Christmas and New Year, seem a long time ago now, they were very different, but we had a great time with people from the Church and it was fun to spend it in a different way. We went straight off on our travels at the start of the New Year.
We had a wonderful time at the Provincial Youth Leaders Camp near Chillan in Chile. The journey to get there took longer than it did to get to Uruguay, 3 days of travelling by bus, but we were able to see and spend time in some great places on the way. It took place in a beautiful place in the Andes, where we had the opportunity to praise God with people from all over the Southern Cone. Students from CEP (the diocesan theological college) led the Bible Studies.
Early in the mornings we had a devotional study on the book of Galatians, focussing particularly on Galatians 2:20,21 . We were given the historical context for the book and what Paul was saying to the Church in Galatia, and were asked, to focus individually on how these passages relate to our own lives. Later in the mornings we went through the whole of the book of John, using a combination of lectures and group work, we saw how the book fitted together as a whole and how John’s purpose for writing, to provoke faith in Christ, ran throughout the book. These studies resulted in some interesting debates and questions, and we went into the book in an incredible amount of depth. In the evenings we had a series on the Panoramic Vision of the Bible. These studies showed how the Bible fitted together as a whole with Jesus being the centre of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. They showed how God’s promises to Abraham ran throughout the Bible and are fulfilled in Jesus. It taught us how to read and study the Bible with the full picture in perspective. We also had a great time learning about what God’s doing in the other diocese and it was a time of real encouragement for us. It was great to be able to share experiences, good and bad, from which we have learnt a lot. Even though we were all from different backgrounds and cultures it was amazing to feel so united through Jesus, and to worship God together was really special. There's some photos of our trip in the gallery.
As soon as we got back, it was straight back into things, the Youth Group met up for the first time the weekend after we got back. We’re leading it with Sylvia, who also helps us with the Escuelita, and she’s been very enthusiastic which has been really encouraging. The Escuelita has been going much better as well. Its really great to be able to see the kids learning and becoming better behaved!!
The merendero in the barrio hasn’t started yet, as the children don’t go back to school until March. The merendero in the Centre has grown rapidly, from only 3 or 4 children coming they now get 18. We’re having a series of fundraisers to raise money to close off the area where the merendero takes place ready for the winter.
There was a bad storm last week, apparently it was a tornado, that resulted in our bathroom window coming in and smashing the top of the cistern. Its been a nightmare trying to get it fixed. But thanks to Michael, its now fixed.
Prayer points
