Sunday, December 11, 2011

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Arose after a fairly good night of rest and had breakfast with the Thelanders minus Keir who had gone ahead to church early because he was preaching.

No-see-um bites count: Diann 10; Dave 5.

Arriving about 9:30 AM at Bongolo Church we recognized a familiar tune being sung by the congregation, "How Great Thou Art". Of course, we did not understand one word but it was beautiful nonetheless. On a regular Sunday morning, the singing starts around 8:30 AM; then about 10 AM there is about a half hour of announcements; then the sermon. This Sunday after the announcements, Keir was introduced as guest speaker. His sermon was about an hour long. He spoke in French and then his words were translated into Nzabe (the local tribal language)- thus one hour for a half hour sermon. Keir spoke on marriage and family relationships. The church was very quiet and that is an indicator that people were listening so say the locals.

By the way, the ushers tap the shoulder of anyone who dozes off during the service - young and old alike. If the usher cannot easily reach the dozer, they tap the bench nearby. You can bet we tried our best not to be tapped. With only a hand full of white people in the sanctuary and all but us as missionaries, we judged it would not be a good witness to doze off. Many of the missionaries attend other village churches; many preaching every Sunday.

Lunch at the Thelanders was cheese quesadillas made with cheeses recently purchased in Libreville. How fun it was to be having another meal with Luke, Sarah, Joanna and Keir.

Sunday afternoon we visited and caught up a bit and just enjoyed being together.

Sunday night, Eric (the bookkeeper), Dr. Wendy (the opthamologist here on the mission station) Hofman and their six month old daughter, Esther plus Rachel Thompson (missionary here who helps Joanna with home schooling and looks after Esther) joined us and the Thelanders for dinner. That night it was baked ziti and fresh garlic bread, bean salad, fresh pineapple and papaya and wonderful triple ginger cookies made by Rachel, Luke and Sarah.

After dinner the Hofmans who orginally came to Bongolo with Samaritan's Purse announced to us that they are staying until God calls them elsewhere. And they announced they are expecting Baby #2! Two bits of great news!

Spent some time after the guests left putting Luke and Sarah to bed. What a joy to hear them pray and to listen to them read their devotional.

Chatted with Keir and Joanna til Keir got called to the hospital for an emergency. We were asleep by 11 PM.

We are so impressed with the "Christmas Birds" which are beautiful white egrets. They seem to pay no attention to being around people as they sweep down in small flocks and land nearby.

Another fun nature observation: the thousands of bats. The flight over the Thelander home lasts at least one half hour every night. Bats are a welcome sight in Bongolo; they help keep the mosquito population to a managable level.