Sunday in Humanga

There's a knock at the bedroom door in the morning and a request for any clothes I wanted ironed.  Wow.  So I hand Fulgence my white shirt I had set out for the day.  African tea for breakfast with some sweetbread and donuts while still in sleep pants.  Since we are going 30 km farther south to Humanga, we need to leave early to catch a matatu.  It's only a 10 minute walk to the roadside stop to catch the bus, but you never know how many full buses you have to let pass before there is one with room enough for three people.  I had 5 small bouncy balls in my pocket.  You never know when you need to start a riot.  We were at the bus stop for quite some time and getting to be the focus of attention.  I took out one ball and bounced it toward a boy of about 15.  Well, he had fun with that.  Then a couple more boys crossed the road, so I asked Fulgence to get their attention, and I tossed them another ball.  Well, a much bigger boy saw the ball bouncing and grabbed it from the boys and got on a bus.  Oh,well, our bus rolled up just then and we were off.

There are about 24 passengers on these buses and it seems the drivers have to jockey for position, constantly passing each other to get to the next client before another driver.  What makes me apprehensive is, how fast can you go around corners without rolling one of these buses over?  I just know the bad feeling when two wheels leave the ground when you're making a righthand curve, too far to the left, another bus coming from the other direction, also hugging the line and your driver has to correct even more to the right to avoid a collision!  UGHH!  Miraculously, we arrive safely at our destination.  Someone must be praying!

A short 15 minute walk and we arrive at the house where a large basement with daylight access doors has been cleared and set up for a meeting room.  The only musical instrument is a large cowhide drum on the floor and a smaller handheld drum.  There are about 8 children, 6 women and a couple of men.  It's still early, though.  Don't get discouraged.  People straggle in and the elder announces we are starting on time, 9:30.  The bass drum starts a beat and the children's choir stands and sings a couple of songs.  Then the 6 women sing a song.  Meanwhile, people are straggling in and finding a seat.  Eventually there are over sixty people in the room and there is a brief announcement and some words about being on time for church.  There are introductions and welcomes and Branden and I are asked to bring greetings.   There is more singing, more enthusiasm, and now dancing.  Then it is my turn to preach with Fulgence as my interpreter.  My, he was good and we had a great time together.  The people received the message with enthusiasm and we were able to pray for each one individually at the end.  Then more dancing!  And more singing as we closed the service.

Afterwards, Fulgence and I walked down to a piece of property that had been purchased where they planned on building a church.  When we got back, a lunch was prepared.  We ate and visited with the elder who had conducted the service.  A group from the church followed us to the bus stop and we made that harrowing journey again, hanging on for dear life!  We were dropped off right where the truck accident had taken place the night before.

We walked home in the brilliant, hot sun, got changed into something cooler, had a light lunch with some fruit.  We were going to go play soccer with the kids from the orphanage.  We brought a brand new soccer ball from Canada to leave with the kids after our game.  There were 30 who wanted to go but we could only cram 24 into the Landcruiser.  A half dozen started off on foot to the bus stop where a road went off and climbed about 3 km to the top of a hill.  We jostled the kids around, I had 2 on my lap, Branden had one, and we were crammed in like sardines.  At the bus stop, Ed stopped and the six got on the roof for the journey to the top of the hill.  We played soccer until 4:45 then headed back down the hill.  We could only go 10 km per hour as there were so many ruts.  At the highway again, the roof passengers dismounted and the orphanage kids went home in the vehicle. The rest of us walked home.

Supper with the family and then pack up.  I got re-packed before the power went out.  Branden by candlelight.  We had arranged to catch a ride with Ed when he made the school run with his kids at 7:00 a.m.  I was awake at 5:00.  The family was up with breakfast for us, the first time Branden ever had an open Denver sandwich.  All the way from Canada to try something new.  Hahaha.  We had quite an entourage from the house to the orphanage gates, everyone except Branden carrying our suitcases, backpacks and bags.  "I feel useless", he said.  No, you should feel honored!