I couldn't stop the tears from flowing down my face. I couldn't seem to get enough air into my lungs. I cried for at least an hour on the way to the airport thinking about the fact that I was about to leave both my children in the states a half a world away from me. I am not ready for this. I am so scared and begin to pray to God about whether this is the right thing for me to be leaving them. "Lord do you still want me in Chad? Because I feel like my heart is being pulled out of my chest!" I talk to Him letting God know that I need something from Him to let me know that I am doing the right thing. Because if I'm not I would love to stay and be with my children. Be there to pick out banquet dresses or be around for Christmas. All of the realities of what I am going to missing just rush to my thoughts and I need Gods affirmation. I never felt like I was sacrificing too much being here in Chad until I had to leave the other half of my love in America. "God I need to know something before I get on that plane. Because all I want to do right now is be in the states with those I love. God! I need you now!"
I hug Cory goodbye. I didn't want to let him go. But I force myself to turn away and move forward toward our 24 hour journey. We had ten bags to check in which costs $200 a bag after the first four. So we know we are looking at $1200, and then we have a big box with an oxygen concentrator in it that a couple was donating to the hospital. We thought that it was going to cost between $400-$500 since it was over the allowed 50 lbs. We move up to the counter and as we get everything checked in the total cost for everything comes to $406. What? I thought for sure they were making a mistake. They said that they were only going to charge us $58 a bag and $0 for the oxygen concentrator. We couldn't believe it. What a blessing! We have been a little concerned about our money this year with trying to get everything for two kids for a whole year and so the money has been tight. God knew that the money has been a concern for me and I do believe that this was one sign for me that He is supporting our journey and letting me know that He is not letting me go to Africa alone. He has promised to go with me and I feel His presence which was exactly what I needed.
Thank you God for caring about all the big and little concerns in our lives. I just knew that He was letting me know that He is hearing me. As we get settled and wait to board the plane I accept my fate again. "Lord I know that you will take care of my children for you love them more than I do. I will go forward and do what you want me to do and go to a place that is not my home if you want me to." But knowing that I am not going alone and that the Creator of all things is in control and loves me and my children, that gives me some courage to go where you are sending me again.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Program May 11th
On May 11th we will be doing a program at the Harrison SDA church for those who may be interested. We will be giving an update on the progress made in Chad this last year. Hope to see you there!
Jamie and Tammy Parker
Jamie and Tammy Parker
Thursday, April 25, 2013
We're officially back!
Dear Friends and Family,
We just wanted to inform everyone that we are now officially back in the states for our furlough. I say "officially" because our first two weeks back we snuck off to Florida to get some very much needed relax time. Things in Chad this past year was so much work with all the projects we had going on with the construction for the hospital and the school. But God really blessed the work and we are very excited to share our program of progress with whomever we can. We are in the process right now of editing a program that we are going to put into Dvd form to be able to give it to those that are interested in the work we have done this year. Just reply to us that you are interested with your address and we will do our best to put you on the list to get one to you.
This past sabbath we went to one of the local churches here in Collegedale, Tennessee. I can't tell you what a blessing it is to go to church in the states. I can't explain it but when I go to church here I am so overwhelmed, by what exactly, I am not sure. I don't even understand it but every time I go to church here in the states I am overwhelmed and tears just flow from my eyes uncontrollably. I don't know if it is the fact that I miss going to God's house and being touched by the spirit. I don't know. When we are in Chad we go to church only for the local people to see us there. We get nothing from the service because we don't understand what they are saying. The music is not spiritually moving because again the words are different and so is the beat. There are usually drums being played and most of their songs sound like they are stuck in a chant and they don't really have pitch that is calming to the soul. I just really miss church. This sabbath I sat in my chair with a back on it, not on a bench, and just thought about all the many blessings that are here in the states. Everything from the soft carpet to cushion our knees when we pray to the microphones, and the heat or air condition But I think most of all, I feel the spirit of God that I miss so much. Who am I to say that the spirit is not in Chad for I do know He is. But for me there is definitely something missing when I am there that It is a struggle for me to go to church in Chad. I guess the saying, "you don't know what you've got until its gone" has come to life for my sabbaths in Chad. But I assure you that while we are here we are not only going to be able to rest from all the work but hopefully fill our lives back up with the spirit to get us through another year in Chad.
