church on Sunday morning we touched base with four of them: Ruddy and Paulo (Miguel-Ángel's sons), Alan (Elías's stepson) and Enoc, and a more tight-knit bunch of mates you would struggle to find. The four are now in their early-to-mid-20s, and we were greatly encouraged to touch base with them and see how they are maturing in their faith. 

Alan accompanied us on a pleasant walk last
Saturday.

Indeed, something we will be praying for is for someone in Cochabamba to fill Dave's shoes, as his living room has become something of a home-from-home for them, not least for Sunday afternoon FIFA sessions. The quartet came round for a barbecue on Sunday evening and as we caught up, it was evident just how much they look up to Dave as an older believer. 

Perhaps I should go and take up the mantle. Or perhaps I'm just looking for any excuse to breathe that fresh mountain air again. A fine little break.

Prayer

• It was back to the grindstone on Tuesday and, in the evening, a meeting with the Langham committee, where we received confirmation that, in fact, we will be getting fed at the conference (see last week's PDF update)! There are still a few final details to iron out before Thursday, so we would appreciate your prayers for the coming days. In terms of the schedule, the bus leaves Trinidad early afternoon on Thursday, to arrive at the retreat centre later that afternoon, when the first teaching session will take place. There is teaching all the way until the final session on Sunday afternoon, though there are plenty of breaks in between as well. Please pray that the event would be of help to the participants in their work of teaching and preaching,  that positive new relationships would be formed, and that the event's impact would last beyond the weekend. 
• Amanda is once again in charge of the teaching tonight at the youth group, looking at Moses. It's her last teaching slot before our break in July; pray that she might finish well!
• Dr. López, the Foundation's ENT surgeon, saw his last patient yesterday after two years of service here. His prospective replacement is attending to a little necessary housekeeping before he can begin work with us. Pray that this might go smoothly.

Praise

• For a refreshing, energising, encouraging long weekend in Cochabamba. 

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 17/12/11

It seems that my week was so exciting and Craig's week was so mundane, that it made no sense for Craig to write the blog and therefore, for the first time this year... it is my turn! As in, Amanda is writing and not Craig. I think it was about this time last year I wrote my last post... so I'm well on track for once-a-year entries.

The reason that my week was a lot more exciting than Craig's is because I travelled to Cochabamba for a three day course on solar hearing aids... and Craig did not. His week was even duller than average because he had to deal with more paperwork for our land and housing project. I'm really glad I wasn't here for that. I had been in Cochabamba for a layover before in 2003 when my Canadian team was leaving Bolivia and we had enough time to go to their big market and see Cristo de la Concordia (this massive statue of Christ on top of a hill - akin to the Christ statue that makes Rio de Janeiro notable), but in reality I didn't know the city at all. This time I feel like I got to see a lot more of the city... the less touristy things, and I didn't go see the statue... I couldn't even see the famous statue through all the clouds from anywhere in the city. But I got a good sampling of the city's food and a good idea of city life.

Cristo de la Concordia, the highest statue in South America
(yup, that includes the one in Rio de Janeiro).

I think we've said before that La Paz is probably the most "Western" of the cities we've been to, and that Santa Cruz is really developed and has a lot of amenities that are a nice break every once in a while, though it is really just a big Trinidad. Well, Cochabamba is somewhere between the two. It has a nice, cool climate, at least while I was there it was nice and cool... and rainy, but that doesn't bother me after Trinidad's sweltering heat. I don't know if I can describe it really well... but I got this vibe that put it somewhere between La Paz and Santa Cruz. We had a nice hotel to stay in with hot showers... and a girl can't really ask for more than that.

I went with Odalys, one of the nurses at the Foundation, who is trained in Audiology and runs the Audiology Department. CBM organised the course and people from all over Bolivia came to be properly trained in Solar Ears' product line (Solar Ears are an NGO from Brazil that makes low cost hearing aids, with rechargeable batteries and solar powered battery chargers). Solar power just makes so much sense here because a lot of people don't have the finances to keep buying new batteries, which can only last a week, and because a lot of people work in the country and are there for months at a time and have no way to buy new batteries when they need them. If they can just recharge the batteries they have with solar power it is a lot more practical. However, people are not used to such technology and they have to be properly taught, which means we have to be properly taught as well. Apparently, a common problem with their whole system is that people don't understand that only the charger is solar powered... you have to charge the charger in the sun about once a week... and then the charger will pass its power on the rechargeable hearing aid batteries... BUT NOT IN THE SUN. People think the whole process should be in the sun and they put their hearing aid batteries in the chargers and leave them together out in the baking sun and then their batteries explode. That had to get repeated several times over the three days to make sure we completely understood.

