Saturday Post -- 28/10/17

Cards on the table: this will likely be the very definition of 'workmanlike'. Another busy Saturday awaits, kicking off with United-Spurs in just over half an hour (as I write)! Essentially, this will cover anything that comes into my head, and will be assembled in no discernible order. So there.

Tomorrow is the 13th anniversary of Fundación Totaí's founding and we marked the event with a special event for staff on Thursday evening at an indoor volleyball complex (no kidding) which also lays on big steak barbecues. The two hours of physical activity which preceded the meal made me all the more determined to eat far too much as ever. 

Friday, meanwhile, was a day off for staff. We've mentioned here before the preponderance of so-called 'Hallmark holidays'. Say it's 'International Day of the Lobotomist'. All such individuals are legally entitled to take the day off. At FT, with a range of staff across several disciplines, observing these would effectively cost us about a week of work across the year. So, instead, everyone gets the anniversary (anniversaries of any number also being a big deal here).

I've had a busy couple of weeks with preaching, Bible teaching and a whole swathe of other administrative jobs for the church. So when I realised I'd also have to prepare a short thought for a prayer meeting last week, I thought to myself, "This isn't exactly building a church free of missionary dependence, is it." So I prayerfully approached Diego, the 15-year-old I'm discipling just now, and he gladly took on the job! He already had a little experience with teaching children, so I knew he would be just fine. He really is a young man with great potential and a great love for the Lord, someone we'd really appreciate prayer for.

The event dominating today is the AWANA Olympics, AWANA being the Bible-memorisation-based children's programme we run in the church, and the Olympics being a cross-town contest between the various AWANA churches based on games and Bible quizzes. Next weekend we have a special film night at the church, showing the film Luther; we're encouraging people to invite as many friends and family members as they can. And the weekend after that...it's camp! This is why we take Mondays off, y'see.

At least we had a somewhat relaxing time of it last weekend (key word there: somewhat) as we drove down to Santa Cruz for three nights. The idea was to have some relaxing family time and, if at all possible, find a way of seeing the much-vaunted Blade Runner 2049 on Saturday evening. We even had a babysitter lined up through a contact of ours. Well, it didn't quite work out -- nor, indeed, did the whole 'relaxing' thing in general, if I'm honest! Sam up till now has proved himself to be immensely adjustable to new environments, but he was not for sleeping in that bed, and a mild fever the first night didn't help things either. At least we got to hit some of our favourite gourmet junk-food eateries, though Sam's inevitable exhaustion manifested itself in ever-more creative ways there too!

Still, it was great to wake up on a Sunday morning with the only key decision being which T-shirt to wear to church. From our perspective, that is a break! We touched base that day with our Latin Link mentors, Graham & Debbie Frith. This was especially good fun as Spurs were hammering Graham's beloved Loserpool when we got back to their place afterwards.

There'll be no such outcome today, of course.

Prayer

• For the big events coming up at church: the cinema night and camp.
• For Craig as he preaches tomorrow.

Praise

• For a break (of sorts!) last weekend.
• For FT's anniversary.
• For the encouragement of seeing young guys like Diego step up to the proverbial plate.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 14/10/17

Craig with fellow Mr. Bolivia contestants MCB new membership candidates.

During a dramatic week of World Cup qualifying, one of the big headlines was Panama's president declaring a national holiday the day after their first ever participation in the tournament was secured. The slapdash nature of this was certainly a key component of the story. I joked with a friend that, were the same thing to happen to Bolivia, we'd probably get a week! For spur-of-the-moment days off work are standard practice down here, so much so that we're struggling to remember the last time Sam attended school for a full five days.

(Utterly irrelevant tangent alert: Bolivia, like Scotland, share the honour of having played in the opening game of the World Cup, Bolivia against Germany in Chicago in 1994, and Scotland against Brazil in Paris in 1998. And Bolivia, like Scotland, have since failed to qualify. See also: Senegal, South Africa.)

Local holidays and the like, curiously, have taken on a strikingly different complexion since Sam started school, with things reaching something of a nadir this week. Two consecutive days went down the proverbial, with the added bonus of being announced only on the afternoon of the day before. Wednesday was international women's day so, naturally, all members of the fairer sex were entitled to an impromptu day off (at no inconvenience whatsoever to their employers, one would vouch), while a a maintenance mishap rendered the school unsafe for Sam and his toddler cohorts on Thursday. 

The circumstances were not ideal, not least for Amanda, who had flown solo on the parenting front from Thursday till Saturday of last week, thanks to a conference I attended. This was the annual national assembly of Misiones Cristianas Bolivia, our church's denomination, which, for the first time in its 57-year history, was taking place in Trinidad itself. This was my first time in attendance as a delegate (my membership was confirmed on the opening day), with two others in our church already among the membership. Essentially, the national assembly was an extended business meeting, with a significant chunk of time given over to reviewing the body's constitution (so long that much of it will have to be reviewed via email communications over the following year). A necessary evil, then, if not quite my idea of fun. 

