Hmmm, what to write about today ...

Not sure what to write about just now … I could write more about the 200 children that swarm the yard every week to sing songs, learn stories of our Father, and chow on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Seeing the older carry the younger ones around on their backs makes my complaints of “growing up too fast” pretty lame in comparison (sorry Mom).

Or I could write about Jackson’s helicopter flight - a specific answer to a request he placed before the Father – that he would be able to fly someday. Even just once. In a plane, a helicopter; heck, I think he would’ve settled for a lounge chair with helium balloons tied on. But last Thursday he strapped into the Marine Reach helicopter as it introduced itself to Kigoma/Kaseke, and he told his four year old son that if God could give him the chance to fly, he might be able to have a car someday, too. Jackson is one of the main translators we’ve been able to work with, and we have been so blessed by his sincere heart for our Father. A few days ago we were able to meet his family – he has two boys, and his wife has a smile that gives meaning to the whole “light up a room” phrase (by the way, Jackson and his wife are VERY ill right now – he has a blood infection and she has malaria. Please lift them before the Father.). It was so much fun to see his nervous grin at take-off turn into an ear-to-ear smile by the time they landed. We, too, got to take a ride over the property to get some great aerial shots for planning, to understand the proximity of the neighboring villages to serve, etc. Bob, our British pilot, gave us quite a thrill by taking the doors off before we went up. I’m not gonna lie, a helicopter ride has been on my “hope to do someday” list for a long time, and I doubt there could be a better first ride than cruising over the longest lake in Africa with the wind in your face, getting up to almost three times higher than normal for the whole picture, looking down at a plot of land that has so much potential and three hundred giggling children waving up at you. It felt a lot like walking the property for Eagle Ridge – except when we would bank sharply and I remembered I was 5500 feet above the ground with only a seatbelt to rely on J.

I could tell you more about those swarms of children that flooded the area when their curiosity was peaked by the “big bird”. The land we were visiting was recently donated for their benefit … 100 acres that will hopefully be home to a secondary school, bible college, youth camp, medical/helicopter base, etc. Two amazing things you must know about these children: one, how quickly they appeared from what would seem to be a long distance. Two, how much they laughed and played as the helicopter flew above them, occasionally giving them the impression it was heading directly towards them J. Okay, there’s another thing you need to know: The villages they live in right now have only a primary school (equivalent to our elementary), a government dispensary that has to recycle it’s “sterile” gauze, and not even a dream of other means we hope to use to introduce them to the Lord.

I could write about the local pastor who’s currently in jail for “wounding religious feelings”. Seriously. There’s a law against that. He happened to “wound” the religious feelings of local Muslims who happened to bribe the local police to arrest him for teaching things about Mohammed they didn’t appreciate (i.e., factual history). His hearing is currently scheduled for the first week of February. We had the chance to sit down with a man who works closely with him and hear the full details – this is by no means an isolated instance. The tension in this country is not so far below the surface.

Or I could write more about the life of our dear friends who are willing to put up with us in their home for three more weeks. They’re human, and they let us see that, which in itself is still refreshing. They have had a lot of important decisions to make this month, especially as the Father opens new doors and closes others. One of their right-hands, Gabriel, just left for the States to attend Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta. It was so exciting to see him off and know what a huge experience awaits him. They will miss him this year while he’s away, but are excited that he’ll finally see the important things America has to offer – like Wal-Mart and fast food, the building blocks to any happy life.

I could probably keep going, but now I’m fairly tired from thinking about all the things I could’ve written about …