We just wanted to inform everyone that we are now officially back in the states for our furlough. I say "officially" because our first two weeks back we snuck off to Florida to get some very much needed relax time. Things in Chad this past year was so much work with all the projects we had going on with the construction for the hospital and the school. But God really blessed the work and we are very excited to share our program of progress with whomever we can. We are in the process right now of editing a program that we are going to put into Dvd form to be able to give it to those that are interested in the work we have done this year. Just reply to us that you are interested with your address and we will do our best to put you on the list to get one to you.
This past sabbath we went to one of the local churches here in Collegedale, Tennessee. I can't tell you what a blessing it is to go to church in the states. I can't explain it but when I go to church here I am so overwhelmed, by what exactly, I am not sure. I don't even understand it but every time I go to church here in the states I am overwhelmed and tears just flow from my eyes uncontrollably. I don't know if it is the fact that I miss going to God's house and being touched by the spirit. I don't know. When we are in Chad we go to church only for the local people to see us there. We get nothing from the service because we don't understand what they are saying. The music is not spiritually moving because again the words are different and so is the beat. There are usually drums being played and most of their songs sound like they are stuck in a chant and they don't really have pitch that is calming to the soul. I just really miss church. This sabbath I sat in my chair with a back on it, not on a bench, and just thought about all the many blessings that are here in the states. Everything from the soft carpet to cushion our knees when we pray to the microphones, and the heat or air condition But I think most of all, I feel the spirit of God that I miss so much. Who am I to say that the spirit is not in Chad for I do know He is. But for me there is definitely something missing when I am there that It is a struggle for me to go to church in Chad. I guess the saying, "you don't know what you've got until its gone" has come to life for my sabbaths in Chad. But I assure you that while we are here we are not only going to be able to rest from all the work but hopefully fill our lives back up with the spirit to get us through another year in Chad.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Never too young….
Dear Friends and Family,
Recently I had another scare that another little boy that I love was going to die. He is only about 9 months old but I have known his mother longer than that. They ended up in the hospital for a couple of weeks and during that time I would go and visit. It just didn't seem like he was getting better. One time when I went to visit I saw that the signs of death were there. I had seen it before and I began to panic. I left and went to talk to Dr. Olen about this child's case. He ended up coming over to look at the boy and he looked at me and in a calm voice just told me that there was reason to be concerned. Inside I am screaming! No! I couldn't stand to see another baby I love die! What am I going to do?
I knew that there was not much to do. Feeling so desperate I stepped out of my comfort zone and in front of about 10 of their family members I prayed over the boy. I prayed with all my heart and begged that God would please save this one. I also asked for wisdom on what to do to help. After my prayer there was an old women with gray hair that said that sometimes this flower "lozah" can help with the congestion that was affecting his breathing. I thought, lets try it. I knew I didn't have any at my house and so I sent one of my boys that help me out all the time to the market to find this lozah. In the meantime the grandmother gave the child another native juice that was similar. And after the other lozah was prepared and given the boy had the energy to cough up so much stuff from his lungs that it was able to give him a good night sleep. Something he didn't have for many nights. I think the sugar in the juice helped his little body as well and he began to perk up the next day.
He still remained in the hospital for the rest of the week but he is now at home well and alive. I just praise God for saving his life. I truly believe that He did.
Now the story does not end here. I knew that the hospital bill was adding up. It was becoming more than what we usually help out with. Then I remembered a special box with money in it that I have been saving for the perfect baby. This box was given to me the last time we were in the states by a young boy by the name of Joby Nash. We did a program in his sabbath school class in Collegedale and God touched his heart. He came to my house the next day and had presented me with a beautiful picture of the beach for me to look at while I am in Chad along with this special box. He handed it to me and it was all of his savings for a bike. But God had touched his heart and he told me that he wanted me to take it back to Chad and save a baby's life with it. I am happy to let him know that I used this money to pay for this baby boy that I love so much.
This just proves that you are never to young to make a difference. God can use anyone that is willing to listen. And I praise Him for providing all the needs to save this baby.
Thank you Joby and thank you God for saving lives.
Love and blessings,
Tammy Parker
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
One Day Hospital Project….
