Episode 14: Bad Backs and Comebacks

Our late latest podcast episode is right here!

Here are some pictures from the last few months.

Sam on a visit to the Stansberry Children's Home, 
with our Latin Link volunteer Andrew.

Back in black.

Back in the pulpit.

Back to school.

Craig took part in a 120km cycle to raise money 
for a local rehabilitation ministry (don't worry, 
it was mostly downhill).

Sam and friends at the local Lomas de Arena.

A happy family. 

Prayer Points

• Give thanks for Amanda's re-emergence from burnout symptoms recently after a tough six months. Keep praying for this.
• Give thanks for Sam's positive start to the school year. Pray for wisdom as we help him through some behavioural issues.
• Give thanks for the church's re-opening in October and the great encouragement this has been to our faith community.
• Pray for Amanda in her role as Latin Link Bolivia's short-term co-ordinator, as she walks with our younger volunteers during this challenging time.
• Give thanks for a relatively peaceful presidential election in October.
• Pray for rain! This region of Bolivia is suffering from severe drought right now, and there have also been some terrible forest fires.
• A second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely on its way. Pray for wisdom on the part of key decision-makers, patience in the event of a lockdown and, above all, for a viable solution to this crisis.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig, Amanda & Sam

Episode 13: Heidi! Hi!

Not sure why, but the usual episode player isn't loading. In any case, you can find our latest podcast episode by following this link, or in the 'Podcast' section on the right-hand side. Thanks!

Our latest COVID discovery: the local 'beach'; really a river that is dry for most of the year,
which also plays host to a large construction site. It seems that health & safety remain a
less than primary concern in the Bolivian construction sector; suits us just fine!

One of these guys is a tired old dog in need of a shower and shave.
The other is our Yorkie.

Sam's latest COVID hobby? Rugby!

A low sun, petals and a classic Bolivian dusty road. So much beauty in the everyday here.

"When through the woods and forest glades I wander..."

Craig's band now has its very own (personalised) face-masks!

"I don't wanna be the Prrrresident of America..."

We had a Bolivian-style barbecue for Craig's birthday on Monday. We forgot to take
pictures, but the aftermath tells its own story. Truly sublime.

Sam's stated motivation in learning to cycle was being able to ride a motorcycle some day.
Our good friend Lewis kindly gave him a flavour recently. 

Chau!

Prayer Points

• Give thanks for God's sustaining hand over these five months. Remarkably, they have flown by!
• Pray for wisdom and safety as the lockdown eases and the pandemic shows no signs of abating.
• Pray for Sam as he embarks on his new school year later this month.
• Pray for the country as a whole. Pray that we might begin to see reversals in the spread of the virus, and pray for an easing of the political tensions in the country, which among other things are severely hampering the efforts of the health sector.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig, Amanda & Sam

Episode 6: When You Were Young

Sam and Napoleon in front of one of the road-blocks.

This is a prayer meeting in our neighbourhood that arose during the strikes.

These roads are usually bumper-to-bumper traffic all day
long. At least I could do something useful during the
strike like grow a beard!

Some graffiti on the road by a supermarket.

Hauling luggage between friends' houses became a normal part of life.

10th November: Evo Morales resigns as president.

12th November: Jeanine Añez, Bible in hand, assumes the interim presidency.

Today: Tensions remain high in many areas of the country.

Here are a couple of useful articles on the fall of Evo Morales:

https://gringoinbolivia.wordpress.com/2019/11/15/why-the-bolivian-crisis-is-not-a-right-wing-racist-imperialist-violent-coup/?fbclid=IwAR0VVn7iATB6UypFBms5x1X8LJN_z40YdxzVQ2EvhZxqI7IRonRoF1yM0QQ

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/evo-morales-finally-went-too-far-bolivia/601741/?fbclid=IwAR1wO78hslhrZuiWphg7aUpkx7oI38TYNDNo7sCIYLCz5B5BfRoJ_NCst4Q

Prayer Points

• Give thanks that some semblance of justice has been done with the president's resignation.
• Give thanks that the Lord was proclaimed and honoured as God throughout the period of the protests.
• Give thanks that we were able to return to our home and re-establish something of a normal routine.
• Pray for a peaceful resolution to the current tensions in the country.
• Pray for Amanda's one-on-one training with Suzanne Potter, Latin Link's short-term coordinator. 
• Pray for our time with new short-term volunteer Andy Robertson.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig, Amanda & Sam

Episode 3: The Zombie Apodcalypse

La Paz: Latin Link Retreat

Prayer walk with the team.

Token team photo.

La Paz: Community Church & The Hunt Family

Up a big hill with Mark (you're always up a hill in La Paz).

Sam with Rebecca.

The ever-developing La Paz cable-car system never ceases to enthral us. This
new blue line takes you literally to the centre of town (think Buchanan Street
subway station, but for cable-cars).

