We took the identical travel route we took last week to visit the small congregation that meets in the village of Salankuga. It takes an hour to get to the village. The Church meets in a school room and has for years. The purpose of our visit today was to see how the work on their new church building was shaping up and as well as encouraging the congregation. It has been a while since we visited due to the pandemic.
Before starting my lesson I discussed how to decrease the chances of getting Covid-19 and praised the congregation for using their hand washing station. Timothy Niligrini and I also presented the congregation with the gifts we had brought; a Bible, pad and pen, a bottle of antiseptic for hand washing, cups, communion plate, juice, bread, and a metal box with a padlock to hold the Church’s important papers.
Since the religious world looks at today as being a special day I took the opportunity to discuss the death of Jesus and how we celebrate His death every first day of the week. The question and answer period took place after services. When the questions ended we drove to the other end of the village to see how the building looked. The men had agreed to get bush wood (long wooden poles that are 4-5 inches in diameter) to use for the rafters in the building. Two” x three” sawn lumber is then laid across the rafter so the iron sheets can be nailed down. Well, that idea didn’t materialize. It was said that someone got all the bush wood before they got what they needed. We encouraged the men to look for the bush wood again to decrease their costs. Another problem is the building’s walls are mud balls and the distance is too great a span. If center poles are not used to brace up the roof the walls are not strong enough to withstand the roof’s weight causing the building to collapse. Getting the roof on before it rains is the main objective otherwise the walls can collapse. We will continue to try helping the brother’s work out the bugs.
We visited the chief of the village as is our custom. During our conversation he told us of a young lady who was recovering from an illness and requested us to pray for her; which we gladly did. Before we left the village the brothers gave us some yams and a nice hen which we later regifted to Timothy.
I had forgotten that Timothy had told me we were invited to speak at a naming ceremony this afternoon. The mother is Timothy’s wife Rita, younger sister. She is married to a policeman stationed in Yendi. We arrived back at the compound at 2pm. There was just enough time to eat something. At 3:45 Timothy came with Matthew Unidon, from Kulkpeni. Matthew is a relative of Rita’s family. After arriving at the baby’s parent’s house we waited a few minutes for the father and a small group of off duty policemen to arrive so we could begin. The mother and three week old baby girl were dressed in white clothing. The baby has long soft curly hair. She was so cute. The father was very proud of her. I spoke a few minutes as Timothy interpreted for me. Then a bowl was passed to collect money for the baby’s soap, baby powder, or other needed items. We have baby showers in the states where gifts are given. Here in Yendi you give “soap” money.
It has been a full day of it so I will close for today. Hope you had a fun holiday with family and friends. Most of all we hope you had a great Lord’s Day. May God bless!
In His service,
Stephen & Kandie Taylor