Dear Friends and Family,
The new "one day hospital" project is here! For the last five months we have been under fire to get things done around here to be ready for the four containers that had all the new buildings in them. Ground needing clearing, extra dirt brought in for leveling the area that we would put cement slabs. A compactor machine was needed for preparing the ground for all the slabs that needed to be poured. Metal brought in for putting in the slabs. Then one of the most challenging was the cement itself. Where to find hundreds of bags in a country like this was difficult. Then the challenge did not stop there because to get the cement here was another challenge in itself. If you can remember our flooding and water problems, well this created a problem with the roads. Then to bring in load after load after load of gravel and sand. Managing the workers that numbered from 10-75 on certain given days. Preparations needed to be made for Maranatha to come in to help put up the structures. Lots of emails and phone calls from the states to get this project to be a success and right in the middle of it all is Jamie.
This project of the "one day hospital" started back when we were in the states on our furlough during the months of April - July. Dr. Olen had met Garwin McNeilus when Garwin brought his granddaughter Athens to Bere to work in the Nutrition center. During his short visit to Bere he noticed many of our great needs. He instantly began to talk with Olen and then Jamie while we were in the states. Then when he got back to the states we made a quick trip to Minnesota so Jamie could help design the "one day hospital" and they could talk about our needs. And ever since it has been a non stop focus on what needs to be done next to get the project done.
As soon as we got back to Africa the preparations for the slabs where being done. Mr. McNeilus sent 11 men over here from Uganda and from Zambia. These guys have worked with Mr. McNeilus before pouring slabs so the training needed was very limited and they have been such a blessing to the project and Jamie. They just jumped right in there and got one job after another done.
It took a long time to complete the cement slabs because each one had to be done by pushing one wheel barrel full of mixed cement and then another. It also took some time to get the containers here. There was an incident of a man taking some money that was to be used to get the containers here. That wasted some time and added a lot of frustration. But another man was found to get the containers here and extra money was sent. And it was such a happy day when we heard the big trucks outside the gate with all the containers, all but one. But that one finally showed up too a little while later.
Garwin McNeilus flew in to help with the final touches before the containers arrived and then he helped organize the process of getting everything off the containers and how things should be laid out to be most efficient. It was crazy to see how much stuff could be put into those containers. Garwin's crew has all of the packing down to a science. All the guys that helped load the containers in the states where here to help unload them and start the process of building the structures.
We now have all the structures up for a 4 room hotel, many duplexes, some smaller volunteer housing and 3 bigger houses. But that is not all! A new maternity ward, operating room, private ward, dentist building and aids health building. Five pavilions have been put up. One pavilion is for the school and church to use. Another pavilion is for the volunteer housing. Then the other three are for the new part of the hospital. So exciting! It is looking so great!
It is such a blessing to have these buildings sent here. I know that many people have been a part of getting these things here like Maranatha and Adventist Health International and many other individuals. But, I want to give a special thank you to Garwin McNeilus for all the time, energy and money that he himself has put into this project. I just know that God will bless him for what he has done here in Bere. I know right now we only have structures but what can be done inside those buildings is what is going to save souls for the kingdom. To be a part of this has been a blessing to our family. An enormous amount of work, but a blessing.
Jamie and I have worked as a team to help this project to be a success. But the man that really deserves kudos is Jamie. I am so proud of the work he has done here. His heart has been poured into this project. He has had to work all hours at different times to get everything here to get the job done. He didn't do it alone, and he had lots of helpers, but to be over a project like this was a big job. But he tells me that when you have an employer like God, He gives you the strength and the knowledge you need. He has told me that many times he had to pray for an answer on how to get a job done that may look impossible in a country like this one but God always helps Jamie work it all out.
Jamie will be working on these buildings for the next year putting in electric, plumbing, walls and who knows what else but, it is amazing to see how far they have come already.
Well, we just wanted to share what Jamie's life has been all about since we have been back. Here are a few pictures of the new addition.
Love and blessings,
Tammy Parker
Saturday, February 9, 2013
The Justice System in Chad
The Justice System in Chad
It was a beautiful sabbath day. All the volunteers came over for a potluck lunch after church. It is the only day of the week that we don't have a guard on the premisses. So this day one of the volunteers from Bendalay brought the new motorcycle she has been using here. She left it outside the gate because there was no one around to unlock the front gate. No one thought anything of it because they do it all the time. After lunch a few of us went down the road about five miles to do what we call a branch sabbath school. It is mainly children that gather under a mango tree to listen to a short bible story and sing a few songs but our hope is that the attendance will continue to grow and maybe one day we can put up another one day church.
