Steve was gone all morning and part of the afternoon; today was the monthly evangelists’ and church leaders’ class. Steve passed out another of the lessons that the ladies at Bethel have prepared for the churches. He always teaches the lesson to the men in its entirety so the men know the story well enough to teach it to the children. Most of the time they use the same material and teach the adults too. Today’s lesson was about Joseph and Pharoah’s dreams. When Steve was preparing for the class, we talked about the need to make sure that the men realized that God does not reveal things in dreams today. Because of the Juju (witch doctors) and soothsayers the people here believe that dreams have meanings. The dreams are believed to have been sent by their ancestors or the gods. They believe in many gods. If you did not realize that we are not living under Old Testament times it would be easy to become confused as to whether or not our dreams today are trying to tell us something about the future.
Zorash came to the Child Center this morning. She brought a mother of a baby that had a hair lip. The lady lives a long way away from us. She lives halfway between Yendi and Tamale. Since the baby has a hair lip, she cannot breast feed and needs formula. The baby is 3 months old. She took the baby to Tamale to see about getting the hair lip repaired but the doctor told her that the baby was too low weight to have the surgery. Upon investigation we figured out that the mother was using enemas a lot on the baby and that she was not mixing the formula correctly. She was only mixing 2 teaspoons of formula into a full cup of water. It is a wonder the baby’s weight was as good as it was considering the tiny amount of food that it was getting. The strange thing about this case is that the mother also has had a hair lip cleft palate repair and the mother’s first set of children were twins, a boy and a girl. The girl had a hair lip cleft palate too. That must mean that hair lips can be genetic. At least this family knows about them and is not afraid that the child is evil.
We thought that we were going to get a rain; the wind blew up and we heard a few drops hitting the tin roof but then it all disappeared. Maybe it will come back around later this evening.
Still no sign of my purse! You guys have to be as tired of hearing about that purse as I am of hunting for it! Ha!
Please keep the evangelists and church leaders in your prayers as they travel home this evening.
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I have learned to take off my diaper! Isn’t that clever of me? The diapers are disposable and have that Velcro type closure. Mom modifies the diapers to fit me; she cuts a hole for my tail. She also puts them on backward so the tabs are in the back which makes it harder for me to reach. On top of that she puts tape on the tabs as an extra precaution. It is difficult for me to get the tape off but if I can ever get it started, I can pull it off and then the tabs are easy to open. I don’t take my diaper off very often; only when I am bored and have nothing else to occupy my time! It takes a tremendous amount of effort to find the end of that tape! If I am playing outside on the veranda or climbing in the mango tree, I do not wear a diaper. Mostly I only wear one when I am in the house in the bedroom. Once it is off I start tearing it apart; the tabs are the first thing to go and then the fluff from inside! I enjoy making a mess!
Donkey was walking like he was crippled again today! Mom asked him if he was wearing his back brace. He said he was not because it was not his back that was hurting; pain was shooting down his leg. Mom tried to explain that the pain was coming from his back but he did not believe her. Mom told him to go to the doctor but he refused. He said that he would go on Monday if the pain was not any better. I am only a monkey but I know he should go to the doctor!
Houdini Strikes Again!
Love, Skeeter
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