Nagayan Ta (stay in peace)

My time here in Kalacha is almost over. One week left.

One week to say my goodbyes. One week to pack up and clean out my house. One week to try to finish up my travel plans and answer e-mails. Why does time go so quickly!?!

I have had fun keeping up this blog and I hope you have enjoyed it as well. It started out as a photo album for my family, but it grew a bit from there. I hope I have given you a small glimpse of what life is like here with the Gabra people... but really, to have any idea, you will have to come and visit for yourself!

Once we leave Kalacha I will have little or not access to internet, so this may be the last post for some time. I will be spending one month in Lesotho, to observe different ministries there, and then head home to Canada sometime in May.

Waaqi isan ebisini! (God bless you all)

God has set eternity in the hearts of men...

God has set eternity in the hearts of men... we cannot find fulfilment or true peace without Him. The Gabra know that God exists, but they do not know Him. The work that God has been doing here in Kalacha will endure forever, man cannot thwart God's plans.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

Is this Kalacha!?

Since the rain last Sunday, it has not felt like the Kalacha that we know...
Everything is green and blooming.
Sunrises and sunsets are enhanced because of the many clouds.

We have had random spurts of rain during the night and I felt sorry for little Guchi, so she has spent a few nights inside.
We even had a massive dust storm!!! That was an experience.
Our neighbors had to fix their houses after the gale-force winds ripped through.
Most evenings we have had impressive lightning storms that surround us... of course as soon as I try to take pictures the lightning disappears!

Blessed rain...

I do not believe in coincidences... On our baptism Sunday, God opened up the heavens and we all got drenched! 70mm in one morning, what a blessing!!!
Those who were late to church got DRENCHED!!! I am convinced that God has a great sense of humor!

We were all safe under the tin roof, but the down pour made it impossible to hear anyone talk... but we could sure sing!!! The rain did let up a bit so that we could hear Eddie's sermon on baptism, but then it poured some more.
After the service we all went to the pool for the baptism of 17 believers. Some of these people have been waiting for over 3 years to finish their baptism classes and to have a pastor here in Kalacha who was able to baptise them.
The Gabra fear water- to them rivers or pools often mean death, and for them to get into the pool to be baptised is no small thing. They fully understand the symbolism of dying with Christ!
Our good friend got baptised.
As well as one of our sisters!
After they were baptised we all went to celebrate their first communion together!
This is the normally dry parking lot!!! Rivers show up everywhere! Even walking from church to the pool we had to walk through some calf-deep puddles.