That said, it was a great opportunity to meet like-minded individuals from across the country. Like Mark and Carol, an older American couple who run a seminary in a rural part of the country. Or Mario and Helen, who are commended from the very first church I attended as a boy back in Hamilton. Or Felix, a Bolivian missionary who works with a tribe who are based 12 hours' from the nearest major city. No electricity + no internet + no telephone lines = a calling!

Helpfully, the fellowship opportunities were extended beyond the conference itself. In the evening, three special services were held for the Trinidad churches to attend, with a series of talks given on the Reformation. One of the main speakers was Canadian Jürgen Schultz (or 'Jorge' to Bolivians) whom attentive readers may remember as being our speaker at camp last year -- and a very good one at that! It was good to catch up with him, too, and his 40-minute overview of the life and impact of Martin Luther was soul-stirring.

At the Foundation this week, the annual ENT surgical campaign has been in full swing and Amanda has been helping to keep things ticking over. Meanwhile, I've been preparing more teaching materials for church: a sermon for this Sunday and, for Thursday, a new Bible study based on a book called 'Living in the Power of the Gospel'. It's a book that was recommended to me by a missionary friend as having had a powerful impact on pastors and laypersons throughout Bolivia recently. We began by reading the first couple of chapters and thinking particularly about Colossians 2:6, with its encouragement to the believers to live their lives 'just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord'. In other words, it is the same power that saved us that now sanctifies us, and not an ounce of this comes from within ourselves. If you've read the blog of late, you can see that this ties in nicely with some of the issues that have arisen in the light of our sermon series in Galatians.

Anyway, best get on with the rest of my day. After all, Sam never seems to have classes on Saturdays!

Prayer

• This week we met with a young couple called Cristhian and Milena, who are having some marriage difficulties. They have a three-year-old son. Please pray for them, and for wisdom for ourselves in counselling them.
• For our work as board members at the Foundation, where we are occasionally having to deal with some difficult staff issues.

Praise

• Craig and the rest of the Langham Preaching group had their first meeting this morning since the Level 3 workshop. Give thanks for a good start.
• For a great initial Bible study on Thursday.
• For a good first MCB meeting for Craig last weekend.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 30/09/17

"So, Clemenza, let me get this straight: Is the law, therefore, opposed 
to the promises of God?" 
"Fuhgetaboutit!"

When it comes to faithfully and honestly expounding the word of God as he has given it to us, there is simply no substitute for working through a book together, Sunday by Sunday, as a church. Thematic or topical series have their place throughout the church year, but if we claim to take the Bible seriously in our congregations, then book studies must be given primacy. 

A criticism that this approach often attracts is that it lacks the flexibility to address issues the church might be dealing with at any particular moment. This can be fairly easily countered. Firstly, when choosing books to teach as a series, a church should be considering the current needs of its congregation anyway, and prayerfully selecting texts which speak to those. Secondly, as stated above, a good church will make room for thematic or topical sermons throughout the year anyway, and these provide particularly gilt-edged opportunities for such ministry.

But I cannot imagine I am alone in positing a third, far weightier reason: we have good reason to trust that God will speak powerfully to us through his word as it has been presented to us. Time and time again in my own preaching ministry, God has aligned circumstances and text in such a way that the particular text, of the particular book, in the particular preaching series, that was programmed for that particular Sunday some months ago, is precisely what the church needs to hear. This is all of God, and all the more reason to give him the glory.

This has certainly been the case here in the last couple of weeks, where I have been working through Galatians 3 and 4. We elected to preach Galatians some months ago owing to the Reformation's 500th anniversary this year, and it being Martin Luther's favourite book (his only commentary was written on the epistle, and if you know anything of his biography, it's not hard to see why). In the particular passages I was preaching on, Paul is showing that God's law, which the Galatians were depending on, is inferior to God's promise (because it came later and through an intermediary), but that it is still integral in that it demonstrates in Technicolor just how far we fall short of God's standards -- and therefore, just how much we need to respond to his unconditional promise in Jesus! He then reminds the Galatians that, as heirs of the promise, they are free -- so why go back to a life of enslavement to works-righteousness?

We have all, then, as Christians, gone from slavery to salvation-by-works, to the freedom of salvation-by-grace. But the funny thing is that Amanda and I have had a lot of experiences here recently, in our own church and in para-church settings, where the noises from the pulpit seem to suggest the opposite, particularly among young people. Something along the lines of: "Don't be like those friends of yours who are having the time of their lives; don't dance, don't drink, don't get into relationships with the opposite sex." And that's it. 

I recently read a book on preaching that contained the following simple, yet powerful, thought: that if you reckon you could get away with your sermon in a mosque or a synagogue, then it isn't worth preaching in church. So many factors, too numerous to detail here, have brought about an 'evangelical' church culture where legalism and The Stuff We Must Do have come to dominate Bible teaching, particularly among those pesky young people, who just can't control themselves, can they. And so, sermons you could get away with in a mosque or synagogue are the meat and potatoes of church experience.

It all comes back, of course, to a faulty understanding of God's salvation. Having been brought up in the school of no-free-lunches, we struggle to accept its totality, finality and unconditionality (I have this moment at least once a day!). And as a result, our obedience is motivated by fear when, in fact, if we really grasped the fullness of what God has done for us, it would flow from us naturally as an expression of love and thankfulness. Why, indeed, settle for these fleeting pleasures, when life in abundance can be ours today?

