A Bit Overdue....

6-10-09

This entry might be kind of long, so I apologize in advance. I’ve been trying to make separate posts since so much has been happening over the past couple of days, but have been deterred by the fact that the internet has been inaccessible. I’ll try to narrow it down to the highlights.

Tuesday, we spent a lot of time at the CLAPAI house. I was so excited because I got to draw water from a well for the first time today! I know that’s incredibly ridiculous and somewhat silly to say, but it was such a highlight of my day. I mean, we’re talking about throwing a black plasticky bag attached to a rope down into this deep hole, letting it sink, and then pulling it up as fast as possible because there were holes in the bag! Haha Oh, I wish I had taken a picture!

One of the other projects of the day was to fill in a giant hole in their “yard.” Most of the team worked on that for a majority of the morning, and to celebrate, decided to start a game of football (soccer). Holy wow are some of these kids good at soccer! I can’t get over how quick and coordinated they are, or how they play barefoot! It was a blast!

That night, I also had to take a shower by the light of a flashlight since, once again, we had no electricity… It was a wind-up flashlight, so it kept dying. It really was the most awkward shower of my life.

Yay for Tuesday!

On to Wednesday….

Our theme this summer is “Shelter” as I may have mentioned before. Well, today, God showed me His shelter firsthand. I was so frazzled this morning and just feeling pulled in 7 different directions. I couldn’t seem to find a quiet moment to just gather my thoughts and ask God to give me strength for the day. At our meeting this morning, I was really blown away by the statement our staff made. They told us that today was going to be trying and wear on us. So if we hadn’t spent any quiet time with God, tell the other interns, drop everything we were supposed to be doing, and go do that first. It was THAT important to them.

Of course, though, I didn’t do that…. I’m so stubborn. Instead, I took 2 minutes out (while making water) to send up a prayer that God would quiet me and just fill me with Him. Well, that’s about all the “me time” I had before getting on the bus to go pick up the kids. So I was feeling drained and tired even before the day really started. Well, one thing about me: I feel that God tends to use music to speak to me. That’s just one of the ways that I get to connect to Him and feel renewed. So, we picked up the kids (we had 3 buses), and I was trying to figure out ways to entertain the 10 in our car for the full hour drive. Well, god decided I wouldn’t have to. As soon as we started rolling away from their house, they started singing. They sang the whole way! It was amazing. God was able to turn my whole day around by providing me shelter with all those moments.

Our day with the kids consisted of a 2 and a half hour hike, with lunch somewhere in the middle. It was a beautiful, slow-paced hike. I was walking across this rickety bridge at one point with the kids, and Teyei, one of the girls I was holding hands with, was apparently afraid of heights. As we crossed she kept gripping on tighter and tighter until we reached the other side. When she let go of my hand, I could still see the marks from where it had been! It was just so crazy to me how much she trusted me in those moments and how scary it must have been to her.

When we got back from our hike, we realized we had some extra orange slices. After handing some out to the kids, we decided to offer the rest up to the villagers who so graciously allowed us to park our buses there to go on our hike. It’s so amazing how love spans the boundary of language. I don’t think either side understood the other, but the looks on their faces spoke so loudly. What was just “scraps” to us, was like treasure to them. The joy on their faces captures a moment and a hope my heart wishes it could capture and recreate forever.

Finally, we said goodbye to the kids. On our way over to the Oasis house (their new home just recently purchased), we took a shortcut through the Jos Army division, including the barracks and weapons area. Well, we got stopped by a security guard who told us that white people were not allowed to cross there…. Did we look that threatening?? Things worked out alright, no worries. It was just an odd situation.

When we got to the house, I worked with Tina, Jenny, and Marybeth to cut rebar with a grinder – never done that before! I was so excited. Don’t worry, there are pictures and video. There were sparks everywhere! We went through all four batteries before resorting to a hack saw. Haha Oh it was so much fun! Big picture: we were working to build a form to cover the septic tank. Once we finished, we helped the other teams tie together the rebar frames until it was time to leave. Just before leaving, we were certain to pray over the house. We (Tina and I paired up) went from room to room, laying hands on the walls and praying blessings over the future residents of the house. I hope the kids find a home there, a place they really feel that they belong.

Debrief also went well. I’m surprised how much I look forward to them and how much my attitude has changed about them since high school. Corrie told a story about chickens tonight. In Mexico there were these chickens that they would watch every morning as they tried to cross a pipe over a river to get to their food. They would take a wobbly step forward and a few wobbly steps back, then a few more steps forward, etc. until they finally made it to the other side. Apparently, it was a painstakingly slow process that would occur every morning and every night. Well, one day, someone decided to have some fun and scare the chickens. Upon doing this, their reaction was to fly across to the other side. Logically, one would think that this would make them realize the value in flying. But no, the very next day, they were back to wobbling across a pipe, very, very slowly.

Corrie related this to us and asked what we thought we were holding onto as our “pipe” when it could be so much easier (and quicker) to fly. What has God been asking us to let go of or what do we use as a crutch or what is holding us back? I think mine is believing the lie that I have nothing good to offer. I feel that holds me back from so much. I sell myself short all the time because I lack confidence in my abilities. I pray that God uses that realization to make a change in my life and begin transforming me in that area. Though it will be painful, I know it’s worth it. I think he calls us to put ourselves out there and always offer our best. My problem seems to be that I don’t know what that is in relation to me. Anyway, it’s something to think and pray over.

In other news, we have (well, as of 5 seconds ago, had) electricity!

I promise I’ll get the rest of the updates up as soon as possible. Thanks so much for reading (I know it’s long…). I also really appreciate the emails – they are such an encouragement here!