In the Bush

The wind, the sun, and the dust are pretty significant here when riding on the back of a moto, down the open road. As we were heading west, I was pretty much crying because it was so bright and so windy. This was Friday afternoon, and Papa was taking me out into the bush for vespers.

I hadn't been out of the village since arriving in Béré on Monday, so it was nice to get out and expand my horizons a bit. We went out of the village and down the main road for maybe a couple of kilometers before we turned off onto a small track and wound through the landscape, passing huts from time to time, with groups of children calling, "Nasara, Nasara!" 

We pulled up in front of a hut and Papa tapped the horn a few times to announce our arrival. A woman came out of the hut with a very large mat to put on the ground, and something like 30 kids (and a few adults) came and sat down on the mat in front of Papa and I. We sang a few songs in French, such as Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday, Father Abraham, and Making Melodies. There's something cool about seeing kids in a bush village in Africa singing some of the same songs that I grew up singing on the other side of the world. 

After we sang, Papa talked to the a little bit, and then asked me to tell them a story. I told them about David and Goliath. Then we sang another song, prayed, and left. It was a very short meeting, something like 20 minutes, but there was something special about it. It made me feel like I'm in the right place right now, and that I could stay here for a long time. 

After leaving that village, we went to another village on the opposite side of Béré and had a similar meeting. The kids in these little villages are dirty. They have runny noses. Some of them are half naked. Small kids, maybe seven or so, will carry babies on their backs. It's a different world here. And I like it.