Going back to my sermons, then, it has been interesting to see how God, in the last few weeks, has used this hefty reminder of his grace to really get people thinking about the kinds of messages we are sending as a church, particularly among our young people; bear in mind that our young people are vulnerable not only because of youth culture in general, but also because they largely come from unchurched homes -- and those whose parents have brought them up in some kind of faith know only the works righteousness so ingrained in this culture. 

So this message is causing people to sit up and pay attention. Two separate young men, both regular youth-group attendees, approached me in the last week to tell me that they had never heard this before. I was simultaneously encouraged and challenged: encouraged that they were simply paying attention to the Sunday sermon (!) and that the gospel was being clearly understood; challenged that this seemed to be inconsistent with the kinds of messages they were hearing elsewhere. That was confirmed to me when a youth leader approached me to say he was concerned that the general teaching for the youth on Saturday nights wasn't consistent with the kind of gospel message being preached on Sunday mornings.

I am not currently involved in the youth ministry, but Amanda is, and has also had some interesting conversations this week on the topic with her fellow workers in the ministry; they are great, committed people, but most are new enough in the faith to be susceptible to these kinds of errors. The material used on Saturdays is essentially solid, but much of it is about making good decisions, and so the possibility of 'synagogue sermons' is very much a live one. It seems like, pretty soon, the teaching on Saturday nights will have to come under some serious scrutiny, and we are encouraged that it's not just us foreigners, for once, asking the big questions.

Of course, as with all such matters, The Godfather nailed it. Hitherto blue-eyed-boy Michael Corleone is in some anxiety as to the impact his upcoming 'hit' on a family rival will surely have on inter-mafiosi affairs in New York. Peter Clemenza ("Leave the gun; take the cannoli.") endeavours to help him see the bigger picture:

That's all right. These things gotta happen every five years or so, ten years. Helps to get rid of the bad blood.

While by no means looking to 'get rid of the bad blood' (!), I wonder if, in the church of Jesus Christ, these little grace shake-ups also "gotta happen every five years or so", much like we are experiencing now. Indeed, I suspect we depend on such seasons. If I, as I mentioned above, need to be reminding myself of God's grace every day, we can never preach this message too much. But first of all, we need to learn accept it for ourselves. 

Prayer

• We are thankful for this little reawakening which might be taking place among us, and doubly conscious that we must, as a couple, be patient and, yes, gracious with the people we are working alongside, so as not to compromise this message in any way. Pray for tact, for diplomacy, for love.
• Our fellow Latin Link workers, Graham & Debbie Frith, are due here any moment now for a weekend visit. Please pray for a time of mutual encouragement.

Praise

• The Gore family (see last week) have settled in well after their move from Cochabamba and we have enjoyed getting to know them a little better this week.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 16/09/17

Group Photo no. 1: Langham Preaching, Trinidad. Edwin is on the right,
Igor in the sky-blue polo-shirt.

A little like West Ham United of late, recently I (Craig) haven't been home all that much at weekends. Though, admittedly, for higher motives than the removal of an athletics track.

Two weeks ago, I was with my Langham Preaching cohorts for our final annual workshop, led by our old friend Edwin Fernández, and, for the first time, Langham Preaching's Latin American Director, Igor Améstegui. 

For newcomers to the blog, Langham seeks to improve the quality of expository preaching in the church through cell groups. These cell groups meet once a month, with one of the group 'preaching' to the others, and the others responding with feedback. But before the annual cycle of meetings begins, there is an annual residential workshop, taking a slightly different angle. 

This year the focus was preaching from the Psalms, and it drew heavily on Christopher Wright's recent book, How to Preach and Teach the Old Testament for All Its Worth, which Langham have recently translated to Spanish (Wright even visited Bolivia for a special Langham conference earlier this year) and each attendee was given a free copy. 

While there was plenty of material on the different kinds of Psalms and their emphases (lament psalms, psalms of Zion, psalms of thanksgiving etc), Edwin and Igor shaped the weekend by taking a leaf from Walter Brueggemann's book (quite literally!) which groups the Psalms into three general categories: Psalms of orientation, of disorientation, and reorientation. So, for example, Igor and Edwin preached from a different Psalm each day based on these categories. And on the second night, there was a (much welcome!) time of pastoral care, in which we were asked to consider if our life and ministry were on a plane of orientation, disorientation or reorientation, and explain why.

What I particularly love about Langham is that, for all the focus on sound preaching, there is a great emphasis on aspects like this kind of personal care, and also the church as a receptor to preaching. On the second day, there was an exercise in which we had to write extensively about the needs of our churches, and then consider the main themes of the texts we had been preaching recently, and how closely those two aspects aligned. It was illuminating, to say the least, and had me thinking -- not for the first time -- that the Langham participants in our church ought to be getting together on a weekly basis to provide more direction for the preachers (mostly myself right now!). Admittedly, I've been considering this for a couple of years, but it has been difficult to find a time when everyone is free. Maybe it's time to simply go for a time when most people can make it. 

