Cara and Michael

Time to eat! The taste-bud-tickling menu consisted of spaghetti type noodles with “spaghetti sauce” that wasn’t at all like Canadian spaghetti sauce. It tasted like baked beans with floating carrots and gluten in it.

After eating supper with three other teams, Michael, Cara, and Ceri headed off to their site. They walked across a very narrow swinging bridge that stretched across the river and took them right to the village. They walked under a big sign that read “Salamat Datang!” (which means “Welcome!”) and passed through the village and up a little hill to the church. The church overlooks the entire village and down below, they could see the teenagers of the village playing their daily soccer game. The soccer field is located in the center of the village and is bordered on one side by many little houses and on the other side by a peaceful pond. Houses lined the entire water’s edge out over the water stood the cutest little bamboo hut built on stilts. They just stood on the hill and took it all in for a long, long time.

Then suddenly a little girl came running up the hill and disturbed their reverie. She was “flapping” her “wings” and yipping the whole way up. As soon as she arrived at her destination, introductions took place. Ceri asked, “Hi, what’s your name?” “Sherry,” she said. “Oh that’s cool, my name is Ceri!” The little girl frowned, “No that’s MY name!” “What is YOUR name?” “Ceri!” “No!” She kept them entertained the whole evening!

Michael had the sermon and did a fabulous job even though he had to endure a stomachache during the last half. They walked back across the swinging bridge in the dark because Michael and Cara insisted that they could see better if they didn’t use a flashlight. I’m sure the swinging bridge and curvy roads on the way back must have cured Michael’s stomachache or maybe it was the TUMS. The pastor’s parting words were, “You don’t look so great!” But in spite of this, God was still present and He was working the whole evening. Isn’t it wonderful to serve a God who never sleeps nor slumbers?