May 30th

Yesterday and the day before there were several attempted attacks on church buildings by the rioters, and a couple of smaller church buildings were burnt. The police sent a force to our neighborhood, for it was rumored that the mob would attack the church down the street from us. We were not worried; the group's plans can not be kept secret (not much can be kept secret here!), and there is a huge police presence now, since many police and soldiers have come from the mainland. Many people are not happy about the way the government has handled the situation. The ring leaders who were arrested a couple days ago after the first church was burnt have been released already, charged only with staging a protest without a permit. At least that's what we've heard. I don't know if it can true.....ummm, what about destruction of property, vandalism, violence and disturbance of the peace??? We hope and pray the worst is over. Yet, we know these people will still be here, and if they gain momentum again there's no telling what will happen. We shall continue in our work with all urgency.

Here's a pic for Grandma of these two little guys! They are wearing shirts that I made for them a couple months ago. I've been trying to learn how to sew this year, and it's not easy since i have only one basic pattern, and only very basic notions. But, these little shirts turned out cute, although they are full of little mistakes!That's how you learn!

Weekend riots

Saturday night, vurugu- all sorts of chaos- was going on in town. Bob was on his way to town in the morning when someone told him about the riots and mobs that had shut down the town. Police and military personnel were patrolling the downtown area.
We are fine, just hanging out at home. The boys stayed home from school today, just to make sure everything is shwari (calm). Since they attacked churches so violently, it would not be far fetched to think they may attack a Christian's school.
Two church buildings have been vandalized and burned, one of which was the biggest church in the city, where Bob had done some teaching a couple years ago. A mob of two hundred or so attacked the place; no one was hurt, but a couple of cars were burnt.
The group behind the violence is a radical Islamic group, which desires the island to be an Islamic country, ruled by Sharia law. They have been gaining momentum in the last few weeks and months, inciting the public to demand the union between the island and the mainland be broken. They say the union weakens Islam on our island. Which, to be fair, is probably true! But most people here do not want to live under Sharia. There is way more freedom and rights here, particularly for women, than there is in countries ruled by Sharia.
There have been protests, and several incidents of harassment to local congregations in last few weeks. Breaking the union, strengthening Islam, and aggressiveness have been preached over the loud speakers of mosques.
There's a lot of people who feel cheated and oppressed here; lots of unrest. The union seems to be a fragile one. Politics is so important here. Mainly, I believe, because it is their only hope.

The neighborhood mosque

All of this trouble is incited by the enemy. I do believe it is his best attempt to halt the encroachment of his territory. The kingdom of God is increasing on this island every day. Believers are reaching out, and many souls are learning the Truth of Isa Al-Masih, Jesus the Messiah. The enemy is running scared. I have been working through Luke twelve the past week in Swahili, and immediately upon hearing about the riots, I thought of Jesus words, Nimekuja kuleta moto duniani.... nimekuja kuleta mafarakano... "I have come to bring fire upon the earth...I have come to bring divisions".  Yes, it is a battle, a battle between good and evil. But we know Who will prevail! And He will bring peace and hope and life abundantly. This incident has given us opportunity to speak of Him to those Muslims who really do want peace, in their nation, and in their souls.

Power outage

I have not abandoned this blog [yet] ! We have not had electricity for a few days this week. It was only our little neighborhood that was without. The transformer was damaged, and it took a few days to get the new one. We were very happy to see the electric company truck drive by with a new transformer strapped to the back! A couple hours later, we had umeme!  Electricity is so nice. It makes life so convenient. We thank God for it!
Our internet has not been working for several days either. The fundi finally came to fix it yesterday. Hooray, contact with the outside world!

We've had plenty of time for reading this week, what with no electricity and the one-week break from school. Gilbert has really been into Laura Ingalls Wilder lately (these are his favorite books, he says!), and would love it if I could read to him all day. Unfortunately my voice won't hold out that long! We finished Little House on the Prairie, and now we are reading On the Banks of Plum Creek. 
                                                                                                                                                                                             

This is Gilbert's draw-and-write page. I thought I would post it, even though the G is reversed...it is too funny! I asked him to draw something that stared with "G" and then write the word. And this is what he wrote! Gut! Yes, he helped butcher chickens this week. He eviscerated one all by himself, and he actually did a pretty good job! Kids are hilarious. 