Anyway, as ever, a really stimulating and refreshing few days. Aptly, I think the group in general felt very much 'reorientated' by the Sunday afternoon. That evening, Igor preached at a special joint service of the churches involved, which we held at Fundación Totaí, and the encouragement of his visit with Edwin was shared by our congregants.

Group Photo no. 2: Latin Link Bolivia.

Meanwhile, last weekend, we found ourselves in the country's de facto capital, La Paz, for Latin Link Bolivia's annual retreat. You may remember that we were invited to join the Latin Link Bolivia team just over a year ago, and each year, among other things, we are required to participate in two events: one is the conference (which we attended over New Year) and the other is the retreat. The conference has a teaching programme and seminars, with plenty of time for group fellowship and some necessary group business meetings. The retreat, meanwhile, is really focused on pastoral care, so much so that those who lead the retreat come from outside the group.

La Paz from the air. As I explained to a friend, it's like Cloud City from
Star Wars -- only with even more treachery!

The retreat's focus this year was the Sermon on the Mount, and there were five main sessions. But instead of an aural teaching focus, each session required us to go away for an hour or so, read the required passage, and respond using prompts prepared by our retreat leader, Carlos. Two factors in particular made this possible. Firstly, Sam had his very own paceña babysitter for the weekend. Phew! Secondly, the venue was a place of great natural beauty, with plenty of space to be still and undistracted. Amanda and I both came away feeling -- yep, you guessed it -- reorientated!

Quiet times don't get much more 'quiet' than this!

As did the rest of the group, with whom we had plenty of time to further consolidate the connections we had only begun to establish in December/January. Before we went our separate ways, there was also a quick meeting to discuss the team's plans for Latin Link's upcoming international assembly, a four-yearly event which takes place in Guatemala in February. We have decided to kill two birds with one stone and have a slightly stripped-down version of our own team conference just after the assembly.

The only hitch came on Monday afternoon as the pilot on our homeward flight approached Trinidad, considered the tropical rainstorm that was taking place and thought to himself, "No thanks!" We were re-routed to Cochabamba, where the pilots waited for the situation in Trinidad to calm down. It did not, and we were flown back to La Paz on a No-Expenses-Paid basis (except for the next day's re-scheduled flight). This was particularly infuriating as a member of the crew had assured us all verbally that the airline would put us up in a hotel; we lodged a complaint upon our re-arrival in La Paz. 

As awkward as all this was, I was quietly delighted (don't tell Amanda!). Because our Cochabamba-La Paz flight took place around 5pm, which, for the photographers out there, is generally Bolivia's 'golden hour'. And there are few flights more scenic than Cochabamba-La Paz! Every cloud, then, does indeed have a silver (or, in this case, burnished-gold) lining. 

Illimani, Bolivia's second-highest peak.

The view over El Alto as we approached. El Alto is where
the airport is based and is a city in its own right:
it sits on the edge of the crater, rather than inside the
crater (like La Paz).

One happy customer.

And so, we checked into a La Paz bed-and-breakfast we know well, had a good sleep, got up and went back to the airport. And, appropriately enough, we reorientated ourselves back to Trinidad.

Prayer

• Pray for boldness and resolve for ourselves and our colleagues in putting into practice the principles learned over the past couple of weekends.
• Pray for our Guatemala trip next year. It's obligatory (and exciting!), but obviously expensive. Pray that the funds might come together for this.

Praise

• Give thanks for the great encouragement of the last couple of weekends.
• For the boost to the various churches in having Igor and Edwin visit us again.
• For the pastoral care and preaching help so abundantly afforded to the Langham group.
• For deepening relationships with our Latin Link colleagues.
• For plenty of time and space to meditate on God's word in La Paz.
• For the opportunity to simply get out of our ministry HQ for a few days and have time together as a family.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 26/08/17

The base of the old tower (left), the old tank itself (right)
and the beginnings of the new tower (centre). Hard hats optional.

A very tangible display of God's goodness to us is slowly but surely taking shape round the back of Fundación Totaí's headquarters. Late last year we were advised that FT's water tower, the delivery system for water to the building, was in bad shape, and dangerously so. The harsh climate here had caused parts of the structure to erode, causing parts of the piping to rust and a potential disaster to ensue, given the decreasing strength of the high tower and its proximity to the building itself. 

But finances were already tight as a drum, rendering any future attempt at a repair a, er, pipe-dream. So, as a Foundation, we took a step of faith and did something we'd never done before: appeal for funding for a repair -- or, if possible, a replacement tank -- from FT's friends and supporters around the world.  

Over the past nine months, that funding has come together, with various churches and individuals from both North America and Europe giving generously -- so much so, indeed, that we have been able to knock down the old tower and start from scratch. The construction team are currently two weeks into an eight-week schedule and things are already coming together nicely. We are encouraged and humbled.

We're also excited about the recent resumption of the men's and women's Bible study groups in the church. That old adage that Christians enjoy judging may be unsubstantiated at best, but the evidence that Bolivian Christians enjoy Judges is all around, with the girls doing a study of Gideon, and the boys a study of the book of Judges as a whole. Us guys had our second study last night and some great, gospel-driven conversations to boot (I was especially challenged by author Tim Keller's point on sin and our excuses for it, when, "I can't" in actual fact usually means, "I won't"). It's particularly thrilling to have one or two young-adult youth group members in attendance at the study, which is being led by our "brother, co-worker and fellow soldier", Carlos. Amanda came back with similarly glowing reports from the women's first meeting last Sunday evening.

