Gorden and Sally Tomason -- Update #6

I was reflecting this morning that having previous cross-cultural experience allows you to overlook some of the normal inconveniences here, like luxury toilet tissue, “the T.P. with a tooth.” Or our latest roast g-nut paste (peanut butter) with sim sim which if you read the ingredients has oil 44%, protein 37%, moisture 19% and P.S. ?? 33.12%. My calculator is obviously broken also as I cannot seem to get this to add up to 100% but never-the-less, I am all but certain P.S. must be good for you but there is no mention of sim sim!

You also learn the secrets here if you practice due diligence. For instance, we get four T.V. channels here rather poorly, and if you continue to turn the channel selector you find them all more than once, some you can see less clearly but the sound may be better, etc. The real secret, however, is that CNN can be found sometime early in the morning on some days. To exactly pinpoint this phenomenon is a bit harder for the muzungu mind but as I said with due diligence you can be assured of success.

There is a published schedule in one of the newspapers for the planned power outages that seemingly has not changed for a long time. This was a great discovery until Pastor Emma said that they had not followed the published schedule for quite a while. I will save some of my schillings. When you buy a new appliance or power tool here you must first pay, then you proceed to a fellow who gives you a replacement plug for the new item. As you exit the store you must then take the tool and the plug to the place where you would check your packages and then the fellow there will very rapidly, and with great expertise, replace the plug on the new tool (which has a Euro 220 plug) with a replacement U.K. 220 plug. This leaves you now to only find the correct outlet to plug into which sometimes happens.

The work site is going well even if we did have a “come to Jesus” meeting with the supervisors at the end of last week. The rainy season has come with a vengeance which is hampering our ability to cut dirt for additional foundations. Please pray that God would hold the rain for several days until we can make progress on the foundations. If He could hold the sun for Joshua, He can hold the rain for us. We have concluded the brickwork on the Boy’s dorm #1 and finished the foundations and floor slabs for Boy’s dorm #2 and for the two-story administration building. We are two days along with the brickwork on the Boy’s dorm #2 and we hope to be pouring the concrete columns on the administration building before the end of the week. The ring beam for Boy’s dorm #1 will begin on Monday. The trusses for the roof on Girl’s dorm #1 are in process of being installed. As you can see we still have four works in progress, but we are desperately trying to begin two more.

Sally continues to make slow but steady progress at the clinic and with the domestic engineering projects. She took Jean to the school to read to the children one day which they really enjoyed. We have just learned that Vincent, the young man Jean tutors, has just been chosen “Head Boy” at the school. He was voted by the students and would be similar to Student Body President in the States. It is a great honor for him and a wonderful reward for his character and hard work ethic. We have learned more about Vincent and his family. He is 15 and both parents died from AIDS. He has two brothers who are still living with extended family back in the village. He works for Pastor Emma to earn money and regularly takes the funds and returns to the village to financially support his brothers. Mom is making a significant contribution to his education and we are proud of them both.

I took off half of Friday last week and went to Owino Market with Sally and Allen just to experience the open market here. Open markets are normal for 90% of the fields of service we have been exposed to but this one was a surprise. The sheer size of the market is all but overwhelming and trying to follow each other in such a throng is like a serious game of hide-and-seek. One pleasant surprise is the floor of the market is mostly concrete with rain gutters down the center and consequently, the odor is much improved. You can purchase any food locally available here at the market and also most things like clothing, tools and equipment for all manner of building (carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc.) Even door, windows, burglar bars, etc are available if you know the area in which to look for it. Farm feed and agricultural accoutrement are available as well.

Two weeks ago on Saturday found us driving to Jinga, the Source of the Nile. We saw by boat the actual outlet of the river from Lake Victoria. Our boat guide said all the surrounding countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwawanda) all have incoming tributaries going into Lake Victoria, but there is only one outlet from the second largest lake in the world, the Nile River. We saw the concrete marker where the Nile’s length measurement takes place and the guide said water leaving today would average 3 km/hr, move 4000 miles and reach the ocean in 90 days. Many Nile perch weigh in excess of 100 pounds giving a different perspective of perch jerkin’ for us bassers. We were overwhelmed with the amount of wildlife around the Nile River. Most memorable were the monitor lizards, an abundance of birds, and a four foot cobra snake in a tree. We also went to Bunjigalli Falls and the view was breathtaking.

Easter here was very special. We had a very bad wind/rain storm during the night which was so strong it knocked our neighbor’s house down. Thankfully all 20 of the people (many children) that slept in this very small shack were not injured. It was truly miraculous when we surveyed the damage by daylight. It rained all day to let us know the rainy season is definitely here. In fact the rain on the church tin roof was so loud that we had a rain delay during the service. The roof leaks in several places so everyone moved their chairs to accommodate. Then when the rain did not let up we all scooted our chairs very close to the Pastor so we could hear the sermon. After church we went to the home of some missionaries here and had lunch with about 35 of the Bible College students who were not able to go home to their villages for the holiday. We ended the afternoon with some great singing (some in Swahili too). It was an Easter we will never forget.

The day after Easter I was off work so we went to the Botanical Gardens. They are huge and very beautiful. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the monkeys. We saw three different species that make their home there. We had a nice picnic and a three-hour walk (with lots of stops!) Mom was worn out!

Yesterday Sally and Mom went with a young man in the church, Tony, to do ministry in an outlying village. He has gone the last three Saturdays and is trying to reach out to the children in this predominantly Muslim neighborhood. Most of the children don’t go to school so when they get a crayon and a piece of paper they are thrilled. Sally told the story of Noah and the Ark and then retold it while the children acted out the story. They had never done any drama and needed quite a bit of coaching. After coloring they taught them a song and shared cookies. Many loved sitting on Ja Ja Jean’s lap. The mothers standing around seemed very appreciative as did the children. How much we take for granted in the States!

After church today we had 7 of the singles over for lunch and a planning meeting to help them get their ministry off the ground. It was a great time of fellowship and we look forward to seeing what God does with this wonderful group of young people. They are the first group of young people who grew up in the church and have now hit this stage of life. So they are charting new territory in the life of the church and for themselves. We will meet again here on Saturday evening for our next planning session.

Praise Items:

1. The power has been on much more consistently which has enabled much better sleep.

2. God has opened doors for ministry options with the children and with the singles.

3. A translator on the worksite which has greatly helped the “selective understanding” communication problems.

Please pray for:

1. Communication and relationships

2. The rain to hold off so the ground will dry enough to dig the foundations on the next two buildings. Rainless days so that the work can continue.

3. Wisdom as we seek to mentor and help the young people establish their singles group in the church

4. Wisdom for Sally in the clinic as she helps with administrative/organizational tasks that will help as they lose their second midwife in the last six weeks due to maternity leave. This leaves one nurse and one midwife on daytime hours to staff (nursing/pharmacy/money collector) the clinic which stays open 24/7.

Gorden, for the Muzungus

P. S. Please don’t see any of these reports as negative correspondence. I hope the updates help each of us to see the world differently. Different is not wrong, it’s just different. As North Americans we tend to think the “American way is the right way, the best way, and the Christian way. If this were true, then I wonder why God called His people first from Mesopotamia and why He sent His Son to Israel, one of the lowest habitable ditches on the face of our planet, to minister and be the Savior of mankind. Think about it!