awkward situations
Wednesday, July 30th, 2014
Another full day of teaching. What struck me was how well thought out the questions these servants of God asked. They were all practical and essential questions. I really appreciated that.
I’m starting to feel much better physically, but I am still not sleeping well at night, and getting very tired in the early evening. I really enjoy Bryce’s company, and am ashamed to leave so early every night to go to my room to sleep.
I finally got to use the internet today. It’s amazing how worried I get when I cannot read emails or check my social networks for a few days. I am such a creature of habit. Another thing that was just bizarre for me was trying to negotiate the French keyboard at the internet café. I had 30 minutes to be online, but I spent most of that time hunting for keys and making mistakes entering passwords.
I didn’t get a chance to read all my emails, but I figured most of them would wait until I got back to “civilization” i.e., – better internet access. It is good to be put in awkward situations once in a while. It keeps one humble.
Thursday, July 31st, 2014 am
This morning, before we went to the church for the training sessions, we visited several banks trying to draw money from an ATM. Alas, no luck again. Bryce figured that the person he had called the night before had unlocked his account for the wrong country (there are two Congos).Money problems like this are a consistent problem for short term missions. If you bring cash, it can be stolen, but the ATMS are unreliable, and many banks no longer process the funds by any other way.
On the way through the city, another awkward situation occurred. Our taxi was stopped by three policemen. They took the driver’s license and registration, searched his vehicle until they found a violation. He did not have a fire extinguisher in his trunk. They would not give him his documents back, and threatened to take him to jail, until he ultimately paid them the “fine.” Ten dollars US. Apparently this kind of thing is common here. LORD Jesus, please come back and bring justice to your land.
jeffersonvann 