I'm thankful for a few weeks out of the preaching game after a busier spell of late, taking charge of four of the past five Sunday sermons. Indeed, this proved to be providential this week under some challenging circumstances, namely some car issues and Sam catching a fever and being off nursery for most of the week. Yet God's hand was so visible even here. A healthy Sam would have gone bananas without some means of transportation to get him out of the house; as it was, he was quite content with cuddles and Dora the Explorer.

Next weekend sees our third annual Langham preaching conference take place, a little later in the year than the first two conferences due to my time out of Trinidad. The group is a little reduced at this point, but the longer wait means that those of us who have stuck with it are particularly excited for this year's edition. This year one of our speakers is Igor Améstegui, who is based here in Bolivia and oversees Langham's preaching programmes throughout all of Latin America. As you can imagine, he is a gifted preacher himself, and we will be having a special service at our church next Sunday evening so that the members of the various churches involved can hear him speak too.

So in the unlikely event of another maratón de Dora next weekend, I'd imagine Amanda will be unable to provide a further update. Furthermore, we are travelling to La Paz the following weekend for a retreat with our Latin Link cohorts. What's the name of that Depeche Mode song again? Oh yeah: enjoy the silence. 

Prayer

• Pray for a stimulating weekend of teaching and equipping next weekend and that, above all, our churches would reap the benefits.
• La Paz is not always the most relaxing of destinations. But we're looking forward to meeting with the Latin Link team again for a weekend of refreshing and encouragement. Pray for safety in our travels there and renewed vigour for the task ahead.

Praise

• Give thanks for the funding for the water tower, and the progress being made on its construction.
• Give thanks for the positive start to the new session of men's and women's Bible studies.
• Give thanks for the Lord's providential ordering of circumstances this week, and his abundant grace to endure. 

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 12/08/17

Lunch-avoidance for beginners.

This coming Monday marks four weeks since the Strathaven team set off for home at the end of their stint here. Their legacy continues to be felt, not least in the shape of the expertly-crafted mural and banner that festoon the church walls, though it pains me to say that the last embers of their Obligatory British Chocolate Package ran out during the week.

This also means, though, that we've now had roughly one month, since returning, of living a 'normal' existence here (teams, while always welcome, present their own unique challenges every day, and even the two weeks we had here before their arrival was largely taken up with team preparation or sorting out the house). In other words, it's as good an opportunity as any to reflect, and give an update, on the targets we set ourselves for life and ministry earlier this year. I'm delighted to say that, by and large, we see progress here, and are feeling the benefits immensely.

Working from a place of rest

Following a year of essentially juggling two full-time jobs and parenthood (and paying a heavy price for this!), we knew as we left Bolivia in early January that something had to give. This year, as happened during our 2014 furlough, we sought the Lord's guidance as to which ministries it would be best to leave in the Bolivians' hands. But unlike 2014, this time we made the Bolivians aware of these changes some time before we even arrived back in the country, meaning they were both well prepared and less likely to cajole us to change our minds (which, by and large, in January 2015, we did!). 

For Amanda, this has meant scaling back her HR responsibilities at work a little in order to better attend to the practical needs of her 'boys'. The Lord really provided in this respect, as the administrator who started with FT in December was quite happy to take on much of this work, and has continued to do so with aplomb. For a couple of mornings a week, then, Amanda has not only been able to get through mountains of ironing, but also have uninterrupted time with the Lord in prayer and Bible reading. As an onlooker, I'm encouraged.

One of the tasks I stepped down from myself was youth ministry, which takes place on Saturday evenings. This was certainly a case of mind over matter, as the youth group has grown considerably since we left, and more male leaders would be welcome, making it all the more tempting for me to backtrack and play the knight in shining armour (after all, the Lord's work depends solely on us anyway, right?). But I've kept to the original plan, and this has given me the time and space on Saturday evenings to continue in an online theological training course I began on furlough. I've found this not only to be great nourishment for myself, but also of great benefit, already, in church leadership. All in all: good move.

Putting family first

With a slightly reduced workload, we now have increased flexibility to adapt to situations as they arise. During the week, for example, Amanda might ask me to take Sam out for a couple of hours just to get a break, or I might ask her to give me the chance to go out and get some exercise. We are now much better equipped to help each other in this respect.

However, the three of us do still hang out together (occasionally!) and these times have been all the more special for the lack of exhaustion. Additionally, I have begun leading family devotions every day just before Sam's bedtime, and we're delighted by how much he's already embracing this. For Amanda and I, date nights (or 'mornings', in the case of Mondays), have been re-prioritised, and we feel we are working so much better together during the week as a result, both as parents and as spouses. 

Craig's pastoral work

By and large, I'm enjoying my increased role now in the church leadership. I've set aside one evening a week for visits -- an area that had been neglected for many years -- and I've had some great conversations, not only with members, but also with parents of some of the children and young people who attend at weekends. Part of my aim is to make them feel comfortable in the church on those rare occasions when they accompany their children -- and, indeed, encourage them to come more.