It wasn't until everyone got back that this volunteer went to get her motorcycle but it wasn't there. She came to our house to ask if one of us moved it but there was no one. Everyone goes out looking for it. I get on the phone with our normal guard to tell him to keep his eyes open for it and to tell his friends too and we will give a reward. After about an hour of looking and walking down the road asking people we have nothing. We all gather together in our living room and we decide that we need to pray about it and give it to Him. All of this is all God's stuff anyways.
Someone called Fredrick, this is one of the locals that do a lot of our translating. The guy that called Fredrick told him that he knew where the motorcycle was. He saw it out in the bush somewhere and he also saw who took it. Jamie and some of the other guys go out to look for it and sure enough there it was. Someone was stashing it until they could come back and get it. The guy had cut a lot of the wires already so it was not drivable but they pushed it all the way back. We were so amazed that we got it back. God is good! We had a short prayer to thank God for His never ending love and His concern even about the little things. We knew who took it and decided to wait until morning to talk to the police. Oh and by the way, we figured out that this was taken between 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm in broad day light. Unbelievable!
When Jamie went with Fredrick to report the stolen motorcycle they were told that there was nothing they could do because they know that kid and he steals all the time but he does not have any money so there wasn't much they could do. And that was that! Finished! Later Jamie was told that the best thing we can do is get a bunch of big guys together and go to the guys house and beat him up. That is the justice system here. Crazy!!!
The very next day Jamie was called into the justice office because there was a guy that wanted money from Jamie for bringing gravel to the job sight. Now I'm sure you are thinking that Jamie should pay someone if they brought gravel and we think so too if Jamie had asked for it. This guy brought three loads without being asked. Jamie told him to come and get it because he was not going to pay for it. We don't need it and didn't order it. This guy just wanted money. He had been asking Jamie for the money for the past two weeks and even brought a big guy overt to talk to Jamie to intimidate him but Jamie never did budge so then they went to the police. Jamie ended up having to pay for it he was given no choice. What is wrong here? It is things like this that makes you crazy. And to make us even more crazy this same guy asked Jamie if he could bring him a truck load of sand. Jamie just looked at him like are you crazy? No!
Love,
Tammy
It was a beautiful sabbath day. All the volunteers came over for a potluck lunch after church. It is the only day of the week that we don't have a guard on the premisses. So this day one of the volunteers from Bendalay brought the new motorcycle she has been using here. She left it outside the gate because there was no one around to unlock the front gate. No one thought anything of it because they do it all the time. After lunch a few of us went down the road about five miles to do what we call a branch sabbath school. It is mainly children that gather under a mango tree to listen to a short bible story and sing a few songs but our hope is that the attendance will continue to grow and maybe one day we can put up another one day church.
It wasn't until everyone got back that this volunteer went to get her motorcycle but it wasn't there. She came to our house to ask if one of us moved it but there was no one. Everyone goes out looking for it. I get on the phone with our normal guard to tell him to keep his eyes open for it and to tell his friends too and we will give a reward. After about an hour of looking and walking down the road asking people we have nothing. We all gather together in our living room and we decide that we need to pray about it and give it to Him. All of this is all God's stuff anyways.
Someone called Fredrick, this is one of the locals that do a lot of our translating. The guy that called Fredrick told him that he knew where the motorcycle was. He saw it out in the bush somewhere and he also saw who took it. Jamie and some of the other guys go out to look for it and sure enough there it was. Someone was stashing it until they could come back and get it. The guy had cut a lot of the wires already so it was not drivable but they pushed it all the way back. We were so amazed that we got it back. God is good! We had a short prayer to thank God for His never ending love and His concern even about the little things. We knew who took it and decided to wait until morning to talk to the police. Oh and by the way, we figured out that this was taken between 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm in broad day light. Unbelievable!
When Jamie went with Fredrick to report the stolen motorcycle they were told that there was nothing they could do because they know that kid and he steals all the time but he does not have any money so there wasn't much they could do. And that was that! Finished! Later Jamie was told that the best thing we can do is get a bunch of big guys together and go to the guys house and beat him up. That is the justice system here. Crazy!!!
The very next day Jamie was called into the justice office because there was a guy that wanted money from Jamie for bringing gravel to the job sight. Now I'm sure you are thinking that Jamie should pay someone if they brought gravel and we think so too if Jamie had asked for it. This guy brought three loads without being asked. Jamie told him to come and get it because he was not going to pay for it. We don't need it and didn't order it. This guy just wanted money. He had been asking Jamie for the money for the past two weeks and even brought a big guy overt to talk to Jamie to intimidate him but Jamie never did budge so then they went to the police. Jamie ended up having to pay for it he was given no choice. What is wrong here? It is things like this that makes you crazy. And to make us even more crazy this same guy asked Jamie if he could bring him a truck load of sand. Jamie just looked at him like are you crazy? No!
