This past Saturday began
like any other day in the village. We started the day with taking our bucket
baths and making breakfast (oats and eggs to be more specific). Then, it
started raining. Although rain is not an out of the ordinary occurrence during
this time of year, today was different.
We experienced our first typhoon!
We celebrated this “first” the way any normal women would... by playing in the
mud! We had been waiting and waiting for a time to play in the mud and this was
the perfect opportunity. After our “mud play” as Annie would call it, we bathed
(AGAIN!) and then prepared for bible study.
Like most of our bible
studies, we had about a thirty-minute walk to the house where it would be held.
This walk usually entails crossing a creek that on a normal day reaches a
little higher than your ankles. Many
people along the way told us that the creek was high and that we probably should
not cross it, but we had a bible study to get to! When we got to the creek, we
realized it had risen to the height of our thighs and it was still raining
heavily. We prayed over the decision on whether to cross or not and decided to continue
despite everyones warnings! Finally, soaking wet, we arrived at the location
of our bible study. The man we were to have bible study with, W.P.,
greeted us not with a hello but by saying “It is raining! Wow, what a huge
sacrifice for you to come here!” We did not feel it was a sacrifice at all but
still told him that we wouldn’t miss it! Later, we found out that he had a
meeting that day for work during the time of our Bible study, but because of
the rain he chose not to attend. Wow. What a blessing in disguise.
After Bible study, we headed
home. When we got to the creek, it had risen from thigh-high to over our heads.
The water was swift and very intimidating. We had some friends take us to a
different route to avoid having to cross the creek that had transformed into a
rushing river. Our detour lead us with the necessity to cross over a spillway.
If you’ve never walked over
a spillway, you haven’t lived…. Just kidding. It was scary. The waters were
rushing but by the grace of God we arrived back home
soon after.
This day was strange and
atypical but it was great. We were tested in our faith and in our dependence on
the Lord! He is our protector when the waters get rough and he cares about the
little things… Like us being able to have mud play.
-Allyson & Kristy