Simple Technology Highly Valued

Sue says:
As I was walking to work the other day, I saw this example of higher and lower levels of technology in use in this developing nation. The man in the background was using a bushhog to cut the grass. The men in the foreground were manually spreading out rice to dry in the sun.

If you haven't walked almost everywhere all your life as many people here have, you don't know the profound joy of receiving as an adult a bicycle to ride. A number of bicycles were donated to CLTC recently, and it is a matter of protocol to distribute them to the most senior farm managers to use to ride to work. It is quite a status symbol to receive one. Simple pleasures. Aren't they wonderful?

Book Boxes on Their Way Home

What a relief! After fighting illness, laboring for weeks to find a shipper and compare quotes for differing services, eight boxes of books are winging their way home. A friend took pity on us and dropped them off at the package service for us. We weren't sure if the theological books we'd need to prepare our classes would be available at our college, so we brought almost our whole library from home. Now it is returning home. Thanks to you who prayed for this process. The Lord and His people helped us get these things off.

Sampling a New Delicacy

Sue says:
It is supposed to be the end of rainy season here, but the rain hasn't let up. In the last week, about five inches of rain have fallen. So garden crops are doing well. In the picture above, our friend is picking pitpit in our garden. You'll notice that it's highlands pitpit, as opposed to lowlands pitpit. I'm not sure what the difference is, but the pleated leaves are intriguing! Pitpit is an edible grass. See what she has in her left hand. She'll throw away the leaves, peel the stalks and cook them. Of course, they're very nice with green onions and coconut cream.

Long reeds called pitpit are also dried, pounded and woven into walls for traditional houses here. I don't know if that plant is related to this kind of pitpit.

In other news, it's the fifth of eight weeks of our last Bible college term here. I'm almost back to full strength. In two weeks, the Office of Higher Education (OHE), that accredits our college, is sending a team to check on our progress in implementing suggestions that were made during the last OHE visit. Pressure time!

We are also packing up boxes of our personal books to ship back home. It will be a relief to get those on their way. 

Return to Work Progresses Smoothly

 

Sue says:

Walking the round-trip kilometer to class and back and teaching one hour per day has worked well for this transition week after hepatitis. Our dean of studies and the faculty and students have been understanding and supportive of my interim solution. And what a boost it has been to get to see everyone again! I returned home after the daily outing and rested the remainder of the time. 

Little by little, I'm able to take back cooking, folding clothes and other home chores. Jeff has been kind to cheerfully do so much at home, but he won't miss the added responsibility as I'm able to take it back. The flowers pictured above are some I just cut from our garden. I especially like the red-and-yellow leaves of the coleus with the dahlias and daisies (cosmos?). There are nice heads of lettuce, strawberries, green onions and tapiok to eat from the garden now. I'm glad to be able to go out and be a part of things more. 

A verse I've been thinking on in my convalescence: Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalm 103:13).