Family Worship Centre

One of our cows here at word of life is pregnant and will give birth any day soon. I was talking with the director of WOL during lunch one afternoon and I was expressing my interest in watching the birth. I have never seen the birth of anything before and I thought this was the perfect chance to see it. The director proceeded to tell me about his cow experiences. He grew up in the village so seeing an animal give birth was nothing new or exciting for him. He said he started slaughtering chickens at the age of 4 and then goats a few years later. For him, it was the cool thing to do and he got to hang out with the older boys. He would go out in the morning to herd the cattle all day long and come back in the evening. They would leave without mommy packing them a sandwich or anything so they would fend for themselves. With their bow and arrows in hand, they would search for food hunter-gatherer style. While the cows were grazing, they would shoot dik diks and birds. As he was the young one, he would have to catch the bird as it fell out of the tree to its death. Then he said to me, “I used to love the head.” Huh?! The head of the bird? As in to eat?? Yes, that’s right. He loved eating the bird head, beak and all. They would build a little fire and roast it up just plain. They would chomp on it all day until it was time to go home. Then he proceeded to tell me,

“I love the feeling of cow dung between my toes.”

Excuse me?

“Yes, I used to walk around barefooted it the cowshed and squish it between my toes.”

What about the smell?

“It didn’t bother me. I was used to it. It was fun.

As I thought about, I guess it could be kind of a nice feeling. It’s just like rubbing your feet in the sand or stepping on grapes to make wine. Mind you those don’t leave you smelling like poop and are a bit cleanlier. I don’t think I will be trying that any time soon.

I have had a fantastic couple of weeks. Last weekend I got the much-needed break I was wanting. I spent some time in town by myself napping, drinking coffee and visiting with old friends.

This week has been a busy but wonderful one. We visited 3 schools and a church doing ministry. I really love getting out of the compound and interacting with other people. The church we went to last Sunday was in a slummy area and was painted bright blue. The church was made of corrugated metal and held up with sticks. It was hot hot hot but so much fun. We packed in there like sardines in a can and stayed there for 3 hours as sweat saturated our clothes. The children followed me everywhere wanting to touch me, play with me, be beside me. At one point, I was standing outside because it had gotten to hot inside, and I turned around only to find about 20 kids sitting behind me staring at me. They all stuck out their hands to greet me and after I shook their hands they would erupt into belly laughter.

We then visited another school on Thursday where a few of our classmates came from. It started out as a good meeting until the thunder and lightening started. After that, it poured cats and dogs outside. Luckily we were inside but the rain made so much noise on the tin roof that we couldn’t hear the speaker. So what did you do in this situation?? You sing!! So we had an impromptu worship session for about 30 mins as the rained clamored on the roof. We sang at the top of our lungs and danced about around the room. I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. What joy!

The rain has come. I think we are starting the rainy season now, as it seems to rain at least once a day. I love it. I love when it comes so unexpectedly and it catches you outside where you are then forced to run to take cover. I love listening to it on my roof at 3am. However, I don’t love when it comes just as I put out my clothes to dry on the line. This morning I finally washed my bed sheets (which is a daunting task when you do it by hand) and just as I had finished hanging them up, it started to rain. I just had to laugh. Maybe this was God’s way of washing them again since I didn’t do a good enough job.

Like I said, I have had a fantastic week. My days have been full of laughter. My cheeks have been in so much pain from smiling so much. I won’t lie and say that life is easy, but it’s the joy of overcoming such trials that make this life so exciting and full!  Thank you Jesus!

Recovering from aching cheeks,

Nikole