It’s raining, it’s pouring. The old lady is snoring!!
I am so bad about getting my blogs out in
a timely fashion. Thank you, Janice, and LMH for being patient with me. I’m a
bit of a . . . squirrel! And what’s terrible is that I’m not all that busy, I
just am very easily distracted so please accept my apologies.
Apparently, we are in the rainy season but I guess it’s not as bad as it was in previous years - THANK YOU JESUS!! That’s me being slightly self-centered because I know that the rain is important but it’s so difficult to plan anything. Maybe that’s God trying to get me to let go of that “control issue” I have. I am better. I don’t get as irritated and anxious as I did before. I’ve posted a few videos of 🎶the rains down in Africa🎶 Man, when it rains here, it POURS! Currently the storms last anywhere from 10-30 minutes, sometimes overnight it will rain continuously, but I am told that we are having a light season thus far. I got home from work and had to “run” maybe 5 yards from the car to my front door and by the time I got under my porch, I was drenched from head to toe including my backpack! Next time I will pull out my little rain protector for my backpack. Since there is no sugar in me, I don’t melt so it’s all good. I dried off and changed my clothes which I do the moment I get home anyway. I am told that by this time in July, it can rain 24/7 for days to a week non-stop. That would definitely irritate me, so right now I’m just thanking God that He is showing mercy on me, a sinner. 😀
As much as I miss Sally, I thank God for Nancy's arrival. We don’t live together but close enough we can hang out on the weekend. We walk to Mass at Conforti most Sundays, sometimes we are invited by Fr. Gabriel to go out to the village parish to celebrate there. The parish is very vibrant, and the people are so lovely. The kids love to come and talk to us. I don’t understand everything but there’s usually a Sister around that translates for us. I’ve included a picture. Last week we had lunch with several of the parish priests at their residence after Mass. They had waffles!! Nancy & I were so excited! There’s one priest at Conforti that will do almost the entire Mass in Krio/Temne. I try really hard to pick up as much as I can but today I decided to say a Rosary during the homily - sermons here can be anywhere from 30-60 minutes so I had more than enough time to get through an entire Rosary before he was done. 😆 Although the Masses here are very joyful and Spirit-filled, I am so grateful for my apps where I can watch an entire Mass in English.
Speaking of apps where I can do my
bible/God stuff in English, I know I’ve said this before, but I recommend the Hallow.com
app!! They had a week-long series on Ruth. They talked about how this woman
journeyed with her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem after they both lost their
husbands while in Moab. Ruth was a Moabite and could have very easily stayed
with her own people. She went to Bethlehem anyway, knowing that she would most
likely not be welcomed there but she was loyal to Naomi and wanted to stay with
her - “. . . where you go I will go, … your people shall be my people, and your
God my God …” (Ruth 1:16) What a brave and courageous woman Ruth was. For those
who may not know the story, I highly recommend reading the Book of Ruth, it’s a
short read and full of lots of things to think about. Because of what Ruth did;
she, this non-Hebrew, played a huge part in our Salvation History - she was the
great-grandmother of King David! The lineage that Jesus Himself came from. It
just goes to show you that people that you may not give a second look at, God
might have a very special plan for their lives. It can seem so foreign here in
Salone and I can get overwhelmed with the amount of people in such a small area
that I forget to look at these people like God does. He has a plan for each of
us. Some of those plans are very apparent to everyone around the person, but
some of those plans can be quiet, maybe haven’t been revealed yet to even the
person. Some plans are huge like Ruth’s but at the time it didn’t seem so huge
to Ruth or those around her. To those who may have not welcomed her into their
community because she was a Moabite, but God had other plans. He always has
other plans. Sorry, I know that was kind of random but I really wanted to share
it because it has made a big impression on me here.
I’m working backwards since I ended my last blog being excited about Janice coming and now I’m ending this one with her visit here us. She arrived without missing any flights - there were four to get here! It was like she was Santa when she opened her suitcase because of all the treats and items she brought for us! Thank you Janice and Antoniette for all the goodies and gifts. And thank you for those of you who helped get me things from home, Janice was my personal pack-mule! I felt bad for that, but only for a short time. She took a lot home with her after collecting things on our trip to Freetown. We really loved having her here. It was not a restful trip for her, I’m sure. After spending a day at the hospital taking pictures of me “in action” with patients (no such thing of HIPPA here) 😀 as well as the other staff members, she hung out with Nancy at the university.
We did fit Freetown in at the end. I’ll just say that I’m okay if I don’t ever have to go back there again during my stay. TOO MANY PEOPLE!!! 😲It was raining so we couldn’t really enjoy the beach, but we had a nice lunch and some yummy ice cream. We went to what might be considered a mini-Walmart - they had food and household items, so we were able to get things that are not available here in Makeni. Then we went “shopping”. Oh my goodness!! It was worse than being in the bazaar in Fez, Morocco!! I am not a haggler. Bob Komara, my son-in-law, tried to teach me when we were there but I just can’t. I couldn’t do it in Morocco, in Mexico nor here in Salone!! So I bought things that I didn’t need or want for outrageous amounts of money I’m sure! I just wanted to get back into the car and hide! The next day when we went shopping, I stayed in the car with the driver! 😄
That’s it for now. I appreciate and can feel your prayers, I doubt that I could do what I am doing without them so please keep them coming. God bless you all, I’m praying for all of you.
XOXO 💛 ~Kathy
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