Back to Buipe

Off the bus and onto a new one is how the week went.We got back from SLC on Saturday and I had a couple days to unpack, review some Dagbani, do some admin things and then pack again and head back to Buipe. Ok, so, not as fast as that. But still, let me have my dramatic flair, ok?My Auntie and my mom are making plans to visit me in October!! AHH!! Really, you cannot even know my excitement. I mean, off the charts WOO HOOOO!!! I should really have a smile on my face all the time. As I was telling Rafia about it in simple Dagbani, I learned the word for my mother's sister. I know I need to learn it because I will be telling everyone they are coming. I hope by October I can say it properly :)On Tuesday evening I led my first Bible study here in Tamale. There are about 8 girls ages 14-18 from a church outside of Tamale. Some can read Dagbani and some cannot. I have to use a translator. His name is Samuel and he was the one who asked if I could do this. I am using a Bible study book called Foundations of Faith. I really do not know where these girls are at spiritually so I will just start at the beginning. They seem like they really want to be there and study. That makes me want to be there too! I taught two things: God created all things and God knows all things. By the end of the night I could say those two things in Dagbani because I kept asking them what are we learning, what are we learning. Hopefully, they will learn things and I will learn things too. So far, so good!Tuesday night our Ethiopian teammates came up. Just Mesfin and Dawit because we would not have room in my car to drive around their wives and children. So, for now it was to give Mesfin and Dawit and idea of the north and to look at school and housing options available. On Wednesday, Yvonne set up several appointments at different schools. We were able to talk to some principles and get a look at classrooms. I was really amazed at what Tamale has. Damary cooked dinner for us Wednesday evening and we found out Dawit is a famous singer in Ethiopia. I said he and Damary should sing together because she is also famous in her area too.On Thursday, Mesfin, Dawit, Yvonne and I headed to Buipe. When we arrived we talked with some missionaries, Amy and Terry. It started to rain so we had to hold off on some plans. But by afternoon Dzallo, a Fulani believer, came over to say HI. Did I mention that the Ethiopians will be working with Fulani people? Yes, they will be :) Dzallo answered any questions they had and told them a little bit about himself. We then went to town and saw a school and met the principle there. We saw a couple houses that are available for rent too. I cannot imagine what was going thru the guys' heads because it was so much information and English is not their first language and everything is so new. But they did well.When we got back to Amy and Terry's we heard that a truck had crashed into a light pole and most of Buipe power was knocked out. So, Terry started the generator but found that was broken. Then he tried the solar panels and that wasn't working either! Thankfully, the rain had come and it really cooled things off. We were able to smile and had a lovely candlelight dinner outside with no bugs. I even slept well because of the cool breeze.The next morning we went over to Dzallo's place. He was not there. His father was there and some women, so we sat down and waited. His father tried talking to us but we can't speak the Fulfulde language. BUT...then he spoke Twi!! So, I tried to pull out from the cobwebs of my mind some Twi and was able to understand that Dzallo's son had malaria and needed to go to the hospital. I was able to tell the father that these men are from Ethiopia and will be living here. OOOO my brain was in such a mess trying to not mix it with Dagbani!! But, we made do, and just a bit later Dzallo came. Afterwards, we went to meet with Pastor Issa who's wife is Fulani. He just started a school and so we met him out there. There were also some pastors that Issa invited because apparently there has been some small acts of vandalism on the school. People don't want a Christian school so they are making it known. Issa had the pastors (and us) pray for God's wisdom and protection. It was a beautiful time to be part of the body of Christ.
We got some lunch and headed back to Tamale. The guys were out as Yvonne, Amy, and I chatted up a storm. I am sure their heads were full with all the info, exhausted from all the travels and meetings with people. For dinner on Friday, Penny was in town and all of us went out to eat. Damary and I thought we would run over to our tailor to pick up some dresses before that. He lives on a very muddy, potholey road and on the way back to town we got stuck. I have never gotten my 4x4 Nissan X-trail stuck before. But my car was tilted and the tires on the left side could not get planted well enough to get the other side out. It took about 4 men and 1.5 hours but they did it. I just felt like a pathetic damsel in distress wondering what to do next if they can't get the car out. (sigh) But we thank GOD for his help! We were able to meet everyone at the restaurant just as the food was being set down. Such great timing :)I have another week of crazy. I made an appointment to see the doctor who did the procedure on my cyst. It still has not healed well. I will head down to Accra for a few days.Love you. Thanks for praying!