Trip to Fontina

We planned a trip to Fontina for continued teaching. It was cancelled two times... first a conflict of timing for our translator/trainer and then Lowell came down with the stomach "yuck" as we have started calling it. So we prayed lots and tried again. Saturday morning all was moving along as planned and we left almost on time to head to the mountains. After about a half hour of driving we heard tapping on the window which means someone needs help in the back of the truck, so we stopped to find out what was needed. The news wasn't good. We had a flat tire, it was the same tire that has gone flat multitudes of times and is rebellious to being fixed. So we just stayed there in the middle of the "road" (it was more like a rock pile with a drop off on one side) We all climbed out and 2 men started working on taking off the tire. The jack wouldn't go high enough and so they searched for rocks to help get the truck up higher. Finally success or so we thought. The tire was off and the other one brought from the back of the truck only to find out that the rim would not fit. Now there was 6 men trying to figure out how to make the tire fit!! By now, we had a line of people sitting along the side of the road watching and two motorcycles stopped. One of the bikes had a flat tire also, so there we were on the side of the mountain fixing trying to fix 2 flat tires. I watched as the men all helped each other and fell in love with this people a little more as I watched them give to each other. Since our truck could not be fixed at the time they all focused on the other tire. On the back of the bike was a piece of an inter tube that I thought was just a strap to hold the belongings of the passenger; I was wrong. It had a duel purpose. They cut a strip off the side of the tube, pinched the hole in the tube and tired it off with the strap of rubber. After putting it all back together our friend and translator Jean Bena along with the 2 adults and infant that were on the motorcycle before headed off down the mountain. The plan was that Jean Bena would ride with them into town, get a new spare and bring the other truck up to Fontina where we would go after pumping up the tire. Well things never go as planned.... the tire would not pump up, the air was going out almost as fast as they were putting it in. Over 2 hours later we learned that the "taxi bike" wasn't going into town and Jean Bena had to walk most of the way back. When he got there he found that the other spare had two holes that had to be fixed before he could start back up the mountain. And so we waited... Lowell pulled the truck off the road under a tree near two small huts. The family joined us as we waited, I am sure it was something new to do so why not. Most of our observers walked on their journey carrying water and bundles. We saw several donkeys go by and I started to think we should look into the possibility of this primitive type of travel. Several of us took naps, some read books, Maddie played with the children, we took 2 trips in the woods to find a isolated spot, Lowell took lots of walks down the road looking for cell to call and find out were the other truck was and time stood still... or so it seemed. But just as bodies where steaming and spirits where dropping, Jean Bena came around the corner and before we knew it we were on our way again.

Then we arrived! It was so incredible, the people are so excited about what this Community Health Education program can do for them. They had met all the requirements and invited 5 people from each of 4 surrounding villages to come hear what was being taught. The next couple of hours were spent teaching, questioning, discussing and planning. They have their next assignment of choosing a leadership committee to oversee the training and have decided that lack of good water and health issues are the first needs that should be addressed. Lowell plans on making one more trip there before we go to do the next step of teaching. God is so great!! He knows why the delays. He makes it so easy to trust him because he works everything out for the good of those who trust him and call on his name.