Bright and early, we head off to church at Wantun. It's more than 2 hours driving. It started cool and bumpy, and we soon headed down the mountains on a curvy road.
The middle section of our trip was over well maintained highway. Once we lost a lot of elevation, the temperature went up.
The hills and mountains were stunning.
For about the last hour, we got off the highway and started on the really bumpy road. We stopped for a minute to take photos.
What a beautiful country.
We finally rattled and bounced our way to the church. We had time to settle in...find the washroom (a very rustic pit toilet...bring your own toilet paper) and then sit down on the floor. There was a water spigot nearby, where I went and got my head wet to cool off. It was really getting hot by 11 am already.
We were the first ones to show up...and there were not as many people at church today because of a funeral that week. Death is a big deal and the mourning process takes a very long time...there is conflict between the culture and customs and what is biblically appropriate. The local pastor was disappointed that some of the members of the church felt pressured to be away from church today.
When the services were over (they were back to back with less than a minute break (we will now start the afternoon service...) we chatted with the people. Not many spoke English very well, but Jennifer made a friend with a girl who was eager to chat.
The kids all sat down under the mango tree. Apparently today wasn't really really hot, because on really really hot days church is held under the tree, where it is a little bit cooler.
All of the visitors were expected to sit at this mat and we were served a delicious lunch. All the local people watched us eat (and they are probably hungrier than we are) and then when we leave they enjoy what is left over. It is an honour to be served their best food, but I would have preferred to eat together with the people, and for them to give us what they would normally eat...I hope they didn't go hungry because we came to visit.
After eating we are on our way again...it's a long way back to Ukurumpa! We stop for a view once we get high up again. So very beautiful!
By the time we got back, it is dark and late. We were supposed to enjoy dinner with a missionary family...who were probably really friendly and nice. Only Philip stayed to enjoy their company...the rest of us managed to swallow a little bit of soup (which was probably delicious) and asked for a ride back to our "home". I was so happy to lay in bed. It'd been a very long and hot day after a really bad sleep.
1 comment:
So many different experiences in such a short period of time! A trip like this sure brings home how very good we have it here.
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