The next morning we were met by a pick-up truck with cold glass bottles of coke-cola. I was very happy to receive such a special treat. We loaded up everything in the bed of the truck. Then we climbed into the back of the truck and sat on top of everything or we squeezed into places where we could find room to sit. We traveled on the bumpy dirt road again, and headed toward another bush setting.
After a couple of hours my team arrived at our new location for the next couple of days. We were staying in a building made out of stones, mud, and metal plus a concrete floor. As we drove up, we found that there were several adults waiting for our arrival. After being there for an hour and others had arrived from around the villages, we learned that our driver holds a bible study there. We started setting up our tents as soon as everyone in the building left.
Our new experience this time would be to find a place to use the bathroom in the bush. Yes, we did take a shovel with us and there were a few times when it came in handy for us to use it. “Attention ladies, you would be glad to know that you were required to wear skirts in the bush.“ It did help wearing a skirt.
As soon as night sat in and we were finished with our dinner, we saw several different creatures come out to see us. I saw big white spiders and spiders of all different kinds of sizes. Then were several wild bone skinny dogs that would come by especially at night, which meant that you probably didn’t want to show much love to them because you didn’t know if they would bite you. I walked back to my tent with a little bit of light and hoping that there was not any kind of bugs. Thankfully the next night I was used to seeing a variety of creatures.
As the morning sun light arose, our water supply was very low and the well that was close to us was broken. After breakfast, we began our journey to the villages and we would plan to pass another well on our way.
Let me stop for a minute and say that I had a really rough sleep that night. I heard dogs constantly barking and my heart was crying out for the surrounding villages to no longer be held by the control of fear especially through a person known as a witch doctor in that area. We had been told by our driver about the lies and curses the witch doctor had said to the people. Just a few days before, our interrupters had told us that most of the strings around people’s necks or arms were because someone told them by wearing them you would not get sick or you would be cured from your sickness. I also think Jesus was preparing me for kind of ministry I would be facing in the days ahead and the following week. There I was wide awake and the only thing I knew to do was pray for my team and the people.
We began our journey with worship music playing as we walked 20-30 minutes to our destination. Then we split apart into two groups. The first group walked farther than the second group. I was in the second group and we visited with the closest cluster of huts to us. When we greeted the people, I saw pain in one of the men’s eyes. As we began conversation with them, we found out that one of the guys is a pastor. We were happy to learn this. Then the pastor told us that the one of the older men here had a mental condition since he was young and he had a really big sore on the right side of his back. This was the same guy that when I looked him in the eyes I saw pain. We prayed for him and didn’t see much difference, but I looked him straight in the eyes and told him that Jesus loves him. We also prayed for a lady who had been struggling with a little depression. We saw that she was encouraged after we prayed and when others in my group spoke scripture to her.
Then as we made our way down the dirt road, we came upon the well. I was so happy! By this time, I was starting to feel a little dehydrated. One of the young men that we had just visited with decided to show us his garden. Then he came along with us as my team spoke the gospel to a mother and her son. One my team mates helped the son speak about Jesus to his mother and lead her in a prayer to receive salvation.
Soon after, we decided to make our long journey back to our tents for lunch and to take a break out of the “HOT” sun.
