Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday, March 30
Aaron's trip for today was canceled because the ship traveled all the way out to the Shortlands.  Instead of coming in this morning around 8 or 9, it's expected to arrive in Yandina tomorrow night.  Aaron needs to put our gas cylinder on the ship so it can be refilled in Honiara and sent back to us.  Then he plans to go visit about seven villages in the East and Central Russells to encourage them to choose their translators. 

Eta didn't come yesterday morning, but she stopped by yesterday afternoon to apologize.  She had been asked to go look for a boy (18 years old is still a boy by Solomon's standards) who ran away from home in a dug-out canoe.  This same boy ran away last year and paddled all the way to Guadalcanal.  So, she came this morning and helped me harvest the rest of the umalau, weed the beans and plant some more, and plant back some more umalau. 

This afternoon I learned that the young man had been found in a nearby village.  God sent strong winds that he couldn't fight in a dug-out canoe so he had to stay close to home!

Thursday, March 31
Aaron went to copra today with Walter and Hiva.  This week is a big fundraising week for the church.  Each family was asked to copra 40 kilos and give the money to the church.  This was Aaron's first time to learn the process, and he came home with all of his fingers intact.

He'll be leaving in just a little while with Hiva in a motor canoe to travel to Yandina where he will spend the night.  Please pray for his stamina and for his good communication in Pijin as he visits the villages in the Eastern and Central Russells tomorrow.

Earlier this week, Ezekiel brought over an old dug-out canoe for Aaron to practice in while Ezekiel carves Aaron a new one.  Monday afternoon, Aaron spent a couple of hours practicing paddling, overturning, and getting back in the canoe as he made his way up to the northeastern corner of the island and back.  I gave him an empty bleach bottle that he cut out in the shape of a scoop so he can bail the canoe.  This mode of transportation will open up Aaron's options and decrease his reliance of other people's canoes as he goes to visit other village close by.