March 2, 2011 CROSSED WIRES - etc

A friend of ours recently admitted that writing something to post on his blog is really a “heart thing”. And I have to agree with him. One doesn’t write because of a sense of duty, or to keep up with a regular schedule. It’s something that comes from the heart. So, if you notice that our blog notes are sporadic, maybe our heart skips a beat occasionally.

Crossed wires: Have you ever gotten the wrong meaning from what somebody said? Or maybe the facts you presented were misinterpreted after transmission. We call this getting the wires crossed. Well, here’s a literal “crossed wire” story. The Chinese motorcycle we bought in December has had several “issues,” the latest brought with it a good laugh. I happened to be on Gary’s motorcycle (abbreviated locally as “moto”) riding behind the guy who was on my moto. The driver on my moto in front of me indicated a right turn, yet turned left into a driveway at his gate. I wondered about this, and then decided to try out the turn signal for myself, while sitting on the moto. Left switch, left front blinker operates. Right switch, right front blinker working. Then I looked behind me, and saw why I had been confused at the driveway. The left front and right rear turn signals work together, as do the right front and left rear. We corrected the problem by switching the terminal connector in the wiring harness … Leave it to the Chinese!

Solar Power: We thought we were going to be able to have a single light inside our hut, but alas, the battery that would hold the solar charge cannot hold any charge. The solar panel works great, but the battery is dead. So our dream of a light must fade away and we continue to use flashlights.

Thick sand gets thicker in February: Two Sabbaths ago we were challenged to the hilt! We had to be south at Dabgue for our branch Sabbath School and only had motorcycles (motos) for transportation since the land cruiser was not available. At this time of the year the sand on the roads in the area is very deep in most places. Kel and the others made several trips back and forth because we had 3 motos for 12 people, so some of us started walking the 5.7 km (3 ½ miles). Kel found that he had to drive at 50km/h in order not to slip and slide and bog down in the hot sand. Kel took Josie and one more all the way home (Josie was praying all the way – a very scary ride!) Occasions like this shave several years off a man’s life!

Birds in the bush: As the old saying goes” “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. Well, we’ve not had any in hand, but we’ve seen incredible wild birds thru the lenses of our binoculars.Kel has discovered several more bird species. He saw recently a relative of the scimitar-billed (red-billed) hoepoe, doves that look very much like Namaqua doves. Carmine bee eaters, a small type of light-colored heron and Pied kingfishers are found at the big river. Jonathan here on the mission has a bird book titled Birds of Africa, South of the Sahara. The book is so helpful identifying the birds here in Chad, and of course we recognize the South African birds in it and can compare with what we see here.

The River Finally: we got to see the river last Sabbath afternoon – a van from the hospital came to pick us up and we counted 27 people in the 14-seater van! The river is about 8 km (5 miles) from our place. Kel was surprised to find it was only about 30 inches deep mid-stream. The guys were all sitting in the water trying to cool off. Josie soaked her feet as she was still in her Sabbath skirt, but really did not want to get in the dirty water.

Roof on Gary’s House: This week (Feb 27) saw the start of the steel roof framing for Gary & Wendy’s house. Kel and Josie had previously taken field measurements of the perimeter ring beam, about 10 feet above the floor, and Kel used the field info to lay out the steel framing on the computer using AutoCAD. The team planted the primary post (that sits within the free-standing “island” in the kitchen/living room area) and from there started building the rafter/truss combos. The project is both challenging and exciting. Picture a Y-shaped building, with a hexagonal bedroom at each end of the two Y branches. The stem of the Y is the kitchen/living area. So we are presently erecting steel rafters above the stem. The hexagons already have their framing erected – now the challenge is to build a Y-shaped roof to meet them. We pray, and God gives us the wisdom to do … thank You, Lord!

Well, thanks again for your prayers and support. It means a lot to us to have our friends and family keeping us and our needs before the Lord. It’s not easy to be missionaries in this harsh, hot, dry land, but God supplies our need and gives us a measure of His amazing grace for each new day. This He does for you, too, dear reader! Keep courage – Maranatha! Jesus is coming.

Love & hugs,

Kel & Josie.