This is how Paul describes some of his adventures during his pioneer Gospel mission work
“Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.“ (2 Cor 11)
January 12 we left the the mission compound around 9am. We were able to get to the airstrip around 10am. God answered prayer and there was good weather for the plane to land. A vehicle from the lumber camp came thinking that our plane was for them, and so we asked them if they could help us by driving our cargo to the river. I always give them cinnamon rolls for their help. On arriving at the river Caleb went to get our fuel. I chatted it up with some people in the market finding out that apparently there was no boat or motor to bring us to Moka. I was praying that we would get to Moka with a motor, otherwise we would to have to paddle a day and night to get there. I also was concerned about the 25kg of meat that was in our cooler. It would spoil if we could not get to Moka that day. I started to doubt, Elijah reassured me that there would be a motor and a boat, and so not to worry. We waited for about 15 minutes until Caleb came back and I automatically went right to him telling him that there was no motor available. He told me that he heard from another guy that he has a motor but it had been 9 months since he used it last, so they weren’t sure if it would work. After about an hour the motor and the boat were at the river ready for us. I always feel like I’m doubting; but our caring Father answered our prayers again. I had to praise the Lord right there, and say thank you for hearing my prayer. I know in some sense it was a small concern compared to others, but I also know that our Father always is watching over and caring for us because we are His children doing His work.
That day we did get to Moka village. Thankfully on arrival there were no issues/problems with our house or the boat house. It took me a few days to get the house in order (which is normal). I had to put all our new cargo away, all the food onto shelves, and clean up the mold and dust.
One of our friends had a baby while we were away from the village. The mother had delivered a boy and she asked Elijah to give him a name: Elijah chose the biblical name, Joseph (I was happy since that’s my brother’s name). The people were happy to see us again as we were to see them.
The first week back in Moka seems to have gone by quickly because we were busy. Next week I start school again and we start back into our normal routine. Lots of decoration stuff came in so my house now definitely feels like home.
