OK, SO IT’S NOT ALL FUN(BUT IT’S NOT ALL MISERABLE, EITHER!)

OK, SO IT’S NOT ALL FUN (BUT IT’S NOT ALL MISERABLE, EITHER!)
The things that were not so much fun today (Wednesday):
• The water shut down and stayed down all day. And since the workers were using a lot of water making cement, we ran out of our backup supply by mid-afternoon.
• The internet and telephone still aren’t working – that’s two days in a row.
• No paint tray for the roller I am using to paint the ceiling.
• I am using the world’s worst brush too.
• The paint I am using is not adhering properly to the surface I’m painting.
• In other words, the painting project is not going at all well.

The things that were really great today:
• We are all finding out that we can live on very little water.
• We are all finding out that we can live without the internet.
• We found out that we could make a paint tray out of a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag. Ingenious!
• We found out that even when we use the world’s worst brush and very temperamental paint, we can make things look better.
• We are getting to exercise the two most important fruits of the spirit: patience and flexibility. (Yes, I know the bible doesn’t say that flexibility is a fruit of the spirit, but I feel it should be - especially here in Africa!)

Things that were even better today:
• Hazura’s bowtie pasta with meat sauce. (How did she make such a great meal without running water?)
• We had a wonderful bible study devotion with Chako in which we spoke about the impact our visit can have here – both on us and those we are visiting. He shared that we will never know what our visit means to the people here. He told us about some people in his church that only come to worship. As soon as the service is finished, they run out the door and never stay for fellowship. (Sound familiar?) He said that people in the church were delighted to see that those same people who usually depart quickly actually stayed after worship to greet the Americans. And then they were astounded to see that they have continued to stay after worship on subsequent Sundays – even when the Americans weren’t there!
• We took a wonderful trip into the country along the Niger River, seeing a very different life in little villages along the way. At several places we literally drove through herds of long-horned cattle. We stopped for a picnic on a huge sand dune overlooking a dried river bank where water flows only in the brief rainy season in May. It was the most unique picnic of my life.

By the grace of God, even a day that starts out with frustrations can end wondrously in Africa.

-Pastor Dave