Bits and Pieces of Life in the Village

Saturday, October 24

Aaron spent the last two mornings walking through more of Matthew with catechists from our church district. Walter excitedly made the connection that Jesus is the key between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The turnout was sparse, but I enjoyed making gingersnaps for the studious men. I especially like gingersnaps made with the local coconut oil we can get here. We made enough cookies to share with the ladies who met to sew together. I also took some thread, yarn and a requested crochet hook along with a plate of gingersnaps.

While in Baisen Village earlier this week, Aaron received most of the gospel of Luke, handwritten in pencil. Part of my contribution to the project is typing manuscripts. This one is going to take me a long time, partially because Luke is a very long book, and partially because I’ve never typed for this translator before, and his handwriting is unfamiliar to me. There are also long sections where he has erased and written over the erased sections, so sometimes I struggle to read the corrections. I’m thankful to have a little bit more time to help Aaron, now that our kids are older and more independent.

Katherine loves to swim with her friends here. She has learned to ask about the tide before she goes in the water. High tide brings all of the critters and the trash, a few weeks ago she found all of the tiny jellyfish in the water and subsequently went through lots of hydrocortisone cream. Low tide makes it easier to enjoy all of the beauty underneath the water.

We recently had some unexpected excitement. Aaron was paddling over to see Ezekiel, and the girls and I were doing school at home, when what looked like a huge C130 rumbled through, flying very low, directly over Aaron. It cruised back and forth, up and down, and we watched it for a long time as it made its way east over the Russells. Later, we got an email from our director including an article about planes from Australia helping the fisheries department look out for illegal fishing in the Solomon Islands. We don’t have any airports in the Russells, so a plane caused everyone to stop, look, and holler!