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Brickmans in Bolivia
We hope you all had a brilliant Christmas and New Year. Although the festive period here is very different to what we are used to, thankfully, we had a great time. It started with two special Christmas nights at church on 23rd and 24th December. These involved the Youth Group, Sunday school and Kings Kids performing dramas, songs and dances. The two nights went well however, we only heard the Christmas story once and only 1 or 2 carols which was a little strange! On Christmas Eve, Dave and the youth group visited the village of Villa Alba (where we held the kids camp in July and regularly visit to do kids clubs). They spent the morning with the children, singing songs, teaching the Christmas story and playing fun games. Each child was given a present which they were very excited about. Here, Christmas is celebrated on the night of the 24th so after the Christmas service we went and celebrated at a friend’s house. We shared a big meal of chicken, pork, rice, yuca and salad around midnight and chatted into the wee hours. On the 25th we celebrated at our house in true British style. We opened presents, drank hot chocolate, sang ‘happy birthday’ to Jesus (an Edwards family tradition!), ate a special breakfast, spoke to all our family on Skype, prepared and ate roast turkey with all the trimmings (minus sprouts to Dave’s delight!), snoozed, went to church in the evening, visited friends and then ate cheese and biscuits, homemade mince pies and Christmas cake. It was a brilliant day. Thank you to everyone who sent us messages, cards and presents.
New Year is a time when people reflect on the past 12 months, make resolutions and wonder what will come in the next year. For us, 2012/13 is full of unknowns. We do know that we are here until May; however after that we do not know what is in store for us. We are praying that God will show us His plans for the rest of the year, whether that is to return here after a few months in the UK or to stay in the UK. God has been giving us lots of ideas of things to be doing here in Trinidad over the next 4 months, and in the future. We do think we will spend more time here at some point but do not know whether that is this year or further in the future. We have been reading Psalm 84 recently, and this is our prayer;
‘Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.’
We are in an exciting and challenging place at the moment, we are trusting the Lord, that as we look to him He will provide all we need and show us His will for us in the future. What promises He gives us at the end of these verses!
Life has been a lot quieter over the last month which has given us time to spend with local families. It has been great to meet new people in the community and deepen relationships with friends. Lorna has been spending time one-on-one with a few of the women in the church. These women have big dreams and ideas of starting new ministries and fulfilling the plans God has created for them. One of the ladies, Mari-Trini, and Lorna are launching ‘Damas Voluntarias’ (literally – voluntary ladies) at the start of February. The idea is for a group of women to work together to make money to use to help meet specific social and practical needs in the local community (see blog for more details).
Please pray for…
Damas Voluntarias – for the right people to get involved, and for a successful launch;
Lorna to get to know and encourage more ladies in the church in their giftings;
Guidance for our future plans;
Good health - there have been many cases of dengue fever & salmonella in Trinidad lately.
Praise God for…
A great Bolivian Christmas and improved friendships;
Improving Spanish language;
His ongoing faithfulness at La Palmera.
La Palmera has been through a testing time over the last few weeks due to problems with the local Government. However, during this time families in the project and the local community have come together to support the work. From this, we have seen the importance of the project in the community and what it means to the people here. God has proved his faithfulness during this time and it is planned that the project will re-open as normal at the start of February.
We were blessed with some gifts of money for Christmas and a tax rebate which allowed us to take a trip to the world-famous salt flats. We re-visited La Paz and spent a fantastic 3 days travelling around the salt flats, mountains and deserts seeing some amazing sights in one of the most remote parts of Bolivia.
Thank you all for your continued love and support.
Lots of Love, Dave & Lorna x
