Let me begin by saying everything was going smoothly today until the green truck died. It happened just as we were coming into Yendi after coming from the bush. As I was stopping to let a male hitchhiker get out of the bed of the pickup the truck died as I applied the brakes. When I got out of the vehicle there was a great hissing sound coming from under the hood. My fear became reality; water was running from the engine like a small fountain.
After letting the engine cool down some I slowly twisted off the radiator cap and found a dry radiator. We usually carry a small 2.5 gal. Geri can of water with us so I pour a little into the radiator. Each time it acted like a geyser and shot some water out. It was also running out as fast as I was pouring it in. I backed my ears and called Gomda, our auto fitter (mechanic). While we were waiting for Gomda to come we were parked in front of a kiosk where a lady sold cloth. I mentioned it to Kandie which perked up her ears. Sure enough, the lady had a 6 yard piece of lavender, red and black wax print cloth that Kandie bought and that put a smile on the lady’s face! I’m sure she never dreamed that she would make a sale to us. Shortly after Gomda showed up with a helper and they looked at the engine. The culprit was the water pump. After putting more water in the radiator the truck did start and Gomda drove it away to his shop. We hired a yellow-yellow (three wheeled taxi) to the compound. We still had to turn around and go back to Yendi to pick up all the stuff we had left in the truck.
Like I said we had a mostly smooth morning. We visited the congregation at Sobitido. The village is located south of Kulkpeni approximately 10-12 miles. On the way we passed through the village of Jegrido to drop off some communion juice to the Church. The congregation did some plastering on the outside of the building and needs some new doors to replace the wooden ones. We had a few minutes to spare; we (Kandie, Timothy Niligrini, and yours truly) measured the doors so we will have metal doors made to fit the openings. The Church will have them installed by a mason.
The Sobitido church building has no trees around it; that makes the building very hot. At one time at the close of service I noticed that I had stopped sweating; I was dehydrating.
The congregation was very hospitable. They were happy to get the gifts we gave to them; a metal communion table with tablecloth and lace, English bible, cups , juice, bread, disinfectant for hand washing, and pad/ pen. There were 50 people present for the service. The congregation asked us to speak about marriage and polygamy. We were told that 10 people were baptized last week. That was great news! We helped the Church with some funds when they explained the roof had to be repaired due to storm damage while we were in the states.
The church gifted us with a large number of yams and some guinea eggs. Before leaving the village we stopped by the chief’s house and greeted him.
Hope you had a good Lord’s Day like we did. We appreciate your support and your prayers.
In His service,
Stephen and Kandie Taylor
