It's Doug again....Today was a HOT one! We had a very hard time getting painting on the clinic finished today because there were so many women and children there getting shots! In a couple hours tomorrow it should be done. The painting group moved to the school, which was a dubious, dusty, dirty mess. It is only four large rooms which means less trim work and more roller work, so we should be able to get it done faster than the clinic.
Did I mention it was hot? It is starting to take a toll on all of us and we don’t even realize it. Kasey was “lucky” that she didn’t feel good this morning so she stayed back and did not feel the wrath of the sun. The heat is a dry heat and it is so hot that when we do sweat it evaporates so fast we don’t even know it was there. This means that when we are covered in sweat, we have really lost even more hydration than we realize.
Did I mention it was hot? It is starting to take a toll on all of us and we don’t even realize it. Kasey was “lucky” that she didn’t feel good this morning so she stayed back and did not feel the wrath of the sun. The heat is a dry heat and it is so hot that when we do sweat it evaporates so fast we don’t even know it was there. This means that when we are covered in sweat, we have really lost even more hydration than we realize.
This became a scary truth when Eli had a mild heat stroke today. One minute he was fine, the next he told me he just felt a little “off”, and only seconds later we are carrying him to a place with shade and rubbing cool water on him while we waited for the bush taxi to zoom through the village streets (which were NOT made for a van). Getting him to the van made him feel better, but when he tried to get out he almost lost consciousness.
No one on the team panicked, everyone helped out, and the veterans of the area knew just how to handle it. Eli is PERFECTLY FINE right now! We will check how he feels in the morning to see if he gets to go out. Just know that we are playing it on the safe side for everyone!
That being said, I got to go out in the village with two different groups thus far (June/Natalie/Matt and Eli/Shawna/Hannah) and I could not be more proud! They know the truth of the gospel and have NOT been afraid to share it to a people group that does not believe Jesus is the Son of God. We proudly walked the streets sharing with those that would listen on the day when most Muslims attend mosque.
We learned more about the culture today as well. It is important to show them that we are interested in how they live and do things because they are a very relational people. When we give weight to what they share and say, it means they will give weight to what we say. The group I was with today got to watch a family building a house. Not with wooden beams, brick, or finely crafted stone, but with mud bricks strengthened with straw. They then use a mud paste to make the mortar. It is strong when it hardens, but it is back breaking labor that can only be done a few layers per day. Their patience is something we can learn from!
THIS is an African village school.
Cephas was showing them some arabic letters.
If we ONLY knew how good we have it in America!
Cephas was showing them some arabic letters.
If we ONLY knew how good we have it in America!
Justin sweeping the school floors so that "most" of the dirt was gone before we painted.
Outside the school with some kids!
This was actually from yesterday, but after Eli's episode we could all use a reminder from Shawna, "CHUG THAT WATER!!"
So glad to see so many VBS shirts in use! Keep drinking lots of water!
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