Steve is still trying to get the old van to start. He really thought that it was the alternator so he went to visit Gomda the mechanic. Gomda said that he wanted to come to the mission house and check the alternator. Steve gave him a ride back and it did not take long for him to figure out that the alternator was not working. They got the van started and Gomda took it to his shop. He also took the battery so he could drop it off at the battery repair guy to have it charged. Hopefully it will hold a charge but who knows!
We did 4 loads of laundry today; we don’t have a dryer so we hung them on the line. They were almost dry when it started sprinkling. Now we are not going to complain about the rain. When we heard the rain, we rushed out to get the clothes. We spread them around on the chairs in the living room. We were sad that the rain did not last very long but there was not enough sunshine left to put the clothes back on the line. They will just have to finish drying in the house.
Zorash called about the time we were getting ready to sit down for lunch. She wanted me to come and get the Shea butter that she bought for the Child Center while we were gone. After lunch I loaded 15 plastic buckets in green truck; each of the buckets hold
2 ½ gallons. It took us about an hour to get the Shea butter out of the calabash gourds that she bought it in and into the plastic buckets. We ran out of buckets and had to bring the last 1 ½ calabash gourd to the mission house in a large plastic bag. The ladies that work the Child Center will use that butter first. We should have enough to last until next year’s Shea Butter harvest.
Steve pulled the tire off the old van and took it to the tire shop to have a new inner tube put in it; the valve stem was leaking. The tire shop will use the old tube to make rubber ties. The rubber ties are excellent to tie things to motorcycles; sort of like bungie cords. Many of the tubes can be repaired and used again.
Steve said that yesterday one of the church leaders told the men in the class that his wife had been bitten by a snake while she was working in the farm and she had to have 2 vials of anti-snake venom medicine. The class took up a contribution to help the brother with the cost of the medicine. Steve gave the rest of the money the man needed. Thank you for helping us with money for “whatever comes up”!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
Today when Gomda came to pick up the old van I was outside with Mom helping her hang clothes on the line. I got so scared that I started pulling her; I was on my leash. I was pulling her toward my jail cell only today it did not feel like a jail cell; it felt like a sanctuary! As soon as we got to the jail cell I climbed up the side and reached up and opened the door and rushed inside. I rushed in so fast that Mom had to pull me back a little so she could unclip the leash! It was an awfully frightening experience!
When Mom went to get the Shea butter from Zorash’s house she left Dad to babysit or should I say “monkey sit” for me. Anyway, she left me and Dad alone. Dad is great fun! He loves to wrestle as much as I do. We thought that Mom had left the house when she popped her head in the bedroom and scolded Dad for playing rough with me! Dad in turn threw me under the bus and said that I was the one that was attacking him! Really! We were both going at it and enjoying every minute!
The field corn is getting ripe in our area; the ladies on the street are roasting the corn over open charcoal fires to sell to people that walk past. The parents bought some of the uncooked corn and cut it into rings for me! The first time I saw it I was scared of it because it was still in the husk and there was something creepy about that hair sticking out of the end but today Mom gave me a piece and it was delicious! I will be looking forward to another piece of that!
Everyone has to have a place of sanctuary!
Love, Skeeter
