We still haven’t heard anything about the green pickup so I took the red pickup to the bush this morning. Since it is the newest of all the vehicles I try not to take it if I can help it because you never know when you need a vehicle to get to the airport if an emergency should arise; especially when living in West Africa.
Donkey informed us this morning the tractor from the palace was coming to plow the fields here on the property. During plowing season you don’t usually have the choice as to when a tractor can come; if you’re picky you may be waiting for a long time to get your field plowed.
When Timothy Niligrini arrived at 8:30 this morning we were ready to go. Our destination today was the village of Sakpei, 45 minutes east of Yendi. Shortly after our arrival it was time to preach. The congregation combined the bible class and preaching time together. My lesson dealt with finding what our hands can do for the Lord. Our hands do what our minds tell them so we have to have the right mindset to do the Lord’s work.
After the service closed we discussed their building plans. We gave some matching funds to make more concrete blocks. They were very happy to receive the money. This time instead of using sand which is expensive, they are going to use the gravel that is in their village to make the blocks. A small dump truck of local sand can cost $130 which is a lot of money for these people. I suggested using the gravel which would allow them to buy more bags of cement and reduce costs.
Our trip to greet the chief was interesting. Kandie was questioning the chief about some gourds that were hanging from the ceiling of his room. There were 4 or 5 of them and they had cowrie shells embedded in the shape of a “X” on the outside. The chief informed us these items were hats made by his forefathers that are worn during a time of war. They have Juju to protect the wearer from arrows and bullets. He declined Kandie’s request to take a photo of them. It is believed that taking a photo of items like this will nullify the magic placed on the pieces. When you go to war you want to pump up your warriors to fight; using these hats with magical powers helps to do that and sooth the mind of a young man going to war.
Before we went out to Kulkpeni tonight I had to go out and trim some tree limbs that were hanging over the wall beside the house. Skeeter was venturing out on the ends of the branches to look at the children. Some of the children were throwing rocks and sticks at him. We try to keep him out of sight because children and some adults here are terrible at teasing and mistreating animals.
That’s it for today. Hope you had a good one as well. Thanks for your support! May God bless!
In His service,
Stephen, Kandie & Skeeter
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