Another week

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

We find ourselves at the end of week two in the bush, and what a week it was. I found myself thinking about what I would write because we don't have the same story to share as last week. It wasn't necessarily a bad week, but it was a more trying week with less connection. Although we had about the same amount of kids, we all seemed to struggle to communicate with them. Very few really understood English which made one on one interaction next to impossible for me. Once again, we were met by such a physical heaviness that loomed over us for a couple of days. I found myself asleep most of the first day, and then once VBS started, I would sleep during the lunch break. It was a hard week, but Psalm 121 was an encouragement to me. I listened to Bebo Norman's "Lift My Eyes" several times throughout the week which provided a boost for sure.

The village we were in was Nyemah which from the air appeared to be smaller than Gbarngay, but we quickly learned that at night the place was hoppin. We were told on day one that the school was were we would be meeting and that right behind it was were the bush society met. Once again, we were reminded that we were in the midst of spiritual darkness. Our first night there, I woke Lisa up to walk with me to the latrine which was located right next to the school. We were stumbling our way through the village around 9:45 when we heard someone yelling at us. I was just going to ignore him (probably not the wisest thought I have ever had), but Lisa started talking to him. Apparently he was trying to tell us that our house was the other way because he thought we were going into the bush. That would be a negative! You couldn't have paid me to set foot in there after dark. She informed him we were merely trying to go to the bathroom, and this seemed to settle him down. That was our only experience with him chasing us thank goodness. 

We taught the same curriculum as before, but this time mostly through an interpreter. This was hard for Lisa as she was used to being able to be understood. I found it easier because either way they struggled to understand me, so it made it seem like I wasn't just sinking alone in my communication. On day 2, the gospel was presented again, but this time the response was different. There was a time where it seemed like no one would respond. That was ok because we didn't want to force it, but it was a reminder that from village to village responses would be different. We just aren't sure how much was understood. By the end of the week, we think a couple of kids had a good understanding and one boy, Amos, is now in the family of Christ. We aren't sure where some of the others stand. 

It's been a busy weekend, and we are off to our next village tomorrow and will be back on Thursday. There is plenty more to tell, but it will have to wait til the weekend. Thanks so much for praying. Please continue. The village that we are heading into has over 250 kids for VBS. This could get interesting!