Bob at Saakpuli during the medical clinic.
The Fulani man in the green outfit had to translate into Fulani after Peter had translated into
Dagbani what the nurse had said
in English.
When did I last write? Seems as if this is the first time I have sat in front of the computer for awhile. We have been so blessed with the ministry activities going on around us. It is like we are sitting in the center of a merry-go-round and all of the different ministries are continuing going around and around.
Bob, Linda, Neal and Doris from Commission Ministries came two weeks ago. This was the 2nd year of the 3 year mentoring class he does. I was disappointed that only half of the students returned from last year but some were harvesting their crops and some were attending a government sponsored youth employment conference for job opportunities. Both very good reasons toward keeping their families fed. Bob & Linda said those who came did a good job with their Scripture memorization after a first day of being pretty quiet.
Neal and Doris have been busy going to schools in the mornings and then back out in the afternoon to do door to door evangelism and children’s ministry followed by either a revival for the church or an Evangelistic Crusade. They have ministered to MANY people and have had some very positive results in salvations. Some have not returned for the follow up class but many have.
Jesse’s wife Karen has arrived to help him and he is staying right on schedule to have the ten languages recorded that he wanted to do this year. He will also be doing a conference for another group of languages to get the scripts into their hands so they can translate it into their languages and record next year.
Steve continues to do his teaching at the Seminary but has added giving guitar and keyboard lessons to a few of our Seedlings.
Don and John A. have completed two FAITH conferences that have added more to the Kingdom. Don has been sponsoring John to lead these conferences on a part time basis for awhile. Now John will be working full time with FAITH though he might still be available some for Seed Ministry.
The medical team from NC has arrived along with Pastor Johnny & Dan from Weaverville. They are going out into the remote areas to hold small clinics. It is always great to have medical teams come and these folks have been doing these clinics for a lot of years in Uganda. You know God has a sense of humor when you watch our utilities here whenever a team comes. We can go for the longest time without having too much trouble with electricity or water. You let a team come and invariably the water and electricity will go off. I think I wrote about South Fork team walking in the door and the electricity went off.
Well, this time our water first became just a small trickle to none at all. Bob called the ‘Complaint Office’ of the water company who said there haven’t been any other complaints from our area. Made Bob think the problem was in our line. The guys walked it but found no breaks. Called the plumber and he checked where the water comes onto the property. There was a rock in the line and he thought the problem was the rock would not let the water pass through the valve properly. Removed the rock… still no water. Bob checked with the neighbors, they didn’t have water either. Back to the ‘Complaint Office’ (Notice the name is ‘Complaints’ NOT ‘Repairs’.) This was on Friday. The man who oversees this area is not in and will not be back until Monday.
Meanwhile we have caught some rain water and everyone is taking bucket baths. Monday… Bob goes back to the Complaint Office. Seems there is a main valve on the pipes in this area that is not working properly. They have sent someone to Kumasi to find another one so they can repair it and get it back on. Today is Wednesday and still no water. Guess the guy is still looking for the part. We have been having tanks of water hauled in and put into the baptismal pool, then pumping it up to the overhead tank so we can at least get showers. Is this a crazy story or what?
Now on to the electricity. Lately we have been getting shocked a lot. Didn’t know why but it was unusual. Meanwhile, one of the AC’s was not working in the small house. Had the man come to repair it and he said that instead of 3 lines being hot and 1 line being a ground, all 4 wires coming in were hot. Had to call the electrician. This has been a daily meeting between the electrician, ac repairman and Bob. I think that problem has been fixed but we are having brown outs so much that for one 24 hour period we were strictly on the generator. Praise God for His timing of the generator.
OUR WATER HAS RETURNED!!!!! Just now!! Bob and the ladies doing the wash by hand are all out dancing around on the verandah praising God!
Must be almost time for the teams to leave as we now have electricity and water! Life in Tamale. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Where else could you live and be reminded so often to continue praising God in all things? Hope you are having a great week and remembering often to praise Him!