Ben on the left, Meghan on the right, Sam too tired to pose.

The following images are taken from a walk up the Muela del Diablo, the
spectacular rock formation you can see on the right-hand side here.
Disclaimer no.1: this is not my photo.

Disclaimer no.2: we drove most of the way in a mighty Lada.

Sam's ubiquitous goldfish crackers. They taste even better
at altitude.

La Paz Community Church.

One of LPCC's attendees is our old friend Dave McColl, now working as
the Samaritan's Purse chief in Bolivia. Mark called this a Scottish sandwich,
so I suppose that makes him a lorne sausage.

The Hunts' dog, Chumita, more than made up for Napoleon's absence in Sam's eyes.

The Band

The poster.

All set!

Some footage from our sound-check:

And here's our playlist. All covers, of course! The U2 and Ben E. King numbers were 'mashed-up'. Craig sang lead on Change The World, These Days and I'm On My Way, which doubled both as our encore and as an excuse to change into a 1978 Scotland shirt.

There are plenty more photos and videos from the concert. Send us an email if you'd like to see more.

Prayer Points

• Give thanks for a great time in La Paz, both at the Latin Link retreat and with friends old and new.
• Give thanks for a terrific gig on Tuesday and the opportunity to bless the Novo rehabilitation programme in this way.
• Pray for Sam at school; his behaviour has taken a bit of a nosedive recently.
• Pray for Bolivia as the country goes to the polls for the presidential elections on the 20th.
• Pray for Joe Stoneham, a new Latin Link worker who will be staying with us for a few days next week.
• Pray for the first meeting of Craig's Langham escuelita, on the 23rd.
• Pray for the launch of the church's new midweek meeting, next Thursday (17th).
• Pray for our time with our house-guest this week, Yoselín.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig, Amanda & Sam

Saturday Post -- 27/01/18

How was the view from your treadmill this morning?

Writing from Guatemala, where we landed on Thursday afternoon after a day of frantic flying. The easy route from Bolivia is via Miami, but Sam's lack of US visa (and, still, a Canadian passport) ruled that one out. So our route was through Lima and El Salvador, with only about an hour's layover at each stop. A broken down aeroplane on the Lima runway caused a big delay in finally leaving South America, but the last flight from El Salvador to Guatemala (think Glasgow-Belfast) awaited our arrival. As we jogged down the terminal, for the first time in my life, I heard my name announced with regard to a departing flight: a seismic moment, I'm sure you'll agree.

We are primarily here for the Latin Link International Assembly, a four-yearly gathering of Latin Link workers from all over the world, including the UK (indeed, a former Cornhill colleague of mine from 2014 will be in attendance). That starts this coming Thursday in Guatemala City. Till then, we are based four hours' drive south-west, in the little town of Panajachel, by Lake Atitlán, one of the country's most famous spots and a general hit with tourists. Three volcanoes loom large on the southern flank and the various towns dotted around the shoreline have heavy Mayan influences. 

The weather is sunny but fresh -- never higher than around 25-Celsius -- and our hotel is beautifully situated on the northern side, right by the shore and with a direct view to the volcanoes; all of which, of course, are positively screaming to this exiled Scot, "Climb me." (NB: They are inactive and eminently scalable; I'll hopefully have some pictorial evidence some time soon.)

Amanda samples the local cuisine.

Of course, we're glad simply to have arrived in one piece and without complications, given that this time next week, things in Bolivia were looking very, very different. Along with evangelical churches across the country, we had an extended prayer time last Sunday for the situation in the country, particularly with regard to the new penal code on the table, which would potentially have taken a wrecking-ball to evangelism in the longer-term. More immediately -- and, admittedly, far less importantly -- the various strikes and road-blocks were genuinely threatening our capacity (and that of other Latin Link Bolivia team members) to get to Guatemala.

Well, we had barely arrived back home after church when a fellow Latin Linker texted, suggesting we check out the latest news. The president had just announced the repealing of the new penal code, in a live interview which had taken place at the very same time we, and so many other churches, had been praying. And we know that these prayers were not confined to Bolivia, based on the many emails of support we received from individuals and churches in the days preceding. A great encouragement indeed.

We are in Guatemala for a couple of weeks. After the conference, the Bolivia team is meeting at the same venue for a couple of days for our own annual business meeting, and then we will be back in La Paz, God-willing, on the 10th of February. There we will stay for a further few days, in order to submit Sam's visa papers (we have to stay till the Wednesday owing to Carnaval). And then, it will be back to Trinidad, where we will have just four weeks to get everything in place for returning to Scotland. In other words: enjoy the volcano vistas while they last, Craig.

One happy customer.

