Saturday Post -- 05/11/11

These are some pictures from last weekend's 7th anniversary barbecue. Here I am swimming in a giant vat of hot chocolate...I wish! Still, the copious mud at the lake's surface made for a very pleasant water temperature.

Amanda, like many, wisely stayed in or around the shade of the car most of the time. It was a hot one!

A decidedly quieter week, this one, after the endless travel and meetings of the one before. Another holiday, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) allowed us a day's excursion to a remote lake a good 45 minutes' drive out of town. I took my zoom lens in the hope of snapping some monkeys, which friends of ours have witnessed out there in the past. Alas, even they appeared to have recoiled from the sheer heat of what was a suffocating day, temperature-wise. 

We also enjoyed a relaxing day at the FT staff barbecue, marking the 7th anniversary since its founding. An ENT surgery patient had very kindly offered his sizeable chunk of land to us for the day, which included two huge mud-lakes. Wherever there's a body of water to be found, I'm often first in, and this was no exception. It makes me wonder if I've got something of my late grandmother in me, who was said to be a born swimmer. Until I start swimming...

But the undoubted highlight of the week for us came on Tuesday evening when, for the first time in nearly two years, we conversed with our old friends Bryan & Amanda Dove, via Skype. Amanda and I met the Doves (from Ohio) at a newbies lunch at St George's Tron when we were engaged in our post-marriage, Glasgow-wide church-hunt. They had just arrived in town for Bryan's post-graduate studies at Glasgow University and, like ourselves, were certainly on the lookout for some Christian companionship. Well, from the moment Bryan revealed his fellow United sympathies (and a happy 25th anniversary to you, Sir Alex) our friendship was simply an inevitability and over our two-and-a-half-years in the city, we shared many a Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner, hill-walk, chick-flick night, Old Trafford visit and so many more special times. When we left for Bolivia, Amanda was due any day now with their first child, Saoirse.

Well, we finally got our first live glimpse of the 22-month-old Saoirse and the more recent addition, Reuben, on Tuesday evening. Moreover, we had a great conversation. Bryan & Amanda are now based out in San Diego, where Bryan is serving as a Navy Chaplain. It was exciting to hear what God is doing in their lives and really beneficial to be better informed as to how we can pray for them. Like us, they keep up a fairly active web presence, but there is just no substitute for a good, face-to-face conversation. We really enjoyed it, and there are so many others out there we'd love to speak with in person once again. So if you have Skype and you're up for a chat, please get in touch!

There have been some interesting developments in my own ministry this week. While in Canada, we were really convicted of the need for us to be focused on personally discipling younger believers and we prayed that God would reveal 'disciples' to us. On Thursday, I had the privilege of meeting a 16-year-old church and youth group regular called Nino. We're going to be working through a discipleship book together for an indefinite period and I used Thursday to introduce the material and establish some ground rules in terms of accountability. Today I'm due to meet with Paulo, another teenage boy who is our next-door neighbour, with loads of leadership potential, but somewhat lacking at the moment in terms of Christian friendships.

Tonight at the youth group, as part of our year-long study of 'The Purpose Driven Life' we're due to look at the Word of God, and I'm down to give the talk. However, it has become clear to us as leaders that the vast majority of the youth group aren't picking up their Bibles at all between Monday and Friday. So, with much prayer, I've decided it's time for a challenge. I'm going to outline the benefits of regular Bible reading -- indeed, the necessity of it -- and show them how they can practically go about establishing a regular reading time. Not only that, but I'm going to issue each of the young people with a contract, signed by themselves and their small-group leader, which commits them to a daily time of Bible reading.

In all honesty, we have no idea how 'successful' the enterprise will be, as commitment is a major weakness in this culture. However, we're keen not to just let the teenagers leave with vague hopes of getting into daily Bible reading, only to forget about it the next day. We want them to think seriously upon how to go about this truly fundamental practice in the Christian life.

One last thing before we sign off: now that 2011 is slowly but surely drawing to close, our thoughts are turning to designing our brand, spanking new prayer-cards for 2012. If you received one in the mail this year, then you can expect one in the coming months. If you didn't and you would like us to post you one for 2012, please get in touch at our email address, cramandaham@gmail.com. Ta!

Prayer

• For Craig's discipleship work with Nino and Paulo. Amanda is also looking to establish a regular discipleship slot with a girl called Adriana in the coming weeks.
• For Craig's talk with the young people tonight, and for a group-wide commitment to a daily devotional time.

Praise

• For some relaxing excursions over the past week, particularly the chance last Saturday to spend time socially with our fellow workers at FT.
• For our Skype chat with our friends Bryan & Amanda. 

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 29/10/11

Energy and patience were the two buzzwords I left with blog visitors last week as I prepared to head for Santa Cruz. Well, I received just about enough of the former to get by, while the latter, I'm afraid, was forcibly drained by the recipient of my visit.

