Monday, December 29, 2008
December 29, off to the village in a helicopter!
Dear Friends and Family,
We are in the middle of the "Night of Horror". :) Packing late at night, writing last minute emails, trying to think straight, all the time knowing that if we make a mistake, we're stuck with it until Jan. 29 when we come back to Ukarumpa.
We're going by helicopter, so that will be a blast! Now that it is rainy season it is too dangerous to try to drive out, through the four big rivers (and many smaller ones). It's a lot funner to fly out by helicopter!
It is so wonderful to be living in our new house! We are situated close to the center of the village, and we can see lots of houses. This means that whereas before we would leave our old village house and go and try to find people that were at home, not knowing who we would find or if we would find anyone, now we can see who is at home and what they are doing before even leaving our house! We feel less stress that way. We also feel less stress because the house isn't falling down like the old one! We don't have termites eating through the bathroom floor and the walls of our rat-proof room (much longer and it wouldn't have been rat-proof anymore! :) ). We don't worry about rain coming in through the cockroach-eaten palm thatch and falling on Joanna's bed (she was sleeping in the living room because we didn't have a room for her), or how we are going to get up on top of the roof to throw on another tarp (everyone said the roof beams were rotten and unsafe to climb on). The house doesn't lean and the floor is level! Wow, never before have I been thankful for a level floor! :) We don't have to worry about someone stealing our solar panels, since now they are on top of our house roof and very hard to steal. A big thing too is that we have a lot of light in the new house, and that seems to help with our attitude. For us, this new house is a Godsend, and we are so thankful for it! Praise the Lord for his gifts to his children! :)
We want to say a big "Thank You" to everyone who helped us with our new village house, from those who gave financially, prayed for us, and actually worked on the house with their two hands (FBC team, we were so blessed that you cared enough to come all that way to be a blessing!)! All are important, and God loves our sacrificial giving in all ways.
We have a lot to be thankful for in this Christmas season, when God sent Jesus to save us from our sins. We all don't deserve THIS present, and we need to make sure everyone knows that God has a present for them under the Christmas tree, with their name on it.
God bless,
Dave and Sarah Troolin
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Report on the Oct-Dec village time.
We are back in Ukarumpa now! We had a great time in the village, and I think having a good house out there helped a lot. We weren't counting down the days until leaving, and it seemed like because we had a good living situation we didn't have to worry so much overall.
We were able to do a quick check of Genesis 12-21, and since we checked chapter 22 previously, we now have a good draft of chapters 12-22! Also we decided to start vernacular prep schools in two villages, as the people have been suggesting for awhile. It was only until lately that we felt able to support the two prep schools. So now we will be very busy while we get materials ready for that!
Better go, but just wanted to give a brief update.
Take care,
Dave
We were able to do a quick check of Genesis 12-21, and since we checked chapter 22 previously, we now have a good draft of chapters 12-22! Also we decided to start vernacular prep schools in two villages, as the people have been suggesting for awhile. It was only until lately that we felt able to support the two prep schools. So now we will be very busy while we get materials ready for that!
Better go, but just wanted to give a brief update.
Take care,
Dave
