Our busy weekend

We had a truly busy and exciting weekend. Maybe the best days of all.

Saturday, we visited our two sponsored families. Musa is a young boy about 10 years old who lives on the edge of Bo. His father is ill and cannot work. Musa was very shy, but his family was very grateful for the 25 pounds of rice and bag of small candies that we brought them.

Musa watching us drive away from his home


After seeing Musa, we began the long, long drive to Sami Village for a little girl named Misu and her family. Most of the 37 miles thru the bush was on a deeply rutted dirt road, passing through 4 small villages to reach Sami (it took almost 2 hours each way). We went in a very worn-out Land Rover that was equipped but struggled. We bounced like ping-pong balls -- yes, I bounced against the vehicle ceiling. Ouch!

The "road" to Sami

In Sami, we had a very warm greeting from almost everyone in the village. Even the chief was there. Misu's mother hugged and hugged me. James, the case manager who accompanied us, introduced us and we each said a few words, which James translated into Mendi, the local language. Tommy has learned that Bike-ah means thank you, so he bike-ahed A LOT.   Then the family walked us to see their house, which is made of dried mud-brick.  The soil is clay, so everything seemed sturdy.



Precious Misu


As we were leaving, the family gave us about a dozen coconuts. And TWO live chickens. 😁

Our lunch of chicken and rice was delicious!


Amazing adventure!

Then, on Sunday, our team attended nearby Centenary United Methodist Church. We arrived at 9. We left at 1130 - before the sermon. There were at least three times they took up collections. One time I got recruited to hold the collection bucket. The music, the energy, and the spirit were wonderful. I didn't want to leave.

The church collection


Today, Monday, TD and I are back to work with the local leadership team to make a 4-year plan.

It is still warm and very humid. I welcomed the rain returning, though, as the temp dropped nicely.

Tomorrow we go to the grand opening of a village's latrine! 

Comments

  1. AlmaJuly 25, 2022 at 9:42 PM

    Misu is such a doll. Ellen, I love the photo of you holding the collection bucket. Thank you for sharing your wonderful experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 25, 2022 at 10:23 PM

    Dear PingPong Balls, did your in-house expert (the guy from Arkansas) wring the chickens' necks and pluck them? Bike-ah for the uplifting (as usual) report. Joyce and will

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 25, 2022 at 10:38 PM

    Loving all these stories. Keep them coming. Especially love the live chicken gift. Did TD clean them???

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 26, 2022 at 10:58 AM

    Thank you for these updates. So happy to see your smiles. ❤️

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 26, 2022 at 6:24 PM

    Aww to be so humble and Grateful . God bless them and you

    ReplyDelete

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