That would be the (now former) landowner of our plots, where we had been hoping to start building our home in the next few weeks. That is now not looking likely, due to a combination of the rapid disappearance of 'dry time' to get the foundations laid down before rainy season and, alas, the devil-may-care attitude of the landowner.

When I called her a week past on Friday, to propose meeting her in Santa Cruz, and thereby hastening the building process, her effusive reaction was akin to that of someone being told 'You've just won a million dollars. Would you mind if I pop round with it to your house?' "Oh, but of course! Come! Come!"

And go I did. On Monday morning, I arrive at her palace home at the appointed time. All the signs of unfettered opulence. And, without wishing to dust down me old red flag, that's a warning sign in itself. There is no middle class in Bolivia, and so people of her income bracket more or less run the show, are unacquainted with the word 'no' and often tend to have a stupendously obnoxious attitude to those further down the societal rungs. For more on this, see Psalm 10.

Strangely, she isn't there. 45 minutes later, her gleaming SUV appears. She'd been at the gym when she noticed some random person kept calling her. I wonder who that could have been?

Nevertheless, we quickly get down to numbers and she sees that we've covered our end of the bargain fairly and squarely, meaning that we can meet later at her lawyer's to process the necessary documentation. An upturn in fortunes, it seems. Only I take my leave of her with an ominous warning ringing in my ears: most of her relevant paperwork is in Trinidad!!!

And sure enough, that afternoon, I secure from her just one of four documents I'd required from her and which she knew I had come to draw up with her. Without these documents, Amanda and I cannot legally proceed with construction. I didn't hear a word of apology from her the whole afternoon -- not a hint of it -- but, then again, perhaps I should have shown more contrition. After all, wasn't I the one inconveniencing her?

And as I trudged back to the bus terminal that evening, unrested, unwashed and unhappy, it was hard not to come to the conclusion that the whole trip had been the biggest waste of time since Neville Chamberlain took a trip to Munich and decided that chap with the ridiculous moustache wasn't so nasty after all. I had well and truly been taken for a ride.

We met with our architect the following day and he confirmed that we were out of options until we could secure the rest of the paperwork from the heroine of the piece. She will, in fact, be in Trinidad for the whole of November -- unfortunately, too late to break ground before rainy season. However, we will certainly keep pestering her until she decides she can't take any more of us plebs and hands over the documents.

Furthermore, when all is said and done, we can be thankful that we have a guaranteed roof over our heads for the time being -- indeed, the terms of our stay in our current apartment are entirely up to us. So we're obviously disappointed and frustrated over the week's events, but so thankful that our need to build is not urgent.

Today is the seventh anniversary of Fundación Totaí, one of the two ministries we work for here in Trinidad (the other being our church 'El Jireh'). To mark the occasion, the whole staff is leaving in about an hour's time for a family day by the river. Which doesn't leave me with a lot of time, but I'll briefly mention the other event we left with you last week, the planning meeting which took place on Wednesday and Thursday. There, as a staff, and as individual areas (i.e. Amanda with health and I with education), we assessed where we are now and the kinds of long-term goals we can be committing to in the coming years. And from that, we then began to plan in earnest our day-to-day work in 2012.

It's always good to pause and take stock, and as a staff we all feel the benefit of having done so, with an eye on what awaits us. I'm particularly excited about the potential of the educational work; more than anything, I'm hoping to expand and diversify the range of evangelistic activities in the community, be they religious education classes, support activities for local churches, or English classes which use the Bible as the basis for learning (or, indeed, vice-versa!). Over the coming weeks and months, I'll hopefully be able to share in a lot more detail. Until then, we love you and leave you.

Prayer

• For continued patience and grace as we seek to conclude our land dealings in the coming weeks.
• For wisdom and discernment as we seek to implement the changes discussed over the past few days as a foundation.

Praise

• For God's provision for us. We wish we could build soon, but the need is not a pressing one.
• For safety during Craig's travels, and a little rest too (four hours' sleep on the overnight trip home is a new record!).

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 22/10/11

One obvious way in which we've seen God's hand at work over the last couple of years is our never wanting for shelter. Our missionary colleagues have graciously opened their doors to us from the start, with Kenny & Claudia affording us an en-suite bedroom at the beginning of 2010; a few months later, Diego & Jo vacated their whole upstairs area, allowing us to move into an 'apartment' of our own. We have been here ever since.

All the while, however, we've been keenly aware of our need to get a first footing on the property ladder. Last year, when some neighbouring plots went up for sale, we decided to put a deposit down for some land, though we had no immediate plans to build (which is the significantly cheaper option here). But earlier this year, our hand was somewhat forced, as Diego & Jo made the decision that they and their three children would leave Bolivia by December. Reassuringly, the home's future owners have said we can stay here as long as we like. Nonetheless, we reckoned it might be time to speak to an architect.

