Saturday Post -- 19/03/16

BLOG UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

Hello there!  The blog is being hijacked, shanghai-ed, commandeered, "liberated" and in every way buccaneered this week by Bryan and (la otra) Amanda.

Lucky you, we're brilliant!

We're so great that Craig and Amanda have put up with us for the last nine or so years since we met back in Glasgow.  That's no small feat!

And since it had been the better part of a decade since they left the Auld Country, we figured it was just about time to go see what this whole "Bolivia" thing was about.

The view on the way from La Paz to Trinidad was ok, I guess... 

Well, maybe since this is a missionary blog I should tell the truth: Craig and Amanda are nice, and Bolivia is great and all, but there was a small matter of a wee Sam we had to see to.  Yeah.  Like you wouldn't fly across the world to pinch his cute little cheeks.  You've seen him, right?  Irresistible.

But coming here did afford a number of wonderful opportunities to see our dear friends and the important work that they do here in the Beni.  (I'm not sure if that is even appropriate phraseology, but I heard Craig once refer to the region thusly and I thought it sounded rad.)  It was really strange for us to both experience this radically foreign culture for the first time and at the same time see how well Craig and Amanda have adapted to their environment here.  

This is us "fitting in."  Ohioans are duty bound to do this wherever we go, because there were only two of us we had to enlist the Cunninghams' help—dance puppets, DANCE!

It has been an exciting time to be here.  On Monday, we went to court!  Yay, Bryan (future lawyer) loves court!  The occasion was the expiration of the statutory period of appeal for Sam's biological parents to appeal termination of parental rights.  As no such appeal had been made, the judge was able to enter a final judgment of termination for Sam.  Craig and Amanda hope to start the work for formally requesting adoption this week and after papers are submitted the court will have no more than thirty days to act on them.  We pray to the Almighty that this time passes quickly and uneventfully!

We also have been able to see Craig and Amanda engaged in many of the various ministries they perform here.  On Tuesday we went and saw the Foundation where Amanda is very much in her element.  Working at the very nerve center, she oversees the various cogs, gears and whizz-bits with a maestro's aplomb!  On Tuesday night, we saw Craig in action kicking off another series of English classes.  That was a hoot.  To get the "J" sound as in "jacket"—which doesn't exist in Spanish—the class were literally screaming JACK-et JACK-et!!!!!!

"No, not 'JACKET!!!'" Craig explained calmly, just, "jacket."

"In America they would say 'wadder' whereas we say 'waTer.' See the difference?" [Blank stares].

One of Amanda's highlights was attending Bible study on Thursday night where families gathered together not just to read the Bible, but to learn about how to read the Bible.  One of Bryan's highlights was traveling out to Maná, a small village outside Trinidad which is home to many of the families of the men in a nearby prison.  Needless to say, neither of us had seen anything quite like it.  We went to Maná to catch some of the OANSA program—Bible study/memorisation for children. 

Kids in Maná getting their Jesus on!

There were probably sixty or so children there, most of them traveling the dark streets on their own to get there.  It was held in a school courtyard where the electric lights brought in hordes of of insects that would have impressed even Moses which the children warded off by burning cardboard egg crates and whirling around t-shirts like horsetails.  "Let the little children come to me" I could hear deep in my mind as the children sang and recited verses from memory.  Later we would learn that several of the children gave their lives to Christ that night.  God be praised!  We pray that they will be filled with the Spirit and that the love of Christ sustains them in the difficult years they have ahead.

We've also had a "taste" of life in Bolivia.  Where to start on that...  We could tell you about the family of five we saw all crammed onto one moto scooter, the general disregard for traffic laws, common sense or human dignity on the roads.  We could tell you about the wonderful food that seems to be everywhere (google "salteñas" and then wish you had smell-o-vision).  We could tell you about the western women in La Paz with their great, voluminous skirts and funny little top hats hawking dubious drinks in plastic bags on the roadside.  We could tell you about the heat (ugh) and humidity (UGH!).  Or about the cow's head that was left in the middle of the street being devoured by stray dogs.  But none of that would be it.  None of that can capture Bolivia.  I guess you'll just have to come and see for yourself.  

Speaking of cows in the road, MOOOOOve it, already!

You're lucky, you know.  We're not even supposed to be here writing this.  You could be reading Craig if it wasn't for a general strike that was called on Thursday to protest, um... I don't know, it's Bolivia.  We were supposed to fly out to La Paz on Thursday, you see, but these kindly folks blockaded all the roads early in the morning.  We couldn't make it to the airport and even if we had, we would have been the only ones there.  That's when we took this vacay to the bonus round!

And despite the hefty surcharge for rebooking, we're kind of glad it all happened that way.  Every day here with the Cunninghams is such a blessing and we're very happy to get to worship with the church on Sunday.

Prayer

• OANSA program in Maná
• The completion of Sam's adoption process
• Bryan & Amanda make it back to the States on Sunday/Monday

Praise

• Decisions for Christ made this week
• Great time of fellowship and encouragement this week
• Salteñas!

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig Bryan & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 24/01/15

“Ye’ll no miss this weather, will ye.”

