End of May 2002

A Day in the Life of … Sunday 19th May 2002.

Just a few minutes after setting off from home at 7.40am a man stopped me and said to me "Ngima rach (life is bad). Last month my brother died, and now my (actually his brother’s) 2 year old child has died." I parked my bike, cleaned the mud off my shoes and entered the hut to pray for the bereaved family before setting off again. Rolling down the hill I had to keep my brakes on so as not to get splattered with mud. I called by our YTC teacher David’s home on route and found him well. I never thought to wash on passing the river, so had to preach later with muddy feet!

A difficult 1 hour discussion with our YTC Director regarding issues that arose in my 5 month absence then followed. Fortunately we were still friends by the end so four of us set off for the United Pentecostal Church 2 miles on, with Lucy our secretary on the back of my bike. Our other teacher Philip and our Director Omaya made up our four.

We found the service already running. There were many slots given over to kneeling and crying and shouting to God. I felt a bit lost in those sessions. After testimonies I taught the 30 or so people gathered from the Scriptures. The other visiting preacher took over an hour to hammer home the points that I had made. There were announcements and more repenting sessions in the small mud house with its hot corrugated iron roof. Then we had 10 or so people kneel at the front for prayer before proceedings ended at 2.30pm.

Philip joined me for a snack-lunch on our way home. It was good to have time to share with him. On reaching home I found time for some relaxing reading under the shade of a tree before an old man came up to me looking for someone to talk to. The old man told me that he lives alone and was hungry. We have been encouraging him to accept Christ as his Saviour and change his way of life, but at this time he had already consumed some alcohol. The ladies made him a cup of porridge before he went. Meanwhile the children were returning from their 1.5 hours walk distance from my home church (Ulumbi, Zion) where 15 people were baptized that morning.

A little while later we heard some wailing near-by. "It is not the pastor (who has been sick of late) who has died" grandmother assured me "but just a little girl who has died who they are wailing for." "Oh, it is just a little girl who has died" I assured myself. …

We have various visitors come in the evening to stay the night. Then we divided our children at home into two groups to present competing dramas on Luke 12.13-21 as part of our regular evening worship.

Other news: Pray for a valued pastor friend of mine, who has just married a girl who no-one seems to approve of, and without having given any advance notification that she was moving in. Esther has been with us, although prospects at her getting together with the father of her baby (to be) look slim. Give thanks for a good class at Malanga on Monday looking at the Gospel of John. Pray for the pastor of the Luong Mogik church who is un-well with typhoid. Pray for some hiccups in my work-permit application process to be overcome.

Jim Harries