Edwin, highly recommended by all and sundry, came on board in July, and has been sketching away ever since to design a simple three-bedroom home, which we hope to populate with local visitors, foreign visitors and, if God wills it, our own family. If you've read the blog much, you'll have noted the recurring theme of our knocking doors and the Lord flinging them open, and naturally, we see this house as something of a leap of faith, taking our long-term commitment here to a new level. Well if the speed of this process is anything to go by, we are clearly meant to be here -- three months after contacting Edwin, we're all set to break ground.

The only significant hurdle which remains is the transfer of documents of land ownership. Now that the land belongs to us, we need to meet with the former landowner to transfer the paperwork to our name. Though resident in Santa Cruz, she is planning on coming to Trinidad in November. However, with rainy season looming large, Edwin is keen to get the foundations down ASAP. So we've taken the decision that I will travel to Santa Cruz via overnight bus on Sunday night, meet with the former landowner on Monday morning, and head back to Trinidad that night. While the thought of getting this process out of the way is appealing, I am a light sleeper at the best of times, and am anticipating a rough couple of days as a result. Please pray for energy and patience.

And pray that we'll both be rested up for the remainder of the week, as the Foundation is closing for a couple of days so that we can sit down and plan our future strategy as an organisation. We need a sense of the Lord's guidance in a big way throughout this process.

I've been challenged this week about what it means for the Christian to listen to the Lord and discern his will. Tomorrow I'll have the opportunity to give my first sermon since our break on John 12:1-19. The first chunk of this passage is taken from Jesus' visit to Lazarus, Mary and Martha's home in Bethany the day before Palm Sunday, and Mary's anointing of his feet. I was struck by the contrast between Mary and the disciples in this scene (albeit the only disciple in John's account to kick up a fuss is Judas). They consider Mary's use of this expensive ointment as wasteful. Jesus, of course, defends Mary, explaining that she's simply preparing his body for burial.

I thought about how it could be that such a gulf of foresight existed between the disciples and Mary. How many times had Jesus forewarned the disciples as to the events of that coming week? Yet on as many, if not more occasions, we know the disciples ignored these forewarnings, sometimes even attempting to convince him not to pursue such a path. What privileged access they had for three full years, and yet what glaring lack of belief.

What did Mary have that even the disciples didn't? As I meditated, I remembered that Mary had a previous connection with the Lord's feet. In Luke 10:39 we read '[Mary] sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.' No protestations. No niggling doubts. Just a willingness to humble oneself and hear what the Lord had to say.

Secondly, and briefly, I read Daniel 6 as part of my readings yesterday, which recounts the great Sunday School tale of Daniel's 'disobedience' and relatively uneventful night in the lion's den. I had read the passage so often in the past, but the Lord drew my attention in a new way to a simple narrative aspect of the narrative in verse 10: 'he had windows open toward Jerusalem'. God had granted Daniel with such wisdom that fame and fortune had followed him wherever he so much as breathed in the great ancient city of Babylon. He had been taken as a captive from a spiritually-destitute Judah and within years had had bestowed on him the highest titles outside monarchy itself. He doubtless had full access to the greatest pleasures of the world at that time. Yet, above all, he had windows open toward Jerusalem. Daniel knew that the real glory was on the horizon, and he was in no mood to miss out on it.

And so we pray for ourselves and for others that we too would learn to humble ourselves in a status-driven world, to keep our own eyes on the Lord when there is so much to distract us, and to listen to him when our every fibre of our frail beings says 'no'.

Prayer

• For safety and energy for Craig as he travels to Santa Cruz, and success in the transferral of documentation.
• For the Lord's wisdom during the planning days for the Foundation later this week.

Praise

• For the Lord's blessing of our home plans thus far, and therein, his clear instruction to us to remain in Trinidad.
• For all that God continues to teach us through his Word.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 15/10/11

We all know the feeling. You’ve quietly gone about and provided assistance in some important, sacrificial way. You set out not to draw too much attention to yourself. You hear others commenting positively on your efforts and battle with yourself not to say anything. But most of the time, you end up ‘confessing’ to your kindness – quietly, subtly, but leaving no doubt in the listeners’ minds. Being thanked en masse isn’t exactly the least awkward of outcomes, but it doesn’t stop you from doing it over and over again.

If you, like most of us, are the kind of person who thrives on a little dose of recognition for your hard work now and again, then for goodness’ sake, stay out of Bolivia!

Last week I alluded a little to certain facets of our culture-shock. This week, the big challenge has been switching back into full service mode. I used to think I was fairly resilient in this sense. I’d thrown myself into a number of such endeavours back in the UK and had been quite sure that I wasn’t looking for any praise. But the thing is, in Western culture, it seems there’s always someone out there who appreciates what you’re doing, be it your church pastor/elder or the recipient of the action itself.

