July 3, 2011 Slow Sunday

It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon and it’s blazing hot.  The temperature in my sweat box is at an even 100 degrees F.  Haven’t done much today.  Took the generator to the hospital compound so Jamie Parker could look at it.  It’s running rough, idles at too fast a speed, and the voltage output is too high.  Jamie found an adjustment that controls idle speed and thus voltage output.  It’s still running a little rough; however, it powers my computer and projector with no problems.  Keep thinking that tomorrow is the Forth of July and I’m in Africa.  A little homesick.

Came home and played a game with John, Sazo, and a neighborhood kid.  Six shallow holes are dug in the ground, three on each end about 4 feet apart like this   

      OOO--------------------------------------------OOO. 

      3 2 1                                              1 2 3

The walls between holes 1 & 2 and 2 & 3 are lowered to make it easier for a small, round rock to be rolled thru holes 1 & 2 into 3.  If the rock stops in 1, it’s 1 point, hole 2 is 2 points, and hole 3 is 3 points.  First one to score 10 wins.  After playing several games, I had a little snack and John and I went to town to watch the football (soccer) game.  Got more sunburn.  The sun here near the equator is a killer.

Went to church yesterday morning and was invited to have the closing prayer by the speaker (the hospital chaplain).  The sermon was about Jesus healing and forgiving the sins of the paralytic.  Of course, the sermon was in French and translated to Nangere, neither of which I understand; however, the enthusiastic response from the congregation indicated they approved.  For some reason I don’t feel very forgiven at the moment.  Maybe it’s the malaria prophylactic I’m taking, Mefloquine.  It can depress the mood, among other things.

After church Benzocia brought up the idea of visiting a lake about 14 kilometers away where hippopotamuses live.  The Parkers manage the hospital van which is the only mode of transportation available(except for motorcycle taxis and they are a little small for nine people) and they were not at home.  So no sightseeing today.  (We went the next day.)

The chaplain (Noel) lives 4.5 kilometers from the hospital and walks to work each day. ( His conversion is an interesting story which I’ll tell later.) He carries a picture roll with him and teaches the children along his route bible stories.  I had told him I wanted to video him teaching the children and he suggested that I meet him about 4 kilometers down the trail toward his house at 5 PM.   So at 3 PM I started down the trail to Noel’s house.  Two km down the trail, Minnie, a psychologist volunteer from the Philippines, sent a test message wanting to know if we were going to see the hippos.  Said I didn’t know and was headed to Noel’s place.  She asked if she could come along and I said, of course.  Turned around and met her near the hospital and we walked the 4 km to meet Noel.  We were a little late and Noel had already started, but got good video of Noel teaching the children from the picture roll.  We then walked another half km to the airfield where Jonathan and Melody live in a neat, round hut with a thatched roof.  Turns out that Heather was at the compound visiting Melody and the two pilots, Gary and Jonathan, were in South Sudan attempting to obtain permission to open a mission station there.  Walked the 4.5 km back home and arrived just before dark.

My wife, Brenda, has mailed me two “Jesus” DVD’s and after a discussion with Noel and Minnie, we decided to show the video on July 16 at the site where we met Noel.  If the DVD’s arrive this week, we may show the video on the 9^th.  (They weren’t received until the 12^th.)