Sixth big post!

The team has shrunk! Rob, Alison and Simon left Apolo yesterday, so the house now seems very empty without them.

Fortunately, the good weather has continued for us, meaning building work has been able to continue at full throttle. In addition to this, yesterday afternoon we returned from a short swimming trip to find a digger at work in the building site, which did about 5 days´ work in half a day. This means we now only have two holes left to dig, which can hopefully be done within a few days. More concrete pillars have also been added, and hopefully more will be added today, along with some of the horizontal concrete supports.

In other news, we have had more successful youth groups, with the Noah´s Ark puppets being a hit with younger children, and the old favourite of the ´toilet roll mummies´ proving popular with older children. Music and English classes have also continued to flourish, with young people from Apolo showing a lot of progress.

At church on Sunday, Rob was preaching, and was also asked to bless the church, on behalf of the three leavers, which was a bit of a shock for him. He managed to cope, however, and the service was enjoyed by all those there. Sunday school also went well, and Claire and Annie did a worship dance, with a workshop in the afternoon during the Sunday sports.

Also this week, there have been two campo trips - Anna had an evening in Munaypata, and Jonathan spent the weekend in Huaratumo. In Munaypata, Linda was leading a session on family planning, for a community where most families have at least 8 or 9 children. In Huaratumo, Pete and Philip were preaching, and on Sunday afternoon, Jonathan, Kate and Philip worked with the children, with colouring and endless games of ´pato, pato, ganzo´ (duck, duck, goose), followed by a short trip into some farming areas to see some of the different crops.

Prayer points:-
- For the journey back for Rob, Alison, Simon ad Linda´s parents - that they would be safe and not get delayed
- For Jon and Jonathan recovering from the latest bout of illness - that they would continue to recover quickly
- For Kate and Philip as they prepare to leave on Thursday
- For the remaining team members as we take on an increased workload

Bye!