Now you may be aware that I’m not someone who takes compliments very well. Verbally, at least, I’ll sooner deflect the attention from myself than lap up the attention. But I hadn’t realised just how attention-seeking I was till I came here. Some of the locals, upon getting the gist of what Amanda and I do down here, quickly assume that we will drop everything at any moment to provide assistance. This includes the evenings, which we tend to guard as family time. There was one situation in particular this week when this happened and we quite happily met one need after another. And you should have seen me. I was mentally hanging on this person’s every word for that ‘thank-you’ that seemed like it was never coming.

I assume such situations will become easier as the weeks and months go by. But it’s definitely another way in which spending time back in a Western context hasn’t necessarily helped me. ‘You deserve…’ is a common refrain in advertising. Church bulletins aren’t exactly awash with opportunities to sacrifice one’s time on behalf of others. Shopkeepers virtually fall over themselves to help you (consumer rights haven’t quite taken root down here).

It’s a tough adjustment. But we press on, sounding no trumpet and forbidding our left hand from knowing the right’s whereabouts. Because the one who so commanded us didn’t anticipate a single utterance of gratitude for the greatest sacrifice of all.

In our 9-to-5, we’ve been hard at it. We’ve arrived back in Bolivia just in time for another surgical campaign at the foundation, and so Amanda has been (wo)manfully covering the day-to-day nursing work single-handedly while the other nurses support the surgeons. As for me, most of my educational activities are back in full swing now, with the first English classes taking place, both at the foundation and in the local secondary school.

Additionally, the Community classes have resumed, though with a subtle twist. Although there is no shortage of kids in our immediate neighbourhood, the majority of children who come to the classes come from far enough afield that the foundation has paid for a minibus to pick them up, with most of those coming from a small village called Maná, which sits about four miles outside Trinidad. For a while, we had been discussing the possibility of taking the class ‘on the road’ as a possible template for the future. Well, an opportunity has presented itself this month. With four weeks of surgical campaigns taking place at the foundation, the Community classes were faced with a potential month-long shutdown.

So, instead, we decided to give the experiment a try. On Wednesday and Friday, in Maná’s main school building, we taught the same familiar faces while making some new acquaintances at the same time. The usual format of the class when at the foundation is a short English lesson followed by a short Bible story. This month, aware that not all of the kids might ‘come back’ with us to the foundation when the programme of classes is over, we’ve opted to simply give ’em the gospel! This week the children responded positively to what we had to say about heaven and eternity – pray that they’ll grasp the significance in the coming weeks of what it cost Jesus to open heaven’s door to them.

Prayer

• For our attitudes as we continue to deal with change in ways we hadn’t always expected.
• For a positive response to the message we’re sharing at the Community classes.

Praise

• For a successful resumption of the educational work.
• For the privilege of serving others here in Trinidad and having very opportunities to put God’s Word into practice.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 08/10/11

Well, here we are again, back in Bolivia, and a warm welcome back to our blog readers. I must apologise for falling short of our promise to post sporadically during our time away, however, hopefully our recent newsletter gives a decent overview of our time in North America.

Last Friday we touched down in Santa Cruz following our overnight flight from Miami. You can probably imagine our feelings upon returning to Bolivia. Joyfully skipping through the arrivals area. Heading straight to a restaurant for some much-missed Bolivian cuisine. Rejoicing in a dose of overpowering heat after a few weeks of the Canadian autumn.

All of the above are things which certainly did not take place last weekend. Much as I'd love to tell you we came back here with a spring in our step, it was in fact one of the most difficult few days we've had to endure here. In our taxi from the airport, as we whittled past one scene of chaos after another, I silently, and repeatedly, posed a fundamental question to the Lord: what on earth are we doing here?

The following day we awaited our departing bus for Trinidad, leaving that evening -- again, an overnight trip. The reality that we would at least soon be 'home' certainly gave us cheer. And yet, if anything, coming back to Trinidad -- a strange place even by Bolivian standards -- was even more of an emotional juggernaut. Within hours, we were catching up on the local news, with much to be encouraged by, but also a fair few stories of fellow believers in the church who simply weren't getting their act together spiritually. The questions that surfaced in Santa Cruz only intensified as I had what can only be described as a 'Jonah moment': What was the point in leaving behind our comfortable, Western lifestyles just to come back here and put in all the effort of ministering to people who routinely ignore what the Bible has to say to them anyway?

Neither of us could take much more and, following a couple of Skype calls to the parents we'd so recently bid farewell, we both broke down.