Love,
Tammy
Friday, February 8, 2013
A Christmas Program Ends in Disaster
I wrote this blog back in December. When I got my computer fixed that month I lost 3 letters I wrote. So I will be sending out two that I found in cyberspace. So if you read it and see that it is outdated like this one, you will understand why.
Dear Friends and Family
Dear Friends and Family
I can't believe it is the holidays already. It is definitely different here during the holidays. You almost have to remind yourself because you don't have the constant holiday reminders in all the stores or on the television like you do in the states. There is nothing like that here. The weather is still just as hot as ever during the day but it is cooling down in the evenings. We do what we can to keep the kids and the volunteers in the holiday spirit.
Speaking of one of the volunteers we have three new student missionaries that I have not really introduced you to yet and they have already been here for over 3 months. One is Ross a pre-med student from Andrews University. He has been helping out in the lab at the hospital and learning about the tropical illnesses here. He has also been going on rounds with the doctors and also has had many hours in the operating room He is such a joy to have around here. He has a very inquisitive mind. I love to hear what he has to say because he is always teaching me something new or making me think about things that I never really spent time thinking about. He also has a great sense of humor and I can always be guaranteed to be laughing any time we are together.
Another volunteer that is blessing here is Kristin Chung. She too is a pre-med student from Andrews. She has jumped right into doing everything and anything she can to serve the hospital even leading out the janitor crew. This seems like such a small roll but it really isn't. I think that cleanliness is what the hospital struggles with the most in this third world country. She is also working on project 21 a couple of days a week. For those of you who do not know what this is, well it is a project where you go out into the villages around Bere giving medical education. She also recently organized a very successful, two week, evangelistic series at the hospital. I am telling you these volunteers are very self driven which are great characteristics to have here. They are a real blessing to have around.
The one volunteer that our family has worked the most with is Jordan. She is an English major that chose to work at the primary school here in Bere teaching English. It has been no easy task but she has stuck in there. She loves to work with kids and read and teach. She has a real energy that lights up a room and our family has been blessed to have her tutoring Brichelle everyday. She comes to the house everyday at 8:30 and works with Brichelle on her school work no matter how crazy things get at our house they are staying very focused. I can't say enough good about her and what she means to our family. I will be forever in her debt. Recently she came to me with the idea of doing a Christmas program at the school with the students. When she mentioned it I jumped on it. I have always wanted to do a program or some kind of outreach with the students but knew that it was too big of a task alone. So we agreed to do this together and go for it. So now we are having a Christmas program on the evening of December 20th. I am so excited about this. This will be a big outreach to the community and this is exactly the kind of thing I have been looking toward to do with the kids but just needed the help. We are working everyday with the kids on their memory verses about the birth of Christ and songs and even a little play that Jordan wrote. She did such a great job. II will keep you inform on how it goes. This is the first time ever that this has ever been done here in this area. I have asked some kids about the story of the birth of Jesus and some tell me they just don't remember how it goes. The bible is just not as available to them. I am very excited to see how it goes. A thousand invitations have gone out. It may be more than we can handle but if it works out what a great outreach. Keep us in prayer!
Thanks for being a great support to us in all of this. We can't do any of this without you. We couldn't even be here without your help. Thank you for untying my hands financially where we can just move forward like this when an idea comes up. May God bless you all during this season as we think about the great gift that God gave to us.
Speaking of one of the volunteers we have three new student missionaries that I have not really introduced you to yet and they have already been here for over 3 months. One is Ross a pre-med student from Andrews University. He has been helping out in the lab at the hospital and learning about the tropical illnesses here. He has also been going on rounds with the doctors and also has had many hours in the operating room He is such a joy to have around here. He has a very inquisitive mind. I love to hear what he has to say because he is always teaching me something new or making me think about things that I never really spent time thinking about. He also has a great sense of humor and I can always be guaranteed to be laughing any time we are together.
Another volunteer that is blessing here is Kristin Chung. She too is a pre-med student from Andrews. She has jumped right into doing everything and anything she can to serve the hospital even leading out the janitor crew. This seems like such a small roll but it really isn't. I think that cleanliness is what the hospital struggles with the most in this third world country. She is also working on project 21 a couple of days a week. For those of you who do not know what this is, well it is a project where you go out into the villages around Bere giving medical education. She also recently organized a very successful, two week, evangelistic series at the hospital. I am telling you these volunteers are very self driven which are great characteristics to have here. They are a real blessing to have around.
