Adventures in Pepe, Part II

Continued from Adventures in Pepe, Part I

We just returned from the nursing home. Of course, we did not end up leaving in half-an-hour because we had to make a detour to the post office to pick up the 43 packages that have been sent to all of the Racers—amazing! The post office was threatening to send them back to the States because they had no room left in their tiny mailroom to receive any more. Team Concrete to the rescue! All of those packages crammed into Pepe were quite a site to behold. There will most likely be a video posted about that adventure. Stay tuned.

The nursing home was such a blessing, both to the residents and us. We were able to find our friend Christina and get to know her some more. I could see the joy in her eyes as visitors—visitors just for her—walked over to her dining table in the cafeteria. We learned about her life and family. She showed us her room, and really began to open up to us. We read the Bible to her, as hers did not make it with her to the nursing home in the move.

We wandered down the hall to a woman that we had been hearing scream while we were talking with Christina. She was screaming loudly, “Help me! Help me! Where’s my mommy?” It absolutely broke my heart. She became quiet once she sensed that she had visitors standing next to her. From the smell in the room, it was evident that Joey just needed attention from the nurses. After getting taken care of, Sarah and Katey talked with her and read the Bible to her. Casey and I talked to her roommate, whose name I still do not know. She babbled to us, but I don’t know if it was English babble or Afrikaans babble. We read to her, told her about Jesus, and prayed for her. Since I don’t actually know if she spoke English, please pray that the Holy Spirit allows her to understand the words we spoke.

By the time we left the nursing home in downtown Pretoria, the sun had already set. Casey, the official Pepe operator, flipped on the headlights to help ensure a safe drive home. Much to all of our dismay, Pepe has a lose wire. Every time the headlights are in use, Pepe emits a high-pitched, worse-than-fingernails-on-a-chalk-board constant squeal. It’s really quite lovely. We gently encouraged Pepe to be quiet, but he wasn’t interested in cooperating. We tried turning off the headlights, as we all put our headlights on and tried to shine them on the road ahead. Quickly, we realized this wasn’t the best decision. We thing he might be acting out by squealing because no one hugged him when he was wee little car. But that’s just a hypothesis.