Well, it's amazing what a combination of a good night's sleep and the word of God can do. As I came to the next morning, I reached for my Bible. My daily readings follow Robert Murray M'Cheyne's calendar, allowing me to read, in an annual cycle, the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice. My Psalm for that morning, as it happened, was Psalm 23, a lyric well known to believers and non-believers alike. This Psalm, which begins 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want' speaks plainly of the Lord's protection of, and provision for, those who trust in him. It is a Psalm which is read and sung at many occasions of importance for Christians as a reminder of the Lord's faithfulness. It is an overwhelmingly positive Psalm, and is often sung or read with appropriate joy.

Yet as I considered the Psalm again that morning for the umpteenth time in my life, one phrase, from the third verse, wedged itself into my consciousness: 'He guides me in paths of righteousness For His name's sake'. It is possible to read this verse, as I have done many times in the past, and amidst the Psalm's generally upbeat tone, ignore the gravity of what is said here. The Lord does not promise to lead his faithful servants down paths of prosperity, nor paths of popularity, nor paths of peace. Rather he will lead us down paths of righteousness. And, all clichés aside, we know how difficult it can be to do the right thing. Slowly but surely, a blessed reassurance came over me that, though our path had taken us out of a 'civilised' context and into the utter confusion of Bolivia, we could at the very least be sure that, by leaving those comforts behind, we had followed what is perhaps the Lord's 'path of righteousness' for our lives right now.

Not that we are so naive as to believe that we've left a 'better' existence behind. We'd danced the culture-shift tango enough times in the past to consider ourselves well prepared for what would await us in Canada. Nevertheless, we frequently found ourselves caught out over those two months, particularly when it came to discerning the difference between necessities and luxuries, something we suspect is a growing problem for those in developed societies. There are few clothes shops of any real quality here (those that are charge eye-watering prices) and so there was a practical need, on our part, to stock up. But we soon found ourselves browsing other 'essentials'. Early on in the trip, we noticed the rubber skins which people had attached to their laptops, in order to give them an extra layer of protection. We quickly resolved that we, too, needed these accessories, at a price tag of around $60 each. It was only when we had a sit-down in the shopping mall and reflected that we had not at any point in our time in Bolivia thought to ourselves 'What my computer really could so with is a new skin!' that we realised our misguidedness.

It's the oldest trick in the advertising book: to convince someone they have a need of something. But the convenience culture appears to be taking ever-deeper roots and we had to be careful not to fall victim to it. I sometimes wonder if people look at Amanda and I and think to themselves 'boy, they must be great people to be able to live and work in such a poor place as Bolivia'. If anything, I wonder at times if God put us here precisely to save us from ourselves!

I have rambled long enough. Back at the ranch, we're now settled and have been working a few days. Amanda has pretty much gone straight back into her old healthcare tasks, while I decided to start my teaching duties next week in order to give myself a week to get my educational materials and lesson plans in order. More on our work next week.

For now, our main item of prayer that we would wish to share with you is for a nurse at the foundation called Asalia, with whom Amanda is particularly close. A couple of weeks ago, with just weeks remaining in her first pregnancy, she went to hospital with high blood pressure. One thing led to another and, in the end, she tragically lost her baby, a girl. Unfortunately, while Asalia and her husband were in the hospital, someone stole their motorcycle, their only means of transport.

Amanda has been meeting with Asalia over the past week to provide comfort and a listening ear, and will continue to do so. Please pray especially for Asalia and her husband, who are not believers, as they come to terms with their loss, and for Amanda, that she'll be given the right words when the time is right to speak, and self-discipline when it isn't.

Prayer
• For our friend and colleague, Asalia, and for her family.
• For patience and grace as we settle back into a very different culture.

Praise
• For a restful couple of months in North America, and particularly the chance to be reunited with loved ones again.
• For safe travels back to Bolivia.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 30/07/11

This week's post comes to you from Santa Cruz, where we managed to arrive in one piece on Wednesday. We got a flight booked for Wednesday lunchtime, well ahead of the trial (on the Thursday) and a major protest march (on the Wednesday afternoon). But as it turns out, the trial itself didn't even end up taking place, with the Beni governor managing to force a postponement. All said and done, it gave us a full week here in the big smoke before our flight to Canada this coming Wednesday, the 3rd of July.

And we're making the most of it. As mentioned last week, we managed to get accommodation with the family of a missionary nurse (not doctor, as I mistakenly said last week) who Amanda had met on the boat trip. Their names are Bill and Bev Smith and they have three children: Nicholas, Jessica and Benjamin. Bev works in a missionary clinic here in Santa Cruz while Bill is a teacher at a school here for the children of missionaries. They themselves are on the point of heading to the US for a furlough year, but before that they're squeezing in another field trip, meaning that, since Friday morning, we've had the house to ourselves. We've already spent many a happy hour reading in their garden (the grass really is greener -- or, more to the point, existent -- in Santa Cruz) and Amanda's enjoyed the company of the dogs, though I'm in the bad books (doghouse?) as I won't let them lie on our bed.

