This
has been a pretty exciting week, full of painting, varnishing, moving beds,
malaria, waterfalls, and rabid dogs. So
why keep you in suspense? Here’s the
weekly rundown.
I’ve
really been enjoying the work we’ve been doing here at the village. We’ve been doing mostly painting, but also
varnishing beds and baseboards and moving around and assembling bunk beds. I really enjoy working with my hands and also
I’ve enjoyed working with the project managers, Frank and Jean. Last week we were working with a team of 5
Scots and a team of 3 girls from California.
It was a joy having them around, not only because we enjoyed their
company, but also because we enjoyed their help! Team Scotland left on Wednesday and Team Cali
left on Thursday.
It was pretty weird hearing them talk about
all the laundry they’d have to do and all the things they needed to do when
they got home. It was really weird for
me because not only did it make me miss home, but also it made me realize that
I’d forgotten what its like to sleep in my own bed, go to my own church, mow
the yard and throw a bowl of Spaghettio’s in the microwave. I guess it also put into perspective how long
I’ve been gone and made me realize at the same time that going home is going to
be a lot harder then I ever thought. But
there’s no point in dwelling on four months in the future or else you risk
missing the present.
Other
then making things a lot quieter in the house, when the other teams left it
definitely made the workload go up. So
since then we were pushing pretty hard to get things done in time for the grand
opening that has been pushed back to the 25th.
It also
hasn’t helped that Sammie hasn’t been feeling well for a while. Eventually she agreed to go to the clinic
only to find out she’s been walking around with malaria all this time. So she’s been taking it easy and has gotten
medication.
Also the morning she went to the
clinic I was walking to the other house to get something and saw this smaller
yellow dog fighting with Neko, our new Rottweiler puppy. So I ran over and kicked off the stray and it
turned and attacked me. So I kicked it
in the teeth and it ran off. I went to
herd the dog out of the gate but it snarled at me and attacked me again. After I kicked it in the teeth again it ran
off again. By this point I knew there
was something wrong with this dog and the gardener agreed and we both knew it
was rabid. So we got some big sticks and
proceeded to chase it off. Instead it
attacked us again and after beating it, chasing it and beating it some
more. We left it as a bloody lump on the
ground. The gardener carried it off on
his stick and I tended to Neko to hear the dog being carried off come to life and
run off with the gardener close behind it.
The SPCA told us we had to find and kill the dog. So the gardener and I spent over an hour
looking for that dog with no luck.
According to the gardener he was scared to kill the dog because
apparently in Africa killing a dog is bad luck.
I then informed the gardener that in America it’s actually bad luck to
keep rabid dogs alive. Praise God the
stray wasn’t stupid enough to come back and Neko didn’t get scratched or
bitten, and that I was wearing my shoes that day and not my flip flops!
Saturday
we were able to have a nice day off and go up to this place called Harrie’s and
have some amazing pancakes that were wrapped in filling. Like I had my pancake wrapped in mince and it
was delicious! We then went to Mac Mac
Falls. In case you were wondering there
are 3 things I could stare at for hour’s fire, waterfalls and the stars.
It’s
looking like God is opening the doors for us to go to Zambia next month. We’ve got some possible leads for ministry
contacts so I’ll let you know when I know more.
But please keep praying that it’s made clear to us where God wants
us. Also please pray that the Lord
blesses the work of our hands so that we can get everything done in time for
the opening.
