Saturday Post -- 12/05/10

Months of eager anticipation. Tactics being finalised. The excitement building as the big moment finally arrives.

Yes, you guessed it – I finally moved into my new office this week. Up until now, I’d mostly been working from home, a minute’s stroll from the FT headquarters. Hardly inconvenient, though not quite at the heart of the action. This week, however, we took delivery of a new set of bookshelves for the library (which is based in the Education office), which enabled me to clear up the legions of books spread across the floor and create working space. And, crucially, it provides a permanent living space for all the Emmaus Bible course materials (for which Education is responsible), which had taken up temporary residence in Kenny’s study – and with Kenny returning next week, ten suitcases in hand, the last thing he needs is a study littered with dusty books.

When Maicol & KC return to the States for a break in the next couple of weeks, KC will be passing control of the Emmaus materials to me. With well over 200 books distributed and corrected in the past three months – not to mention the verbal feedback required for each corrected book – the administrative burden is significant, though one which we’re obviously delighted to take on. With the English classes having started and the website update taking up my mornings currently, I’m certainly not looking for work, that’s for sure.

Elsewhere, FT has teamed up with one of the biggest schools in town in an extension of its School Health Programme and Amanda was part of the initial group of nurses who visited on Wednesday. She will continue to visit weekly, along with the visits she and another nurse carry out every Thursday morning to the local maternity hospital. She’s really enjoying getting out into the community and helping FT establish a greater presence among the town’s residents – and, thus, have more opportunities to share the good news.

Finally, we’ve included some pictures of the wallchart. Here is the finished article, all set for the big one. And in spite of Bolivian TV politics, so are we. One of the public channels (‘cooncil telly’ if you’re Glaswegian) bought up the rights to the entire tournament from FIFA. Except, it turns out that they went and sold all but the opener, the semis and the final to a cable company. The cable company duly promised to share the spoils among the wider population – and proceeded to keep the whole package to themselves. ‘Fair play’ indeed. The President likes his football almost as much as looking like the saviour of the people, so perhaps he can step in at the last minute. Whatever happens, I somehow can’t foresee a repeat of that hot, adolescent summer of France ’98, when Kenny Fisher and I set out with the goal of video-taping every minute of every game. If memory serves me correctly, I don’t think we even made it through the first weekend.

Prayer
• Carnets. We’re still waiting and the immigration people are still giving us the ‘mañana, mañana’ treatment. Pray for patience, yet movement at the same time. A national ID card is a must in many important areas here.
• For Craig as he takes next week’s morning meditations.

Praise
• For Amanda’s growing opportunities to work in the wider community.
• For workspace for Craig within the FT building.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 05/06/10

Recently, Amanda and I had the privilege of sitting down and enjoying the recent comedy ‘Zombieland’, which, as the title cryptically alludes, depicts a nation (namely, the USA) in which a dwindling human population battles to survive in the face of a sustained zombie threat. The film’s main protagonist, a twentysomething whose name escapes me, devises a list of rules for survival in the midst of such chaos. And the most important rule in Zombieland is: enjoy the little things.

Wise words in any context, though particularly apt in Trinidad, which at times resembles Zombieland, albeit without the zombies. The motorists are maniacal. Broadband is a waist size, not an internet speed. The week’s groceries aren’t so much whatever you fancy, as whatever the shops are stocking.

Thus, enjoying the little things is very much the order of the day round these parts. And nothing brings out the simple pleasures in life like a World Cup. No downloading of Lionel Messi clips on to your iPhone (youWhat?) down here. Oh no. Rather, I’m about 200 stickers away from completing the official 2010 Panini album. If this all sounds somewhat juvenile, then you should at least know that the majority of the town’s male population are at it as well. It wusnae me thit startit it, sur. If anyone out there has any spare Dutch squad members, feel free to pass them on.

On the same note, like good missionaries should, Amanda and I are in the process of turning a problem into an opportunity. Quite frankly, the availability of high-quality, durable World Cup wallcharts down here has been most concerning. And as I’m sure you are all no doubt aware, a World Cup without a wallchart is like Christmas without the Great Escape repeats. It’s just not on. So, we’ve opted to take matters into our own hands, with the aid of cardboard, glue and Microsoft Excel (though mind Bill Gates doesn’t find out I’m using Microsoft Excel for personal enjoyment – don’t want to validate my warranty or anything). Come next Friday, we’ll be all set. Brazil to win. You heard it here first.

The business of the week (what business there was – two local holidays in five days) has been dominated, for us, by my English classes, in which Amanda has kindly volunteered her services too. Over the two classes on Wednesday and Friday, 30 students turned up, and we're expecting numbers to increase as word spreads. We’ve been given access to the building’s main auditorium, which allows us loads of room and means I can have a whiteboard and projector screen on the go at the same time, allowing for increased flexibility. This week’s classes have simply been a chance to register the participants and assess, through simple conversation, the English levels of each student. Next Wednesday, we’ll kick off the main beginners curriculum which I’ve spent the preceding months drawing up.

That aside, Amanda has been kept busy this week completing monthly reports for the health ministry and my sermon on Sunday seemed to be well received. Next week, the main issue is likely to be our carnets which, incredibly, we are still waiting on, but have been promised of their readiness within the next seven days. With our carnets, we should be able to obtain our driving licences within days, meaning we can some day soon, at last, take full possession of our RAV4. That’s the theory, at least – something tells me I might be scribbling the name of a certain canary-coloured footballing outfit into the wallchart’s ‘winner’ box before that happens.

Prayer
• For patience as we await our carnets and the increased freedoms in mobility they should result in.
• For the Lord's continued guidance in everything we do.

Praise
• For the chance to re-charge our batteries with the holidays over the last couple of weeks.
• For a great start to the English classes.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

They just keep doing it...

Like Gary Linker's stinking puns, Andy Murray-baiting and skyrocketing divorce rates, you know it's a World Cup summer when Nike Football unveil their biennial tournament ad. And, as ever, this year's is a stormer.