Santa Cruz itself is a pretty good holding-cell for our transition to Western ways. While marked by the typical sprawl and chaos of a third world city, it's got a sizeable upper class and, in certain districts, provides the services they demand. Last night, for example, we went to see a film at a multiplex cinema, surrounded by designer clothes shops and a food court. We're just back in from having a snack at a coffee house in the main plaza that would not be out of place on Byres Road. The internet speeds are way faster than anything we've come across in Bolivia.

In so many ways, it's a cut above Trinidad, and yet, our heart is very much in our home city. Tears weren't quite shed, but as we said our farewells to friends over the last few days there, we realised just how blessed we have been, and in some respects came to see that many considered us greater friends to them than we had even realised. Ministries are important, but at the end of the day, it's the people that matter, and God has put so many of real value in our lives.

It's fair to say that, from January onwards, we've been more-or-less counting down the months, weeks, then days till Wednesday, but much as we enjoy living in Trinidad, we hadn't expected to be so sad. Yet more affirmation, I suppose, from the Lord of our ministry and our place in that particular corner of the globe right now.

We've taken the decision not to commit ourselves to weekly updates while in Canada -- our main news items could involve such hijinks as, say, finding a tiara that's shiny enough for Jessica's wedding. However, I get bored easily and could do with the company, so look out for sporadic updates over the next couple of months. And, of course, there's plenty you can be praying for, so see below for relevant points.

Finally, if you're in Canada, remember that we'll be visiting various churches, so have a look at the list below if you're interested in coming to hear us give a report. And if you can't make it to any of those, or if you just fancy a general natter, drop us a line and we'll look into touching base.

Wednesday, 10th of August
West Fifth Bible Chapel, Hamilton, 7pm

Wednesday, 14th of September
Markham Bible Chapel, 7.30pm

Thursday, 15th of September
Mount Albert Bible Fellowship, 8pm

Sunday, 25th of September
Rosslyn Ridge Bible Chapel, Ajax, 6pm

Prayer
• For Amanda as she oversees various aspects of the preparation for Jessica’s wedding on the 27th of August.
• For our church meetings, that we’d give a faithful and clear account of the Lord’s work in Trinidad.
• For our time with our respective families.
• For safety on the road and in the air.
• For time and space to reflect critically upon our first 18 months and plan for the future.
• For a good rest!

Praise
• For the Lord’s faithfulness to us since January 2010 (and, let’s be honest, way before then too).
• For getting out of Trinidad safely.
• For the opportunity to re-charge the batteries a little here in Santa Cruz.
• For the many friends out there, like yourself, who take time out to read our blog and pray for our ministry – your support is so crucial to what we do out here. Thank you once again.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 23/07/11

Well, something of a spanner has been hurled into the works of our departure plans, though having lived here for 18 months now, we really should have known better than to have made plans.

This coming Thursday, the governor of the Beni region is to stand trial, accused of bribery. So far, so Bolivia. Except that yesterday, we were informed that the last time a regional governor stood trial (in Pando, which neighbours Beni to the south), civil unrest gripped Trinidad and all major roads were blocked. Now our plan had been to leave here by overnight bus for Santa Cruz (where we will, Lord-willing, board our flight to Canada on the 3rd of August) next Sunday evening (the 31st). However, an indefinite blockade has already been announced from Thursday, the 28th. So we have opted, instead, to eliminate any risk, and aim to book a flight for Wednesday, the day before the trial. From what we know, airport workers can go on strike, but when this happens the airports tend to be militarised and flights go ahead.

This means that we'll be in Santa Cruz a full week before our flight to Toronto. However, we've managed to source accommodation with one of the missionary doctors Amanda worked with on the boat. We called her yesterday and she has very kindly agreed to put us up for the week. She and her husband are very busy with more trips, but they're happy to have us stay. So there's a big answer to prayer.

Anyway, Amanda is about to go into town as I type so please pray that she'd be able to secure us a couple of seats on a plane and that we'd be able to get to Santa Cruz safely and in plenty of time for our international flight.

All of this has, additionally, put the squeeze on our work schedule for this week. Leaving a few days earlier means, for example, that the church worship band will only get one more Sunday playing together under my leadership before they're on their own. There will be a dinner this coming Friday for all the 5-Day Club leaders -- obviously, I won't be attending that any more. I am on morning meditations this week, but, if we leave on schedule, the spot will have to be filled on Thursday and Friday. Amanda has had to bring forward an evening with some of her Sunday School girls. But this is obviously God's plan and we just continue to leave it with him and trust in his timing.

We both have a lot to do over the next few days to get everything ready for departure, so I'm going to leave it there for now this week, but thank you again for your interest and prayers and, God-willing, the next post will be from Santa Cruz itself.

Prayer
• For patience and productivity as we wade through a mammoth to-do list before leaving Trinidad
• For securing a means of travel to Santa Cruz, in good time to make our international flight.