Prayer

• For a relaxing few days here by Lake Atitlán.
• For a safe trip back to Guatemala City for the International Assembly, starting Thursday, then back to Bolivia on the 9th-10th of February.
• For encouragement and good fellowship at the International Assembly.

Praise

• For getting here safely.
• For the amazing developments last weekend back in Bolivia.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 12/01/18

"Classic Queen!"

For British men of a certain age (i.e., mine), a comedy character called Alan Partridge holds cult hero status. Played by Steve Coogan, he has, in his various broadcasting incarnations, presented the sports news, hosted a chat show and tried his hand at graveyard-shift radio. It was that last stage of his 'career progression' that was covered in the mock-documentary 'I'm Alan Partridge', in which our hero, in something of a transitional state in his life, found himself living in a naff roadside hotel, the 'Linton Travel Tavern' for six months, while betting the house on an unlikely return to the BBC. 

These temporary (sort of) accommodations shine a light to the best and worst sides of his personality. He collects his mini-soaps and -shampoos in a box. Using a briefcase, he smuggles an extra-large plate into the breakfast buffet each morning. He dismantles a Corby Trouser Press. He develops a well-meaning, though increasingly uncomfortable, familiarity with the hotel staff, including hapless handyman Michael, formerly of the military. A typical exchange:

Michael: Oh aye, I've seen some terrible things, mind.

Alan: What, like three men burning in a tank going, "aaarrgh!"?

Michael: Ye wouldn't want to know, Mr Partridge.

Alan: I'll be honest, I'm pretty curious. I'd basically like to understand man's inhumanity to man. Then make a programme about it.

Well, these past couple of weeks I had a minor case of the Alans myself, having stayed in a Santa Cruz hotel for a total of eight nights, double what we'd bargained for. 

A little high-tech for Trinidad, this.

The plan had been to take a four-night city break after the busyness of Christmas and New Year, with the express aim of seeing the new Star Wars film and, for the ladies, allocating some Christmas capital in the general direction of clothing. We arrived on the afternoon of the 2nd, expecting to leave on the morning of the 6th. While in Santa Cruz, we also caught up with some friends and enjoyed the hotel facilities; Sam went wild in the outdoor pool, desperate to swim no matter the water temperature.

Saturday morning was going well. Despite the accumulations, I'd managed to get the car packed in no time at all and we were all ready to hit the road back to Trinidad at about 8:30. And that was when the problems began.

I've never felt so simultaneously devastated and thankful
that I don't live in Santa Cruz as when I frequent the
various quality pizza outlets

One of the first priorities was to fill the tank, which was nearly empty. However, this was proving more complicated than expected due to an oversight on my part. In Bolivia, you need to have a licence, renewable annually, to be able to buy fuel. We had not been made aware by the previous owner of our car when this would be 'up', and it turned out ours had expired while we were in Santa Cruz. At a succession of stations on the way out of the city, I implored the workers to consider our situation. No joy.

We came to the last station before the turn-off to Trinidad, indeed, the last station for a good 50 miles or so. The lines were long, so I parked the car to the side and walked to the head of the queue to ask what my chances were of getting a hand. Happily, the staff agreed to overlook my oversight and told me to get in line. 

Which I would have done if the car had then started. Well, we did get it started, but only after about a dozen attempts, by which point it was crystal-clear that to depend on this vehicle to get us home would be the definition of folly. Lumbering and chuntering back through the city streets, we somehow managed to transport it to the home of a mechanic friend. And there it stayed...until Tuesday afternoon!

While I was doing my best to disguise my frustrations, my mother-in-law, Selene, was doing her best to disguise her joy, being something of a lady of leisure, quite at peace with hotel life. We just had to get on with it, though for me, cabin fever was taking hold. A few days earlier, the fact that the staff would trace your every step at the breakfast buffet seemed attentive; now it was becoming an irritation. And why-oh-why were we being subjected to that Ed Sheeran album again? 

Spot the boy.

Still, in the end, the extra days gave us a little more time with friends and a lot more time with each other. I enjoyed having a little more free time to spend with the family after a busy Christmas and New Year period at church.

On Wednesday evening we finally made it back to Trinidad, glad to be back home in our own beds. We'd best enjoy them while we can; it's Guatemala in two weeks' time.

Prayer

• Pray for the country of Bolivia. We can't go into details here, but Google searches such as 'Bolivia doctors', 'Bolivia press freedom' or 'Bolivia evangelism' will yield some eyebrow-raising news stories.
• We have a lot to do at work and at home in these next couple of weeks before leaving for the Latin Link International Assembly. Pray for energy and patience.

Praise

• Give thanks that our car wouldn't start where it wouldn't start, if you catch my drift. The Santa Cruz-Trinidad road is not somewhere you want to get stuck with a breakdown.
• For a pleasant time of it in the big city, even if for a little longer than expected.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda