Skipton Baptist Church Blog

Fortunately most of my life I’ve had fairly elastic job descriptions.  Shortly before they left for a 3 month break in the UK, Carol and Ginny announced that they thought their dog, Nzamu, might be having puppies.   She doesn’t have a good track record, as in the past her puppies have either died or she’s eaten them, so it was with considerable apprehension that I waited for the 11 October to arrive.  During the night Nzamu gave birth to her pups.  A first count made it 4.  The last count made it 8‼  So woven into my days at the moment is the job of playing nursemaid to one ravenously hungry, but so far, caring mother of 8 black/brown Labrador pups! 

The first big storm of the rainy season caused a nearby transformer to blow, so we were a week without electricity.  It’s still a bit hit and miss.  Yesterday we discovered a major cable on the ground after someone had tried to steal it overnight.  SNEL (the electricity board) sent out a big team, accompanied by one of the local TV station’s cameramen and reporters.  To repair the damage, they turned off our power as a precaution, then forgot to turn it on again when they finished work mid-afternoon.  Saturday being one of the evenings when I work with translators, we had to make do with the one solar light in the living room.  It’s an ok light if you’re just relaxing but it’s not so good for detailed reading, with Bible print particularly hard to decipher.  We’re making reasonable progress, although I’m told there will be one more reading before we can print out the series of 10 studies.  Of the two translators, Pastor Jean (John) is quite pre-occupied with trying to get the roofing completed on the church building before the rains really set in and Guy is struggling with a job he enjoys but for which he’s not been paid for the last 4 months.  It’s a common situation in both the state and private sectors and causes unending hardship to families, many of whom live below the bread line.The new academic year at the theological college gets under way on 30 October.  I’m still waiting for a timetable!  The students who have re-sits will begin their exams tomorrow, Monday, so I imagine most of the students are arriving today.  There will also be a new intake and various candidates have already been to sit the entrance exam.  It’s too complicated to set a date for the exam, as those coming from churches over 1000 km away, can only afford to make the journey once.   Candidates are therefore offered the chance to take the exam the day they come to register their application.  Last year our numbers were down and we really need a bigger intake this time if the college is to continue to be viable.  We have some excellent lecturers but could do with upgrading the student accommodation and improving the library.  This year, we plan to put computers into the college for the first time and so encourage the students to become computer literate.  As well as teaching in the college, I’ve been asked to do some teaching in a sewing school (not sewing, I hasten to add!)  The school caters for young girls and married women who’ve largely missed out on educational opportunities but want to learn skills which will help their family income and their quality of life.  I’d like to take up the offer, providing it works in with my other commitments. 

This week we’re going to be working on some urgent repairs around the Centre to make the place a little more ‘waterproof’.  The first big downpour revealed that one of the staff houses has an upturned sieve for a living room ceiling and a support beam which crumbles when touched (woodworm?)  Also the trenches where cables were laid during the electricification work earlier in the year lost most of the soil covering the cables, especially on the far side of the stream where there is quite a steep gradient.  We will try to divert the main channel used by water away from the line of the cables, build a small retaining wall around the distribution box which is very exposed and repair Banza’s roof!  Not too sure any of that came in my job description either!

With love to all and thanks for emails and prayers.

Bridget