Parkers4Bere: The Sabbath

Sabbath

I am trying to get the kids that I know involved in giving back somehow. I asked Tamdegue to teach the little kids sabbath school since Danae is gone. He did a great job! Then we have Kassera that is a branch sabbath school about 5-6 miles away. That means that this is a place where we will go out and have a small lesson with songs and prayer. Mostly it is always kids but this is how we do church planting. Gary Roberts who is the missionary pilot here and he also is the one in charge of the church planting asked me if some of the kids that are with us all the time would be willing to go and teach every week and keep it going. I asked the kids and they are ready and willing to do it which makes me very proud of them.

So yesterday we had a full day of church activities. Jamie was not feeling good so I took the kids to Kassera to do the lesson there. I sometimes can not believe what my life is like here and it is really hard to explain if you have never been here. But I am going to do my best to give you a visual. I am driving down the dirt road which is like driving on ice. Since it is rainy season it is red slippery mud. In just 5 days the roads have gotten significantly worse with a lot of water. Because it is around 4 p.m. there are a lot of people walking back home from the big market day in Bere. There is people on bikes, motorcycles, donkeys and many just walking. I have to drive slow because everyone is trying to stay in the same ruts in the road because everywhere else around you is just mushy from the herds of oxen walking through. In some places I have to just hold my breath and hope for the best that we are not going to get stuck in the deep water because I can't tell how deep it is going to get in some places. But I was happy to get to our destination without any drama just a lot of anxiety within me. I open the door and put my foot into about 3 inches of mushy mud. I look at my once white foot in my pretty silver flip flops and I tell one of the kids that I guess I will have to take a shower when we get home and wash up. But what I am really trying to do is convince myself that no matter what the rest of the path is like I can do it and just clean up later. The path is very narrow and there is corn stalks all around us. There is wet grass hitting my legs due to the narrow path. I can't help but think about all the little critters that I am unfamiliar with here that I could come in contact with that could hurt me in some way. I look around and everything looks so different with everything grown up from all the rain we are getting. We step over all the piles that the animals have left on the path and the smell is just like what the path looks like. I feel mosquitos bitting my legs under my skirt for it is that time of day. We get to the big mango tree that has a big cleared area around it. No one is here but the kids tell me we should wait 10-15 minutes. I stand in one place as the left over rain drops from the mango tree hits my body. I take a moment and look out to the view. I think about how crazy this really is. This is a missionary moment I am having right now. I felt like we were so out in the middle of no where. I can't believe that I am really doing this. Then one of the boys grabs a stick and starts to swat at something on one of the other boy's pant legs. It is a centipede. Some say that they can really sting you and leave quite a scar but then the people here say many things and it is hard to know what is true. One time, as of recent, I was told that they have something here that looks like a squirrel. If you get bit by one you have to catch it, kill it and then remove the teeth and bury them or you will die. They have lots of suspicions like this. So as one kid is trying to get this centipede off of the other one I can just see the fright on this kids face. And my next selfish thought is what is on me?

Finally, children begin to show up. Some are too scared to touch the white lady and some come straight to me first to greet me. Some are naked, some are half naked. There are three old men that show up and shake our hands. I look at them with compassion for they look so worn out as well as their clothes do. One with a big suit coat on with two inch holes in the arms. Another man walking with a stick but all coming to hear a bible story. Everyone gets settled on the benches that we donated to them last year and we begin our service. Songs are being sung in Nangjere, intact the whole service is done in Nangjere so I don't understand a thing that is being said. This part of my life here can get old and you can sometimes find yourself drifting off into your own thoughts. I have done more thinking here than ever. But I try to be apart of the song part as much as possible. Everyone seems to be having such a good time and I see smiles on their faces and it makes me feel like it was so worth the effort of coming out. The story was told and a message was given. Our time is up and it is time to get through the trail again and drive back to Bere.