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| What was left of "Promises" home after the storm and looters |
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| Children watching us work |
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| Where to begin |
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| More children passing by with their daily water |
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| Building with a smile. You gotta love 'em! |
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| Day 2 for the crew |
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| A work of love built the African way |
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| More neighbors passing by, they love umbrellas for heat and rain |
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| "Promise" and her baby have a home. She's truly thankful. |
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| Our Flat. Yes we feel spoiled! |
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| The home next to Promise and the school behind. Always clean! |
"Promise"
is one happy sister as she stands in front of her new home. The pictures show her little area where she
lives, the neighbors playing and walking by during the construction, the remains
of her first place, the crew as they
worked diligently in the extreme heat, and the almost finished home. I say almost because Ed and I will be going
out tomorrow to replace the broken glass in the windows and be sure that all is
good. We are amazed at the humble
circumstances that most of the villagers live in. There is no running water, they use the wheel
barrows to fill their large containers.
The woman still carry a ton of things on their heads, but the latest and
greatest advancement is the wheel barrow.
I'm amazed that none of the homes close by Promise have bathrooms and
there are none in sight. I don't know
how that works. Promise, along with most
of the ward members, have a long walk to church and everywhere else. We only have a few families that live in town
and actually have a car.
We are truly
humbled to be able to serve here and have learned in a very short time to love
the people. Ed says that one of the highlights of the building project for him
was towards the end of the first day, everyone was exhausted, the temperature
was over 90 degrees and very humid, sawing was strenuous (no electricity) and
someone started to sing church songs. Africans
love to sing and it was beautiful. One
of my highlights this week was last Saturday during a "late"
Christmas party out in the village of Matuba.
We were all gathered under a tree for shade by the school where they
meet on Sunday for church. I looked at
the little children just sitting there watching their parents visit and decided
to do something fun with them. I taught
them how to make paper airplanes (that alone delighted them) and then we stood
at the side of the hill and had races.
They were thrilled and I was filled with joy.
Some days we
feel so far away, and it isn't as easy as I thought it would be, but we are
truly grateful to be able to share the gospel and our lives with the people of
Africa. We miss you and love you. Please take care and HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Love,
Ed and
Jolene
I love reading your posts and picturing you both there loving those people. It makes me homesick for my mission and the people of Palau! And it definitely gets me excited to go serve a mission with Jer. Thank you for your wonderful examples to us. And keep the pictures and posts coming!
ReplyDeleteWow guys! That seems amazing !!!!!!!!!! I love that picture of the lady and the baby! I miss you both sooooooooo much! Your flat, by the way,looks like your house!
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!!!! I miss you guys so much!!!!!! Hugs and Kisses, Jake
ReplyDeleteYou are such an amazing couple! The people of Tzaneen are very lucky to have you. We will be thinking of you and the people of Tzaneen and wishing you well.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me how much good the two of you are doing. I admire you so much. You are truly missed here. In fact, your records left the Ward and I guess they have been moved there since Ed is now the Branch President! It was the subject of much speculation in Ward Council. But you are not forgotten in the Saugus II ward, we love you, are praying for you, and miss you. Keep up the good work! Love you.
ReplyDelete