Praise
• For the Lord’s gracious provision of accommodation for us in Santa Cruz.
• For finally obtaining our carnets (Bolivian I.D. cards) last week. Meant to mention this in the last post, but it slipped my mind. Anyway, having these makes life for foreigners here a lot easier, so definitely worth shouting about.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Sunday Post -- 17/07/11

Posting a little later than usual this week due to a packed Saturday, crowned by an early morning fishing trip. Having spent the week getting up at the crack of dawn to set off for the 5-Day Club in San Pedro (more on which later) the thought of another early start at the weekend did not exactly set the pulse racing. Furthermore, though enjoyable enough activities in themselves, I have tended to have as much success at these things as Rupert Murdoch has in crisis management. We've been fishing a couple of times since we arrived in Bolivia. The first time, the fish appeared to have taken a holiday, and the second time, well...this happened.

Nonetheless, the size of the catch was not of paramount importance as this was the first 'men-only' outing in the history of El Jireh church and, along with ten guys from the youth group, there were five old(er) codgers, yours truly included. In other words, an exciting opportunity to forge closer ties.

And even more excitingly for me, my early rise was thoroughly vindicated, as not only did I manage to bag myself the first fish (a piranha) of the day -- and, therefore, of my lifetime -- but I ended up catching 40% of the entire haul. Impressive, eh? Until you clock that the entire haul between 15 of us was a mere ten fish. Anyway, if you don't believe me, the photographic evidence, thanks to that man Kenny Holt, is on Facebook.

A couple of the younger guys on the trip had also been on the leadership team over the course of the 5-Day Clubs, and this last week saw the second, and final, club take place in San Pedro, an altogether different context than Trinidad. In terms of accessibility, it's a good hour's drive out of town, half of which covers a dirt road. Indeed, so keen was I on Monday to cut the journey time, that the left-hand shock on the car buckled under the pressure. FT kindly provided me with a hire car for the remainder of the week.

Though we've been there a number of times now (including a week last year) this week we learned a little more about just how closed the village is, in terms of gospel ministry. After the Trinidad club, we had been used to a steady rise in the attendance as the week progressed. In San Pedro, the numbers plummeted dramatically on the Tuesday. On Friday, we met the pastor of the sole non-Catholic church in town (average Sunday turn-out: 4 teenagers) who told us that, from experience, he would not be surprised at all if many of the kids who turned up on Monday were beaten by their parents for doing so.

Education is a further obstacle. Naturally, teachers are reluctant to settle out in the middle of nowhere, so the government sends newly-qualified teachers to such locales for the first two years after their training. Their relative inexperience, and the shockingly low quality of their training, make for very poorly educated children.

In spite of all these factors, and in spite of the increasing lethargy of the leadership team as a whole, the Lord worked and we reckon that about five children made a commitment, and that in the face of probable opposition at home. And, among the rest of the 40 or so children who came every day, an important seed was planted which we'll seek to nurture in coming months.

Before I sign off, readers in the vicinity of Markham might be interested to know that we confirmed a date to give a report at Markham Bible Chapel (Amanda's old church in Canada) on Wednesday the 14th of September at 7.30pm. That's in addition to the dates we already have confirmed, which were referred to in the last quarterly newsletter.

Prayer
• For the seeds sown among the children of San Pedro.
• For Craig as he preaches, in a few hours’ time, on John 6 (‘the bread of life’).

Praise
• For safety on the road this week.
• For the strengthened ties in the church between the grown-ups and the teenagers over the last fortnight, due to the 5-Day Clubs.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 09/07/11

First up, we hope everyone was finally able to get the newsletter this week. Apologies for the repeated attempts and inbox clutter -- hopefully, third time was a charm.

If you've had the chance to look at it yet, you'll have read, and seen, plenty related to Amanda's trip, which she has been hesitant to call 'fun', but it was certainly an eye-opener for her in terms of the potential of medical ministry.

Anyway, by Saturday evening, when she finally arrived, I was probably only in more need of a razor (her first words: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?!) and, pleasingly, while she found the trip beneficial, she confessed that a week was a bit of a stretch for her too. Perhaps if there's another trip I'll have the chance to tag along and join the ministry team. At least then she can keep me on beard-watch.

There was an extra special reason to look forward to our reunion in the shape of our anniversary on Thursday, which certainly had something of a developing-world-missionary spin to it. We wrapped up English class at 6pm, had a quick change and then drove across town to leave our laundry with a family we support. Off to the restaurant, where we enjoyed a great feed; a quick stop at our favourite ice cream shop (one of the few that use bottled water to make it); and back at the church by 8.30pm to drive home the kids whom we usually transport at the end of the Bible Study. If not quite a relaxing evening, we certainly did our bit for Bolivia's fuel industry.

