"It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and vexing woman." Proverbs 21:19
We hope you are enjoying your Sunday! The above picture gives the impression that there is no civilization for miles. However, our house is right above this ravine, the preaching school is below and several buildings are near.
Randy Pyle and Tom Brandon arrived late last night, worshipping at Kisongo today. Tom taught an excellent lesson on the main characters in "Esther." He emphasized the importance of an encourager (Mordecai) who knew he couldn't go before the king but helped Esther have the strength. Abigail taught the Children's class. Lindsey will be a student in Randy and Tom's short course on "Leadership."
Also at the Kisongo congregation was the Gaines family. Daniel preached a great sermon on "Hell," saying that of all the preachers in the N.T., Jesus spoke about this subject the most. The Gaines have found a suitable house and should be moving in soon. Tiffany said she appreciated our efforts to arrange such a great initiation for their family (constant electrical outages continuing into their fourth week here and now a water shortage for 3 days. Having no electricity at night translates into sweaty nights with little sleep). As missionaries welcoming others to the team, we do what we can! (wink) Now, if we could just arrange for them to catch an amoeba that would top it all off.
Speaking of electrical outages, we "traveled back in time" and did hand-washing one day. Our guard did the difficult clothes (like blue jeans) and us the easier ones. Hand-washing isn't all that bad (when you turn on the generator and spin them in the washer getting all the water out!) The machine won't drain properly when the generator is on...but it will spin! Americans have become so dependent upon electricity...us included. We washed approximately 7 loads of clothes.
Jimmy and Cy are scheduled to return Thursday from teaching in Kusumu, Kenya at the school of preaching. Then on Friday, all the missionaries plus guests will celebrate Thanksgiving at the Stafford house. And, on Saturday, ASCOP students will graduate.
"The ear of the wise seeks knowledge..." Naomi's right ear was bitten by an insect (maybe a spider) and swelled up. After three days, the infection was gone and the swelling disappeared. Besides a painful ear, she was upset because the boys teased her about turning into "Spider Woman."
Our boys love the outdoors and are always making weapons out of sticks or plastic pipes, finding lizard eggs, unique-shaped rocks, making their own "bowling balls" out of mud, clay and straw and climbing trees. Eventually parents catch on to the fact that most kids like nature better than "store-bought" toys and will use their imagination!
Our girls invited some friends over Friday night. They had a devotional, ate beef stew, brownies and ice cream, watched a movie and of course...talked and laughed.
New friends and old friends...we enjoyed having the Gaines and the Kimaro families over for a meal on Saturday evening.
Thank you for everything you do for us! Next week, we have an interesting story to tell you (under the heading of "A Day in the Life!").
Please pray for the safety of Cy and Jimmy while in Kenya and for the Gaines adjustment and transition here. Speaking from experience, it is tough on a family...especially little ones who don't understand this new and strange change in their lives. The Gaines will be without their personal effects for several more weeks (or months...) and will continue "living out of suitcases" like they did for a long time BEFORE coming to Africa. They are a great family and already an asset to the TZ 2000 Mission Team.
With Love from Africa,
The Jimmy Gee family