After a full week back in Trinidad, we’re
enjoying being home and having a more settled family life again (how many
people have to come all the way to Bolivia to do that?!). The house
increasingly resembles our home (i.e., the mess is ours and not someone else’s)
and we’ve been able to catch up with a good number of friends and colleagues,
with some very initial conversations about ministry thrown in. Furthermore,
Craig was able to tie up the paperwork on the car’s registration yesterday, after
a week spent mostly driving from one office to the next; we sure haven’t missed
Bolivian bureaucracy.
More on the present-day in the
prayer points, below. For now, time to pick up where I left off last week, with
a little more detail as to our prospects this time around.
Craig: Building a Church
As 2016 drew to a close, we were
making our preparations to leave Trinidad and begin our journey back to
Scotland for home assignment. Meanwhile, our former pastor, Elías, was
preparing to step down from his position, according to a timetable agreed some
months earlier. So I have known for some time now that this new term in Bolivia
is likely to see my church commitments increase and intensify.
Elías was preaching about twice a
month and teaching Bible studies every other Thursday. He was also at the
forefront of visitation and represented the church at a local level. My
workload in all of these areas was somewhat lighter, and is now likely to pick
up considerably. This will be particularly pronounced in the first few months,
as the other elder, Miguel Ángel, has asked to step back himself from the
pulpit until the end of the year.
Though I will be taking on a lot
more of the pastoral load, I will not be assuming the title of ‘pastor’ any
time soon. Our vision, as ever, is for the Bolivians to gradually assume the
work that the missionaries began – not just ourselves, but those other couples
who have gone before us. Having a foreigner take on the role of pastor would
surely hinder such progress, especially in a culture which is at times has no
qualms about putting its feet up while other people get their hands dirty.
Moreover, our church has always
been a very collaborative enterprise, and we have been delighted in the past
week or so to hear about the great strides that have been made in gospel
ministry, driven primarily by the laity. We may come to a point where we wish
to appoint a pastor again, but for now (not least in a church with strong
Brethren roots), we are happy to see how things progress, and I will be
delighted to play my own part in this.
However, along with the additions
will have to come subtractions, particularly if we are to live by the
principles mentioned here last weekend. I have prayerfully decided to step back
from youth ministry for the time being (though I will continue to disciple
individuals in the group), and I will be winding down my responsibilities in
the music ministry, with the aim of stepping down in January. Against my better
instincts, I resurrected the English classes last year as a way of raising
funds for Fundación Totaí. Well, by and large, it turned out my
instincts were on to something; they, too, will be shelved.
Other jobs will continue for now,
including my supporter communications work for FT and overseeing Langham
Trinidad, which has also made great strides in my absence – a recurring, and
humbling, theme developing there.
Amanda: Becoming more of a
people person
As long-time readers will be
aware, Amanda’s main role for her first few years here was as an audiologist at
FT. She loved the work, but felt the door was closing on it by the time we had
our first home assignment in 2014. During that year, God directed her towards
the work of human resources in the Foundation, to which she dedicated a great
deal of time and energy.
Above all, though, Amanda had
planned on using the HR position as a way of getting alongside staff members on
a pastoral level, and deepening relationships with them; several of our health
staff are not yet believers, and most face challenging circumstances at home. While
there were occasional opportunities in this area, Amanda largely found that it
was hard to make great headway due to the copious paperwork that her role also entailed;
naturally, Sam’s arrival complicated things here too.
Well our last home assignment saw
FT’s new Director of Administration, Hernán, take on the HR role as part of his
own work, and we prayed that there might be scope upon our return for Amanda to
leave that with him permanently with a view to a greater pastoral care focus.
Hernán and FT’s board members feel the need for this too, and they have been
delighted to let Amanda go ahead with this.
She will essentially be making up
her role as she goes along, but her goal is to be a presence in the Foundation
as much as possible and to spend meaningful time with staff and patients; a ‘prayer
room’ for patients has been a dream of ours for some time, and Amanda will
finally be free to get this up and running at the Foundation with those
patients who wish to be prayed for.
Like me, Amanda hopes to do some more
discipleship work with youngsters in the church, and she will continue to
support the work of the youth ministry – though this is, again, an area where
she has been able to relinquish the role of leader since we have been away.
Sam: “Ring ring” goes the bell
“Hang about!,” I hear you cry, “I
thought you guys had no time these days because of that Energizer Bunny also
known as your son.” And in this you would be right: indeed we did not.
However, the decibel levels round
here are about to take something of a downturn, as Sam sets off on his latest
adventure: Day Care.
If you’ve met Sam, you will know
just what a sociable little boy he is, and we’ve long felt his need of
companionship, particularly of children his own age. Not least as Mummy & Daddy
are running out of ideas fast: there are really only so many times you can play
chucking-toys-up-the-stairs-then-back-down-again before even Sam starts looking
at his watch.
The day care Sam will be
attending feeds into a local school, and takes place on weekday mornings. In
other words, by sheer coincidence, Sam will be otherwise occupied at the time
of the week when we are generally at our busiest (this also paves the way for the aforementioned
Monday morning ‘date nights’).
In all seriousness, while we are
a touch nervous about dropping His Lordship back into the Spanish-language deep
end, we are delighted to afford him the opportunity to spend more time with
other little people, and get to grips with the accompanying social skills. We’re
sure he’ll have a great time.
Meanwhile, of course, we hope to
see him cement already-existing relationships with our friends and our church
community here. Last Sunday morning, in church, he danced incessantly while the
band played, and we pray that his joy in the Lord would only grow in the coming
years.
Prayer
- For patience, wisdom and self-discipline as we seek to put these
plans into action.
- Next weekend sees the wedding of a young woman who has grown up
in the church and is well known and loved by many who are associated with this
place. Consequently, a veritable horde is making its way here over the coming
week, including several ex-missionaries. Pray for safe travels for all.
- Said horde will also include a seven-strong team from Strathaven
Evangelical Church (including Craig’s Mum), who are due to arrive here next
Saturday morning for two weeks. Pray for preparations for this visit, for the
team and for ourselves.
Praise
- For progress this week on little jobs like the car documentation
and the house.
- For great encouragement in catching up with old friends and learning
of so many positive developments over the last six months, both at institutional
and individual levels.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Craig & Amanda