The above point was put to us time and again by well-meaning friends over the past few months, with increasing frequency as our departure loomed larger and the west of Scotland skies turned ever more grey. I (Craig) don’t think it was meant as a question, but I tended to take it that way, responding in kind in order to strangle any assumptions about the climate here being particularly pleasant. Given this is rainy season, the last week has in fact been really rather dry, with a half-hour burst of heavy rain most days, but nothing more offensive. Yet at no point during those dry spells have I gazed upon those mid-30s-plus-humidity conditions from the sanctuary of our ventilated four walls and thought, “Cor, I do rather fancy a gentle stroll right now!”

That said, however, it is nice to be back in Trinidad again; nicer, indeed, than we’d expected. We had been bracing ourselves for a tough re-entry, based on our only comparable experience back in October 2011. I wrote back then about a potent and unexpected encounter with culture shock – after a mere two-month absence. How would we cope after thirteen months in a western context?

One week on, and we’re surviving, with two factors no doubt playing their part. Firstly, the memory of 2011’s experience no doubt prompted us to be better prepared emotionally and spiritually. And secondly, if you’ll excuse a touch of materialism, unlike 2011 we have our own house to come back to; in other words, Trinidad, unexpectedly, feels like home again.

The majority of this week has been taken up with unpacking, organising and dumping, and restoring la casa to a state with which we’re more familiar. Providentially, our home assignment year coincided with our friend Rachel Peebles’ return to Trinidad for a twelve-month spell, meaning the house was at least being used; that’s particularly important in climates like this where, if not left unchecked, moth and rust so rapidly destroy. Still, everyone has their preferred settings, and getting it back to a recognisable state was the main task of this week.

Vastly improved internet speeds have also gone some way to soften the
re-adjustment blow!

One task in particular this week was a reminder of how high up the priority-list Taking Pride in One’s Work tends to feature for manual labourers around here (i.e., not very high at all!).

At the end of October, we received a Facebook message from Rachel telling us that one of our balcony windows had been smashed. This turned out to be nothing too sinister in the end; just local kids playing with their slingshots, seeing a particularly glassy house, and putting 2 and 2 together. However, an urgent repair was clearly in order. Naturally, we arranged for the necessary funds to be transferred and, within a week or two, the job had been done.

Well, on Tuesday morning, I was traipsing around the garden trying to deal with a few things, when all of a sudden, I felt a surprisingly crunchy sensation under my shoes. I looked down, and saw about four glistening square yards of thousands upon thousands safety glass particles. Looks like the tidying-up job that November morning had consisted of, er, sweeping the particles off the balcony and hoping nobody would notice!

And so, two days of planned house work went down the black hole of smashed glass recovery. There I was, sat like Oor Wullie on a bucket (in temperatures our mutual dungareed friend could barely conceive of), carefully picking up each individual piece, being careful to avoid injury to hands, and not to place said container on spots where I was liable to bury the glass yet further. A truly shattering experience, I’m sure you’ll concur.

Quite.

The result of these exertions has been that we’ve not had too much time yet with friends and colleagues, save a couple of fleeing visits to the Foundation during work hours, and an evening in the company of our friends Maicol and KC, their now two-year-old Caleb, and KC’s mother, visiting from the States.

Still, it’s been great to renew these acquaintances, and we look forward to their re-deepening in the months ahead. Santa Cruz last weekend also gave us an opportunity to touch base with old friends. Remember my keyboard-playing protégé, Diego? He’s just moved through to Santa Cruz to begin a degree in music, and on Sunday morning we attended a church service with him, before heading out for lunch and finding out how he’s been doing. Now and again out here, if I’m honest, I have my little Elijah moments, when I look around, see so little visible fruit for my efforts, become wracked with self-doubt, and question the worth of my ministry. The progress of a young man like Diego is someone I need to cling to in those times, his presence in Santa Cruz instead of Trinidad not an insult but an inevitability, given the lack of opportunities here.

Livin' for the Citah: With young Diego Asín
in Santa Cruz.

The house pretty much done and dusted -- quite literally, indeed -- today is the day when we will gradually start easing back into things at work. If Friday night is music night on Radio 2, then Saturday night is most definitely youth night in Bolivia. We shall pop along there, and to the main church service tomorrow morning. The challenge right now, as we’ve stated previously, is to maintain the self-discipline to prayerfully seek God’s will for these next few years; I’ve already had to turn down one or two well-intentioned proposals on this basis. But we strongly feel that it is better to sacrifice a couple of weeks in doing this than to spend a couple of years embroiled in things that, while good, are not the better ‘yes’. And so, despite missing the sensation of jeans on our legs, we’re increasingly excited to find out what the Lord has in store.

Prayer

• For continued self-discipline and discernment when it comes to new ministry opportunities, as requested last week and alluded to above.
• Despite what I wrote earlier, we do have the occasional re-adjustment bumps. Pray that we don’t allow these to become a discouragement.

 Praise

• For safety in our final flight to Trinidad, on Monday past.
• For the opportunity to catch up with old Trinidad friends Diego and Claudia in Santa Cruz, and see the mighty work of the Lord in their lives.