My Bible teaching workload has increased significantly. I'm preaching at least three times a month, I take turns with another guy to lead the bi-monthly Bible study, and I'm also making the usual contributions to Communion services and prayer meetings. However, this area is a strength, and so I know my energies are not being wasted in any way. 

Staying with preaching, the Langham group are looking forward to the Level 3 workshop at the end of this month, and I'm praying about starting a new group. There is a lot of interest among people from the churches currently involved, including our own. I'll be looking to get a little more guidance on this when the Langham workers arrive here in late August.

Finally, I'm getting back into some one-on-one discipleship and just this week I had a great time with one of our young people in the church, Diego, who supports the children's ministry. I'm hoping to start this soon with a young man who became a Christian just a couple of weeks ago.

Amanda's work

Though she's cut back on her hours a little, with the delegation of her HR duties, Amanda has had a lot more time to sit down with staff and find out how they are getting on; this pastoral side to her work was something she was looking to improve on, so this is a great start for her. She's also enjoyed being back on the board of directors at the Foundation and has driven a couple of key initiatives just in the last month. The prayer room is still a work in progress; please pray! 

Sam's schooling

Sam continues to thrive in his new environment in the mornings. The only issue we're having is that he arrives home so exhausted that lunch -- the main meal of the day here -- is, well, challenging! It's essentially a race to see how much food we can get in him before he raises his white flag with 'BED! NOW!' written on it. His Spanish is really starting to come along now too; he even addressed me with an 'Hola' at the school gates yesterday. 

Prayer

• Pray for the preparations for Langham Level 3, taking place from the 31st of August till the 3rd of September. 
• We're beginning a new series in Galatians this week in the church to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation (it was Mr. Luther's favourite book). Pray for Craig tomorrow and next Sunday as he preaches, and on Thursday as he takes a session of the Revelation Bible study.

Praise

• Amanda and the youth committee were finally able to meet this week to start planning for this year's camp. 
• Give thanks for the great time of discipleship this week with Diego.
• Give thanks for the many ways we are seeing God bless us in life and ministry when we simply follow his guidance.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday post -- 24/06/17

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

Saturday Post -- 10/12/16

Well, we had hoped to have news of Sam's UK visa by now, but no concrete answers have been forthcoming. We wrote to the embassy in midweek, and we were informed that further enquiries are being conducted. Yesterday, we received an automated email informing us that the application had now been passed on to an entry clearance officer. We had been told that we would receive this email as part of the process, so hopefully that means things are progressing again. We have had no indication of timing yet; hopefully we will have an answer this coming week.

We can 'only' pray, and this morning we were reminded of the need for persistent prayer in all circumstances in our final Langham escuelita of the year, where I preached on Luke 18:1-8, and Edwin was once again in attendance from Cochabamba. Edwin took the opportunity to encourage the group to continue to meet in my absence. My right-hand-man Cristian will take charge while we are abroad, and dates have already been put in place for Edwin's next visit (in March) and our next conference (in September). When we look back on this second stint we have spent out here, Langham is an undoubted highlight. What a provision it has been to the churches involved, and what encouragement we all gain as Bible teachers by meeting together in this way.

Dr. Richard Wagner boarded Edwin's plane back to Cochabamba, having spearheaded another ENT surgical campaign at Fundación Totaí this week. We're happy to report that this year's campaign went by without a hitch. All the while, Amanda was working closely with two new staff members at FT, who will be replacing our outgoing Director of Finances, Mariana. As if to underscore Mariana's importance to the work, it has been necessary to hire both an accountant (Vladimir) and an administrator (Hernán). Mariana is staying on until the end of December so as to ensure a smooth transition, before she heads to seminary in the new year. 

Amanda and I continue to chip away at the long list of tasks that remain, though the closer we get to leaving, the more things we remember we have to do. People here, so thoughtful in this regard, are also keen to ensure we get a proper send-off (we're only away for six months, guys!). Among other things, an FT staff member is trying to organise a farewell event for Mariana and Amanda, and I may be required to speak at a wedding on the 27th of December -- a mere two days before we are due to set off for Santa Cruz. We are truly honoured -- while secretly wondering how on earth we will squeeze such things into our to-do list. We'll cope, I'm sure; somehow, by God's grace, we always do.

Prayer

• For a prompt -- and affirmative -- answer to the visa question.
• For cool heads and the courage to take things one day at a time as our exit nears and the workload doesn't feel much lighter.
• This Christmas, our theme at church is 'The Light of the World'. Craig kicks things of tomorrow with a sermon on Isaiah 9:1-7.

Praise

• Craig and fellow elder Miguel Ángel had a really encouraging chat via FaceTime this week with Miguel Ángel's son and a missionary friend of his, who are based in Cochabamba. They are hoping to come through to Trinidad once a month to help support the preaching and music ministry next year. This will be a great help to Miguel Ángel and the church while I am away, especially as our pastor, Elías, is stepping down on the 31st of December.
• For a successful ENT surgical campaign.
• For the blessing of Edwin's final visit to Trinidad of the year, and the blessing of the Langham programme in general to our church and several others.

