Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

Archive for December, 2008

As I sat in our daily devotion the other day, I noticed something peculiar: a handful of single missionary women and not one (ZERO, NADA) single missionary man, much less a handful of them. So, I looked at our branch poster. Across Tanzania and Uganda, we have twenty single missionary women serving. How many single missionary men? two. I wrote that in small letters because it is shameful to us as guys. Why do women in general have more of a heart for missions or… the Lost? This doesn’t just ring true in Ug and Tz. My last short term mission trip with Hickory Grove Baptist was of this makeup: 8 women, 2 men (both of us married but 6 of the women were single.)
So, what are single men lacking? Desire? Dedication? Faith? What is it? Just trying to understand so if you can help me out on this, please do.

It has 249 pictures from our recent trip to Nairobi.

I started editing RUTH and JONAH before we left for Nairobi last month. Since, I’ve only had a chance to work on it here and there especially with T’giving and this house problem of ours. But, I have finished JONAH and am almost half way done with RUTH. Next after that is pretesting a group of Kinga speakers. Problem is… rainy season. It rains more up in Makete (yes, we’re over a mile high and it is above us) than it does in Mbeya with dirt/mud roads for three out of the three and a half hours it takes to get there. So, if I end up traveling there to test, I’ll need to take the seven hour, better road route.

Some good news about the Sangu RUTH and JONAH cassette tapes. The Scripture Use Coordinator held a seminar out in the Sangu language area so I sent some more cassettes with her. She sold 20 of the 25 I sent with her. Might seem small beans but that is huge!

Items you’ll need:

1. Heat source. We use our gas stove but even a campfire can manage if you really want to be clean.
2. Boil-safe container preferably of considerable size with some sort of spout curvature to it as boiling water to the toes can ruin the entire shower experience. Watch your fingers, too.
3. Another even larger container for the mixing of the shower water. We use a big ol’ 10 gallon bucket. Don’t ask how me how many liters that is.
4. Something to dip into the shower water to use as a shower head. For this, we use a 2 gallon pitcher.
5. A private place that is clean and wettable. The living room, front porch and kitchen are all bad choices.
6. Water.

Here ya go… gather enough water to fill the #2 container. Place it directly over your heat source and bring to a boil. To prevent pain and permanent scarring, be sure to use pot holders or something of the like to remove the container from the heat. Minding your toes, pour the entire container full of water into the #3 container. Try not to fill this one more than 1/3 full unless you like your skin to peel off in the shower. You’ll need your regular water to fill in the other 2/3 to bring it to a nice temperature. You can figure out how to make it hotter or colder so have at it. Carry the #3 container to the selected showering area along with the dipper from #4. Now, most people find it easiest to shower by removing their clothing. This is your prerogative. I ain’t goin’ there. Don’t forget to dry off. That usually helps, too.

Welcome to our world. When will our electricity come back on? Dunno. I personally am trying to make adjustments for the long-term. I should be a master shower taker by next weekend.