There's a Hole in the Middle of the Road

It was a good day. Absolutely unbearably hot. Sweat-dripping (actually "running"), fading-in-the-heat kind of hot. But a really good day. A bumpy, bottom-numbing, pins-and-needles-on-the-steering-wheel, long, two-hour drive kind of journey. I nearly drove us into a hole, a big hole in the middle of the road. Later, on the return journey, even in second gear we struggled as we clamoured up the rocks between the potholes. But it was a really good day! We went to meet with the Pentecostal church in Itunundu, a small group of about 25 people who have invited us to work with them to run a stoves project in their community. Tim preached on Abraham and there was lots of enthusiastic active singing. It was just good to be there.




I

Peering into the abyss. One of several culverts collapsing on the Pawaga roads.
We had a close call with the second!

Driving along on the way there, with the song "King of Wonders" blaring out (with us all joining in), it was so easy to see the amazing wonder of all that God has made as we drove down into the Rift Valley taking in the vast beauty of the area. And although the rains have not been a positive thing for the road, they have certainly helped the land which is now lushly green. God's glory displayed. And then later, walking slowly from the church to the pastor's house with Martina, a lady struggling to walk and work with a lame leg, yet who had just led us in such exuberant worship. Again, God's glory displayed. Yes, for all of us there are sometimes holes in the middle of the road; sometimes we can slowly work around it, sometimes we may even fall in, but ultimately in carrying on in all that we are given to do, in all this is God's glory. (John 17:4). God's glory revealed is an amazing thing!





Our possible new house in Kimande

 

As you might guess by Tim's boots in the photo, the heavens suddenly opened and there was the most incredible rainstorm. Deafening. Wet, very wet! We were concerned about the road back as we sat under the slightly leaking roof waiting for it to stop, but we soon realised that the storm was incredibly localised and when we got 20 minutes down the road to Magozi, there had been no rain at all. So apart from dodging the steadily-collapsing culverts, we made it home just fine in time for tea!

Saturday was busy with errands in town... including one very important errand at a café to reward Amisadai and Louisa for their school housepoints! We were also working on our new experimental "key hole garden" which we are testing in our own garden before attempting in the village. I will say no more as it is Amisadai's homework to write an explanatory text on its benefits and how to build one, so check her blog later! As you will see in the girls' blog, our cheese-making this week was focussed on the whey cheese of Scandinavia (and not terribly popular!). The patchwork is progressing slowly, we now have triangles sewn together and our next task is to start sewing the squares together. Lucy is enjoying it and it makes a fun joint activity for all of us.

Now, as we begin this week, we are sorting out a dentist appointment for Tim who seems to have a tooth problem. So he will be heading off to Dar es Salaam on Wednesday for an appointment on Thursday and return on Friday (miss you down the road, Mark Holley!). The girls and I are considering going as far as Morogoro to stay with our friends, Matt and Amy Dixon, while he does that, but it's all a little busy here at the moment and we're not too sure what we'll do!