I don't know how much people would like to know about the details of the actual course... I'm sure if you have no experience with hearing aids you would find a run down of my course quite boring. So, if anyone actually wants to hear more... please e-mail me or Facebook me and I shall regale all. As to the other things I did while I was there... please keep reading.

I find travelling without Craig really hard... I know some people might find that mushy or gross or go, "Awwww", but it's true. I feel off somehow, kind of unbalanced... and the longer the trip, the harder it gets... but thankfully, this trip was only three nights and I survived without any permanent damage. After the first day, Odalys, Maricarmen (an Audiologist who used to work at the Foundation, but who moved to La Paz) and I went out shopping and walking around... and afterwards we went out for a really nice dinner at this restaurant called Paprika. It was really trendy and yummy even by North American/European standards... I really enjoyed this as I don't get to hang out with girls and do girly things all that often... there is not that much to do in Trinidad and when I am outside of Trinidad I am usually with Craig... and shopping is not something he enjoys all that much. It felt good to be out and have a girl night... it was very refreshing.

The second night the course finished earlier than expected and we went back to the hotel and rested... until dinner and then the three of us went out again. This time we went to a restaurant which people who've been to South American will understand... it's one of those restaurants staffed by young adult travellers from North America/Europe who are trying to pay their way through their travels... as in, a lot of them had dreads in their hair. :)

A view over the city. Cristo de la Concordia  is on the hill in the centre of shot.

The third night, CBM organised a culturally traditional dinner at this nice restaurant for everyone in the course... I ate half a duck. I love duck! It is so rich and always a treat, because you can't eat it every day as you would get sick... unless you were my sister who just gets sick anytime she eats it (she has a sensitive stomach). Anyways, it was definitely enjoyed... and I am anticipating my next mouth-watering duck experience with much eagerness.

I had been praying about this trip for a while before it... praying for a way to witness to Odalys... and, to be honest, we didn't have any earth shattering conversations... but I pray that we, as people and friends, are closer because of it. Odalys would say she is a believer, but it's hard to know if she understands what that means or if she thinks she is because she is Catholic. I'm not sure... she was one of the nurses who recently received a Bible from us, and she brought it with her on the trip... and I saw her reading it. She also recently received a devotional program for children to read with her 11 year old daughter. Please keep praying for her. I find it hard sometimes to know what to say to the nurses here, because I am very often unsure as to the depth of our friendship and how interested they are. I measure depth in a friendship by how much you share of yourselves together... how open you are and how serious you can be... and sometimes I think I am not very close with these nurses. And then sometimes they do or say something to make me think that they think we are very close... so maybe they measure friendship in a completely different way. Please keep praying that I can manoeuvre these cultural differences to be share to more with them and support them as well.

I also enjoyed getting to know Maricarmen a lot better as well. Maricarmen taught the very first ear course I took at the Foundation in April, 2010 and she came back from La Paz to lead the Audiology course I did  in January of this year... so I knew her a little, but I definitely enjoyed getting to know her better. She moved to La Paz about a year and a half ago... but not long after she moved, one of the young people from the church, Maye, moved to La Paz to study Audiology... and Maye is now living with Maricarmen and her family. Through Maye, Maricarmen became a Christian and is now attending the local church and brings her son as well. I can see a big difference in Maricarmen... she talks about trusting God and seeking His plan for her life. Please pray for her as well as she has big decisions coming up in her life; that God would lead and guide her through them all.

I have been instructed to tell you that we now have a Facebook ministry page... and if you are interested in knowing of prayer and praise items in the moment, please 'like' our page on Facebook. If you don't have Facebook, do not feel like you need to go out right away and get it... we will still be posting on our blog once a week, but if you like the shorter, more frequent updates, we now have that facility. There is a link at the top right-hand side of the blog... or if you want to go to the effort of typing (perish the thought!), the web address is www.facebook.com/cramandaham.

Well, see you next year then... or maybe sooner.

Prayer

• Maricarmen and Odalys and their personal walks with God.
• Craig as he focuses on Christmas during the staff meditations this coming week and his Christmas epilogue at the Foundation's Christmas Celebration. 

Praise

• Amanda's nice time with friends in Cochabamba - and the informative solar hearing aid course.
• A really great time with friends and colleagues at last night's informal staff-organised Christmas dinner. The food was so good and we really enjoyed the laughs and fun.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!


Craig & Amanda