Time in the small village

Nights are always interesting on excursions like this. You never know where you will be sleeping and WHO you will be sleeping with. In this case, how many rats will join you during the night. Haha. We all managed to sleep some though so that is good. I wanted you to see what our bathroom looked like so I took a picture of the outside and the inside.

​We were able to spend quite a bit of time talking to the ladies in the women's honai (hut). They value relationships above all else. So that means they always have time to sit and talk. I love that about their culture!

The building in the center of the picture is the church. They took great care in building it well.

We did some simple medical, like with this lady. She had a bad infection in her finger and we were able to open it up and drain the pus. There were lots of kids with cuts and infected scrapes that we were able to help as well.

Can you imagine waking up to this view every day?

Yes, that is the bathroom.

So while we were in Yagendaimo we showed the Jesus Film, did some AIDS/HIV presentations and showed a video about that, we did a kids club and Sunday school for the kids, helped them in their gardens, set up a water tank so they could catch rain water, and built them a rocket stove. In between all of those we interacted with the kids as much as we could. That is the best part.

Many of the villagers were talking about how years ago they lived a life full of fear. The villages were always at war.They wouldn't even build huts to live in because they were afraid that their enemies would come during the night and burn them in their sleep. They would sleep in random places in the woods. Then in the 60s the first missionary came to the area. The villagers didn't know what to think of this creature with white skin. They didn't know if he was a person or an animal. So they ignored him for awhile and then one brave man came up with a plan. He gave the missionary some dirty vegetables. They decided that if he ate them dirty he was an animal and could be killed. But if he washed them, he was a person and could live. Praise the Lord he washed them before eating. This opened a door for him to learn the language and begin telling the people about Jesus. Now, many of the villagers are Christian and are telling others about Christ. Isn't it awesome to hear the ways God uses people when they are willing?

Hallelujah! I was so blessed by the kindness these people showed us. What a blessing! Tomorrow I will tell you about the COOLEST thing that happened while we were there. But not today. I need to go and be a part of something up at school.

Rachel