The one volunteer that our family has worked the most with is Jordan. She is an English major that chose to work at the primary school here in Bere teaching English. It has been no easy task but she has stuck in there. She loves to work with kids and read and teach. She has a real energy that lights up a room and our family has been blessed to have her tutoring Brichelle everyday. She comes to the house everyday at 8:30 and works with Brichelle on her school work no matter how crazy things get at our house they are staying very focused. I can't say enough good about her and what she means to our family. I will be forever in her debt. Recently she came to me with the idea of doing a Christmas program at the school with the students. When she mentioned it I jumped on it. I have always wanted to do a program or some kind of outreach with the students but knew that it was too big of a task alone. So we agreed to do this together and go for it. So now we are having a Christmas program on the evening of December 20th. I am so excited about this. This will be a big outreach to the community and this is exactly the kind of thing I have been looking toward to do with the kids but just needed the help. We are working everyday with the kids on their memory verses about the birth of Christ and songs and even a little play that Jordan wrote. She did such a great job. II will keep you inform on how it goes. This is the first time ever that this has ever been done here in this area. I have asked some kids about the story of the birth of Jesus and some tell me they just don't remember how it goes. The bible is just not as available to them. I am very excited to see how it goes. A thousand invitations have gone out. It may be more than we can handle but if it works out what a great outreach. Keep us in prayer!
Thanks for being a great support to us in all of this. We can't do any of this without you. We couldn't even be here without your help. Thank you for untying my hands financially where we can just move forward like this when an idea comes up. May God bless you all during this season as we think about the great gift that God gave to us.
After the christmas grogram:
The Christmas program was a success. The kids did a great job with their songs and memory verses. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the program. Something funny that happened was as soon as our Mary was going to get on the donkey it was having a baby. Everyone laughed and so she had to just walk onto the stage with Joseph. We were told later that it is good luck because most people do not even get to see a donkey being born here. Then I had the idea to give them free juice and cookies afterwards. Boy was that stupid. I will never ever do something like that again. A big group of people like we had just can't control themselves. Long story short is that we got mobbed. Naomi was there with us helping us and she literally got run over and stomped on. I couldn't believe it! It was overwhelming to be right in the middle of it. It was so out of control that Jamie was worried for my safety because he saw everyone pushing and screaming and out of control and I was right in front int he middle of it all. Our thoughts were to just get everything inside the compound. As we were running for safety the crowd started to steal everything. We had mats set out for them and they stole some of those things and other things that we had on the stage. I was really sad that it ended like that but I guess I will know that it is a lesson learned that we can't give away free stuff to a crowd of people like that. I think it is really sad that a spiritual program had to end like that. But I guess Satan always tries to get the last word in. I am ashamed to say that once we had everything inside I was shouting telling everyone to go home. I was sad that at the end my heart was hardened toward the people. So I thought it was a success but ended in a disaster.
Love,
Tammy
The Christmas program was a success. The kids did a great job with their songs and memory verses. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the program. Something funny that happened was as soon as our Mary was going to get on the donkey it was having a baby. Everyone laughed and so she had to just walk onto the stage with Joseph. We were told later that it is good luck because most people do not even get to see a donkey being born here. Then I had the idea to give them free juice and cookies afterwards. Boy was that stupid. I will never ever do something like that again. A big group of people like we had just can't control themselves. Long story short is that we got mobbed. Naomi was there with us helping us and she literally got run over and stomped on. I couldn't believe it! It was overwhelming to be right in the middle of it. It was so out of control that Jamie was worried for my safety because he saw everyone pushing and screaming and out of control and I was right in front int he middle of it all. Our thoughts were to just get everything inside the compound. As we were running for safety the crowd started to steal everything. We had mats set out for them and they stole some of those things and other things that we had on the stage. I was really sad that it ended like that but I guess I will know that it is a lesson learned that we can't give away free stuff to a crowd of people like that. I think it is really sad that a spiritual program had to end like that. But I guess Satan always tries to get the last word in. I am ashamed to say that once we had everything inside I was shouting telling everyone to go home. I was sad that at the end my heart was hardened toward the people. So I thought it was a success but ended in a disaster.
Love,
Tammy
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