¡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 -- 08/10/16

These days, at times it feels like our ministry life in Trinidad takes place between weekend visits to Santa Cruz. Three weeks ago, I (Craig) was there for a weekend course, and last week we were back for a few days at a hotel resort courtesy of Amanda's mother, before all returning to our respective homes by plane.

While Sam splashed, I surfed (the internet, in a desperate quest for any site that was streaming the Ryder Cup) and Amanda went blonde (sort of). An inaugural visit to the zoo was squeezed in too, a cheeky monkey accompanying us all the way round (bah-doom, and if you will, ching), and one or two favourite eateries were further enriched. Without a doubt, we made the most of our short time in metropolis, ensuring no opportunity for refuelling was wasted.

And with good reason. Because that will almost certainly be our last family break before the year's end. More to the point, October -- always our busiest month -- is looking more jam-packed than ever.

For, in addition to multiple sermons to prepare, 2017 spending-plans to draw up, staff interviews to conduct, a Langham weekend follow-up visit, a Latin Link team leader visit, Fundación Totaí's anniversary celebrations and more...the month ends, as usual, with camp. And this year, camp is bigger than ever, with the whole church invited, as well as interested youth from other churches. Exhaustive and exhausting preparations are required from all concerned and, of course, being camp, the reward is two nights' 'sleep' in the company of hordes of sugar-fuelled teenagers and the best Trinidad has to offer in insectary. 

More immediately, we are preparing for a special, one-off event this coming Friday, a 'Happy Anniversary' reunion evening to mark a year since the Marriage Course. The evening will have a more informal feel than the course itself, with a meal, a little 'Mr & Mrs' action, and even a contribution from Andrew & Ruth, who have kindly recorded a video message. We also reckon the evening is a good opportunity for the couples involved to reflect on progress they've made since, and think about areas in their marriages in the present day where they could benefit from going back to the Marriage Course booklet for counsel. That time will be built in to the evening as well.

God-willing, in about three weeks' time, we too will be afforded a period of reflection on the intensive month gone by -- roughly thirty seconds, before our eyelids finally give up the fight.

Prayer

• We are both doing a little Bible teaching this weekend, Amanda with the youth tonight, and Craig is preaching tomorrow morning at church.
• We've been really challenged recently (Craig in particular) about the need to focus on the task in hand here and not let thoughts about the future distract us. Pray that we would continue to trust God for tomorrow, and have allow ourselves the freedom to serve him as best we can today. And that, especially in this busy spell, that we would take each day as it comes.
• Pray for an encouraging evening for the Marriage Course participants on Friday.
• Pray for the English course participants. The core reading text for the year becomes increasingly gospel-focused as it reaches its conclusion. Pray for receptive hearts.

Praise

• While in Santa Cruz, we also spent a day with our friends Graham & Debbie Frith, who have been paired with us for fellowship and mentoring as part of the Latin Link Bolivia team. We were greatly refreshed by our time with the Friths; a timely visit.
• For safe travels over the last week, both for ourselves and Amanda's mother, who returned to Toronto in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
• We were a little nervous about readjusting to life post-Grandma, both practically and, for Sam, emotionally. However, Sam's doing OK, and the house hasn't collapsed. Just yet.
• Craig started a new mentoring relationship this week with a young leader in the church called Diego. Give thanks for this new opportunity.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 20/08/16

Have you ever stopped to wondering how much you've changed over time? Do you think your former self would recognise who you are now? I (Amanda) had a week which really highlighted to me how much I've changed, not in good or bad ways, but I saw how I was now different.

Instance 1

On this week fell Day of the OANSA Leader -- OANSA is the Bolivian version of the AWANA children's and youth programmes, which originated some years ago in the USA. I'm not sure about which day specifically because I don't actually care about these things, but being the OANSA youth ministry coordinator in our church, I was supposed to be celebrated at some point this past week. The OANSA ministerial team for Trinidad organised a dinner for all OANSA leaders on Wednesday night at 8pm. Craig and I looked at each other, and I decided to bite the bullet and go on our behalf, thus allowing him to stay in, because he might die a slow death if forced to actually celebrate a Hallmark holiday (he made an exception for Mother's day this year, me being a new Mom and all, but we've become quite unromantic with Valentine's Day, it being overly corporate). 

So a whole pile of leaders from our church went to this organised dinner, where we arrived on time, and proceeded to wait for almost another hour before anybody else showed up from any other church. Even, our own church members were getting antsy about this time. And then there was still a whole programme to get through before we could eat. The food came out about 10:40. I don't think we left until 11:30, and we still had to drive some of the youth home to the village of Maná, about 20 minutes away. 

The most revelatory aspect of this evening to me, however, was the fact that I had fun. I suddenly remembered that when I was younger I liked going out and being in large groups, laughing and joking, but that due to business, tiredness, and a lack of a social group in our stage of life [you can start playing your violins around now, folks -- Craig] we just don't do that any more. And I had fun! It was fun! And I got dropped off at my door in a large carpool, just like when I was at Uni coming back from a youth event. I felt young again... until I realised it was past midnight and I was about to turn into a pumpkin. Seriously, I remembered why I had changed: my body is falling apart and I am old. Okay, I'm only 30, but it is true -- my body is falling apart and I am old. So, great to be reminded of who I was in my glory days, but I think I get more excited now about early bedtimes than a long night out on a the town. But thank you, Trinidad OANSA Ministerial Team: the chicken was lovely!

