The Food.

Some have been asking us about the food here. Well, in a word wonderful! The only thing that has been hard to stomach for all of us is their plums. They are not sweet but very bitter. The people boil them for a few minutes then fry them in hot oil for another minute or two. Dana was the only one that got through the whole thing and that was with the help of a little sugar packet from the plane. That has been the only speed bump in our eating experience. The rest has been AMAZING! From the jellof rice to the ndolei to the wonderful tilapia fish and home made fries that we had tonight, and lets not forget about their aboundant fruit supply including the delicious mangoes that we can pick from our porch. Everything is a little different than you would expect, but always good. They even found a way to make greens taste good. Drew and Sheryl found coke to drink and the rest of us enjoy that too but we are trying to drink a lot of water. They have a very good drink here called d'juno. It is a fruity drink that is a little like fruit punch. Almost everything we can compare to something we have at home. Their pumpkin tastes like potatoes, their bread and pineapple jam tastes like pineapple upside-down cake, their pears are avocados, their oranges and lemons are green. Everything seems a little backwards here, but what an experience! We were thinking we would come back 15# lighter but with this food we are afraid we will come back with some unwanted, excess baggage. There has only been one or two times that some of us have had something not agree with our stomachs. So far our biggest problems has been trying to think how to sneak some of this great food back home with us.

Drew sharing the message with Liberman

What used to be Dana's curling iron.

Today Mr. Drew(as they call him here) worked with a man that works here named Liberman on fixing up one of the classrooms. Later Drew sat down and shared the Basic message of the Bible(that Eric Himelick showed us at our revival). Liberman's eyes lit up and he thanked Drew for sharing it with him and said he had been waiting to find some way he could witness to others. What a great feeling to be able to bring a needed message. They are the same age and both have two children so they are finding a lot in common. Drew is invited to share the basic message of the Bible with Liberman's soccer team. He is excited about the way the Lord is opening doors. The girls enjoyed a nice hike down and back up the mountain/ very big hill today. It felt great to stretch their legs and get some exercise. We worked all day on preparing for the teachers conference and preparing pictures for Mrs. Chamberlin's blog and cause on facebook. God has answering prayer and we are excited to be in His Service.

Pictures

Sunday Church service, Monday, & Tuesday

We came into church to the sound of singing and drums. It was a nice welcoming sound. They sing for about 45 minutes before they start any preaching. As we came in a lady greeted us and led us straight to the front seats so everyone could look at us. The music was amazing. Sheryl did the best with the rythym while the rest of us tried to clap along, but after awhile the song leader broke into, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" the Spirit of God was felt and when God is there you can not help but feel at home. The children did a song called "Making Melodies". It had plenty of motions with it and it was such a joy to see & hear the children. God is so good! The jet lag was pretty strong so the eyes were feeling pretty heavy by the end.
We went upstairs to the appartment for a nice lunch and then rest. For the next two days we got to rest up some, tour the mission compound, and meet the orphans and staff here. They are all so nice and welcoming.
On Monday, we slept in a bit, jet lag was still impacting us. We made a trip into the city, checked out the market, and exchanged some money. Most stores are the size of a small bedroom. It was raining so we did not explore to much. We are saving that for another day. Many discussions took place, along with planning how the rest of our time would be spent.
On Tuesday we were able to start some projects and finally get through on the internet which made a world of difference to us. We all had a big sigh of relief as we finally connected. We are happy to be here but we need that connection with home. Thank you for all of the prayers and the ones who have left us notes on our blog and e-mails. They are so great to receive. We will do our best to be worthy of your support and show Jesus to all we meet.
Haley was able to celebrate her birthday with the orphans (although it was 2 days later) by taking her birthday cakes (Little Debbies) & popcorn, down to share with them. We also enjoyed a special time of singing with 3 of the young people.

Pictures to view

We are going to post pictures on Dana's facebook for now, until we figure out how to get them on the blog.