December 5th
This morning I ran some errands for Karen and the Emmitts before
breakfast. Tom and Rebecca went down to the hospital first so
that they could do rounds before breakfast. They did it that way
because today we were going to a village, Kakamba, to go to the
church there. They wanted to get rounds out of the way and then
eat breakfast in however much time was remaining rather than
putz around at breakfast and then have to try and hurry in the
hospital. We set out at a little after 10 or so. Emma, Karen,
Rebecca, Tom and I were inside the truck then Albert and another
guy rode inside the back of the truck. That had to have been quite
an adventure because the road was not very good they were
sitting in the back of the truck on a wooden bench they had just
set inside the truck. It’s only about 7 miles from here to there but
the road conditions made it take a while to get there. While
Kakamba is almost entirely Muslim, the Wesleyan church is
starting up a church there. Since it’s very new, about two months
in so far, the church service was held in what was little more than
a tent. It was a really nice service. It was overcast this morning till
almost 11:30 and so blessedly cool. The days start out cool but
once the haze lifts and the sun comes out it is ruthlessly hot. Near
the end of the service some of the important people in the town,
elders, teachers and even an Imam (somewhat like the Islamic
version of a priest or pastor) were introduced. It was quite
amazing because the village chief addressed us and said that they
are glad that they are glad the church is coming (mind you he is a
Muslim). He proceeded to tell us that while he and the other
adults were not likely to “cross the carpet” to Christianity, that
their children were free to believe what they choose and that
where their children were, their hearts were also. This I find
absolutely amazing because a lot of Muslims here believe that
their children must believe what they believe, to the point that
one can be disowned for converting. This is an absolutely amazing
opportunity to totally change this village. It can be hard make
progress when attempting to seed new churches in almost totally
Muslim villages, but these people want us there. They are still
cautiously hopeful, this is the third or fourth attempt to establish a
church in Kakamba but the past attempts always fell through in
the past. It’s an opportunity that we must not miss out on. We got
taken on a tour of the village. It’s about 500 or so people, maybe a
little more. It was approximately the size of Fredericksburg. It is
quite large for a village here. It was really cool. We are coming back
next Sunday to show the Jesus film in the village. I’m pretty excited
to go back, it should be pretty awesome. I think if it weren’t so far
away that I might try to attend the church there pretty often to
show the people, especially the elders, that the church will be
supported and won’t just fall through. Heading back to Kamakwie
we acquired a few passengers. The principal of the junior secondary
school there was with us. That’s another thing; they want to turn
over administration of the school over to the Wesleyan church.
Part of this whole thing with having the church come in is financial,
Karen says that they figure getting the church to come in and getting
it involved in the village will draw some money and other benefits to
the village, I say hey, why not. If it gets us in why question why they
want us there. We also had a few more riders in the back of the truck.
But Albert picked his bike up that he had left there and rode all the
way back to Kamakwie in the mid-day sun, he rides all over the place
so it was no big deal for him but I think riding a bike in that heat 7
miles would be the end of me. We had a late lunch when we got back
and afterwards Rebecca, Emma, Samuel and I set out for a walk. We
ran into Zoey who just got back this evening, but she leaves tomorrow
to go out to some of the villages. After that we stopped at the tailor
to pick up some things for the girls and to drop of Tom and I’s wedding
outfits to get them made since it’s Saturday. However we got there
and he hadn’t finished with their stuff so he told us to come back
tomorrow. He said that he would finish Tom and I’s wedding outfits
tomorrow by one so he must plan on putting in some serious hours.
Then we walked back to Kamakwie 1, Rebecca hasn’t been feeling
well so she peeled off and headed home. The rest of us walked out to
the orphan school, it’s about a 35 to 40 minute walk from the hospital
to there. We got there and unfortunately, none of them were there,
but I asked them to let Alusine know that I would be coming tomorrow
because I really wanted to talk to him some more and find out what
things are like for the kids at the orphan school and other things. So
we headed back to the house only to find Karen and Tom not there.
So we walked down to the hospital to see if they were there. They
weren’t and that was when I realized that I could just give them a call.
They were out for a walk and let us know that dinner was PB and J
sandwiches and we could eat whenever. While we were there we
found out something quite sad. A mother died in birth last week and
her infant survived her. They apparently named it Emma (who had
worked very hard to save the mom). Well today, the infant passed
away. After that awful news Emma and Rebecca went off for a bit of a
walk and I laid down for a while because I wasn’t feeling well. Rebecca
went out in the ambulance to pick up a lady, it was a three hour trip
which could not have been all that exciting. When she got back in they
were bringing a lady who needed a C-section. I went down and got into
scrubs and got all ready and observed the removal of the baby. Up to
that point I was feeling quite nauseous and having seen the baby (a girl,
super cute) I decided I’d better head out just as a precaution so I didn’t
contaminate the semi-sterile environment. It was a cool experience
and I think I will do it again and try to get through the whole thing
because it is quite interesting, there is just a mite more blood than I was
comfortable with for seeing my first surgery. Anyway, that’s my day in a
rather large nutshell. Pretty crazy overall but a really good day.

Blessings from Kamakwie, Ryan Brooks