Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The changing world (41) Dec 1975 to Jan 76

Dec 1st Bulmers staying with us.
3rd Gills from Vom called.
4th Bulmers left.
6th Our cook Rimkat not at work as her had had fever.
7th Baptismal service for 82.
8th TEE book on evangelism being edited. Katy at choir rehearsal.
10th Rachel now sleeping through without 2am feed.
11th Book editing going well. Katy conducted her school concert.
15th Muslim holiday. Book editing . Weather windy and cool.
16th Visit from Brian Boddy and David Molyneux of faith and Farm who were taking Lilian Blenko with her loads from Kwalla.
18th Paul and Janet Baxter visited from Jos and stayed.
19th Rimkat unreliable in work and will have to go
20th We found David pounding a dead bat with a stone to see if it had blood in it.
21st Two hour carol service,
22nd Took Baxters to see retired pastor Bali, the first Langtang pastor.
23rd To Jos to get a new TEE book from the publisher but it is not ready. The typesetting and printing were done by SIM?ECWA bookshops.
24th Dry grass around the house caught fire but no threat to us. Started cooking the Christmas chicken and found a snake in the kitchen.
25th A day of surprises starting with rain at 4am. That is not expected until Easter. Then back to sleep only to be awakened an hour later by carol singers and Jonathan opening his stocking. Christmas service with 2000 there lasted 3 hours so lunch at 2:45.
26th Pumped up the boys presents of space hoppers.
30th Our first drive south of the Venue to holiday at the Boers of CRC in Baissa on the Mambila Plateau. Over 200 miles. Ferry across Benue. Ibi. Wukari. Rafin Kada. Dnga. Marraba.
31st Really enjoying our stay with the Boers. Visited Abong on the Cameroon border. John and I enjoyed cigars together and we all saw in the new year with sherry. With the reformed one finds proper Christian liberty.
Jan 1st Went with John to the installation of a local evangelist. That is a church leader who is not an ordained pastor. Our families enjoyed visiting a local river.
2nd Picnic lunch in Baissa forest.
4th Boers breed rabbits for meat and we really enjoyed rabbit stew.
5th Left Baissa laden with fruit. At the Benue the ferry was over the other side and we were at the end of a queue. It looked as if we would be stretched to get on the next crossing. As the boat came in and unloaded the vehicles, a Peugeot with one white passenger jumped the queue and got on first. I was livid. There we were in the midday hear with two children and a baby and an expat had jumped the queue. If it had been a rich Nigerian in a big car I would have accepted it as local behaviour but I was not going to tolerated this from a European. I went down to the ferry and started remonstrate with the white man. He was Italian from a construction firm. He said it was their ferry. I told him he was talking rot as the ferry with his company's name was idle in the water nearby. he quickly moved away from me to the far side of his vehicle fearing I think that he might be thrown into the river and the crocodiles. I would have done no such thing but I was happy he was frightened. Then the ferry operator came. I told him what I thought in Hausa. He said to bring my car. He squeezed it on with the back hanging over the edge of the boat. Katy was embarrassed at us jumping the queue. I was happy to have got the family out of the noontime sun and across the river. The Italian kept far away from our vehicle. This is the only time I recall getting really angry, showing temper and it working to our advantage.
Jan 6 To Panama to confer with David Molyneux about his starting Daffo TEE today, then to Vom for Rachel's triple vaccine and Jos shopping.
Jan 7 From Jos back to Langtang
8th To Kwalla starting EBS there. Travel on Honda on very sandy road. Started selling Hausa books at my classes, not the TEE textbooks but other Christian books.
12th Honda to Boi via Kabwir then to Mwari in the Boi landcover for enthusiastic first TEE teachers class. Overnight Boi.
13th Boi to Foron for TEE chat with Enid Crane then Jos and home to Langtang.
15th kabwir for TEE.
16th Initial Langtang TEE teachers meeting. Ten men to take eleven classes.
19th To Jos where I was pleased to see John Ross of Qua Ibo mission for good Reformed fellowship.
20th TEE preliminary meetings with SIM, Anglicans and Southern Baptists. I spoke on history of theological education.
21st TEE Association of Nigeria formed. I am vice-chairman and on panel for Hausa books.23rd New Hausa TEE books available for distribution. Peter Clark arrived back from across the desert with a new Landrover from UK.
24th Visited Liberty Dam with the Rosses.
25th Took boys to Hillcrest School for Sunday School. Katy to St Pirans evening service.
26th Back to Langtang dropping Christine Potter at Mangu.
27th Work on TEE registers and questions from the book on prayer.
29th To Panama. 200 students enrolled there. To Jos for TEE committee then home.
30th To Kwalla for TEE in the new landrover over the very rough road.
31st Hot and sticky. Walked with the boys to the market.

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