A Trip to the Lagoon - Days 14-15

Day 14 of 21: Tuesday 7/21

Today I decided I would at least look at the tractor.  There is really no way to work on it without the radiator hoses to even try and start it.  But I listed all the parts and fluids that I would need for doing repairs on the “next” (God-willing) trip.  It is kind of a huge job to get it in shape again and maybe beyond my capabilities.  But it is needed for airstrip maintenance and repair.  There is some bad erosion on the sides of the strip which is slowly finding its way into the strip itself.  

On the left is our old mission house. It is now being used for the community health worker to live. It is still in great shape, but needs a few repairs. David and I stayed in the former guest house on the right.

I also did porch repairs on the big mission house.  I didn’t want it to collapse – especially if we might use it again.  I wrote letters to people at Honinabi to be taken up with those going for the church district meeting. My good friend and helper, who in 1983 joined with me to help reach the Gobasi people for Christ, had fallen away from the Lord. I sent him a letter, too.  Sefasui and Kilas came that evening and we talked about the meetings and things that needed to happen for the churches in the area to move forward. Then we prayed.  Afterward I spent time to prep for tomorrow’s service, and then went to bed.

Day 15 of 21: Wednesday 7/22

Some of the young men went up to Nomad early in the morning.  But the day started for Dave and me with the morning service.  It went well. I explained, as I had many years before a number of times, the “narrow and wide road” – how Jesus made the difference, how it was that he could make the difference, and the transforming power of the cross & resurrection.  People are listening well…once they get there.

After church I sorted through three containers of literacy and Bible materials.  I consolidated that down to two containers and freed up a large galvanized steel “patrol box.” We plan to leave behind some of the things we brought and needed something to put them in.

David with some Gobasi boys with the Rentoul River in the background.

One thing David wanted to do was swim across the river and visit the “lagoon” that we used to visit occasionally for outings when we lived here.  This seemed like a good time as not much was going on, and we were waiting for the return of the guys with, hopefully, some gas and oil.  Well, we swam across and got to the lagoon, a little down-river – not all that easy.  When we got there (I was a little exhausted by this time) we couldn’t find the old path back into where the lagoon was…although we thought we found it!  After trudging through a huge muddy area dug up by wild pigs, we still couldn’t find it, and were quite a ways in from the river. 

This is when we were sure we heard a plane coming.

Since the plane schedule was up in the air (no pun intended) due to repairs, we decided we better hi-tail it to the airstrip in case it was MAF finally bringing our supplies.  I needed to talk to the pilot about a number of things.  We got back to the river as fast as we could and took off swimming across the river.  I started to lag…considerably…the current was taking us way further downstream than I wanted.  When we got across, we had to swim our way along the bank to get to a place we could get out.  

I don’t remember ever being so exhausted, I could barely move.  David had to run up to the strip to see if the plane had actually come. We didn’t even know for sure because we couldn’t see from inside the bush on the other side, and it is hard to tell exactly where things like plane noises are coming from.  The plane wasn’t there. It never had been. We never found the lagoon – and we did not, no way, want to swim across the river again…ever.  He came down again to tell me this, and then we went back up – about 100 feet up to the level of the strip with the path being about 150 feet, winding its way to the top.

False alarm. The plane didn't come today, much to our disappointment. We were in desperate need of supplies to accomplish needed repairs during our time there.

The guys had returned with some gas from the government station called Nomad.  So, now I could try and start the lawnmower engine tomorrow and see if it would work.

After this someone brought us a catfish, a large one.  We bought it from him and later decided to give it to a village person to cook for us.  No one was coming by, though, so I decided to just chop it in large chunks and boil them – since frying was not a hit with the last fish.  The bush knife (machete) was nice and sharp so David held one end of the fish while I chopped my way up.  It worked beautifully.

We shared some of the fish with a couple of guys who came by later.  Then a lady came along for some medicine and we gave her the last of it.  Everyone was happy!

A typical family

Later, just after dark, two ladies came with a very sick baby.  They wanted medicine but the little I had was already gone. I felt very bad. 

Well, David is laying down reading his bible. That seems like a good idea.