Thursday, July 24

Today was our last VBS. This morning we went to the woodcarvers' shopping area to finish our gift buying. After a quick lunch of granola bars, we continued to the church. A good-sized crowd of children was waiting for us, and they were really good today. (We're learning more about their level of ability.) As they left, we passed out balloons to everyone. Several stopped to give us hugs, and one little girl of about 12 (Flora)told me, "I love you." Wow, that was all the reward I needed!
We have solved the baptism problem. Rather, I should say, God has solved it for us. I originally thought the Indian Ocean wasn't suitable for baptizing. That was incorrect. The real problem is that the Maasai village which has the people ready for baptism is rather far from here, and it has no water. So this is what we're doing: we're hiring a bus to bring the more than 40 (up from the original 30) believers to Dar. This will take place Sunday after church. The cost will be about $430 dollars. When Craig checked our envelope of discretionary funds, he found $431 there. Very do-able! This is so exciting to us.
Tomorrow we will stop by a native church in Pingo on our way the animal park at Mikumi. This is a sister church to HPCC. Then we get to do a scaled-down version of a safari in the afternoon and again the next morning. We'll spend the night at a lodge located there. So you won't hear from us again until Saturday night or Sunday.
When we look back at all that has been accomplished since we arrived, we're overwhelmed. Praise God for His goodness!