Yesterday I had a really neat experience. We do not have running water in the sense that the USA refers to. I like to say that we do: we run to the well, the water runs down your leg on the way back from the well, and the water runs out of the bucket when you tip it over. I guess it is a matter of perspective, eh? Anyhow, the kids have been having difficulties washing their hands because it is hard for them to simutaneously pour from a bucket and wash their hands at the same time. In one of my community health books there is a description of a "tippy-tap", which is a large bottle or gourd that can be suspended from a tree. A small hole is put on one side near the bottom, and the tube of a ball point pen is inserted. It can then be filled with water and as long as the cap is on securely, the water will not come out. A person can loosen the cap, allowing air in to replace the water, and the water will stream from the pen tube. One can then wash their hands, then tighten the lid to turn the water back off. SO, I made one for our bathroom so that the kids can easily wash their hands. Several of the Bible School men were on the verandah while I was making it. One of them was teasing me about being a blacksmith, because I used a hot wire, which I had heated in the coals of the outdoor fire, to make the hole in the plastic water bottle. When I finished, I took it out to show them. Several of them were amazed and asked for an explanation of how it works. I did my best to explain it in Krio, which is rusty to say the least. They understood though, and eagerly asked if I had another plastic bottle so that they could go make one at home themselves. Praise God for the brain of the person who thought of such an innovative solution. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Okay, it took me a week, but I finally figured out how to enter my own blog. Don't laugh, the instructions are suddenly in French and the internet sometimes doesn't work. Anyway, we have now been in our new home for 1 week. Roy and I finally got our bed together last night, so we are off of the floor, no more spiders to sleep with. The kids have been on cots, except for Abby who has had her bed for 5 days now. Next we build a bed for the boys. We are still living out of trunks, as we have no dressers, but hey, we have been doing that since June. I think we are just determined to get the most out of our $18 Walmart trunks. LOL! I can't wait until the house is settled so that we can branch into ministry. I did, however, have my first case today. It is difficult, because I can't treat anyone until I have a Sierra Leone license, so I can look and I can carefully recommend, but I am afraid that this little boy may have something serious and chronic going on, so it is really hard to sit on my hands. I have decided to adapt a moto from Dori in Finding Nemo, "Just keep praying, just keep praying, la la-la la la " . It is also going to be interesting to see how we fit everything into a day. Clothes are washed on a washboard, water has to be boiled and strained, or else pumped through a filter, showers come with some assembly required. We made peanut butter the other day - it took us an hour, but we filled the whole jar. In the morning I get up and make cream of wheat or oatmeal over an open fire. Anyway, the people are great, and have been so kind to us. We have made several friends already. The school celebrated it's first graduating class the Saturday after we got here. God is good. Now, y'all go enjoy your running water and thank God for it today. :)

Once again I have fallen behind. We HAD planned on leaving for Sierra Leone on September 16, but as many of you know, Caleb broke his leg. His leg is healing beautifully, and he will get the cast off on November 2, 2010. However, in the meantime, we found out that I needed a hysterectomy for a large fibroid. As a result, I had my hysterectomy on October 11, and had my first check-up on the 21st. I am healing fast, so the doctor said that he would see me for my final check-up in five weeks instead of six. We are now talking with the travel agent to book our flight for sometime on the week of the 15th of November. We are very excited, but somewhat tentative, as we are waiting for something else to happen to delay us. It seems too good to be true that we are finally going to fly. In the interim, we have rented out our house ( they moved in on the day of my surgery) and we are staying with some very kind friends from church. God has definitely provided through them. Thank you again for all your prayers.

P.S.

The little girl in the left-hand column of this blog recently started to climb into some hot water thinking it was her turn for a bath. She has severe burns on her chest and stomach as well as on her arms and hands. She is being transferred to a hospital near to the capital city. Please pray for her.

SURPRISE!!!

Well, I have not kept up very well - so here is a summary. I finished the course in West Virginia and we had planned on camping down to Florida to take the kids to Disney before we go. They have never been there and are just at the right ages. However, we had to go home first to finish up some work on our house to get it ready to sell. Also, we found out that due to a computer glich, our reservations had not gone through. So, we worked on the house and were playing it by ear as far as our Disney trip. In the meantime, we started our flight booking with the travel agent and were planning on flying out on September 16. Someone contacted us through our realtor to see about renting, which is really neat since they are involved in ministry as well. Having our house issue settled was a huge weight off of our minds, so as of Thursday morning, we asked the travel agent to reserve our tickets and we went to get all of our yellow fever vaccines. At lunch, I took Caleb over to spend the afternoon playing with his best friend. Approx 15 minutes after I dropped him off, his friend's mom called me to say that he had broken his lower leg. It turned out that his leg had been clamped between a trailer door and the base of the trailer and a quick trip to the ER revealed that he had indeed broken both the tibia and fibula. SOOO, we are now on hold, possibly until the end of October according to the orthopedic surgeon. Please pray for us - our house is rented out as of October 2 and we had already gotten rid of our furniture. Mentally we had one foot on the airplane, so this is a long 2 months of limbo. However, I am convinced that God has a very good reason for all of this - so we might as well enjoy the ride. Lemonade anyone?!? - Lemons abound!

I have now finished my third of four 2-week modules in my tropical medicine course. This last module was on parasitology, which I was really looking forward to, but it was brutal - very beneficial and extremely well-taught, but challenging. I praise God for this opportunity, but my brain has never been so full. Thank you again to all who are supporting us and praying for us. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to us. We have enjoyed West Virginia very much and have also enjoyed the people we have met here. I am a little sad that it is almost done, but I am also excited to be going on to the next phase of our journey.

I am almost done with my third week of class and I feel as though I have been given four months worth of information already. I am so glad I came. This is an excellent course and I praise God that I am able to come here. We are staying at a campground in a small cabin and I am so glad that we are. Roy and the kids have been able to go swimming and biking almost every day. God has been good to us in providing us. The camp owners have been wonderful and they are going to buy some supplies so that Roy can fix up the cabin that we are living in, which will give him something to do. There is a little girl living at the campground that came to church with us last week too. Keep us in your prayers