Instance 2

This week we finally organised another FT staff training morning. The Board had been meaning to organise one since June, but people kept scheduling surgery over the mornings I had fenced off, apparently thinking that emergency surgery was more important. As if. Okay, maybe it is. But finally on Thursday morning we got all the staff together in one place and made them say nice things to each other. In all seriousness, that was the first activity Mariana pulled out of her bag of tricks. Everyone had to say something positive or something they were thankful for about the person sitting on their right. The activity was supposed to highlight how much easier it is for us to think of negative things to say about each other, and to really force us to try and be positive. It was generally a success, with a few minor hiccups. One person ended her positive comment by saying, "But I would also advise her to try harder with her personality." Someone else started by saying, "Well, he's a lot better now than he was at the beginning." And finally, someone said, "I like how she wants to do everything right. People may think she has an ugly and hard personality, but it's because she wants to do everything right." My jaw hit the floor when that was said. Obviously the PC brigade never got this far into the Amazon jungle.

But being the HR Director, these staff mornings are generally my show, so I chaired the morning and led people through the activities. Our morning GP, Dr. Vargas, organised a seminar on the purpose of and how to properly put together a Procedures Manual, because FT doesn't have an updated one. We need to get it organised by the end of the year and most staff looked at me funny when I asked people to write in point form how they go about their jobs. So, we had a training morning. And Dr. Vargas did a really good job. Even I feel more confident about sitting down and writing out the details of my job (which I haven't started to do yet).

But as I was sitting through the seminar and my mind started to wander to other things (hey, I said Dr. Vargas did a good job, I didn't say the material was gripping), I kind of thought about how I would never have dreamed of being able to do my job when I was in University. My insecurity always killed my confidence, and while I never shied away from standing up in front of people, I always had intense nerves. Now, I just do it and move on to the next thing, and sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and say, "Who are you? And where were you in grade 7 when I was supposed to be Patty in Charlie Brown's Christmas play?"

Instance 3

Our new volunteer arrived this week, Roseanne Sanders from England. And she's really nice. We're going to be friends. And right there is another change. I have never made friends really easily. I have always been too insecure and worried about what people thought to really give myself to friendships easily. It has always taken time with me to really becomes friends with someone. But it has become easier and easier to just give myself to people and make friends in recent years.

So, Rosie and I are going to be buddies for the next three weeks. I mean, she brought shortbread for everyone to share at FT. Who doesn't want to be friends with someone like that? And she is up for anything. I'm sure there are some things that she didn't come out her to do, like intense manual labor, but she hasn't said no to me yet...I wonder what else I could get her to do. I wonder how she feels about babysitting. Can you say 'Date Night'?

And I have never seen anyone less stressed and polite after losing their suitcase, which did not leave Brazil when she did. Thankfully, she has her suitcase again. I'm pretty sure I would have lost my cool at some point, but she was really relaxed about the whole experience.

We're all looking forward to spending more time with her over the next three weeks and I know that Odalys and Maye, in our Speech Therapy and Audiology Department, are especially excited to have the extra help.

Conclusion

Craig mentioned that we had attended a one day conference on mentoring while in Sucre by Rick Lewis. Rick highlighted that the purpose of mentoring is identifying and promoting the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And he asked us all to think of the ways that we knew that the Lord was currently working in our lives, possibly convicting us of specific sin or challenging us in certain circumstances. Yet he said that mentoring had to do with all the ways in which God was working in us, but that we couldn't specifically identify. That's why we need the help of mentors. Because the reality is that God is doing so much more than we are actually conscious of at any given moment. God is changing us, moulding as, and growing us and the truth is that when I look back on my life, I can see some evidence of specific change, but the rest has just kind of happened slowly over time. And for this I am grateful: that God knows and me and loves me enough to want to change me where I need to most, without me even noticing sometimes. I like being more confident. I like being able to come alongside people without a lot of insecurities getting in the way. I like making friends. And, while getting excited about early bedtimes might not be an overly spiritual change, I know that I know myself more now than I did before, and I know how I need to take care of myself...and sometimes it is an early bedtime. And I am sure that in another 15 years I am going to be a completely different person again, and that's kind of exciting.

Prayer

• For Rosie and her three weeks with us at FT.
• Craig is preaching on Sunday from 2 Kings 2; please pray for him as he shares God's word.
• We tried to apply for Sam's passport this week, after successfully applying for his Bolivian ID Card, and we hit some obstacles. So, please pray that we get his application submitted on Monday.
• For some delicate pastoral care situations that Craig and the other church leaders are involved in right now.

Praise

• For Sam's ID card and updated birth certificate being processed
• For Rosie's safe arrival and the arrival of her bag two days later.
• For a really beneficial staff training morning
• For a good time out with the other OANSA leaders on Wednesday night

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig, Amanda & Sam