Dozens of new photos

As I scan in more printed photos, the online albums are growing. Most of the latest ones are of the Nutrition Clinic, but they also include a new one of Lori in local dress.

• Photo Album

Our hope is in the Lord

We want to thank you for your continued prayers for Mulungwishi Station. The tension has subsided somewhat since we wrote last. The local village chiefs have been around to talk and to help. Also the regional administrator and police chief have been to the Station to investigate. The Bishops have also been following the situation closely. We are comforted by their concern. There are just so many people who have been laid off and are desperate. The use of guns is a new thing here. There have been robberies before but never life threatening with weapons. Everything … classes and work are going along normally during the day but then at night it changes. With no electricity it makes any kind of guarding and prevention difficult. We have students patrolling at different times of the night and even some of the chiefs have been helping out. People are being very careful and lock up their houses as soon as the sun goes down. We know that our ultimate security lies in the Lord and continually people are encouraging each other and praying. This is such a new twist for us here, that is seems that it is not even true! Along with the prayers for safety, we are sooooo wanting to have the electricity back! The Train Company is now, back at work after being on strike for almost three months. (because they had had no pay for 36 months!) So we are now trying to work with the top people to get connected to some kind of transformer. There is always careful negotiations with the top because they are hungry too! Then things will have to be set up … rebuilt and reconnected. Thank you for being there with us.

Water

Surrounded by ants in the bath-basin ... a fight to the death! They are not getting any of my water except what I flush them down the drain with! The spout off the porch roof would make a wonderful shower ... think I'll ask the Lord to heat it a bit! Of course that may not be a good "missionary" connection with the neighbors! David is out washing his hair [photo at right. Click the photo to see it and the other rain-related ones] while collecting water in buckets at the roof spout. I think we should just soap him down and then he could have a bath and we could wash his clothes at the same time! Just think of the millions of people who have no close water supply or it is a dirty shallow well. They walk miles carrying buckets, basins, or any containers that will work ... tied to their bicycles, their backs, on their heads ... with always a line to wait through! We are so Fortunate! that we have the good well and the rain here at Mulungwishi! Pray for others and the many leaders of nations who do not see these issues as important and may it also challenge us to use water wisely. Pray for more rain!

Prayers needed: Typhoid fever and armed bandits

We apologize for not being in contact with you. This is due to a lot of factors. The first being the lack of electricity, which also limits our Internet time. We have also had to hit the ground running in order to catch up on our classes, and different projects that we have. We continue without electricity. This has developed other problems that we can add to what we have already written. There has been an outbreak of typhoid fever in the area due to bad water. We are going into the dry season and we need to pump water so as to provide clean water. We have started to pump twice a week using diesel fuel at $5 a gallon. When we have electricity, it is free and we have it 24x7. The other problem of lack of electricity is the living in the dark. Already twice this month, armed bandits have come on to the station and have robbed, beaten and tortured a number of our teachers. In fact as we write, we are up because four men in black clothes were spotted coming on the the station and looking for our driver. The students are mobilized and are circulating around the campus. However they do not have guns. Since we will be up most of the night, we figured we would try to catch up on some of the e-mails. This is where we are and we need your prayers.

We have internet!

Hallelujah! Will wonders never cease! We are on the internet from our living room! Can you believe it? Thanks to Joe Barnes who came out on a team in June of 2008 and our local computer expert, Cedrick, we can receive internet at the house! Amazing! Of course to keep us humble, this only happens when the generator is on! The airconditioning unit the team installed in the computer server room was hooked up and working prior to the transformer blowing. Now it is in the same position as when the team came. No electricity, no airconditioning. Keep praying.

Mulungwishi Rain Dance

We are doing a rain dance at Mulungwishi! Since we have no electricity, our water pump is not functioning. We praise the Lord that we are in the rainy season. So every time it rains, we run out with our buckets to collect the water coming off the roof. This is known as the Mulungwishi Rain Dance.

Highs and lows

Green, green everywhere. Thousands of different shades and hues brilliant against the blue skies and white billowing clouds. It is good to also feel and smell the rain.

We are still in Lubumbashi after days of car work and now the Leadership Masters Class. We hope to go with tow of the visiting professors of Leadership to Mulungwishi on Thursday.

Guess what! Again the train company let the small transformer blow. So we are without electricity! So pray!