Richard - my Rich man

I attended a local government meeting regarding water and sanitation, today. I met a lot of new people. Here's one of my more entertaining conversations.

"Have I met you? Who are you?"

"No. I'm Melanie. I work for Samaritan's Purse."

"I'm Richard. You're very lucky to have met me. I am from Kahunge. Do you know Kahuge?"

"Somehow. I have been to that place, but I do not know your people there."

"You really are a very lucky woman to have met me. I am the richest man in Kahunge. You have just met a very rich man!! Aren't you happy?"

"Yes, of course." (I hold back an eye roll. I think.)

"Yes. I am so rich. I will tell you my forture. I own 4 goats! They all belong to me. I take care of them all myself."

Then I laughed along with others who were listening to our conversation. I realized I found a comedian. We live in the land of cattle. Many of these people are "rich" by village standards - because of their many cattle. But goats (though valuable) do not make people rich here. It just makes for a good laugh. Thanks, Richard.

Prayer

(Children praying after our Hygiene Fair this week - precious)

I love praying with my team. We pray every morning together, before and after our devotions. We pray for our project, our community, other projects and offices all over the world. We even pray for you. And we especially enjoy praying for one another. It binds us together. God binds us together.

"In Him we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Ephesians 2:22

I feel God's presence dwelling with us here in Buremba. I know that His hand is all over this project. And I know it is a response to our prayers - all of ours - yours included. Thank you so much for praying with us. Thank you for being so near in heart.

"In Christ Jesus you who were far away have been brough near, through the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

It's really amazing that any of us can have a relationship with God. It is only Christ who has brought us near to God. And it is only Christ that brings you near to me.

I wish I could be praying under the same roof as you today, but I am comforted knowing that someday, we will all be together again. Someday, there will be no more goodbyes. For those of us who know Jesus as our Saviour.

Please, spend time with Jesus today. Talk to Him. Pray. He's anxious to be with you. He loves you so much.

Amos and Justine

(Amos teaching children about good health and hygiene, two days ago)

Please pray for my friends Amos and Justine. For the past six months, we've been rejoicing about Justine's pregnancy. When I visited her last week, I commented on how healthy she seemed. So active and glowing. Justine went into the hospital yesterday to deliver their baby boy. Sadly, their little boy died the same day. The reason is still unknown. This is the third child that they've lost in their three years of marriage. Amos and Justine are heartbroken. Please pray.

More on bugs...

It is indeed the rainy season as I've said before. This means that I have extra rats and bugs at my house/office in the village. Above are some pictures of my new friends. They are the most annoying friends I think I've ever had. That's why we decided to roast some of them for a little snack. You can see Jane preparing our termites for a crunchy delicacy above. Unfortunately, we weren't able to eat them all. The guy on the middle right is poisonous would scream every time I tried to remove him from my mosquito net. Seriously - he screamed. It was weird. (And I should correct myself, it was William who was removing him from my mosquito net.) That moth in the upper right was so big that I thought he was a small bat flying around in my office.

I must say, it is nice having other ladies around. Jane and Juliet (both pictured above) don't like these bugs either. We've had some fun jumping, screaming, and cooking them together. Maybe God is using these bugs to develop some closer friendships ... I'd like to think there's some good reason for them...

'Bans don't cut abortion rates'

This is an interesting article. It doesn't come from a Christian source, nor does it use the bible for its foundation. Therefore, please do not take this and run too far with it. However, I like the author's view of women's freedom. It's not about giving women freedom to chose to have an abortion. It's about a woman's freedom to chose to become pregnant or not - before conception. Particularly in developing or less-developed countries I think this is crucial.

I admit, I am not giving this blog post enough time. But regardless, it's food for thought.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8305217.stm

But to be clear - I do support bans against abortion.

No accident, no problem

"Hey William - can you come check this thing out? It looks like a spider nest or something. But there's no web. But I think I see a big spider growing in there. Seriously Big."

"Oh Melan, it's no problem. If there's an accident, you die. But no accident, no problem."

"Kill it, William - seriously!!"

"Haha. No problem, Melan."

Spider dies.

Melan sleeps.

Life is good.

Planting seeds

(Church in Oru Tabo)

This weekend our Household Water Team was invited to preach and show the Jesus film in two of our communities where they had been constructing water filters, sharing bible stories and praying.

Over the past three days, we shared the Jesus film with more than 500 community members. On Friday, they showed the film and spent all night praying with the village of Oru Tabo. On Saturday they remained in this village to continue sharing with them and on Sunday they shared the Jesus film with more than 300 men, women, and children from a neighboring village named Omun Tebe.

Many of our men shared with me this morning about the amazing work God was doing. They spoke of healings and new committments to Jesus. One man said, "The people of Oru Tabo couldn't believe that our organization would bring this message to them. But I responded, it isn't our organization that brings this message - it is God."

"It is as if they know the Bible, but they have never understood it. This message was new to them. Salvation through Christ - not through works."

Please pray that God would grow the seeds that have been planted. Pray that many will place their faith in Christ for their salvation - not in their works. And please pray that God would receive all the praise and glory for the great work that's being done - physically and spiritually.