We spent the day in Tamale. The only real reason that we needed to go was to go to the bank and get the money for payroll and also to pick up the extra money that was sent in for the evangelists, church leaders and workers to help them over this tough time after many of the crops failed. Steve plans on distributing the money on class day next week. Our thanks go out to all of you who help with money to take care of whatever comes up! We are so grateful to all of you who support the work with your prayers, love and money! You will never know how much your support means to spreading the gospel here in the northern part of Ghana.
While we were in Tamale we stopped by the tailor’s shop that we bought the embroidery sewing machine from a couple weeks ago. I wanted to check to see if he had found the thumb screw that holds the needle bar in place. The table that we mounted the sewing machine in did not have the right size hole so Steve modified the table to hold the machine. Today while I was in his shop I hinted that I needed the original table top that went with the machine. He does not have a machine that will fit the table so he was more than willing to sell it to me. It only took a few minutes for him to take the table top off. He helped load it in the truck and made a promise to look for the thumb screw, the original box and the manual. I would love to find the manual. This is an obscure brand of machine and I would love to know what company made it; if I had the manual it might shed some light on the origin of the machine.
Steve had gotten in touch with the guy we buy tires from last week; he was pleased that he had tires that would fit the red truck. The guy that sells tires does not have the ability or equipment to mount the tires so after we bought them we went to the guy that removes the old ones, put on the new ones and balances them. While all that was going on I sat in the air conditioned truck and cut fabric scraps into usable squares. We did a little bit of shopping for food and the only thing that we did not find that I needed was corn starch. The past few times we have been in Tamale we have looked for it but could not find it. Today I decided to buy TZ (Tee-zed) flour which is usually made from finely ground corn. I decided to give it a try and see how well it thickened my gravy.
Before we left Tamale we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought our lunch/supper. We ate it on the way back to Yendi. It is amazingly good for being served in a third world country.
Have a great weekend!
In HIS Service,
Steve, Kandie and Skeeter
The Monkeyshines
I knew my life had taken a turn for the worst this morning when I saw Dad pull the red truck out of the garage! The red truck and the blue van never come out unless they are going to go off and leave me behind! My suspicions were confirmed when I saw them start dragging out the cooler, Mom’s pillow, a backpack and the snack basket. Mom can’t go anywhere without the snack basket! She likes to snack when she travels. At this point I knew this was going to be a long lonely day with no one to play with or sleep on! I chattered and called to them but they pretended that they could not hear me! I felt a cloud of gloom drift over me as I saw Dad drive through the gate and Mom locked it behind them!
Donkey took the day off from work today but he stopped by a couple times today to feed me. I did not have much of an appetite but I ate a little just to keep me alive until the parents came back home.
The parents got back earlier than I expected! I was so excited to see that gate swing open! I had been watching it all day! As soon as Mom walked through the gate she started talking to me and singing her famous song, “Oh! Skeeter Bab! Oh! Skeeter Bab! You are my sweet Skeeter Bab!” That song gets me every time I hear it! You know she has a very LOUD voice and I could hear her clear across the yard!
We had a wonderful reunion; I helped unload the truck and then began to search through the bags to see if they brought me anything. I was so surprised that they bought me a couple new toys! The one I love the best looks like a caterpillar; it is that soft squish rubber covered with stretchy rubber nubs. It even has a light that blinks if I drop it hard enough on the ground! No, that was a great choice even though it is supposed to be a dog toy. At least this time they did not buy me a cat toy! Cat toys are just too frufru for me!
Please take me with you next time!
Love, Skeeter