The first week of the half-year school holidays is now at an end and, with it, the first week of the 5-Day Clubs. This week's club, which is a joint effort between FT and our church, El Jireh, took place at a school up the road from FT headquarters, and well over 100 kids came every day to sing, play games and hear the gospel explained clearly. It was a thrilling week on a couple of levels.


That's me leading the singing with some youth volunteers chipping in with the actions

First of all, the 5-Day Clubs in the past had generally been organised and run by a handful of willing adult missionaries and FT workers. But over the last year, regular visitors to the blog will probably have picked up on the real need for the discipleship in the community, particularly for the younger people. So the decision was taken three months ago to have a weekly training session for a group of 10 teenage believers, in order to leave far more responsibility in their hands, helping us older fuddy-duddies, but more importantly, training them up so that some day they'll be able to take charge of the club and other such ministries. It was terrific to witness at first-hand the growth of these teenagers as the week went on. People in this culture at all levels, sadly, simply flee from responsibility, making for a steep learning curve for the young people. Western expectations such as the importance of punctuality, for example, simply aren't a consideration for Benians. But after a shaky first day, they responded so well and we were greatly encouraged.


The facilities we had access to were packed out every day

And secondly, many of us had the privilege of praying with children as they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Right from the get-go, the prevailing mantra within the leadership team was that this week was completely God's work in which we had the privilege of serving, and we were greatly humbled to see him at work in spite of our weaknesses.

The whole thing, largely, went very smoothly, and the coming week offers an opportunity for lessons to be applied as we move on to the village of San Pedro, where the format of the club will remain the same, if not the demographics. A good education is hard enough to come by in cities like Trinidad -- in the country, forget it. So we'll be tweaking the teaching materials to suit. And as for punctuality, well, leaving Trinidad at 7.30am every morning will prove the defining test for any teenager!

Prayer
• For the coming week in San Pedro – particularly that we’d be guarded against complacency.
• For the children who accepted Christ as their saviour this week, particularly that they would be quick to tell others of their decision, that they would receive the support of their families and that we’d be able to maintain a contact with them.

Praise
• For the Lord’s work at this week’s 5-Day Club.
• For rest for Amanda this week following her river adventures.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda

Saturday Post -- 02/07/11

Well, that wasn't too bad, now, was it? Received word late last night that Amanda and the remainder of the boat team are due in to town this afternoon, one day earlier than billed, and my seven days of solitude are set to come to an end.

As expected, the week took care of itself with plenty of activity. I spent large chunks of the last few days preparing for my talk at this evening's youth group meeting and for the 5-day clubs (which start on Monday) as well as the usual lesson planning etc. More time was also available in the evenings to pursue pastimes. I caught up on reading, I continued with my rigorous piano practice regime, and I somehow managed to find a way to play N64 classic Zelda: Ocarina of Time on our Mac, a game that is just as rewarding (and time-consuming) now as it was when I was 16, acne-ridden and in study denial.

Oh, and I grew a big beard! Amanda hates 'em, so it'll be gone before sunset, but I felt I owed it to myself to take advantage of this week of solitude to see how I'm progressing in the man-stakes. Truth is, it's beyond shaggy now and the itch-factor has only increased over time, rendering sleep next to impossible. But I have achieved my goal, I now know the hitherto unknown, and perhaps one day, as I lie on my deathbed, I will be able to cast a dewy eye back, safe in the knowledge that after a week without a razor, I look a right numpty.


This is me pre-bedtime last night. A mere six hours' sleep ensued.

I bet I'm not the only person at this point thinking that I could really do with having Amanda back.

Meanwhile, Bolivia is still reeling from the shock of flirting with victory over Argentina in the Copa América's curtain-raiser, in what would have been a second consecutive win over its not-so-beloved, yet infinitely superior, neighbour down south. Messi, Tevez and co. had no answer for a delicious back-heeler that was guided into the net by one of the Argentinians. See video below. It was equalised on 77 minutes by Sergio Agüero. A much better start for the national team than anyone had expected. Anyway, I used the excuse of the game to catch up with a couple of guys from the youth group, one of whom, Alan, is leaving home this weekend to study in Cochabamba. He's a good friend of mine and I actually taught him when I was first in Trinidad back in 2000/2001. He's definitely a bit of a home-boy, but he's very able and could do with spreading his wings and seeing a world outside of Trinidad. Please pray for him as he settles there.



Prayer
• For safe travels for Amanda as she makes her way back to Trinidad today.
• For the fortnight of 5-day clubs, which begins this Monday. The first week is in Trinidad, the second week in the remote village of San Pedro. I’ll be in charge of music and will lead a small group. Obviously, it’s a very evangelism-focused programme, so would really appreciate all your prayers.

Praise
• For the Lord’s guidance as I preached last Sunday.
• For the Lord’s help to the boat team this week. There will be a lot more on that in our next newsletter, which is due out this week.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda