A Hot Afternoon… and a Broken Tooth
Dozing in and dozing out of sleep– the latent effects of jet lag, very early start to a very busy morning, an increasing heat of the afternoon that, was approaching uncomfortable - all converged to create the “Perfect Nap.” I was in that wonderful zone somewhere between asleep and awake when I began to sense that someone was at my door. I greeted the yet unseen person and welcomed him/her to come in. The procession that followed soon crowded my little room. The group, some sitting and some kneeling, lined the edge of my bed and was about 3 or 4 deep going out the door, all with bright sparking eyes and smiles that connected the ears, not saying a word – just smiling! Eventually the spokesperson piped up, “Papa we have come to thank you for everything you do for us… for sending us to school, for our clothes, for the new shoes… for everything, but mostly Papa we want to thank you for loving us like our dad! We have nothing to give you except our love and thanks!” With that they all began to clap and I had to hold back my tears. They have no clue what a gift they had just given to me… money could not buy a moment like that! These kids are amazing!
I continuously remind them that I’m just the very fortunate guy who gets to come here in person and make sure they have the things they need, and that there is an army of folks back home that make it all possible. So to all of you…“thank you for everything you do for us … for sending us to school, for our clothes, for the new shoes … for everything, but mostly, thank you for loving us!”
The trip has been awesome so far! Life in the village is almost “paradisable”; a very quiet and incredibly simple life style and routine. One could get used to this very quickly – indoor plumbing is way overrated!!!
We have a very important meeting today (Tuesday) recapping the previous year and laying out the plan for the year to come. The great news is that most all of the children passed a very challenging academic year. I will be meeting with each student individually to evaluate their progress and encouraging them as well as interviewing several new students to add to our program. There are a few personnel issues that we need to address as well; nothing major, just management.
Friday morning we have a very strategic meeting with the lawyers that are handling our land ownership issues; timing to get all this settled is now very critical for a spring visit of EMI. Pray that our meeting goes well, and that they have nothing but good news for us.
A broken tooth and a pair of pliers… I was hungry and it seemed good to throw back a hand full of trail mix… harmless right? However, little did I know that an almond shared a destiny with a weak place in a previously repaired tooth. As the almond decisively won the brief encounter and a fair sized piece of tooth gave way, I suddenly experienced the extreme pain of a very sharp piece of metal (very much like a small needle; apparently the anchor piece of the previous repair now completely exposed and sticking straight out) gouging the daylights out of my right cheek. A quick examination with a flashlight and mirror showed me what I must try! I pulled out my handy Leatherman, exposed the pliers, and carefully bent the sharp pin down and out of play* – it worked like a charm! Beats a detached retina all to pieces!
OK, all for now!
Continue to pray. I’ll try and be in touch next week prior to my Friday departure. Love you all very much and thanks for making all this happen. Eternity alone will tell what all of this means!
- Pastor Gary
*Note: for you medical types (that would be you, Jeff) – I called Judee and she checked with our dentist who applauded the field procedure (you have to know our dentist!) and assured us that because it was a root canal tooth, there should be no danger of infection. Thanks for your concern ;-)