Everyday we must pack the truck roof and tie everything down before we leave. As is our custom, we gather to pray before we leave and we did. And we did.
We gathered in the truck and got squished together...the sardine effect. We journeyed for a while and came up on the river. We were going to ferry across the river...the only way. Bridges over here are not in abundance because it costs too much. They have built two bridges in the country in 50 years. One of those is currently being constructed. We had to buy a ticket and wait for the ferry to be available to be boarded. While time may not be of much consequence in this country, the ferry runs every 20-30 minutes. With that said, there is one ferry and if it breaks down then there would be a problem. I noticed that some people were rowing across the river at this location. Every seems to be in a frenzy because of the special holiday tomorrow. All Muslims here will have an annual sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sin. It is 40 days after Ramadan and falls in line with the concept of the Jewish Day of Atonement. The family will sacrifice a goat/sheep and give a portion to eat and portions to the needy. In this way they earn points with Allah hoping to get into "Heaven". I am thankful that Jesus already handled this for me and you. I pray that more will come to know this truth.
Anyway, we were on a ferry and directly in front of us the guys were rolling goats over and picking them up and placing them on the roof of the van/bush taxi. These guys must have put 15-20 of them on the top of that van. They were not happy, then they began to look sad. The ferry ride lasted for about 10 minutes and were on our way.
The drive took about 2 hours to get to the village. Along the way were many sights like little mosques and cows tied to the wagons while the kids pulled them. It seemed really "animal farm" like to me. After a lengthy journey and a pit stop we made it the home of the regional king. We had to receive his blessing before going into one of his villages. We entered through a gate into the small town and before us was a covered "porch" with many men sitting around on mats. We were instructed to remove our shoes and enter the area and greet the king. We asked a local to go first so we would know what to do. I approached the king, bent the knee, shook his hand and greeted him. One made the comment later that if we would act this way with God how different our life might be...and I believe him to be right!
We left the king, who is obviously not in the building, and went to the village. Honestly, to say village is a little strong of a term. A SMALL grouping of huts is a better description. These huts were straw huts as opposed the to mud-block ones from yesterday and in the town. We pull up and find out that since the festival is tomorrow, market day is today. The chief and elders were gone and the only one left was not ready to make a decision. We talked for a while and convinced him that it would OK. So, we found ourselves a decent tree and set up Pete's Office of the Great Outdoors. He stood next to this tree and looked in fascination that he would finally be able to put two great things together: dentistry and the outdoors. The people were scared of the white-folk and came slowly. We asked three men if they wanted something done and they denied a need, but there kids needed something. Now, you might think this a compassionate decision except that 2 of those 3 later came and received treatment after their kids "survived" it. We were able to see 15 people today and pull over 20 teeth.
While the dentist was in and I assisted today, Chuck made us lunch since the kids were receiving treatment. Later he started up his roping demonstration and truth lesson. He had them gathered around holding them in complete satisfaction. They listened intently and watched curiously as he roped that steer over and over while expressing the love of God and our need for Him. He has a gift of expression and God was pouring out of him this day. Bill had an opportunity to go into the "village" and prayer-walk hoping for opportunities to talk with people. He had Kris [the missionary] met this one older fella and began sharing the truth with him. He listened and pondered but was not ready to make a decision. Another young man also listened politely but when the point of decision was presented he said it was time for us to go. Please pray for Tingala because there are no known believers. Kris and Shelly would like to see this village adopted by a church or churches to reach and teach this community.
After a long drive back and the sun beating down we unpacked, ate supper and kicked back. Another good day of sharing God's love in both word and deed. Here is a look at today...
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