Josh's Journal Nov. 18

Nov.18Nov. 18, 2007

I met a Ford Explorer on the way to church this morning. I know you don’t think that is too big of a deal, but it startled me. I have not seen one of those in 9 months.

On a much more serious note, Lydia came down with malaria Friday night. She was playing at a missionary friend’s house in the afternoon. She came home tired. She fell asleep on the couch at 6:30 p.m. and slept until 9:00 Saturday morning. She seemed OK in the morning but spiked a fever just before lunch. Immediately after lunch I took her for a blood test at the clinic. Within 20 minutes the test results were back that she has malaria. We treated her with Co-artem, plus Tylenol and Motrin to keep the fever down. Even with all that medicine in her system she still had a fever about 102 all night long. Today it is a little better, down to about 100.5. I try not to panic, but it is kind of worrisome when my kids get these deadly diseases.

Things with the blind have been going very poorly. We met about a week ago to make a plan to market the knitted items. We had a great plan, until I learned of all the other problems involved. I became aware of severe disunity within 24 hours of our meeting. I called a second meeting two days later. Tim also came to help me with this meeting. At this meeting we seemed to pinpoint some of the problems (specifically those involved) so Tim told those people to come to our house for a third meeting last week. At that meeting we learned that the problems dealt not simply with unity; there has been a history of abortion, divorce, immorality on the part of some of the members. When others rebuked them it did not go well. Some were denied membership for this immorality, which only caused them to start their own organization. I was very distressed. I was upset that some who claim to be leaders in church and have leadership roles in SACAB live in sin like this. I was sad, frustrated, distressed. I was ready to abandon the project because I felt like I was funneling money (so far small amounts, but orange tree orchards will begin soon) and time into a group with so many problems. Should I take back the knitting needles? Should I tell them to forget about the orange trees? Should I just quietly disappear from their group?

After I had considered these things I felt that instead of leaving, I need to get more active. The verse that came to mind was the words of Jesus: It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I need to confront those who have lived in a pattern of sin. I need to share the freedom that can be found in Christ, the grace and forgiveness that is available, but also the fury of God’s wrath for those who continue to live in sin. I need to disciple these people as much as they will allow me. I went over to Francis and Angelina’s last night about 10:00. I had to bring Angelina some money so she can get Ben his CT scan and X-ray. We took a few minutes to pray together. I felt much better after that, but we still have a long way to go.

On Wednesday I will be going about 60km into the bush to a center / town called Otuboi. I will be beginning a leadership training course based on The Timothy Institute materials produced by Calvin Seminary. I have been trying to get this going for 6 weeks. They knew I was leaving for December and wanted to have at least one session before I go. We are going to be meeting once a month. The course about Pastoral Care is 11 lessons long. I hope to be able to complete two lessons each time we meet so we can finish in 6-7 months.

On a lighter note, Pastor Danny, a missionary from the Philippines, and I are going fishing tomorrow morning. I will let you know how it goes. I hope all is well with you. Have a happy Thanksgiving!!