The dry season has come. It has not rained for 4-5 days, but even more, the sun feels hotter; the humidity is down; temperatures have gone up (but it still cools off nicely at night); and the breezes have picked up. It is amazing to me that this can happen from one day to the next. This afternoon it was 75 degrees in my bedroom with 46% humidity; 104° in the sun (22% humidity) and 84° in the shade (36% humidity). So, OK, I was playing for part of this afternoon instead of doing some other things on my list! It feels pleasant to me – but no wonder I feel hot when I walk to the market in the sun!
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| a few days ago |
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The “lake” of a road behind the guest house
has dried up, although the torn up grass where motorcycles, trucks, and people
went around the huge puddle are still visible.
There are morning glories growing up the banana plants (also behind my
house).
Tuesday, October 29, the Lutheran School
for Biblical and Theological Studies in Garoua Boulai (which I usually call by
the shorter title, Bible School), hosted a Round Table for Protestantism Week in Cameroon.
Various churches got together and picked the theme of “Walking Together”
(from Philippians 3:16). This round
table had a panel of 3 local pastors with the Bible School Director as
moderator. Speakers gave a brief history
of Protestantism, the basics of what it means to be Lutheran, and the status of
protestant groups in Garoua Boulai.
Panelists read their remarks.
(Presenters in the US do that, too, but I find it
Thursday, October 31 all the local churches
had a special service for Reformation
Day (the day that Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the
cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany, and inadvertently started
Protestantism). My church at home
included the 95 theses in this month’s newsletter. I was pleased to see a modern translation of
them. I don’t know if I had ever read
them all before. Luther, a monk who
spent a lot of time studying the Bible, wanted to correct excesses within the
Catholic Church. He said that
indulgences could not be sold to people to lessen their time in purgatory or to
buy them forgiveness for their sins. The
pope and some bishops sold these certificates to get money for
cathedral-building. I found a copy of
the theses in French and posted them on the bulletin board at the Bible School. One student joked we should post them on the
door of the local Catholic Church. I answered
it was not necessary because they no longer accept the sale of certificates of
forgiveness! I encourage you to look for
and read them. Everyone could benefit
from this bit of history with a reminder that we are saved by the grace of God.
November 1 was All Saints’ Day and November 2 was All Souls’ Day. While these
were mentioned and EEL-RCA recognizes Nov. 1 as a holiday, there was less
mention of these days than of the reformation.
In churches here all through October and
early November, people give their harvest
offerings. So, each group (such as
Women for Christ, the Bible School, each choir, youth, Sunday School, the
hospital…) ask its members to make a special donation which is recorded in a
notebook. Then, each Sunday during this
period several of the groups meet at the back of the church and process in
dancing to present their offerings. They
carry a plate with the envelopes, often with flowers. A special committee sits at a table in the
front to receive and count the offerings.
It is a joyful time. Yesterday,
during the liturgy, various groups brought their offerings which took about 45
minutes.
Regular offerings are still given each week
and sometimes special ones, too.
(Yesterday, they also collected money for the regional synodical
retreat.) Still, these harvest offerings
bring in a huge portion of the church’s budget.
Churches in the US also use special times to collect special offerings. I am thinking of my home church, East Liberty
Lutheran that celebrated its 59th anniversary yesterday. Congregants are encouraged to give an extra
anniversary gift. And, we in the US,
often give extra offerings at Christmas and Easter. Here the tradition is to give a large harvest
offering. No church I have been a member
of has been able to raise as much as the French congregation has this year (and
past years, I am told) in Garoua Boulai.
An inspiration for us???
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Did you know that pigs running around loose in the yard will dig up holes as they
look for whatever it is that they eat? I
guess that would be like the pigs that people use to find truffles! Except here, there is no one to stop them
from making a mess of the yard.
Fortunately, I haven’t seen any the pigs around my house for a few days
and the dug-up patches are settling back into place.
I am convinced that every government and
country has a bureaucracy – but the
level may vary. I have noticed here that
usually when you go to an office for any reason, the person will inevitably say
that you must go back tomorrow (or the next day, or next week) because whatever
it is can’t be done that day. S/he says s/he
will have it ready by Tuesday (or tomorrow or they’ll call when it’s
ready). Then, when you go back to the
office, s/he completes the task while you sit and wait – even if s/he called to
say it was ready! Why not just make you
wait the first day you go? What kind of
sense does that make? I know, I know,
bureaucracies don’t make sense and are fueled by people in low-level positions
who use waiting to have “power” over others.
Sigh.
May your contacts with bureaucracy be
minimal this week! And may you enjoy
sunny weather even if it is much cooler there than here.
Continue to pray for peace and security in
the Central African Republic.
yes, verygood :)
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