responsible irresponsibility: week 3

It’s been a good week here. Some good discussions in class, and everyone getting to know one another better. The young men who are our fellow students all have a passion for God, and the desire to learn all they can. They really know the Bible, probably better than I, but by the questions they ask it seems they are more interested in details rather than ‘spiritual truths’. (Was Jesus crucified naked?, Will we have the same body in heaven?, What is the proper way to baptize, sprinkling or immersion? Etc) One thing which has come often is the reality of sorcery, witchcraft, and occultism which continue to overshadow this continent. Everyone here can relate experiences and it is a constant battle which Christians and non-Christians here face.

Tomorrow is March, so it’s supposed to start getting hot. We haven’t tracked the temperatures, but has been told it’s been over 105 nearly every day. It’s a dry heat, though, and it cools to the 80’s overnight, so we’re good with it. We have noticed it feeling a little hotter each day, but the worst is the early afternoon which is why most people sieste. Though since Beth and I rarely have napped we notice everything seems to be open normally. Garoua actually is mostly laid out in a grid and most of the ‘streets’ have trees planted along them. We are blessed to have two of those trees just outside the wall which surrounds this and adjacent homes, and we have spent the worst part of most afternoons under those trees. It’s the most comfortable place we’ve found, much better than inside the house which never cools down. The kitchen is the worst… We’ve had several power outages while here, and have found ourselves eating and doing dishes by flashlight and candlelight. It also has made us aware that though our room never cools down, without the fan it is much worse. The refrigerator has also failed, so Rebecca has had to be more creative with what she is cooking, and all of our drinking is room (kitchen) temperature. Actually goes down easy, but not soothing. We knew all this coming here, and I still hope I never have to shovel snow again…

It’s also becoming more apparent how good we have it compared to so many. As we’ve walked around we’ve come to many villages* which are very, very poor. They are living very close together in ramshackle housing, cooking outside over fires, using outdoor latrines, etc. I feel very safe walking through these places, but am very aware of how out of place I am.

Beth and I are also more confident about our ability to get around, and went into town for the first time today. Still have yet to find anyone able to speak English, and we certainly haven’t learned enough French to communicate (bon jour doesn’t get you very far) but we can point and hand over money which seems to work. We also are familiar with where we live, so we can point it out to the moto drivers.

*Not what I’ve always visualized in my head, small communities scattered throughout the area which are typical of how most Africans live.