New words

A little here about Elisha. He is growing up so fast! He is a crazy, tough, affectionate little fellow. He loves to wrestle and fight with his brothers, yet loves hugs and kisses (when he's in the loving mood and not the fighting mood!)

In less than two months he will turn two. He says new words every day. Today he said "coconut". Can you guess why?? Whenever Halima grinds coconut, he like to sit by her and snitch from the bowl! An if he's lucky, like today, he gets to eat a chunk of coconut that broke out of the shell. People here say that if a child drinks the water from the inside of the coconut, he will speak early. Although we have a few coconut trees in our yard, we've never had enough coconuts to test that theory! It could be true- maybe there is something in the coconut that promotes brain development. Or, it might just be a very popular old wive's tale!

The ground coconut is mixed with water, and then the water is filtered from the coconut meat to make a sweet coconut milk. Then it is used to make curry sauce- on this day, we had a delicious chicken curry!

And on this day, his new word was "gun". oh, little boys!

Test Block

 First you measure the soil and cement...

 then you mix it up, and add water....

 then you pack it in...

 press it down...

 He used the jack to compress it.

 ta-da! an interlocking block!

Bob tested his block machine yesterday. He used a jack to compress it, as the lever is not yet made. But he couldn't wait to try it out!

How the garden grows

 It's been raining for a few days. It seems the rainy season has finally come! It's been lovely and cool. Reminds me of spring in Texas. Actually it's making me a bit homesick. It's so nice not to be sweating all the time. To enjoy snuggling with the kids, rather than bearing the extra heat they bring when they crawl in my lap.

It is time to plant trees and gardens. Yesterday we planted Purple beauty bell peppers and yellow peppers in these cups. We will transplant them at the farm in two or three weeks.

 Bob continues to work on this interlocking block form. Here it is so far. Next the tricky part- making the press lever.

 We planted the little garden at the house a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately nothing that we planted came up, other than a few lettuce sprouts which have been eaten by some kind of creature. Bush babies or a big caterpillar, is my guess. But look at this nice stand of....sorghum! Where did that come from??
Well, Bob mixed sorghum in the last batch of chicken feed. We used chicken manure to fertilize the garden....I guess that sorghum wasn't digested too well!

 There's also a few burgundy okra plants growing. Bob likes the stuff. It tastes pretty good made with coconut milk!

 And this is some pretty fungus growing on our fence post.

Can this kid pout, or what??? My almost-two-year-old can be pretty moody nowadays!

Mei Pili

Happy May! A new month is always exciting. It's wonderful how God created the sun and moon to give us times and seasons. Each new month is a time of reflection and planning for us. What do we need to do this month? What do we want to do this month? Setting some goals. Changing some things. And each new month I choose a book or topic to study, some prayer focus points, and memory passages. This month I'll be studying James. I may want to memorize this book also- but have not yet decided yay or nay. Usually as I study a passage, I find that the Lord uses it to speak to me so much that I do end up wanting to memorize it! I finished my last big memorization a couple months ago, so I'm ready for a new one. We'll see.

James is a practical book- that can be clearly seen with one read-over! It is more practical than doctrinal.. Thank goodness there are passages like that in the Book! As I was studying today, I thought about how new believers from our part of the world have several things in common with the original audience James was writing to. James was writing to the brethren, of the twelve tribes who were scattered abroad- likely because of persecution for their faith. They were not many in number. They were not powerful, politically. They were not well stablished in the faith. They lived in a world where Jesus the Messiah was unknown, and Christianity was either unheard of or thought to be some sort of fringe movement by weirdos. Through this, they had to grow and learn how to live in the world as followers of Christ. They didn't have centuries of Christian tradition dictating how they thought and acted! They had to learn to live what they believed. 

When someone here comes to faith, they are in much the same boat. Not only must they learn and grow in doctrine- they must also learn how to live, think, and act as a Follower. In the face of rejection. Persecution. Loneliness. Being the minority, unpopular, scorned, crazy. It's rough. They don't have a culture or heritage of Christian tradition, showing them how to live now. They must learn to do and live the Word in their world. 

 Learning how to walk along side them has been difficult. My cry has been, Lord, how can we best disciple these young ones to become strong, faithful followers in this context? How?? Bob and I are also reading through Acts together. This is always a book which teaches and challenges us in life and ministry. 

I believe He is answering my prayer. I am excited to see what I learn this month.