Sunday, a day of rest

I sympathize a lot more with pastors now. Everyone else has the day off on Sunday. That’s their big work day.

Today is Sunday, supposedly a day off, a day of rest, a day to go to church and praise God and hear His word expounded on. Well, all that happened, but the start…

Yesterday I flew the airplane to the lower airstrip. Gatab has two airstrips, Gatab and Luai (the lower strip). Gatab will sometimes fog in of a morning. Like yesterday and Friday. So, yesterday afternoon I moved the airplane to Luai because today I had to fly Phillip (one of the dorm parents at Haven Home here in Gatab) to Loiyangalani to preach. The Teasedales and Hinds are all in Nairobi this week, so there was no one in Loi to preach. So…Phillip steps in. And everyone heard the airplane was going to Loiyangalani and wanted to go too.

So yesterday Susan and the kids and the dog and I all drove down to Luai. It takes about 25-30 minutes to go the not quite 6 miles. The road is very steep and very rough. We ran up and down Luai for a bit (Hunter loved it) and then drove back up. Or rather Susan did, the point of the trip being so that she could see the road before she had to drive it solo. This morning she drove the car back after dropping me and my passengers at Luai, but that’s getting a little ahead of the story.

This morning, waiting outside the house are 8 people. No way all these people will fit in the airplane. Not possible. Some of them will have to stay. They are Not Happy. A little hemming and hawing and Susan asks, “Do 2 flights?” Brilliant! I knew I married her for some reason! Everyone is suddenly happy. So we load them all up in the land cruiser. Three of the guys are on the roof rack, three people in the back seat, two in the back of the car (three really, the mama had an infant in her arms) and off we go down the rocky bumpy steep road to Luai.

Load the airplane, two trips to Loi…stay the second time for church. I get there a little late, but only a little, and no one minds. The start time is a little nebulous here anyway. The preaching is all in Swahili, translated into Turkana. I get about 1 word in 10. Oh well. It’s a good chance to pray at least. Lord, help me learn this language!

Loiyangalani, but the way is hot. Hot. HOT! It was about 40 C today, or about 105 F. Hot. Fortunately there’s always a breeze there. A breeze? More like a gale. Winds were about 25 mph when I landed, and picked up as the day went on. About 30mph when I took off.

We had lunch in Loiyangalani and then came home about 3 this afternoon. It was good to get back to the mountain, and some cool weather.

Sunday, a day of rest? Actually, it really was. I had a great time today.