Bathing in the rain

Our water has been off. That's not so fun especially since we have visitors. (But we can make the most of the situation.)
I got out the rubbermaid trunks and put them all around the house under the rain downspouts from the gutters.
We waited and then it rained and filled all the trunks.
I put on my swim suit and bathed like I do all the time in the village. Kinley wanted to learn to bath from a bucket so I showed her how to get clean with just a little water.
It was funny.

Billy and Brenda have been here for nearly four weeks. I've been pretty busy most of the time.
We went to Rwebesengo and camped out next to the church building. The church sang and danced around the fire until 3AM.
We went to the churches in Kyenjojo and held a meeting. We took them on Safari to Mweya where we saw lions, elephants, hippos etc...
We went on the boat to Camp Saaka.
The old pickup has broken down several times. Once on the way back from the game park!
I sent Cheryl home with the kids and all the stuff in the Landcruiser. Billy and I stayed with the pickup stranded on the dirt road. We cut green bushes and put them in the road with large rocks. (Local road flares.)
We took the truck apart and removed the radiator. I called Ronald and he got a mechanic and before coming from Fort Portal, they went and found a guy with the same kind of truck as ours. He was willing to rent us his radiator for $10! They took his radiator out and brought it to me. It wasn't the right size. Hakuna Matata! We tied the radiator in with ropes because the bolts didn't match up.
I didn't think about renting a radiator!
With the hood tied down and the radiator tied on we drove slowly in the dark for over and hour. We made it home safely.

Only in Africa!!!

Let there be light

God said, "let there be light and there was light." That is so cool!
We have had the hardest time getting lights in the house with power off all of the time.
Well we now have light!!!!!!
I bought a big inverter/battery charger in kampala. We have been working on this for several days. Today, Derrick brought the electrician back and we rewired the lights in the house so the inverter will power them. Now when the electricity goes off the inverter automatically kicks on. The lights always stay on!
We have been using, generators, kerosene lamps, candles, and all kinds of things. now we have light all the time!
Wow.

38

The Buganda king doesn't say how many years old he us but how many years young. Well, I turned thirty eight years young today. Cheryl brought me breakfast in bed and I watched the movie Cave. Derrick came and I had two hours of language and culture lessons before going to the discipleship lunch. He brought me a small drum as a gift. Thanks Derrick!
At the discipleship lunch we shared our dreams for the future of the church. We had a great discussion. The men encourage me every week. I'm proud of these guys.
We have visitors with us from Oregon. Billy, Brenda and their son Jacob have been fun.
Derrick and I also worked on wiring up our new transformer/battery charger system so we can have power. We didn't get it all figured out before dark so we had to run the generator.
Chery cooked a nice dinner and we had a little birthday party. The apple pie and cherry cheese cake were wonderful!
Cheryl's Dad called and we had a nice talk. (Thanks for calling Lynn.)
It's been a good day.

Sunday

We were having a nice church service at the school where we meet. The children had gone to Bible class and Dick was preaching. He said "We as Christians are followers of Jesus Christ and we are more than conquerors!"
I noticed a man standing outside the doorway and he looked angry. He was wearing his Muslim prayer cap and clothes. This is Ramadan a Holy week for people who follow that religion.
I hoped that he had not misunderstood what Dick was preaching. He paced back and forth and then walked away. He came back several times. One of the Christians talked with him and came back in and whispered to Ronald.
I could tell by the look on Ronald's face that something wasn't right. He leaned over to me and said, "Do you see the mats on the floor?"
"Ya, I saw the vinyl flooring when we arrived." I responded
"Those are Muslim prayer mats! We have been walking all over them and even have the communion table set on them." Ronald said.
"Are you serious?"..."That's not good."I said

Ronald and I both were feeling the nervous tension. We looked at our watches and tried to figure out what to do. This could get ugly. Should we stop Dick while he is preaching? Or should we just let him finish?
"Lord, what should I do?"

Calmly the thought came to me, "show him Jesus"


When the Muslim man returned Ronald and I both went out to him. He looked angry.
We smiled at him. Shook his hand.
Wished him a happy Ramadan

And apologized

and apologized again

We explained how the mats were there when we arrived (I had arrived after the singing started because my clock on the TV changed by one hour so we were a little late. I still don't know how the clock changed.)
We meant no disrespect.

We apologized a third time. He accepted.

He apologized for interrupting our church service.

"You are welcome here anytime." I told him.

Dick finished his lesson and everyone bowed their heads in prayer.
"Through Jesus name we pray...Amen"
There were a couple of other Muslim youth who had also come to get the mats. I helped them move the tables and desks.
The Muslim man said, "You don't have to help us do this."
"I am happy to help you." I responded.

I asked him how his Ramadan has been and he told me that it has been good.

As he was leaving I said, "Have a happy Ramadan." (That is like saying Merry Christmas to a Christian)
He wished me one too!