This morning we had the “unveiling ceremony” for the new gate at the back of the property. We cannot see the finished product until they removed the wood from the pillar boxes from the pillars. At that time we can see if the gates are hanging straight or if the pillars are square with the wall. Until this point it is all guess work. As soon as they took off the boxes we could see the hinges and knew they had hung the gate upside down. We asked the masons why they put it on backwards; they said that was the only way to attach the gate so the pretty side of the gate would face out. He said the fault was with Red; he had made the door backward and there was no other way to hang it. Five grown men stood there and argued that there was no other way to hang the door. I asked them why they did not flip the door over and hang it right side up instead of upside down. A look of astonishment lit up Dawda’s face. He said, “I can see it now!” But it was too late. The only way to fix the gate now was to break up the pillar and start all over. We cannot justify the additional cost. Steve laughed all the time I was trying to explain what the problem was! In a few years of use the welding bead that is holding the gate on will wear off and then we will have to address the problem but until then “it is what it is”! The masons got the gutter pipe put in and a slab poured on top of it. It looks really good; we will have to dig out the gutter a bit further down because it looks like the water will pool at the end of the pipe.
This morning the electricity went off while Amama and I were working in the kitchen. Amama speaks broken English and many times we have a “language barrier” problem. In the darkness of the kitchen Amama says in an excited voice, “My rival got delivered yesterday!” She calls her “sister wife her rival”. I said, “She got deliverance?” Amama said, “Yes”. I asked, “do you mean she got saved?” Amama said “yes”. I said, “That is wonderful, was it for the Church of Christ?” (There are many denominations here in Yendi.) Amama said, “No it no be for Church of Christ it be for hospital; it be a girl!” Oh! Amama’s rival gave birth to a baby girl yesterday and Amama wanted some baby clothes for the new baby. Too funny!
Divine, the evangelist from Kpamang called this morning and asked us to go with him to visit the family of one of the teachers at the Kpamang school that was killed yesterday in a motorcycle accident. The teacher was just a young man with a wife and small child. Divine and a delegation from the village came to the mission house around noon. We gave everyone a mask and loaded them in the pickup. The family was very happy that we came to show our sympathy. Of course we had to take a monetary gift for the funeral and then after we got there we gave a small monetary gift to his father, his widow, the man that acted as our interpreter and the headmaster (principal) that took us to their house.
Thank you for everything!
Have a great day!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
