What an adventure today has been!!
There had been a sprinkle of rain again last night and sleeping was comfortable with the fans running. Electricity was still on (just, we discovered:-))when Ray got up at 6am to find there was no water! Upon exploration he discovered that Joseph had known where to push the reset button for the pump and he heard the gurgle of water just beginning to flow up to refill the empty water tank. And then the electricity went off and the pump stopped! No electricity means no pump working; no pump means no water. Ray decided to try again to get the generator working, taking apart the filter where he had discovered yet another leak, all to no avail. That means no electricity for several hours at least, until there is enough solar collection to refuel the battery array past the cut-off threshold for producing electricity. OK! .... We had no water stored for such an emergency-- we will learn to be more prepared!
We had planned to attend the English speaking Sunday service in Bamako this morning, as it was a special wrap-up for the season and farewell for those departing Mali this summer. Just a 1/2 hour before we needed to leave, a donkey cart arrived with several of the yellow plastic jugs that one sees everywhere, oil jugs that have been pressed into service in their second career as water containers. We brought some of that water up to the apartment in our bucket, heated some on the stove for Ray to shave, got our basin baths and were on our way!
It was a lovely service with a full house in the upstairs (airconditioned!!) conference room; children, youth and adults gathered together this morning for worship, prayer and farewells. John & Julie are experienced at such gatherings and led us well, mixing in a "spelling test" (I am a "C", I am a "CH"...) to keep the little ones' interest as well. (I have never sung the version that replaces every word with an "icken" ending. "I am a Chicken, I am a Chicken, I am a Chicken Hicken Ricken Icken Sicken Ticken..." Very interesting! Chris Clugh would have been proud of us!)
After a time of prayer for one another, we finished by singing Sound of Music's Farewell song. How fitting! "So long, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, goodbye"-- in the many languages represented by these missions families.
One new friend invited us to join them at a small restaurant they know, where the food and service are good, and the prices reasonable--important considerations for eating out here. It was on the other side of the river--meaning away from home, and less familiar to us, but we decided that following them should enable us to get there with out getting lost. As we started across the bridge, one of our tires went flat! We had no choice but to proceed til we reached the other side, and pulled off onto the shoulder at the first available spot, a place where banana plants extend from the road to the river.
What to do?
Since we carried no spare (a flat earlier this week had not yet been repaired), and could not reach anyone at our base by phone (Paul has no phone at the moment, having had trouble and not yet getting it repaired) we called the contractor who is building the next house on the base, and he promised to go and try to make connections with Paul for us. Thankfully, Christian was able to communicate with him in French, and our experienced missionary friend communicated the need for our vehicle to remain at that spot til repairs (offering a small stipend for watching service), and we proceeded to the restaurant for a good lunch of boeuf kabobs and vegetables, washed down with a sweet, richly coloured hibiscus drink. We received a call from Paul before our food arrived at the table, and with Christian explaining the crisis, resolved that they would come and replace the wheel for us. Miraculously, they were there and gone before we finished our meal and we returned home without further incident. (Did I mention that we stopped to pray and ask God for His intervention in the midst of it all? :-)) Thank you, God, for your care of us.
Electricity was on again when we returned to the base in mid afternoon. We all got showers, talked to our kids via the wonders of Skype and Magic Jack, did work on our computers, and ate a supper of Malian spaghetti with the boys (boiled spaghetti noodles dressed with some oil and enough tomato and onion to slightly color it).
At 8pm a horn is blown. A Bible story and questions for all the boys takes place in the dining hall where we have all eaten, and where the street kids will sleep on their foam mats.Afterward, the resident kids and all the staff (except the gate guard, who is responsible for the street boys) go to the Livingroom for the Family meeting to end their day. Paul listens to the memory verse that each one is to pick from their reading of the day's assigned Bible Chapter, asks if there is any discussion of the days events, and prays a prayer of blessing over each one. I have been trying to "Catch them doing good", and compliment one of them on a good job done that day. Of course, with my lack of Bambara skills, I have to explain it to Paul who then passes it on to them in their native tongue. It has been fascinating to see them drinking up that encouragement. I must not let that slip away.
We finished the evening by playing a game of Quirkle with Joseph. Thanks to the Roxbury staff for buying that game for us. It is a great game that is not much hindered by language, once the rules are understood.
Be Blessed and be a blessing today!
My thanks for the day? I am thankful for an everpresent God, a protector and teacher who knows my name.
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