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| That's more like it! |
Another
sur (our third in the space of a
month) has just blown in and, while
the south winds are an immense source ofjoy to us white people (temperatures had been averaging mid-30s over the past few
days, for any sake), they can have a somewhat disruptive impact upon the various ministries
we’re involved in, not least with young people, with many parents reluctant to
let their darlings leave the house and catch a cold (not that the average home
here provides much protection from a chill wind).
That’s
certainly been the case with my old Emmaus course buddy,
Alfredo. During the
day, Alfredo works as a cobbler in a market and, depending on the extent to
which business is a-booming, he’s usually happy to sit and talk about his current
book there and then. However, Alfredo also has a minor disability and can only
walk with the aid of crutches. When the south winds career through Trinidad,
they provide another unwanted obstacle to getting to work.
So
the last few Wednesday mornings (our agreed weekly meeting time) I’d shown up
only to find a closed shop (Alfredo doesn’t have a mobile phone to contact me
beforehand – very unusual in this town, where text-messaging is the paramount
non-oral form of communication). The surge in temperatures over the last ten
days, however, meant Alfredo could get to work this past week and we had a
productive time of it on Wednesday morning as we discussed his book, which
focuses on the doctrine of the Trinity.
The
week has provided several such opportunities to dig deep into Scripture and
uncover life-changing truths, not least in the classroom. You may remember that
last year, having studied John’s gospel with my R.E. classes in the local high
school, KC and I spent some time talking to individual students about their
responses to some personal questions at the end of their textbook (this, again,
is material from the Emmaus course); through this process, many of the young
people put their trust in Jesus. This year’s book had a similar set of closing
questions, and KC and I are once again sitting down with the students.
This
year, we have once again had the privilege of praying with some students who
have made a decision of faith – though some of them, it has transpired, had
already taken that step themselves earlier in the year. However, there are, of
course, a decent chunk of students in the classes who became Christians last time
around, and so the last few days have given us an opportunity to assess how
they’re progressing in their faith. Many come from homes where their parents
are reluctant to let them come out to church (particularly for the Saturday
night youth meeting – understandable given our relatively isolated location on
the edge of town) and so we’ve been pointing them in the direction of good core
Bible books to read, while encouraging those who are able to attend church to
make the effort if they wish to grow.
Whereas
many of these students had some idea of the gospel message, the majority of
people in the English class were confronted with it for the first time this
week. This year we are once again using the text ‘What Christians Believe’, a
purpose-built guide to the basic tenets, written in a simple, short-sentence
style, with English students in mind. This week’s lessons looked at why it was
necessary for Jesus to die and what his death means for us. On Tuesday, for
example, I put it to the students that we’re all familiar with the idea that
we’ll go to heaven if we’re good people. And, of course, they had all heard of
this. When I then told them that there was zero biblical basis for this belief,
the majority of faces in the room performed contortions that the Cirque du Soleil’s troupe would be proud
of.
One
student, in fact, came to me at the end of both reading lessons this week to
tell me (in as nice a way possible!) that the teaching this week had ‘messed
with her head’ but that she’d be really keen to sit down and discuss these
things in greater detail. Please pray for this woman, Teresa, whose two
children also come to the class – Amanda knows her well as she has some hearing
issues, and so she will hopefully have the opportunity to talk with her soon,
it being more appropriate for a woman to meet privately with her.
In
between all this, I’ve been faced with the daunting task of preparing the
teaching this week at church on Philippians 2:1-11; daunting in the sense that,
well, the passage itself read 20 times over would make for a far better
teaching spot than anything I could say. Nevertheless, I’ve got something
vaguely resembling a sermon awaiting my attention on the desktop post-Post.
I’ve also been able to make some headway on a sermon on the end of the chapter
(on Timothy and Epaphroditus), due in a couple of weeks’ time. By that point,
Amanda’s family will be here, hence my desire to get it polished off ASAP.
Amanda
has been a little under the weather this week, having been hit by a viral
infection over the weekend. Recovering surely but slowly, she returned to work
to find that her Audiology partner in crime, Odalys, had travelled to La Paz to
address a health concern of her own, and wouldn’t be back till the end of the
month. So she’s been (wo)manfully working through the Audiology caseload while doing
her best to get back to full health. A tough old week.
And
in her position as youth group coordinator, shared with KC, her afternoons have
been dominated by preparations for the next couple of weekends, in which we
will be touching on what the French surely don’t call les oiseaux et les abeilles. Yes, our focus this time around is on
Sex & Relationships, a topic of great importance in any society and
particularly in a culture where promiscuity and teenage pregnancies are as much
a part of everyday life as the rice consumed with every last meal (even the
pasta-based ones). So please pray for wisdom and discernment for all of us as
we navigate these choppy waters.
You’ve
made it this far? You’re made of stern stuff, my friend. Before signing off on
this relative epic, we thought you might be interested to know that Amanda has
made a decision as to her own course of studies next year, this being a
requirement of LAM Canada for our furlough year. She will be enrolling in a
distance-learning ‘Certificate in Christian Studies’ course provided by St
John’s College in Nottingham. The course meets several important criteria: 1)
it’s cheap; 2) it enables her to study ‘at’ a different institution to my own
(something which, weirdly, she says she’d find far too stressful); 3) did I mention it’s cheap?; and 4) she can
take the course at her own pace, with no time-limit, meaning she can pick it up
again the next time we are on furlough.
We’re
glad that we can now both, at long last, start preparing for next year’s
studies and what I’m sure will be a great opportunity for growth for each of
us. But there’s still some way to go here until we head for home (16 weeks, not
that we’re counting) and we’d appreciate your prayers for us to keep focused on
the work here in the meantime. As you can see from today’s post, it’s not as if
we’re lacking in things to do.
Prayer
- This time next week, Amanda’s mother (Selene)
and aunts (Cathy & Sally) will be airborne and headed for Santa Cruz. Pray
for their, and our, preparations for what, if I were a boxing promoter, I would simply have to label ‘The Asian Invasion’.
- Pray for all the people with whom we have
contact through evangelism (the English/R.E. classes) or discipleship (Alfredo,
most of the youth group, the church) activities.
- Pray for sensitivity and clarity tonight as we
discuss Sex & Relationships with the young people.
Praise
- Give thanks for so many opportunities to share
our faith with others this week.
- Give thanks for further clarity for next year,
and for having the resources to be able to plan ahead with confidence.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Craig & Amanda
